Sol Buckner's side found themselves 2-0 down within five minutes as the visitors were gifted goals in their first Sussex Open Hockey League Division Five fixture of the season.

A quick positional change saw Buckner drop to midfield and immediately kick-started a fightback. Jeremy Bunday's short corner strike rebounded to Buckner, who swept home from 10 yards out.

Crowborough grabbed a third from a short corner in the 23rd minute, but on the half-hour Saxons scored their second when Steven Finlay collected Paul Merison's pass and sneaked the ball between the goalkeeper and the post.

Saxons flew out of the blocks in the second half and were level within minutes when Finlay collected a pass from man of the match Rob Yates and fired in from a tight angle.

The visitors were gifted the lead again on 55 minutes after a defensive mix-up and on 63 minutes they wrapped up the points by scoring on the break.

Buckner said "It was a tough, gritty game and we played some scintillating hockey at times but again pressed the self destruct button at the end. If we can sort out our defensive play, we could go far in this league."

Report by Sol Buckner.