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Sat 28 Sep 2019 · Sussex 1
Crawley
1st XV
22
31
Tries: B Crossman, S Furse, H Hanley (2), W FelthamConversions: B Crossman (3)
INJURY HIT LEWES DOMINANT IN FIRST GAME ON THE ROAD
DERECK Wade29 Sep 2019 - 15:08
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Crawley 22 Lewes 31
Buoyed by an impressive win in their last game, and despite having to make some readjustments in their pack for this match, Lewes started brightly against their previously-unbeaten opponents with fly-half Billy Shiell carving through the Crawley defence, before passing the ball on to Ben Crossman.
Crossman, making his league debut for the club, scored a try with his first touch of the ball and then converted it with his second.
Crawley came back strongly from the restart, but only managed a penalty goal for their efforts. And when Lewes attacked once more, it was former skipper Sam Furse, on his return to the team, who went over under the posts, followed by a simple conversion from Crossman.
Lewes then had to withstand some relentless attacking from Crawley and eventually their pressure paid with a converted try near the posts that narrowed the scoreline to 10-14. It is a mark of the resilience of this Lewes side that they responded by once again taking the game to Crawley and it was Harry Hanley, no stranger to the score-sheet, who produced a fine piece of creative running to touch down, with Crossman doing the honours from the kicking tee.
That gave Lewes a comfortable half time lead of 10-21, but they knew they would be turning round to face the wind in the second half. And the half had hardly started when Ben Crossman, who had been playing a fine game at inside centre, suffered a nasty head injury, and was unable to take any further part in the game.
Crawley took advantage of the conditions and the readjustments Lewes had to make in their back line to score a try in the corner. But it was Harry Hanley, who again burst away on the counter-attack to add to his growing tally of tries.
Another injury disrupted Lewes once more, when Lewis Austin was unable to continue after receiving a knock on the ankle, but Will Feltham, who had worked hard all afternoon to keep the three-quarter line organised in both attack and defence, was able to stretch Lewes’ lead with a fine try.
A sixteen point advantage would have been a fair reflection on the way the match had gone, but, as Lewes began to tire, Crawley were able to come back to score under the posts with their conversion being the last kick of the game. Still, there were jubilant scenes as Lewes celebrated a win that takes them into mid-table with 6 points,
So the final score was Crawley 22 Lewes 31, and the Man of the Match was Owen Jones who controlled things brilliantly from the base of the scrum. Lewes now look forward to entertaining Ditchling on Saturday 5th October – possibly the first ever league meeting between these two teams.
Match Squad:
Will Feltham; Peter Ford, Harry Hanley, Ben Crossman, Lewis Austin, Billy Shiell, Owen Jones; Fraser Warren, Finn Spalding, Rob Williams; Lewis Evans, James Sale; Elliot Moule (captain), Sam Furse, Joe Omar. Subs (all used): George Durrant, Pietro Melloni, Dan Carr.
Crossman, making his league debut for the club, scored a try with his first touch of the ball and then converted it with his second.
Crawley came back strongly from the restart, but only managed a penalty goal for their efforts. And when Lewes attacked once more, it was former skipper Sam Furse, on his return to the team, who went over under the posts, followed by a simple conversion from Crossman.
Lewes then had to withstand some relentless attacking from Crawley and eventually their pressure paid with a converted try near the posts that narrowed the scoreline to 10-14. It is a mark of the resilience of this Lewes side that they responded by once again taking the game to Crawley and it was Harry Hanley, no stranger to the score-sheet, who produced a fine piece of creative running to touch down, with Crossman doing the honours from the kicking tee.
That gave Lewes a comfortable half time lead of 10-21, but they knew they would be turning round to face the wind in the second half. And the half had hardly started when Ben Crossman, who had been playing a fine game at inside centre, suffered a nasty head injury, and was unable to take any further part in the game.
Crawley took advantage of the conditions and the readjustments Lewes had to make in their back line to score a try in the corner. But it was Harry Hanley, who again burst away on the counter-attack to add to his growing tally of tries.
Another injury disrupted Lewes once more, when Lewis Austin was unable to continue after receiving a knock on the ankle, but Will Feltham, who had worked hard all afternoon to keep the three-quarter line organised in both attack and defence, was able to stretch Lewes’ lead with a fine try.
A sixteen point advantage would have been a fair reflection on the way the match had gone, but, as Lewes began to tire, Crawley were able to come back to score under the posts with their conversion being the last kick of the game. Still, there were jubilant scenes as Lewes celebrated a win that takes them into mid-table with 6 points,
So the final score was Crawley 22 Lewes 31, and the Man of the Match was Owen Jones who controlled things brilliantly from the base of the scrum. Lewes now look forward to entertaining Ditchling on Saturday 5th October – possibly the first ever league meeting between these two teams.
Match Squad:
Will Feltham; Peter Ford, Harry Hanley, Ben Crossman, Lewis Austin, Billy Shiell, Owen Jones; Fraser Warren, Finn Spalding, Rob Williams; Lewis Evans, James Sale; Elliot Moule (captain), Sam Furse, Joe Omar. Subs (all used): George Durrant, Pietro Melloni, Dan Carr.
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