Lewes just lose out in thrilling derby with Eastbourne

Eastbourne took an early lead, but Lewes fought back to gain a five-point advantage at the break.

Lewes increased their lead in the second half, but Eastbourne struck back with three tries in the closing stages of the game to win 27-22.As Lewes captain, James Sale, said: “It was a great game of rugby that saw us edged out by a strong Eastbourne side.”

It was also a game that saw a hat-trick of tries by Lewes front row forward, Tomas Norman.

The first two came from great driving runs close to the Eastbourne line that were set up by his fellow forwards.

The third try followed an unfortunate incident right at the end of the first half when Will Hoff was injured.

While he was popping to the hospital next door for an X-Ray, Norman was put into his position of inside centre. This was a smart switch by Lewes coach, Brandon Palmer, for a neat set piece move put Norman through to complete the hattrick.

With Gus Taylor adding two conversions and a penalty goal, Lewes had built up a healthy lead of 22 points to 10 as the game went into its final quarter, but sadly, however, it was not to be impregnable. For Eastbourne had a stronger bench and this was put to good use as a goal and a try brought the scores level at 22-22.

Then, in the final play of the game, Eastbourne got over in the corner to win the game.

This was also their fourth try that secured them a bonus point, while all Lewes had for their efforts was a losing bonus point. With home matches coming up over the next couple of weeks, Lewes will be looking for better fortune against Horsham Barbarians and Crawley in the cup,

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