Saxons contest amazing 7-7 draw

Jamie Busbridge was South Saxons' man of the match in the 7-7 draw away to Crawley on Saturday.

Saxons conceded an equaliser in the dying seconds to miss out on a victory which would have put them second in South Hockey League Kent/Sussex - Regional 2.

The Hastings club travelled to Crawley with a number of absentees, but buoyed by the return of George Eldridge from his travels.

Saxons started where they had left off in the previous weekend’s 7-2 victory over Marden Russets, with Jamie Busbridge finishing into an open goal as the umpire failed to spot a Saxons foot in the build-up.

This was quickly followed by another Saxons goal, Lloyd Williams reacting quickest to bundle the ball over the line.

A third arrived shortly afterwards. Alex Coombs won the ball back before finding Andrew Acott, who in turn found Busbridge for a first time finish past the goalkeeper.

Crawley then got two goals back before Eldridge marked his return with a drag flick goal for 4-2 and some good work from Chris Meredith down the left led to Williams scoring Saxons’ fifth at the far post.

Saxons then switched off and quickly conceded two further goals to lead only 5-4 at half time.

The visitors continued to let Crawley into the game with some wayward passing and the failure to react quickly enough when losing the ball. As a result, Crawley found themselves 6-5 up.

Saxons kept on fighting, though, and man of the match Busbridge drove into the D before finding Coombs, who applied the finish to make it 6-6.

Eldridge then produced a stunning drag flick into the roof of the goal to give Saxons a 7-6 lead with only two minutes remaining.

Crawley won a short corner, however, which they duly converted to ensure a 14-goal thriller ended all-square.

Fourth-placed Saxons - the division’s highest scorers with 64 goals in 16 league games - now face back-to-back home fixtures, starting with the visit of Canterbury Pilgrims this coming Saturday. Push-back at Horntye Park is 1.30pm.

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