East Grinstead Ladies 1’s secured another three points in the Premier Division of the Sussex league, with a 3-1 away victory over mid-table Eastbourne Ladies 2’s.

EG made a nervous start, with Eastbourne holding much of the possession in the first five minutes.  In the absence of captain Lottie Gregory, the ever-versatile Michelle Wolfe played at sweeper.  She and Nicky Hamstead formed a solid partnership in the middle of defence and limited the options available to the Eastbourne forwards.  Against the run of play, on 7 minutes, Caroline Judd released an accurate through ball to Vicky Griffiths in the circle who put it past the keeper to give EG the lead.

This lead was not held for long, as Eastbourne came straight back with a goal in the 10^th minute.  Eastbourne then continued to put the pressure on, but the EG midfielders worked hard to break down the Eastbourne attacks.  In particular, Emma Pearson and Pauline Joseph worked hard and made some key tackles in midfield.

EG soon began to put together some impressive attacking moves, with Briony Bray, Caroline Judd and Stephanie Baggett working well together up front.  In the 21^st minute, Baggett skilfully weaved her way through the Eastbourne defence to score an excellent individual goal and give EG the lead again.

The first half finished well for EG, with a third goal.  Ellie Farrow released a superb ball down the right to Pauline Joseph, who then drove into the circle and passed the ball across the goal for Gemma Frisby to score.

Eastbourne came back strongly in the second half and played with strength and determination.  They threatened the EG goal on occasion, but keeper Nikki Robinson kept them out.  Frances Needle worked hard at left back and coped well with the bursts of pace from the Eastbourne right winger.

There were no goals in the second half, as EG unfortunately failed to convert any of the short corners they won.  The final score was 3-1 and EG remain fourth in the league table, behind Brighton, Lewes and Worthing (who all won their matches this weekend).

Scorers: V Griffiths, S Baggett, G Frisby