Brighton came from behind twice to share the points with Old Loughtonians in the Men's Hockey League Conference East and might have snatched victory at the death after an incident-packed second half at Blatchington Mill on Sunday.

The match burst quickly into life after a goalless first-half when the slippery surface, made slick by the heavy overnight rain, caught Brighton out. A hopeful ball down the right wrong-footed Tom Langston but there seemed no danger when Chris Borsoi came out of his circle to sweep clear. But he slipped and as an Old Loughts attacker prepared to pounce on the loose ball behind him, the goalkeeper handled it and was yellow carded, leaving Brighton to face the penalty corner with no replacement keeper.

From the resulting drag flick, Andres Gimenez produced an astonishing goalline save, swatting the ball away from in front of his face by the post. But the reprieve was shortlived as, in their next attack, Martin Lear made the extra man count, firing the ball into the unguarded net to put the visitors in front.

Brighton battled bravely to get back on level terms quickly, Joe Naughalty converting a short corner for his seventh goal of the season, and with Borsoi back on the field, looked set to take control. However a flurry of green cards kept them in check and the visitors regained the lead after 55 minutes in controversial fashion. Old Loughts seemed to have squandered the advantage when one of their attackers produced an air shot in front of goal after the umpire had signalled a short corner but the set piece was still awarded and Maciej Janiszewski struck decisively via a deflection.

When Brighton grabbed a deserved equaliser with seven minutes to go, it was a superb goal. Robbert Schenk sent an aerial pass from deep inside his own 22 to find Naughalty sprinting down the left into the opposition defensive third. He beat his man and crossed for Sam Rose, in splendid isolation six yards out, to put the ball past the keeper. In a frenetic finish Brighton pressed for a winner but the vital touch eluded their diving sticks.

Brighton had made a promising start and created several chances in the opening 25 minutes as Jack MacLean and Rose made some tricky runs through the Old Loughts defence but a combination of hesitant finishing and last ditch defending kept them at bay. Naughalty also had a shot well saved by the keeper before the visitors ended the first half with the only penalty corner, which was dragged wide. Former Brighton player Will Smith did well on his return to the club in the Old Loughts defence.

Leaders Old Georgians - who have now signed ex-GB star and current Dutch League leading scorer Ashley Jackson on a temporary contract - put eight past Cambridge City as they moved further clear at the top while Oxted suffered a 3-1 defeat at Southgate thanks to a John Sterlini hattrick. Canterbury were the other winners in round seven while Teddington and City of Peterborough drew 2-2. The results leave Brighton in fifth place and facing trips to bottom club Richmond and champions Oxted on successive Sundays to finish the first half of the season.

Tthe 2s came away from Folkestone 1s on the wrong end of a 5-1 defeat in Kent/Sussex division one, but the score did not reflect the game as Brighton failed to take a host of chances and hit both the post and crossbar while dominating possession.

A superb performance from the 3s saw Middleton on the wrong end of a 6-0 drubbing reports skipper Andrew Bromley.

“From the off the 3s moved the ball about well, making Middleton work extremely hard for their rare chance to play. These were generally snuffed out by the Brighton defence (although not always legally, cue a card for Andy Auld!).

“At half time Zac had only had to make two saves but we'd only got one goal to show for our dominance. An Andy Wheeler/Ed Bending smash in to the top of the net. Cue the hairdryer treatment!

“The second half saw a similar high standard of passing and ball retention, just with more of a cutting edge. Former 1st XI GK Dave Bockett Pugh scored twice, former 'Flipper' Harley Harden also scored a brace and Chris Page scored a penalty stroke. A game of two halves, but overall a great result.

“Across the park the performances were superb. However Harley nudged it and was awarded Man of the Match for his brace. DoD went to Dan Reid for playing like Bambi on ice!”

In the same division captain Carlo Missirian hailed his 4s team for a "brilliant" performance in a 3-1 victory at Lewes 2s, where Kev Browne, Russ Perkins and Harvey Van Agnew got the goals.

"Always a humdinger at Cockshut Road ... you simply can’t beat a local derby especially when you win!" he reports. "A very impressive team display on many levels. Great pressure in the first half, which resulted in two superb goals: the first was a sublime piece of Zimbo magic, Kevin waltzing through several increasingly desperate tackles and lunges from the Lewes defence. Unfortunately Kevin found himself on the top of the D reverse stick side... as everyone knows or thought they knew, many of the under 8s have better reverse stick strikes! Not so ... Kevin unleashed a majestic international level reverse strike; with a thud of the backboard even some of the boys in green applauded!

"The second goal was just a beautiful team goal with several defence-splitting passes beautifully guided in by Rusty! Beginning of the second half a very sloppy mistake gave Lewes a chance against the run of play and they scored. We absorbed the pressure, cards started flying for both teams (#morelewesfireworks) and then we scored another great team open play goal finally crossed by Doc and finished by the latest Vans Agnew, Harvey. Brilliant team performance and wonderful result."

"MoM: Dickie B junior, immense display of over-40 defending. DoD: Kenny yellow card and also randomly falling over literally nothing!"

The 5s lost their unbeaten record in a disappointing home defeat to Crawley by the only goal. Skipper Ramzy Omran said it was easily the team's worst performance of the season so far. "Not a lot to say, we surrended our unbeaten run with a whimper. With key players missing we looked devoid of ideas in the final third. Even the return of Aidy Farthing couldn't get us a goal. Best player was Joe.

"Not the best prep for top of the table Lewes this Saturday along with the team curry night."

For the 6s 3-2 defeat to Crowborough 2 Kevin Mould this week turns Farming Correspondent, ploughing a harvest of puns into his match report.

"An away trip to Crowborough is always an agricultural affair; the mens 6s jaunt across the county was no different. From the first whistle, the 6s ran crop circles around the home team and it wasn't soon before the midfield and forwards linked up to take the lead. The good play continued but we couldn't seem to hit a barn door with a banjo and it stayed at a slim lead to Brighton going into half time.

"The second half was a little different. Crowborough, topped up on red diesel, put some plays together and ploughed through our defence time after time, equalising early on. Then, like a hot scythe through butter, they carved us open again .... and again; 3-1 to the home side before we knew it. We knew we had to get moo-ving if we were going to get something from this game. Grit and determination saw more attacks from Brighton and from a game of chicken with the GK, Si Corrie managed to set up Jacob Sampson to tap in; 3-2.

As the saying goes, 'you reap what you sow', well, we didn't sow enough and it finished 3-2 to Crowborough. School card would read "Not a baa-d performance, could do better".

The 7s lost 1-0 at home to St Francis 3s.

The 8s took on high-flying Lewes 6s at Sussex University, and without a few regulars, called on a couple of Flippers in Riordan and Max. They played their part in an excellent 2-0 win.

"There was also a recall for Neil Burlinson, who in a previous decade plied his trade net minding for our 1s in their home games at Sussex Uni," reports Matt Sale. "We started the game in the ascendancy. With 20 minutes gone a great run by Max and resultant cross found Dreadful, who forced the ball over the line. Riordan was called on to make one reflex save. We created good opportunities in the second half but couldn't find the net and Lewes pushed forward to find an equaliser. With a minute to go we scored a second: some smart play from Neil who found the bottom corner from his reverse. A terrific team performance."