Brighton and Hove's men's 3s will face old foes Chichester again in the Sussex Cup final later in the season after thrashing Eastbourne 7-1 on Sunday.

Victorious skipper Andrew Bromley said it was "a welcome return to hockey in the icy cold January conditions" as the semi-final "followed the conclusion of the undercard event (Lewes 1 v Eastbourne 1)."

He reports: "BHHC took control of the game early, with Ed Bending poaching a goal after only five minutes. Ed was on the scoresheet again after 20 minutes but it certainly wasn't one way traffic; Eastbourne created plenty of opportunities of their own.

"The third BHHC goal came seven minutes into the second half from a smart finish by Chris Page. Eastbourne then hit back, making it 3-1 and still all to play for. After an end-to-end 10 minutes BHHC scored a fourth through Rob Noble and shortly after a fifth and sixth from Dave Bockett Pugh and Chris Page respectively. Pagey closed the game out by dribbling around what felt like the entire opposition and slotting the ball home. This also secured Pagey's second hatrick of this season's campaign.

"Final score 7-1 in favour of Brighton and a good run out before the resumption of the league next week. It was also a return for 'Potter', who took the DoD for the week, despite playing well for only his second time in 18 months! We look forward to playing Chichester in the final for possibly the sixth time running!"

Further on the cup front, this Sunday (January 13) Brighton and Hove's veterans host Worthing at Blatchington Mill (1.15pm pushback) in the National Vets Tier Two third round.

Captain Carlo Missirian says his team are looking strong and worth watching and is hoping for good support. As Sussex Cup holders Brighton will be favourites for the tie. "We normally play better against the tougher teams," he says. "Just need to make sure we are not complacent!"

Neither BHHC side in Sussex League division four was able to win on the resumption of fixtures on Saturday, the 7s being held 1-1 by Southwick 3 and the 8s going down 3-1 at St Francis 3.