The claggy ground did neither side any favours and the Blue & Golds, sporting their redesigned strip were grateful for the lighter weight of the new-look shirts. But it took a determined effort by the team for whom Nathan Ring scored 18 points, to see off the opposition who battled to the last.

Led by Russ Aitkenhead in the season-long absence of skipper Tobin, Eastbourne made a bright start when good work by the second row pairing of Chilvers and Mottram carried the Eastbourne scrum-half over for the first score. Ring certainly had his kicking boots on and was successful with all six chances presented to him. But it was clear that the home front row were not going to give second best and the tight game remained even right to the final whistle.

An early injury to No.10 Cousins might have disrupted the Eastbourne game plan but the move of Martin King to fly-half and the introduction of Rob Light into the centre proved to be anything but a resounding success. However it was the elusive outside centre Ring who burst through on the half hour and touched down under the posts which, together with his conversion and a simple penalty, gave the 17-0 half time cushion.

In the second half, Newick were having to chase the game and despite being denied difficult decisions, it was Eastbourne who remained on the front foot for the rest of the match. Luke Turner peeled off the back of a 5 metre scrummage to score easily and on 25 minutes the ball passed through 6 pairs of hands enabling Rob Fenner to touch down in the corner, a try which was magnificently converted by Ring.

A decent crowd were ecstatic on the half hour to see popular prop Matt Webb put in a 40 metre dash and off-load for Rob Light to finish the game with 5 points of his own. And whilst there were several fine individual performances, the adjudicator decided that it was King who had deserved the man-of-match award

`We came through well` was the verdict of coach Mal Chumbley, `but fitness needs to improve for the games ahead`

Eastbourne Team: Barron, Bettles, Webb, Chilvers, Mottram, Redman Curtis, Turner, Aitkenhead, Cousins, Sage, Ring, King, Fenner Stevenson, Light, Jameson, Keen