Lewes made a disappointing return to action as they lost 5-1 at home to Beeston in National League division one.

It was not the result Lewes wanted after the Christmas break.

Skipper Will Champness said: "It was a shocking result. It was the worst performance in the four or five years I have been playing here. There were a few changes to the team but we still had a good side on paper."

Lewes tried a new formation and held Beeston to 0-0 at half time but this scoreline masked a number of flaws in their play.

Goalkeeper Mark Wilkinson made a number of fine saves but he was finally beaten ten minutes into the second half.

A second goal followed almost immediately although Lewes were soon back in it as Marnix Achterbergh struck with a deflected short corner.

Lewes were caught three times on the break in the last ten minutes.

Champness added: "We could easily have got a point out of it but, as it turned out, we look like we have been stuffed out of sight.

"There was not a lot between the sides but they had a good day and we had a bad day."

Lewes: Wilkinson, Bettesworth, Champness, Ibbotson, Standing, McConachie, van Tromp, Owen, Hurle, Edmonds, Wright. Subs: Stubbs, Hooker, Bone.

Meanwhile, East Grinstead were also humbled as they lost 3-0 at bottom placed Oxford Hawks in division two. Defeat was a big disappointment after a good performance against leaders Belper the previous week.

Grinstead were without skipper Jon Perriss while player-coach Ian Pattison only arrived 30 minutes before pushback.

Pattison said: "People have asked me how we can play so well against the top club and then play so poorly against the bottom club.

"Having said that, we still played well enough to win and, had we taken our chances, things might have been very different."

The statistics suggest a different story than the scoreline. Grinstead had seven short corners while Oxford had none. The Sussex side made plenty of chances while Hawks only had two shots on goal, with their third effort a cross which came off a defender's stick and over the visitors' keeper.

Pattison said: "It is the same problem that affected us in the first half of the season of not being able to put away the weaker sides."