Haywards Heath skipper Henry Goodburn admitted he will have to raise his side's spirits in time for Sunday's cup quarter-final at Crawley.
This came after they slumped to a disappointing 25-10 home defeat by Maidstone in London Two South.
In a bad-tempered contest played on a difficult pitch, the visitors' forward rumbled over three times to secure a deserved victory. Heath enjoyed long spells of pressure, but only had a try from Giles Goodburn and penalty and conversion by Owen Ashton to show for their efforts.
Goodburn said: "It wasn't a good performance. Maidstone's defence was excellent, but we created enough chances and didn't execute the finish."
Lewes remain second to bottom after going down 17-11 at home to Alton. Their failure to turn superiority into points was again evident as they trailed 12-0 at the break despite enjoying plenty of possession in the first period.
Gordon Denslow slotted two penalties to halve the deficit, but a third try put the game beyond Lewes although prop Dave Harris barged over for a consolation score with two minutes to go.
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