Askeans put up a brave fight before going down by a couple of late tries to Eastbourne in the third round of the Powergen Vase.

The London Four leaders scored first but Askeans hit back with a driving maul, which quickly tied in several Eastbourne defenders before quick ball to the backs was cleverly spun wide and centre Greg Ford went over to level up.

Eastbourne's strength this season lies in their backs, especially with their continuity and support play, and following a centre field break the ball was kept alive brilliantly to allow their left wing to score despite the attentions of two Askeans defenders.

Reverting to plan A allowed Askeans to score a penalty through the boot of Blee.

However, this was quickly cancelled out by an Eastbourne reply to take theem 15-8 ahead, although retaliation led to the Eastbourne No.10 receiving a yellow card.

Askeans drove downfield intent on making the most of their man advantage, and forward pressure resulted in Eastbourne again giving away a penalty to Askeans, who opted for the lineout from close range.

While the initial catch and drive was held up short, the resulting scrum led to a fine push-over try claimed by No. 8 Tim Keepax.

The conversion was good and Askeans more than deserved to go in at half-time level at 15-all.

However, two quick tries late in the second-half broke Askeans' hearts, before one last massive effort by the visitors' pack saw a driving maul pulled down in highly dubious circumstances.

The referee, having an excellent game to that point, saw fit not to award a penalty try to Askeans and with several blue-shirted players dead on their feet, Eastbourne raced away for a final score which added a gloss to the final score that was not truly deserved.

Skipper Simon Blee said: "I was incredibly proud of the effort put in.

"But it's a measure of how far we've come from last season that I'm disappointed not to have won this game."

This Saturday, Askeans return to league action with a crunch fixture at The Rectory Field against Guys Hospital.