Players of the rebel club Lewes may have looked despondent following – and sometimes during – their bruisingdefeat by Arsenal but that this team are even in the Continental League Cup and stepping on to the field alongside the holders is exciting.

Lewes is a place that does things differently. Briefly home to Tom Paine, author of the Rights of Man, the anti-establishment town just outside Brighton has built a club in its imageand one that has championed the rights of wo-man.

This time last year Lewes were plying their trade in the Women’s National League (third tier). Now they play in the semi-professional Championship after their decision to find a way to pay their men’s and women’s sides equally, and in a financially sustainable way, was rewarded with a tier-two licence by the FA.

When their opponents Arsenal took the decision to drop the antiquated “ladies” from their name, it followed a Lewes decision to do the same weeks before.

The club that has been 100% fan-owned since 2010 feels a responsibility to represent a different way of doing things even more so now they are competing against sides with huge financial muscle – depending on the philanthropy of their parent clubs. “We are still the first football club in the world to do what we’ve done in terms of pay, so I think we do have a sense of responsibility about what we’re doing,” says the Lewes director Charlie Dobre before the game. “The interesting thing is that, as we get into this more and more commercialised world, the juxtaposition gets more and more clear and a club like Lewes suddenly becomes stronger and stronger. There are clubs that are predominantly funded by men’s teams. I think it’s right that that happens but it means there’s an innate risk there, an inbuilt instability.”

In the Dripping Pan, a ground they share with the men’s team and one that is sunken in the East Sussex landscape, it did not take long for Arsenal, whose superior physical fitness and strength showed from the off, to get into their stride and they coolly took the lead through Danielle van de Donk in the sixth minute.

With the Gunners stretching Lewes, particularly through Jessica Samuelsson and Katie McCabe on the right, it was a surprise it took until the 20th minute for them to score the second, though rather than coming from Arsenal’s slick passing, it was an error that allowed them to extend their lead.

A slow back-pass was picked up by Viv Miedema, the goalkeeper Faye Baker smothered her shot but the loose ball ricocheted off the post and the back of Amy Taylor and into the net. Then Arsenal turned the screw. First Lisa Evans slid a teasing ball across the face of goal from the right and an incoming McCabe fired past Baker. One minute later the ball bounced nicely for Miedema in the box and she poked past the keeper. Two Kim Little penalties then put the half-time score at 6-0.

A lively crowd of 945 watched as Lewes huddled in an attempt to lift themselves before the second half – while Arsenal’s front three casually and patiently bounced the ball between themselves in the centre circle.

Arsenal picked up where they left off with Miedema turning provider, her inch-perfect pass finding Evans who stroked home 10 minutes into the second period. Miedema then dummied a shot on the edge of the box to lose her marker and complete her second hat-trick of the season – having played three games. Arsenal’s midfield heartbeat Little fired a free-kick in off the post to complete a dead ball hat-trick of her own.

This was a stroll for Arsenal and a cruel and exhausting test for Lewes, one that their manager, John Donoghue, described as a “great big learning curve”. But where others who have climbed the leagues – as a part of the FA restructure – have recruited heavily, Lewes put the faith in their existing tier-three players.

An impressive 10 were handed new contracts before their maiden Championship season. And while seven players were brought in over the summer, only one, Samantha Quayle, made the starting lineup against Arsenal.

This was a drubbing but the community ethos and rebellion against the norm is as strong on the pitch as it is off it. That can only be good for the game.

Elsewhere it was a similar picture as the WSL dominated in the Continental Cup group stages. Two goals from Beth England and one each from Adelina Engmann and Drew Spence led to Chelsea’s 4-0 defeat of Crystal Palace, Brighton beat London Bees 3-1, while West Ham scored three against city rivals Millwall. Birmingham’s Lucy Staniforth and Shania Hayles helps them to a 2-0 win at Sheffield United. A Championship match-up saw Aston Villa beating Leicester 1-0.

Everton secured a 3-2 victory against fellow WSL side Reading while Manchester City saw off Bristol City 3-0 and Tottenham upset Yeovil with a 4-0 win.

Liverpool responded to the shock loss of the coach, Neil Redfearn, after two games with a 3-3 draw against Durham, thanks to an 87th-minute equaliser from Courtney Sweetman-Kirk, then won the penalty shootout 4-3.