Vere made sure it was heavily guarded and placed Sir John Ogle's company there but was awoken by the alarm and rushed to the ramparts to discover the Spanish were assaulting the breach. A force of 3 – 4,000 Spanish attempted to storm the position; the phalanx of Spanish pikemen managed to gain the breach but were forced out by a counterattack. The Spanish then launched further attacks but were repelled again. A fierce struggle ensued, and the besiegers were driven back while Vere ordered wisps of straw to be set alight and fixed on the ends of the pikes, so that the retreating Spaniards might be fired upon with effect as they fell back. The assault never made it past the breach as the Spanish found the rubble almost impossible to fight on and suffered heavy casualties. In the end the attack was a disaster and after half an hour the Spanish had lost over 500 men, nearly a quarter of the attacking force.