Lewes FC 2012/12 Day 3: PSF V Worthing

So Lewes have their first Saturday game of the season with their now seemingly annual trip to Woodside road to face Worthing, previous results their have not gone our way in the last two years pre season we drew 0-0 and last year we lost 1-0. Once again, work commitments have meant that I was unable to get to Worthing for the first time and so once again I had to listen out for tweets on the game.

Thank you to Barry Collins on Lewes facebook page for this photo follow this link to see all his brilliant photo's in James Boyes absence from the game http://www.facebook.com/groups/120383828014437/410247275694756/?notif_t=group_activity

However it does not sound as if I missed much with Lewes playing a few trialists and under 18's leading to a very subdued and I would imagine wet game. The game finished at 1-1 with Lewes going behind before Steve 'Robbo' Robinson headed home a corner, in what sounds like a replica of last weeks Chris Breach goal last week as Lewes won the supporters direct sheild over Fisher.

All I can go by for this particular pre season friendly is the reaction from apparantly the large number of fans who did decide to attend. Nickyboy commented on the Lewes unofficial forum that our back four looks very decennt, but we are a little light up front, hopefully that will not be the case as that seems to be a reccurring theme at Lewes.

Once again it sounds as if Karl Beckford had another good game which is promising as he may be the man to fill the boots that Harry Harding left, still yet to finalise a deal with Macclesf.. oh wait his 'new club' yet.

For now though we wait until Tuesday when I finally take in my first pre-season game of the season and Lewes play against Brighton and Hove Albion's first team who on Saturday beat Maidstone united, containing a certain Paul Booth and Ian Draycott 5-0, hopefully it was not be so Blue and White sided on tuesday!

Lewes FC 2012/13 Day 2: SDS V Enfield Town

Now at this time of year, clubs would normally be starting a pre-season friendly that does not mean anything at all. But not Lewes, oh no, we are a community club and so this year Lewes FC were invited along to Enfield Town to play against Fisher FC to fight it out for the Supporters Direct Sheild, Lewes FC's first chance for silverware in 5 years since they won the Conferecne South back in 2007/08. 

Lewes played in old green kit

Again, for the second day in a row I was working and so had to look out for updates from the one o clock kick off in my breaks at work, a very difficult thing to have to do. It has to be said the game does not sound like it was a thriller but from the sounds of things the Lewes team looks like a decnt outfit. It was very difficult to get any team news as apparantly there were, dissapointingly no Lewes fans there. I can confirm the game ended 1-0 to Lewes in typical fashion as it was Chris Breach who headed the ball home from a corner, will that ever get boring?

It was rather fortunate that Lewes did win as if the scores were level , a unique fans penalty to shoot out was to decide the result. In which the scores were as follows:

Lewes                                                                                      Fisher

James Boyes (photographer) Scored                                       Scored
Kevin Brook (club secutary) Scored                                        Scored
Pav (Kitman) Scored                                                               Scored
Stuart Fuller (director) Saved                                                   Saved
Sam Piper (Kitboy) Saved                                                       Scored

It was a shame that there were not enough Lewes fans to play rather than club officials having to fill in but at least in this case we are a fan owned club so it still counts!

Crabb and Walder celebrate

Overall it was a decent first game for Lewes to get in to the swing of things. I twas important to get in to the winning way as soon as possible, after all winning is a habbit! 

Lewes Team: Kieran Thorpe, Lee Cooper (trial), Chris Breach, Steve Robinson, Charlie Leach, Jack Walder, Callum Dunne, Karl Beckford, Max Howell, Steve Brinkhurst, Nathan Crabb

Lewes Season 2012/13 Day 1: Open Day

Saturday the 7th of July and Lewes FC's season is underway at last. There is no game on today, however the club are taking the opportunity to have Lewes FC's first ever open day going along with the theme that they are a community club and all that.

The under 18's ironically pour around the bar to fill out their

 forms

Unfortunatly due to work commitments I was unable to attend this years open day and so I had to keep up to date with what was going on during my breaks at work on the now reliable source that is twitter. As I am sure you are aware the weather we are experiencing is not what you would expect in July and so the open day was desperatly hoping for a bit of nce weather so that the event wasn't a washout.

The main thing that would excite me about the day was to find out if there were any new signings or anyone else staying on from last year. Obviously there were a few players I did not recognise and with the images being so small and no sort of update as to who players were it was difficult to tell whether they were just under 18's or the real deal. However upon seeing a picture of all 4 Lewes squads for the season (Men, under 18's Woman and Girls under 15's) there was a face laughing at the back that I thought I recognised. But no, surely not that can't be former Lewes player, part time model and ex- The Only Way Is Essex character and boyfriend of Amy Childs, Jay Conroy surely? I didn't want to let myself get excited but I had known that Worms was looking to sign a new full back and so could it really be him? I typed his name in to twitter and on his account @conroy02 I could find nothing about signing for Lewes. But it appeared that I was not the only one who thought they had recognised him with @tomharper94 also questioning whether it is the man or not. Desperate now to find out I searched for him on google and still could not find out even what his last club was let alone whether he had signed for Lewes. I only actually found out when I got home from work and on the Lewes FC facebook page the question had been asked and confirmed by Stuart Fuller that it is indeed Jay Conroy, what a signing! Although it does still leave a taste of Steve King on the club but that will be forgotten with a few decent performances as we know he is capable of!

Lewes FC First team

When the first team photo came up I tried to spot what players we have and from what I can make out this is who each of these people are starting from the top left. In black we have kit man Pav, usually follows King so suprised to see he is staying here at the pan. Then we have Steve Brinkhurst great winger signed from Eastbourne Borough, he played here before on loan from Brighton a few years back when we were relegated from the Conference Premier, seems a long time ago now! Then there is Jay Conroy, can you spot the model look about him? Next to him Steve Robinson, well done Worms for getting our captain to stay at Lewes even though King cam calling from two divisions up at Macclesfield! Next up in white we have Pawel our Polish keeper, had a dodgy game last year but is young and still good to have around. Next to him is our main keeper Kieran Thorpe, signed from Eastbourne Town supposed to be a great shot stopper. Following him there is Chris Breach and Lewis Hamilton, Lewes fans will be aware of who they are by now. Next to Hamilton, I believe that it is Callum Dunne a midfielder signed from relegated Horsham, still ver young but was captain t the Hornets. Next to Dunne is a player who I am not sure on yet so still have some more exciting finding out to do! And finally on the top row is Sam Piper, our very kean yet very useful helper.

Players get photos taken for new website

And now the bottom row! On the very left we have Karl Beckford, one of those players who looks tubby but has the legs of anyone else, the kind of midfielder you hate to see playing against you, we signed him from play off rivals Concord Rangers, he scoreed a wonder free kick in Lewes 3-2 win over Concord last year. Then there is Charlie Leach, a product of Lewes FC's under 18's, a great young full back will quickly become a fans fave I feel . Then there is Aaron Hopkinson, also from our under 18's although he is now 20 years onl Aaron is setting himself the target of getting a first team spot this season after a few poor years of football for him personally. Next up our goalscorer, Nathan Crabb scoring goals for fun with his electric pace last season. And there he is in white, player/manager Simon 'Worms' Wormull, what a man. Next to Worms is first team coach and under 18's manager Nick Browne, who also happens to be employed by Chelsea FC in Sussex. 3 more products of our under 18's next in Leyton Scaaf, Max Howell and Jack Walder three very decent players who are all ver cabable of making the step up to our first team . Last but not least I am unsure of who the player on the end of the row is so that makes two players still to find out about!

Overall it seems that the open day was fun and so a success, lets hope the club made some money out of it and perhaps signed some members up, but for now, at last the season is here!

Lewes Play Off Hopes 'Bury'ed

Lewes left on the long journey to Ram Meadow in search of their first three points of 2012. With their opponents Bury Town laying six points ahead at the start of play and a team that Lewes would need to beat if they are to overtake them and reach the play offs during this season.

Unlike previous away games where a careful 4-5-1 formation has been chosen to try and counter the home teams threat, Wormull bravely put out an attacking 4-3-3 with Lewis Hamilton coming in at left back to replace Charlie Leach, Walder remaining in midfield his suspension not taking place until the following Saturday and last weeks hero Billy Medlock coming in as the third striker instead of Max Howell were the only changes from the 2-2 draw at home to East Thurrock the previous Saturday.

On the other hand Bury played a safer game with only one striker, playing long ball with him as their target man. The tactic nearly worked from the off as a balll down field aided by the wind finding winger, Clark chargind down the left wing. His ball in found Sam Reed, his volley forcing Matt Ingram to make a smart stop, the ball going out for a corner. And again Bury kept up the pressure with the corner being weakly cleared by Lewes captain Steve Robinson before the ball was struck against Harry Harding who knew nothing about his block. Eventually after another block this time by Breach, Harding managed to slam the ball away from any danger after a dodgy few seconds.

However it was not long before Lewes in form striker Paul Booth had a chance when Harding won a free kick on the half way line which was swung in by Chris Breach. The free kick itself lead to the ball being head well away but it fell out to Lewis Hamilton who took his time to swing in an accurate cross on to the jumping Robinsons head, sending the ball back across the box only for Paul Booth to send a rather weak volley straight at Garnham in the Bury goal.

Former Eastbourne duo Nathan Crabb and Billy Medlock nearly linked up again for the second time in two weeks when a ball from Hamilton was well kept in by Crabb on the left hand side of the penalty area who sent a low ball in to the box which found Medlock with his back to goal. However he could only hold the ball up for the incoming Matt Somner to have a go which was scuffed and ended up high and very wide.

It was Bury on the attack again next as an advantage was played by the referee after a Matt Somner challenge, Tom Bullard carrying on and his effort went just wide of the post. Bury kept on the attack and another ball in from Clark was headed over by Smith after a deflection off the rather fortunate Hamilton.

Lewes were struggling to amount to any real attacking threats with no wingers on the pitch, unlike Bury who had Clark consistantly putting in good crosses. This eventually took its toll in the thirty-sixth minute when Clark this time put in an inch perfect ball which was headed across the box before Sam Reed was at hand to bundle the ball in across the line giving Bury the lead which on the basis of things, they probably deserved.

In an attempt to get level before half time Lewes broke away with Malvin Kamara able to pull the ball back across the box from the right hand side, finding Billy Medlock who was well closed down, his shot deflecting wide for a corner which was sent by Harding straight in to the awaiting arms of Garnham, leading to Bury going in at half time 1-0 up.

One major talking point on the first half was the decision, just before the Bury goal as the linesman appeared to award a free kick to Bury after calling Booth offside, however the decision was made after a goal kick which the offside rule states you cannot be offside from. However, Lewes were not tom complain too much as they needed to up their game in the second half if they were to gain anything from the match.

However, for Lewes, the second half got off to the worst start as a free kick was given against Steve Robinson for jumping using his arms, something the referee was particularly fussy with all game. The free kick was curled in finding a completly unmarked Bullard who could simply rise up and nod the ball home for a very soft goal from a defensive point of view.

Eventually Lewes caretaker manager Simon Wormull decided that it would be best to give Lewes some width and so Billy Medlock was replaced by the tricky Christian Nanetti. The change made an imidiate impact with Nanetti being found on the left he then swung the ball in across the box where it met the hard working Harry Harding who was able to knock the ball in pulling a goal back for lewes and giving fans hope that the Sussex side may be able to pull off another comeback to finish 2-2.

Bury looked determined to restore their two goal lead and from the kick off Billy Clark was found in miles of space inside the penalty area, however he took an age to get his shot away and so Matt Ingram made a good stop, however it still needed Malvin Kamara to make a goal line clearance under challenege to deny Bury.

Lewes were suddenly the dominant side and it looked as if they had a chance of coming away with a point as Harry Harding broke in to the box before cutting inside his man and seeimingly going down after a slight knock, however the referee wasn't interested and the ball was cleared well away out for a Lewes throw.

Bury were going down easily with the referee keen to give out free kicks for minor instances however one challenege from Somner which on another day could have been more focused on was ignored by the referee, much to the annoyance of the victim of the challenge who got up and gave Somner a shove, also ignored by the referee.

Nanetti also became the super sub hero when he was again set free on the left hand side and after a few silky skills he cut inside and flashed a shot at the near post which fell just the wrong side of the goal leaving Lewes desperate for time as it seemed the goal was coming.

However it wasn't to be and the game wore out meaning Bury remain in 4th place now nine points ahead of Lewes who dropped down to 9th now seven points off the play off places and with current foem a seemingly impossible task to reach them this season.

Lewes:
GK Matt Ingram
RB Malvin Kamara
CB Steve Robinson
CB Chris Breach
LB Lewis Hamilton
CM Matt Somner
CM Jack Walder (Ian Draycott)
CM Harry Harding
ST Billy Medlock (Christian Nanetti)
ST Paul Booth ( Max Howell)
ST Nathan Crabb

Bury FC (03/03/2012) Preview

After thirty games each Lewes lie six points and three places away from Bury Town who currently sit in 4th place taking up one of the play off spots. Bury have only lost twice at home this season and if only home games counted they would be in second place, whereas Lewes have won and lost 6 times each away from home. Bury have also scored the second most goals in the division as they are currently on 61 compared to Lewes who lie in 15th having only scored 35. On the other hand Lewes have conceded 34 goals compared to Bury's 42.

In the last ten games Bury have won 25 points having only lost once (Concord Rangers) and drawn once (Harrow Borough). They went unbeaten throughout the whole of Fenurary and their only loss in 2012 so far was the Concord game on the 14th of January where they lost 4-2. There last three results have been; Bury 2-0 Lowestoft , Margate 2-3 Bury and Bury 2-1 Margate.

On the other hand in the last ten games Lewes have only taken 10 points from a possible 30 having won 2 and drawn 4. They have not won since the boxing day last minute win at Hastings. Lewes's last three results have been Hornchurch 1-0 Lewes, East Thurock 1-0 Lewes and Lewes 2-2 East Thurrock.

Walker Rejoining Borough Sparks Banksy Return Rumours

Mitch Walker

Lewes rivals Eastbourne Borough have signed Brighton and Hove Albion reserve goalkeeper Mitch Walker on loan for the rest of the season after it appears that Rikki Banks has fallen out of favour with the new Eastbourne gaffer.

It is well known that Banks is determined to play his football at the Dripping Pan where he is a fans favourite having won the fans player of the year award in the Conference Premier season. Rikki Banks was deemed responsible for the defeat to Staines having fumbled the ball allowing Staines to score the only goal of the game leaving Eastbourne two points into the relegation zone which would see them relegated to the Ryman Premier where Lewes currently reside in 7th position.

Mitch Walker comes in with other loanee Connor Gough due to return to Charlton Athletic later this week and so Walker could just be coming in to replace him as back up although the rumours are flying that with Eastbourne now having four goalkeepers available, that Banks may soon have his wish granted and make a return to Lewes for the third time.

Walker has joined until the end of the season in a bid to gain some first team experience as he is currently only the fith choice keeper at the Amex.

Lewes Poor Streak Coninues Against Canvey

In the most youthful side Lewes have put out this season a plucky first half lead was not enough to see Simon Wormull gain his first three points as Lewes boss, despite an appearance on the pitch from the manager himself. Lewes did not get the best of preperations coming in to the game with the regular back four; Kamara, Hamilton, Robinson and Hustwick all pulling out of the squad with minor injuries meaning that under 18's Charlie Leach and Josh Phillips had to fill in at the back with midfielder Matt Somner playing at centre back and Nic Ciardini playing left back.

This also allowed further changes to the squad with new signing Jack Walder starting in midfield despite not having played for four months.

From the outset Lewes were looking the weaker side with Canvey island pulling all the strings with Jason Hallet having a powerful volley fly just wide of the goal before a corner found the same man and a fortunate deflection of Matt Somner sent the ball wide again.

Canvey continued to attack the Lewes goal and it looked like they were to take the lead when Alex Rhodes burst through on goal after a defensive error between Charlie Leach and Josh Phillips but the striker somehow managed to, again send the ball wide of Rikki Banks goal with the keeper not having to make a save despite the pressure.

The pressure on Lewes seemed to encourage the youthful side to get into the action a bit and switching talented winger Christian Nanetti over to the left suddenly opened the game up as he beat his man with ease and sent a powerful, yet accurate, ball in to the box slicing through the air straight on to prolific striker Paul Booth's head who sent a perfectly weighted header into the top corner against the run of play.

The goal brought about yet more unwanted pressure on the Lewes goal however and within a minute Canvey should have been level when a simlar ball in as the Lewes goal produced a fantastic diveing header from Jay Curran before Bradley Woods somehow only managed to hit the post from a yard out under a little pressure from the energetic Leach.

Canvey were really starting to make Lewes keeper Rikki Banks work and it was Curran at the forefront again as his hard shot at the near post caught Banks off his guard but he still kept Lewes ahead with a fine reaction stop.  From the resulting a corner Banks had one of his infamous moments and decided to stay on the line rather than plucking the ball out of the air but he more than made up for his mistake when he clawed the goalbound header off the line.

Lewes needed to make some serious changes at the break if they were to hold on to their unlikely lead and yet they were unable to do so resulting in Canvey equalising within six minutes of the restart. Hallett managed to pick out Alex Rhodes on the edge of the box who faked a shot before rounding the flailing Somner and smashing the ball in to the bottom corner across the goal and celebrating with the travelling Canvey fans delighted at the instand come back from the break.

A goalmouth scramble was saved by Banks once again as a shot came in from Hallett and bounced around in the area for some time before Banks eventually managed to pounce on the ball.

With it being clear that the only winners of the game were to be the visitors Lewes fans got some exitment when they saw that new manager Simon Wormull, ex tottenham and many other clubs including being part of the Lewes side which won the conference South in 2008, was warming up ready to come on for Jack walder making his return to the club after signing from local rivals Hastings. 

The managers substitution instantly made an impact as Wormull picked up the ball in his own half with his first touch of the ball sent a glorious through pass playing Paul Booth through on goal, however as he bared down on the Canvey goal he curled his shot round the keeper but to the dissapointment of lewes fans, around the post as well.

Lewes started to get in to the game a bit more and fans were hopeful that they may even be able to nick a win as Ian Draycott spurned a terrific chance, volleying straight at the keeper. However after another scramble in the lewes area, the ball eventually fell to Woods on the outside of the box who chested the ball down and sent a sublime volley past Banks giveing the keeper no chance and sending Canvey well on their way to three points meaning they would have beaten league title runners Lowestoft Town and promotion hopefuls Lewes all in one week, a remarkable acheivment for the previously struggling club.

The game fizzled out after the goal with no chances going wither way despite the undeserved four minutes of injury time. Lewes are hopeful to have at least two of the back four back by the next game at home to Leatherhead this coming saturday however it can be confirmed that Michael Malcolm has joined Albert Jarrett at Bromley, it is not yet known whether a fee was involved and Nic Ciardini has cancelled his contract at the club due to work commitments. Rikki Banks has also been denied permission to extend his loan spell from rivals Eastbourne Borough to lewes and so he returns to his parent club.

Lewes have however signed Wycombe keeper Matt Ingram on loan who will be the seventh keeper Lewes have seen between the sticks this season. Popular defender Chris Breach has also been re signed from local rivals Bognor regis who currently sit top of the Ryman South. Lewes are hoping to sign a striker by next week to replace top scorer Michael malcolm.