Monday 26 September 2011

Uneventful Afternoon See's Lewes Scrape Past Cray

Booth puts Lewes ahead from the spot
A fairly uneventful game passed on saturday with a Paul Booth penalty being the difference between the sides which saw Lewes leap frog Cray Wanderers into 4th place.

The team was a changed one after the embarrassing 4-1 defeat to Chertsey the week before, however the changes seemed to be mostly injury based. The first change saw new loanee Liam Mitchell placed between the sticks ahead of Stuart Robinson who has reportedly walked out after being dissapointed at a loan keeper being brought in. The next change saw Kamara replaced at right back with Lewis Hamilton, in line for a suspension, playing at right back rather than left.

This change meant that Dwayne Sterling could come back in to the side at left back. The formation was also changed as Lewes went for a 4-3-1-2 formation with Adelakun and another new loanee George Nicholson filling in for the injured Matt Somner and Nic Ciardini meaning that Lewes went with one attacking midfielder in Christian Nanetti and leaving the front two the same.

Cray started the game with intent and it took a while for Lewes to find their feet, within minutes Cray could have taken the lead when a drilled ball across the box from the left bounced through everyone before being smashed over the bar from close range. A similar chance from the other side looked like it was begging for a finish before new keeper Liam Mitchell snathed the ball away from the strikers feet.

With scouts from Brighton again coming to see Nanetti he looked keen to impress as he dinked his way past a couple of players before cutting inside and sending a smashing shot straight at the topcorner which was marvolousy saved. The resulting corner very nearly fell to Steve Robinson but was well blocked before he could get his head on it.

Again Cray started to attack and a mix up between Hamilton and Robinson saw Christian Saunders creep through on goal before wasting the chance and smashing the ball way over the goal unneccisarily from range.

About 15 minutes in and Lewes suddenly found their feet and some clever play by Nanetti saw Michael Malcolm have a brilliant chance from six yards out whoch he somehow managed to get over the bar, not quite as bad as last week at Tooting but still had Lewes fans wondering when it will go in for him.

Lewes continued to attack but their play was broken when Christian Nanetti came under a strong challenge where the player seemed to go over the ball, with Nanetti protesting the player should at least be shown a yellow, the referee only awarded a free kick.

However nanetti got his revenge on the 35th minute when again he was causing trouble on the right hand side before driving in to the box and a quick flick saw him take the ball away from his man who dived in a caught Nanetti which saw the lino flag for a penalty. The Cray players protested furiously as they were unhappy that the referee only gave it because the lino flagged.

Paul Booth stepped up in the absence of Nic Ciardini and proffesionaly put the ball into the top corner of the net with clam and prosision.

Lewes had a magnificant chance of making it 2-0 when a clever free kick from Dwayne Lee found Malcolm comepletly unmarked in the area, however the ball also caught Malcolm asleep and he blazed the ball over the bar with a side footed effort.

Just before half time Cray had put the ball into the back of Lewes's net when Tydone Sterling flicked the ball on with his head only for the lino to dissallow the goal for a marginal offside.

Just inside the second half and Malcolm had his third glorious chance of the afternoon and surely this one would have to go in for him, but once again after being played through on goal he tried lobbing the keeper but got it horribly wrong and the keeper only had to reach out an arm to catch the ball in the air.

The second half was even more uneventful than the first as both teams lost their attacking edge and Cray didn't come up with as much as expected bringing on defenders at one stage. However this all changed when they decided to go to three defenders at the back. Nanetti was at work again, this time in a defensive role as  a volley was sent hard at goal and looked to be going in until Nanaetti made a great block to keeep the ball away from goal. The ball was scrambled around in the Lewes area a few times but never really looked like going in until a mix up in defence saw the ball trickle through the Lewes penalty area, fortunatly the strikers missing it as well until Sterling cleared the ball away.

Draycott also had a shot blocked late on. In the last minute of injury time a debatable free kick was given to Cray just outside the Lewes penalty area, the keeper went forward with the defence as Cray went out and out to try and get an equaliser but the ball hit the wall and Sterling sent Malcolm running at the open goal, however he hesitated and a brilliant tackle denied him the opprtunity allowing Draycott to go for goal from range but by this time the keeper was back in his goal to keep the score at 1-0 to Lewes.

Lewes: Liam Mitchell, Lewis Hamilton, Steve Robinson, Max Hustwick, Dominic Sterling, Dwayne Lee, Hakeem Adelakun, George Nicholas, Christian Nanetti, Michael Malcolm, Paul Booth(Ian Draycott)

Saturday 24 September 2011

Two Switch Magpies for Rooks

After last weeks fiasco at Chertsey which saw Lewes crash out of the FA cup at the first hurdle, Steve King has acted quickly to boost the squad for the game against 2nd place Cray Wanderers with two new signings on loan from league 1 club Notts County.

The players come in the form of goalkeeper Liam Mitchell and midfielder George Nicholas, the players are both 19 years old and have signed 1 year proffesional contracts at the Magpies.

George Nicholas is a tall midfielder who has recently helped make history as he played in Notts Countys 1-1 draw with Juventus to mark the opening oof the new Juventus arena. He is a creative player who will also offer an airial threat with his towering height.

Last season goalkeeper starred for Conference Premier side Tamworth at just 18 years old, he also made it on to the subs bench as Notts County played Sunderland in the FA cup.

Steve King commented “Both players are highly rated by Martin Allen and I am delighted to welcome them to the club. They have come through the youth ranks, and Liam had a successful loan spell with Tamworth last season.”

Sunday 18 September 2011

Early End To Lewes Cup Adeventure

Lewes will have to wait another year before they can have another go at the FA Cup as they fell at the first hurdle to Evo Stick Premier side Chertsey Town on a poor game where Chertsey ran out 4-1 winners against the heavy favourites.

The day started off miserably as the players came out on to the pitch in the drizzling rain, Chertsey in all white with Lewes in a slighlty conflicting colours of blue and white stripes. Chertsey fans were no too confident before kick off "It will be difficult today" was the overall respnonse especially as Chertsey have 3 players from their defence missing either through injury or suspension.

Chertsey had won their last five games and had been scoring for fun with around 4 goals in each game, however they had also been leaking goals like a broken water pipe, somehow managing to be the top scorers and conceded the most so far in the league. Goals were expected in this clash which scouts from at least Reading and one other club were there to see to watch Nanetti who one club noted down "too good for Lewes".

Lewes have scored most of their goals this season by playing a beautiful passing game, however for some reason this was substituted today by an ugly hoof ball system in an attempt to bombard Chertsey with balls over the top, but left Booth and Malcolm playing of scraps and losing interest with the game.

It didn't take long for Chertsey to make Lewes look like fools as from a corner inside ten minutes Phil Page managed to easily get away from returning captain Steve Robinson and power a header in to the net putting Chertsey one ahead. A poor start for the Rooks and one Robinson will be particularly dissapointed with.

It has to be said going a goal down did inspire Lewes to play some football for a bit, especially via Christian Nanetti, under the watchful eyes of football league scouts he managed to dink his way past two players before being hauled down just outside the right hand side of the area in a cynical challenge which was met deservedly with a yellow card. The resulting free kick saw Nanetti send the ball in on to Hustwicks head where he looked like he might get the equaliser so soon after going behind but his header was straight at the keeper who still had to make a good save as he tipped it over the bar for a corner.

The pressure from Lewes took its toll when the corner was played in before taking a little deflection and finding Matt Somner who scored his first goal for the club with a diving header from the penalty spot to draw Lewes level and renew optimism for the Rooks fans.

However Chertsey were far from disheartened by the equaliser and threatened the Lewes goal again with a couple of chances from the right hand side with the impressive Bennet twice carving open Ciardini and Hamilton before one shot was saved by Robinson and the other cross was cleared away by Kamara.

Fans of Chertsey were dmanding Kamara was sent off just a moment later when a crunching tackle was made to look worse than it was due to the slippery conditions but kamara was rightly shown a yellow as he completly missed the ball. The free kick was swung in to the box where it came out and found Bennet on the right hand side free to put in another cross which found its way perfectly for a completly unmarked Page to head in his second of the game, another sloppy goal that the Lewes defence will have to question how he was unmarked. 

Again the goal got Lewes going, however it was a bit much for the Lewes side to have to come back again having already come back from 2-0 down on wednesday night, surely they would not be able to do it again.

Again though Lewes searched for Nanetti who again got round his man and this time drove in to the box where he then came under a challenege from Chertsey defender which looked like a clear penalty as did all supporters behind the goal react like it was one, however yet again the referee decided to deny Lewes a penalty claiming that Nanetti had dived or in the words of one very pleasent Chertsey defender he "dived like a C***!" Charming.

The day really wasn't going Lewes's way and not long after the penalty decision, or non decision, another contraversial moment had gone against Lewes when Hamilton had got infront of Bennet on the ball and was sheilding him away from the ball Bennet then stuck in his leg to try and win the ball back from Hamilton but in doing so caught the leg of Hamilton which was in the air as he was running which caused both players to trip over each others legs, surely a non decision, but one that is usually always given in the defenders favour. However it was not to be for Lewes as the referee decided not to take action uintil he saw the linesman waving frantiacally falgging for a free kick to Chertsey to the amazment of Lewes fans and players and even the odd Cherstey fan who didn't really see where the foul was. 

Despite this it didn't stop the Chertsey fans demanding again that Hamilton get a red card as he was the last man. The referee had no option but the send Hamilton off leaving Lewes hort at the back and meaning Ciardini had to fill in at left back meaning Lewes lost some of their threat up front. The decision will particularly hurt Lewes as the decision of "last man" didn't go their way against hendon in the 2-2 draw a couple of weeks earlier.

The resulting free kcik was eventually taken and was well blocked by Kamara keeping the score at bay and giving Lewes a fighting chance as they went in to half time. After all King himself said that a team becomes "harder to play against at ten men."

Howver this old saying wasn't to come true in this case and all hope was lost not long after the break when another contraversial decision went Chertseys way in a day that Chertsey will probably remember for some time. The influencial Bennet came forward again and easily beat Ciardini filling in at left back before stumbling but managing to smash a shot in from a tight angle which crashed in to the cross bar then off the post, no one thought it had gone in until, this time the other linesman being the guilty prosecuter as he flagged for a Chertsey goal effectivly killing off Lewes's FA Cup dream.

Chertsey again continued to attack but the second half felt more like a formality than an interesting spectacle with each Chertsey attack just being one meaningless trip out to the Lewes penalty area. The age old joke came out again as a delighted young Chertsey supporter pointed out that Lewes should just call themselves "loose". It felt like old times again, and by old times I mean Keehan, Ibbo , O'Shea era putting a doubt over Lewes and whether they are really title contenders or just pretenders.

Chertsey heaped the misery on to Lewes fans just gone the hour mark after Max Hustwick had been replaced by Ian Draycott to leave Lewes with just three at the back and leave Lewes suspect. A ball in to the box from the left hand side fund the outstanding Bennet who beat Ciardini too easily in the air to put the ball past Robinson for the fourth time in the game in an embarrising display by Kings men.

Lewes then through forward too little far too late with a couple of half chances being spurred. One wayward shot by Aaron Watson when he should have done better before Dwayne Lee smashed the ball aqwardly over the bar from a good position just outside the box.

To make matters worse for Lewes Matt Somner had to be replaced by Adelakun due to injury after half time and with Hamilton already out with a suspension after his straight red it could be a difficult few games for the Rooks especially as they now have to play at home to Cray in the league, Cray who are in second place and beat Hastings 3-0 in the cup to ensure they are through to the next round.

There is now a worry going around the Lewes camp that players will have to be released as they board were relying on money coming in from the FA cup for the budget this season, especially when they were planning for 1000 crouds every week and the average has been merly half of that. Better will be expected of the rooks next week.
















Lewes: Stuart Robinson, Melvin Kamara, Steve Robinson(C), Max Hustwick(Ian Draycott), Lewis Hamilton (sent off), Christian Nanetti(Aaron Watson), Matt Somner(Hakeem adelakun), Dwayne Lee, Nic Ciardini, Paul Booth, Michael Malcolm

Thursday 15 September 2011

Lewes Fightback Saves Unbeaten Run

Ciardini Hits a Brace
Lewes bravely fought back from 2 goals down on wednesday night at Tooting and Mitcham to raise their unbeaten run to 6 games, they now have not lost since the opening day 3-1 defeat to Lowestoft.

Lewes will come away delighted to have come back from the two goal deficit but also very dissapointing that Malcolm nor Draycott could finish glorious chances towards the end of the game.

The first half was uneventful with neither side really being able to break down the opposition team resulting in the scores being level at half time with neither side being able to break the deadlock. There were a couple of chances for each team, most notably Lewes had to make a scrappy clearance of the line to keep Tooting out. However Lewes had the best chance of the first half and only a world class save from the Tooting keeper kept Nic Ciardini out from scoring after Dwayne Lee pulled the ball across the face of goal.

The second hald proved much more of a specticle and Tooting had the lead on the hour mark after the ball was saved well by Robinson however he had come out well off his line leaving Reece Hall to smash the ball home right into the bottom corner.

Just a couple of minutes later and Hall got his second of the game when a punted ball forward from midfield was mis headed away by captain Kamara meaning Dominic Sterling had to try and deal with the situation but his header only went as far as Hall who swung his body round and hit a peach of a ball on the volley which seemed to fly into the net leaving Robinson standing.

Lewes didn't look as good as they have done in previous games and looked set to lose their unbeaten run.

This all changed when King made the simple decision to put Ciardini over on the right and put Nanetti on the left. The decision proved decisive and Ciardini seemed to burst in to life. First he played a beautiful one two with Booth setting him up with a one on one with the keeper which he calmly slotted home to give Lewes hope.

And just moments later Lewes were level when Dwayne Lee sent Ciardini running before he pulled the trigger from thirty yards where the ball managed to nestle itself into the bottom corner in what was a stunning goal and Ciardini's 3rd in 2 games.

The come back completly destroyed Tootings playing style and after the goals it was all one way traffic and Lewes should have scored at least one more. The first of the glorious chances fell to Ian Draycott freshly brought on for the tired Paul Booth. A nice bit of link up play with Michael malcolm saw a chipped ball sent in to Draycott where all he had to do was get a touch past the keeper. However somehow his horribly struck volley was sent flying out for a throw in on the far side.

With moments to go Lewes were still pushing. Nanetti seemed keen to continue his fine form on from saturday and a flying run saw him creep past the defence and cut inside the box where he drgged a ball back for Malcolm to finish from two yards out but... over the bar, in an exact replica of Robert Earnshaws miss for Wales one week earlier, leaving Lewes to travel home with their second successive 2-2 draw on the road.

Sunday 11 September 2011

Lewes Outplay Aveley

Malcolm rounds of the scoring
Lewes made a few changes to the side that could only draw 2-2 with Hendon on non league day with Hamilton coming in to the side replacing captain Steve Robinson with Sterling filling in the role at centre back and Melvin Kamara taking the arm band for the day. Dwayne Lee was also brought in over Hakeem Adelakun for his experience in the middle and Nanetti was given his home debut ahead over Aaron Watson in a game he won't forget quickly.

The tiny figure of Nanetti lead the way as Lewes were clyinical in the finish to put 4 goals past Aveley sending them in to the play off places on goal difference ahead of Wingate.

A few minutes gone and Lewes had a free kick in a dangerous position from 20 yards out. Nanetti and Michael Malcolm both loomed over the ball and the latter sent a curling free kick looping over the wall and forced a great diving save from the impressive Aveley keeper.

The early pressure paid off and Lewes had the lead just gone the ten minute mark when a dodgy back pass to Stuart Robinson was sent flying down field just missing an Aveley player. However it turned out in Lewes's favour as Booth teared through the middle of the park beating his marker for pace and running in to the box and somehow getting the ball around the goalkeeper who had got down and spread himself well at Booth's feet.

However the game became a lot more open and Aveley were nearly level when they managed to turn Lewis Hamilton, making his first start since injury, and cut inside the Lewes box. The ball was squared neatly to Johnson but he smashed his shot well over the cross bar in a miss that would prove to be costly.

Lewes created a near identical chance to doube their lead when Michael Malcolm was sent running down the left. He managed to turn his defender and make a straight line in to the box from the left hand side where he feinted a shot tricking the defender before floating a perfect ball straight to Nic Ciardini unmarked at the back bost in line with the penalty spot. Ciardini opened his bank with a delightfulk header which was cushened off his head and curled into the top corner avoiding the keeper desperate dive.

Ciardini was clearly hungry for more and was silky to get down the left hand side dinking his was one way and then the other past a defender before driving a shot at goal which was again well kept out down low by Mccartney in the Aveley goal. The resulting corner then saw Max Hustwick have a header saved off the line.

Nanetti was responable for the next chance as he played his way past not one but two defenders before teasing with another just outside the area before cutting inside on to his left foot and sending a fantastic ball into Booth who was waiting free at the back post but mis kicked his volley and the ball scattered away leading to nothing.

To really end the first half on a high Lewes broke away once more leaving the Aveley defence in tatters making it easy for Malcolm to slip Nanetti through on goal where he neatly netsled the ball into the bottom of the net making it 3-0 to Lewes at half time.

Lewes started a bit shaky in the second half and gave Aveley a bit of hope when some lapse defending allowed Stanley to have a close range shot but he somehow managed to drag the shot wide.

However Lewes were soon back in to their stride and Nanetti had decided to return the favour from Malcolm by sending through Malcolm on goal however Malcolm second touch perhaps went a little further because of the increasingly wet pitch and the ball was smothered up by the keeper, it didn't look like it was going to be Malcolms day.

It was Nanetti who was again impressing when a free kick was given in a similar position to the one Malcolm took in the first, this time it was Nanetti who stepped up to take the shot and curled it around the wall where the goalkeeper still managed to get a very important hand on it despite being unsighted by the wall.

Another clear chance was let slip by Lewes when Ciardini sent in a corner which somehow found Dwayne Lee without a marker but he sent his completly free header onto the cross bar but he had the goalkeeper well beaten.

Lewes continued to search for a 4th and it was a wonder as to how they didn't get one when captain kamara came forward down the right hand side and sent a great cross in which found Nanetti who decided to send a volley in first time which was met by a incredible save from the Aveley keeper at his right hand side bottom corner to deny Nanetti a second.

However once again the Lewes defence went to sleep with just a couple of minutes to go allowing Hyde to clip and beautifully weighted ball to Morgan who calmly slotted the ball home on the half volley for nothing more than a consalation goal.

However it wouldn't prove to be much of a consalation as the goal pushed Lewes on to retain their three goal winning margin when Malcol found himself completly hrough on goal and calmly stepped around the keeper and walked the ball in to the net.

Lewes:

Robinson, Kamara, Hustwick, Sterling, Hamilton, Nanetti (March 86), Somner, Lee (Adelakun 76), Ciardini (Watson 72), Malcolm, Booth.
Unused Subs: Draycott, Pringle.
Booked: None.

Aveley:

McCartney, Andrews, Harrison, Ngakam (Russell 27), Wilson, Morgan, Bonnet-Johnson, Hyde, Hewitt (May 53), Stanley (Wharton 67), Remy.
Unused Subs: Warren, Francis.
Booked: Ngakam, Wilson, Russell.

Referee: Mr P Lavelle

Attendance: 601

Monday 5 September 2011

Hendon Battle to Remain Unbeaten

Malcolm puts Lewes ahead.. twice

Lewes dented Hendons 100% start as Hendon had to come back from a goal down twice in a game which finished 2-2. The draw means that no team has now one all 5 games and so Lewes became the first team to take points off Hendon this season.

Lewes started as they meant to go on as they took the lead after just a minute, they won a free kick on the right hand side which was floated into the area by Hakeem Adelakun and found Paul Booth who sent a bullet header at goal which was kept out by a superb reaction save from the Hendon keeper, however the ball fell down to Michael Malcolm who fired the ball into the net from close range to give Lewes the perfect start.

Some lapse defending by Lewes allowed Elliot Godfrey too much time outside the area for Hendon and he sent a sharp shot at goal which was met by a terrific save by Robinson keeping Lewes in front. The early goal had galvanized Hendon however and the hosts enjoyed some good possession for the next 10 minutes.

However Hendon didn't trouble the Lewes goal too often with Stuart Robinson only having to make a couple of easy saves and catches. However  he seemed to have lost his concentration when he took the ball about a yard out off his area before punting it down field. After the play continued for a few seconds the referee noticed the linesmans flag up and went over to check what was up. With the linesmans word thereferee awarded a free kick on the 18 yard line.

Elliot Godfrey lined up the free kick and smashed it past the poorly organised wall and into the top corner, a brilliant free kick but an unnessicary goal for Lewes to concede and one that Robinson will be particualrly dissapointed with.

Two minutes later and the referee made a huge decision in Hendons favour, Michael malcolm had used skill and power to get through the Hendon defence and break through into the area, clean through on goal, only for one of the defenders to turn around, stick out a leg and bring him down well inside the area, a clear penalty. However the referee awarded a free kick and only decided to give the player a yellow card. With the free kick at the other end being so good there was pressure on Paul Booth to step up and do the same, however the free kick was poor and sent straight into the wall and easily cleared.

Lewes were back on top and Malcolm should have added a second goal not long before half time when Kamara made a terrific run through the centre of the park before slipping Malcolm through on goal again, however he took the ball to far and had to stretch meaning he didn't get as much power as he would have liked on the shot making it eay for the hendon keeper to save down to his left.

Lewes started the second half as they did the first and from kick off Somner spread the ball out to Ciardini who won a free kick which he won and sent flying not far over the bar. And just five minutes in they had the lead again when Ciardini sent in a corner which was flapped at and fell to Malcolm who again blasted the ball home from close range for his second of the day and 4th of the season.

Lewes should have buried the game when Aaron Watson, making his fulll debut used his trickery to get into the box, beating three players before his eventual shot was blocked and again fell to Malcolm to surely get his hatrick, however this time his low shot was well saved by the keeper.

On the hour mark Hendon battled away and were level again when a corner was punched away by Stuart Robinson but not far enough and he had to make a stunning reaction save to stop it going in from the next shot, however unforunatly this left him out of position and he struggled to get back to stop Ngoyi scoring from a tight angle, just beating the scrambling Robinson.

Hendon were reduced to ten men with around 10 minutes remaining when a 50:50 ball was being chased by stuart Robinson rushing out of his box, a dangerous challenge from substitute Aaron Morgan on the keeper though earnt him a red card and ripped Robinsons sock which he was booked for timewasting as he had to take his gear off to put a replacment sock on. However Robinson was probably lucky to remain on the pitch as after the tackle he went over to Morgan and put his hand into his face which could so easily have warranted a straight red but the referee decided not to take action.

After the red card neither side really created many chances although it was Lewes debutant Christian Nanetti who nearly won the game as he came on as a sub. He dinked one way then the other before sending a rasping shot at goal which was acrobatically saved by the keeper.

The 2-2 draw leaves Hendon top of the league by a point although Wingate could go level on points as they have a game in hand againt Met. Police. Lewes remain in 6th place, one place away from the play offs however they are only out of them on goal difference, two points above the teams below them.

Hendon
Laurencin, Wharton, Cousins, Peacock, Archer (Maclaren 57), Diedhiou, Busby, McCluskey, Ngoyi (Dyer 90), Godfrey (Morgan 63)
Unused: Fraser, Ambrose
Lewes
Robinson, Kamara, Sterling, Somner, Robinson, Hustwick, Watson (Nanetti 74), Adelakun (Lee 90), Booth (Draycott 70), Malcolm, Ciardini  
Unused: Hamilton, Pringle

Monday 29 August 2011

'Gem' Out New One In

Lewes young midfielder Jed wallace was set to become a league player one day in the prediction Steve King made just a few days ago. That day is today, Jed Wallace has completed a deal which sees him switch from the Dripping Pan to Frattin Park as Jed Wallace signs for Portsmouth in exchange for a full Portsmouth team friendly at the dripping pan next summer.

Wallace has signed a three year deal at the championship club. The 17 year old joined Lewes from Farnborough but also had trials at Leeds and played in the elite football tournament in Sweeden, the youngster had Newcastle also in awe of him but decided to go for Pompey.

King said: “Newcastle were all over him to go up there but he passed his medical at Portsmouth on Saturday and has signed a three-year deal. I said all along he would become a professional.
“We are not entitled to any fee but Steve Cotterill (Portsmouth) manager) has said he will bring his full first team down for a pre-season friendly next year which will be worth a decent amount of money to us.”

Meanwhile Lewes have signed a starlet of their own as they have snapped up Crawley Down winger Aaron Watson. Watson scored 20 goals for the Anvils last season as they won promotion to the Ryman South.

Anvils boss Darren Guirey was desperate to keep the player but has conceded he is on his way to the Dripping Pan.
Guirey said: “Aaron is going to Lewes. I am gutted but they are a big club in a higher division and Aaron wants to have a go at the next level.”




Lewes Avoid Hornets Sting

Paul Booth's second goal of the season helped Lewes to their third succesive victory today as they ran out 1-0 winners in the local derby at Horsham.

Booth Scores his second goal this season
Lewes dominated the first half and came close with first a shot from Nic Ciardini as he cut inside from the left and sent his shot narrowly over the bar before going even closer just moments later when an exchange between Michael Malcolm and Hakeem Adelakun saw the latter go through on goal before seemingly being brought down allowing Jamie Cade, who had just signed from Horsham, through on goal. But Cade failed to make the glorious chance count and sent the ball well over the bar from just yards out.

However 24 minutes in and Lewes got the goal that their play desperatly deserved when Ciardini managed to get to the byeline and send in yet another glorious ball which seemed to be floating over Booth's head but he managed to swivel and send a looping header over the Horsham keeper and into the net to give Lewes the lead.

Just a few minutes later and Lewes could have made the game a lot easier for themselves when a free kick from 10 yards outside the area was floted in by Adelakun who found the head of captain Steve Robinson who's header at the far post was agonizingly close, but just wide of the target.

Horsham had previously, like Lewes, won their previous two games and appeared to be coming back in to the game at one stage when they won a free kick on the left hand side which was sent in and found King, unmarked at the far post where he sent the ball blazing over the bar to the releif of Lewes fans where a goal would have seemed harsh.

However it didn't take long for Lewes to be back on top and the Horsham keeper had to be in good form to keep out Michael Malcolm's powerful shot. Lewes missed yet another glorious chance whem Ciardini darted his way to the edge of the area on the left hand side before magnificantly cutting in to the box and keeping the ball from going out, he drove the ball in hard across goal before it took a deflection and could have gone anywhere. As it happens it fell to Paul Booth who had to slide to far and in the end his shot sailed over the bar in yet another chance waisted.

Before half time you could tell that Horsham may make Lewes regret only scoring one goal in the first half as their tricky winger Tony Nwachwuku skipped past Melvin Kamara before Sterling brought him down and recieved a yellow card for the cynical challenge. The winger looked a trcky player and has already scored 4 goals in his first three games this season, including a hatrick against Kingstonion.

Lewes made sure they had the final opportunity before half time when a ball in found the head of Sterling who's header went just over the bar and landed on the top netting.

The Hornets gave Lewes a scare just after half time when a clever free kick from just outside the area on the right was taken short and squeezed just over the bar from a tight angle with a powerful shot from Luchford.

However, everyy time Lewes went forward they seemed to get yet another chance to wrap the game up but Draycott seemed to want to play it dangerous when he cme on for the injured Paul Booth. With his first touch of the ball he was played through on goal where he looked to curl the ball into the corner but instead rushed his shot which fell wide of the mark, dissapointing from the player who scored freely in pre season.

Horsham had a lot of possesion in the second half like Lewes let Billericay do on Saturday, Billericay also scored in the 85th minute so when Luchford had a free kick lined up in the same minute it was a worry, but the free kick didn't trouble Robinon in goal as Luchford's shot went just round the post.

Horsham:
Armstrong-Ford, Salami, King, Jacobs, Asante, Youle (Osuya 85), Luchford, Peauroux (Hutchings 64), Rice (Hider 72), Morris, Nwachukwu.
Unused Subs: Ottley, Westoby.
Booked: Asante, King.
Lewes:
Stuart Robinson, Kamara (Hamilton 51), Steve Robinson, Hustwick, Sterling, Cade (Watson 65), Somner, Adelakun, Ciardini, Malcolm, Booth (Draycott 59).
Unused Subs: Lambu, Lee.
Booked: Somner.

Sunday 21 August 2011

Hustwick Hapless As Lewes Well Beaten

Michael Malcolm struggles against tough Lowestoft defence

The day started with the weather opitamising the Rooks optimism, with very bright sunshine great expectations were had of the new look Rooks despite the over 5 hour journey up to Lowestoft Town. The pitch was looking great and there were plenty of friendly fans to talk to, one of which made it known that Lowestoft, who were defeated in the play off final last season, have only signed around 3 players and have a very settled squad.

One bloke asked me whether I was ready for our "drubbing" I just smiled at him expecting at least a close game, but in the end Lewes were well beaten by a strong Lowestoft side who are clearly going to put in a strong promotion push this season, leaving Lewes bottom of the league.

From the start Lowestoft looked the better side passing it around well and creating chances. The first chance came when Hustwick fouled his man close to the penalty area over the left hand side, the ball was swung in but floated over everyones head, but from that moment on the Lowestoft winger knew he had Hustwick beaten.

Lowestoft carried on in the acendancy and nearly took the lead once more when a whipped ball in from the right played pinball in the area for a bit before finding a Lowestoft player who saw his shot spectacularly blocked by Hustwick who kept the ball out from point blanc range.

Lewes were not making it easy for themselves with hoofed long balls up to their three attackers; Ian Draycott, Wade Small and Michael Malcolm, none of which were tall enough to win the ball and so let Lowestoft come back at Lewes and nearly score again when another ball in from the right beating Nic Ciardinin to get a cross in, was blocked by Steve Robinson and out for a corner. The corner found its man perfectly on the edge of the box who tried a spectacular volley which fell just wide of the goal.


And Lowestoft still continued as the side on top with Lewes barely getting a touch of the ball before seeing it come straight back at them again, this time Hustwick had fouled his man again and the free kick was drilled in only for a header to go flying over the bar.

Despite the clear upper hand for Lowestoft, Lewes took the lead just 6 minutes in to the first half in bizzare gashion when a ball forward from Steve Robinson meant for Wade Small only found the Lowestoft captain who, in a mad moment under pressure from Wade Small, turned towards his own goal and lobbed the keeper in what would have been a brilliant goal if it was scored in the other net. The confused keeper could do nothing but watch as the ball went over his head and bounced into the net.

With Lewes one up the game evened itself out for a bit and Lewes had a bit more possesion, Dwayne Lee had a goalden chance to make it 2-0 when a ball in from the right found his head just 2 yards from the goal but somehow he managed to put it over the bar.

However it didn't take long for Lowestoft to get back on top and before long they had an equaliser when Hustwick gave away yet another free kick on the left which was swung in and found a Lowestoft head perfectly and the player sent the ball into the back of the net to equalise for Lowestoft.

With little incident left in the first half, the Lowestoft captain got himself a straight red card for swearing at the referee after he thought Wade Small had fouled him. This gave Lewes hope but Lowestoft were still the stronger side and a clynical foul by Steve Robinson stopped a good counter attacking move which could of earnt him a red if he was unlucky, but the referee only gave a yellow and decided not to even the numbers to the distaste of the Lowestoft fans, not at all happy with the referees performance.

Lewes were far short of good enough today and on the right hand side they looked particularly weak with Draycott continually being searched for but he couldn't seem to get himself in the right places to keep up his good goalscoring form from last season and our pre season.

Lewes fans would be pleased to see that Wade Small has signed a contract with the club and so will be playing for Lewes this season after making 25 appearances for Aldershot last season, but he didn'rt see enough of the ball today as instead a long ball method was used to bad effect as the strong Lowestoft defenders easily dealt with it.

So 1-1 at half time and Lewes were still confident they could get a result as they had a man advantage, but within thirty seconds of the break they were losing 2-1 as a ball forward was completly missed by Hustwick allowing the left winger to cut inside the box, spread the ball across and it was blasted in to give ten man Lowestoft the lead.

It has to be said Lewes were better second half but this just cut down on the chances Lowestoft had as Lewes had a lot of possesion but didn't really find anything to do with it and in the end they were getting desperate, shown by a long range shot by Michael Malcolm which was easily saved by the keeer.

In the end Lewes through players forward which in the last minute allowed Lowestoft to counter attack and score a well finished goal to wrap up the game and make it 3-1, with the Rooks at the bottom of the league.

As they say, the only way is up.

GK Steve Williams
RB Max Hustwick ( Malvin Kamara)
CB Steve Robinson
CB Dominic Sterling
LB Nic Ciardini
CM Dwayne Lee
CM Matt Somner
CM Hakeem Adelakun (Jamie Cade)
RF Ian Draycot (Paul Booth)
CF Wade Small
LF Michael Malcolm

Friday 19 August 2011

Lewes Squad Practically Complete

Steve Williams
Just one day before the season starts, Lewes have had more comings and goings, with four players signing contracts just in time to play in tommorows game at Lowestoft.

Firstly, goalkeeper Mark Zawadski has been told that he has not earned himself a contract after being on trial for most of pre season and playing the full 90 minutes in Lewes's last few games due to Stuart Robinson suffering a slight injury.

The reasoning behind Zawadski's departure may be down to a new arrival in the hands of Steve Williams who has signed from Maidenhead Utd. who he left at the end of this season as he supposedly wanted to move closer to his home town Bristol, obviously something had changed for him.

Williams played for Lewes when they won the Conference South in 2008 and since then he had spells at Farnborough before moving to Maidenhead and becoming the first choice there.

Lewes's other three signings are all players who have earnt contracts since being on trial at the club. One player is Ben Pringle who played at centre back against Eastbourne Town and was criticised by some fans after the game.

Another is Hakeem Adelakun who comes from Crystal Palace where he was in the development squad with players such as Nathianal Clyne and Victor Moses. Adelakun has been very impressive over pre-season with consistant strong, powerful performances and King had expressed his interest in snapping up the midfielder who has also had spells with Dover and lastly, Havant.

Dwayne Lee is another powerful midfielder who has impressed greatly in pre season and has had spells with Barnet as well as a whole host of other non league clubs at higher levels.

The final signing is Malvin Kamara who also has a lot of experience and can play at right back or on the right wing, he has had a mixed response since going on trial at Lewes mid way through pre season.

That leaves the squad looking like this:

GK Stuart Robinson
GK Steve Williams
RB Max Hustwick
RB Malvin Kamara
CB Steve Robinson
CB Dominic Sterling
CB Ben Pringle
LB Lewis Hamilton
LB Jordan Lang
CM Gary Holloway
CM Matt Somner
CM Jed Wallace
CM Hakeem Adelakun
CM Dwayne Lee
FW Paul Booth
FW Nic Ciardini
FW Jamie Cade
FW Ian Draycott
FW Michael Malcolm

However King has admitted that he still wants another striker after Warren McBean left the club for Conference South side Havant, indicating that he did not manage to tie down Wade Small from Aldershot.

New Season Upon Us

It is just 27 hours until the moment when Lewes start life, or hopefully just a year, in the Ryman Premier division. For the past two weeks we have been sitting around on our saturdays, or forced to go shopping while football league fans get to enjoy the football, well now the real stuff starts.

Forget Brighton and their shiny new stadia, forget the boring start to the premier league where not a single home team managed a win on the opening saturday. Oh no, we are about to experience some real football, and I for one am exited about this season.

Tommorow Lewes kick off there season with a tough start at one of the league favourites, Lowestoft Town who's last three fixtures have included a 3-0 win against Leiston and a 7-0 thrashing against Needham Market, there other result being a 4-1 win, whereas Lewes have suffered defeats to Eastbourne Town and Whitehawk but dominated the game against Crawley Down, winning 3-0.

Lewes's first home game of the season is the following wednesday when they host Metropolitan Police, just promoted from the ryman south. Their boxing day fixture is against rivals Hastings where ex-assistant manager Jason Hopkinsonis currently managing with a host of ex Lewes players including; Ross Sutton, Scott Manning, Aaron Hopkinson, Fred Foreman and talented winger George Jones.

Lewes will end the season at home to Harrow.

The trip to Lowestoft takes 5 hours by train and 3 hours by coach, Lewes will be hoping to pick up a win but it is widely viewed that a draw would also be a good result against a very tough side who, apart from Lewes have been made favourites by the bookies.



Lowestoft like Lewes have made a large number of signings, 21 to be exact and so both teams may not have gelled yet, although the 7-0 win for Lowestoft suggests otherwise.

Possible Line Ups:

Lewes:

GK Mark Zawadski
RB Max Hustwick
CB Steve Robinson
CB Dominic Sterling
LB Lewis Hamilton
CM Matt Somner
CM Hakeem Adelakun
CM Dwayne Lee
RF Michael Malcolm
CF Ian Draycott
LF Nic Ciardini

Lowestoft:

GK Reynolds
RB Smith
CB Crane
CB Marsden
LB Okay
CM Hendo
CM Ainsley
RW Mitchell
LW Stock
ST Lubo
ST Forbes

Lewis Hamilton may be injured after he came off at half time against Whitehawk when he had been limping for a while.

Saturday 13 August 2011

Warren Mc- been and gone

Warren McBean latest departure
Warren McBean has set the record for lowest amount of time playing for Lewes since signing from another club for the first team, Mcbean sis not play a single game for Lewes and has left beating Ashley Robinsons 40 mins since he signed from Eastbourne Town.

Warren McBean has left Lewes FC after he is having difficulties getting from his home in North London down to Lewes seeing as he is unable to drive. Rooks boss Steve King dismissed the set back as "one of those things in football" but says that he is pleased it happened now rather than later in the season as he now has time to sign a good replacement.

The perfects replacement could already be at Lewes in Wade Small, on trial at the club he made 25 appearances for Aldershot last season and scored twice in Lewes's friendly V Crawley Down on wednesday night.

Lewes do have plenty of force up front with; Booth, Draycott, Cade and Michael Malcolm who can all play up front,  they also have Goma Lambu on trial who made over 100 appearances for woking and can also play on the right wing as well as in a striker role.



Can We Play You Every Week?

Lewes V Crawley Down
Lewes FC have been drawn out against Ryman South side Crawley Down in the ryman league cup, who just two days earlier suffered 3-0 at the hands of Lewes in a pre-season friendly. The tie will be played at the Anvils home ground in Crawley where Lewes will hope to repeat their pre season victory.

Crawley Down have ex Lewes striker Tom Lyons up front who played for Lewes in their Conference Premier year. The tie takes place on the 17th of October.

Friday 12 August 2011

Lewes Sign Gem In Jed

Jed Wallace
Lewes FC have made their 13th signing of the summer as the squad is being finalised for the trip to Lowestoft on saturday 20th of this month. The latest arrrival at the pan is 17 year old midfielder Jed Wallace from Farnborough.

Wallace's development was stalled last year when he suffered from a serious injury, however, he know hopes to continue developing and playing football at Lewes.

Wallace has already played football in Sweeden this summer in elite football where he supposedly did very well, he has also been on trial at football league club, where to Lewes's gain, he was not offered a deal.

Steve King is also trying to finalise deals for midfielder Hakeem Adelakun who will sign from Crystal Palace where he was in the acadamy with players like Nathinal Clyne. Another signing in the pipeline is Dwayne Lee, another powerful midfield player who has a host of experience including Barnet.

Also on trial at Lewes is Malvin Kamara, a right back or winger who also has plenty of football league experience, another is striker Wade Small who scored twice as Lewes beat Crawley Down on Wednesday night. Small has football league experience with Aldershot having made 25 appearances for them just last season.

Thursday 11 August 2011

Fabregas To Finally Complete Barca Return

Two key players for Arsenal; Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri are both on the verge of completing moves away from the club according to Arsenal manager Arsne Wenger. They will move to clubs Barcalona and Manchester City respectivly.

Fabregas is supposedly going for £35 million compared to Nasri's £22 million move.

"We hope it will be sorted out very quickly one way or the other," Wenger said of Fabregas.
"The Nasri situation is stable. Again it is very difficult to speak about possible transfers but we are in a situation where we have to make decisions one way or the other. Ideally you want it to be sorted out before the season starts."

All the funds from these sales will be made available for Wenger to spend on new players, he is likely to replace the two midfielders as well as signing a much needed defender to make the wobbly gunners defence more stable. Scott Dann, Phil Jagielka and Gary Cahill are just some of the names being linked to the London club.

Arsenal had hoped to gain £40 million for Fabregas but after the latest take it or leave it offer, they felt that they would have to let him go with the champions league registration coming up sson, and Wenger is keen to get the deals done before the start of the season. Fabregas will be due £4 million compensation from Arsenal, £1million for every year left on his contract, but it is believed that he will not demand that in order to make the deal easier.

Fabregas joined Arsenal from Barcalona in 2003 and Barca have been attempting to get him back dince 2010, in a deal that has been ridiculously dragged out and is now finally going to be wrapped up.

Nasri can move on a free next year, which Wenger stated he would allow him to do, but City want him now and would rather pay the £22 million for this season rather than wait till next summer when they would have the chance to get him on a free providing Arsenal don't talk him in to signing a new deal.

Lewes Look Like Force

Dwayne Lee
On wednesday evening Lewes were preparing for their final home friendly before the game up at Lowestoft on saturday the 20th. Their pre season form so far had been average having already had three games resulting in 3-2, Lewes being on the right scorline of two of them. However, against Crawley Down, the rooks looked like a proper team playing beautiful flowing football that has not been witnessed in red and black at the pan for some time.

Lewes again scored three goals in a game that saw Tom Lyons return to the pan for Crawley Down, but this time Lewes kept their first clean sheet of pre-season as Crawley were comprehensivly beaten.

The Rooks needed a few minutes to get into the game with a few balls pumped up field by Malvin Kamara not finding anyone up front, however it did not take long before Lewes clicked and were one up within four minutes courtesy of a Wade Small strike after being played through on goal where he made no mistake of smashing the ball into the top corner, giving good first impressions of the trialist from league 2 side Aldershot.

Crawley Down never looked like getting back in to the game and Lewes had numerous chances that could have resulted in goals. Their attacking play was execptional and with three players up front Lewes players were not short of attacking options when going forward, something Rooks fans may be unused to.

Nic Ciardini nearly created the next chance after the strong and powerful Hakeem Adelakun won the ball in midfield and immediatly picking out Ciardini who played a neat one two with Lewis Hamilton allowing Ciardini into the box where he squared the ball only for Crawley to clear.

The game was full of beautifully worked moves like this in which it was clear to see that Lewes had been practscing away on, promising delightful football this season.

Lewes could of had another when it was Michael Malcolm who was this time slipped through only for a vital block from Crawley stopping him from getting his shot away properly.

The second goal did come for Lewes though and once again it was Wade Small who stepped up to the mark when the ball was played down the left hand side and cut back across by Lewis Hamilton where it eventually found its way to the feet of Small who yet agin blasted the ball into the top of the net making sure there was a two goal cushion between the sides at half time.

After the break Lewes didn't let up and immediatly added a third when Nic Ciardini was sent running down the left and got away from his marker who slid rashley in the boc, bringing Ciardini down, giving Lewes fans a chance to see who would be taking penalties this season. The answer was Ciardini himself, having scored a few goals already in pre season, he took the spot kick confidently down in the bottom left beating the keeper despite going the right way.

After going 3-0 up Lewes gradually made change after change, breaking the sides flow a bit. Substitute Jed Wallace, a centeral midfielder from Farnborough, was in position to create a couple of great chances, but on both occasions failed to make the pay, the first he intercepted a sloppy pass near the box but managed to smash the cross way over the goal. The second chance was even better when he was played down the left hand side where he used his pace to get in past the defence and cut into the box but tried smashing the ball towards goal rather than squaring it across which didn't work out for him as he sent the ball wide.

Lewes kept pressing and Jamie Cade had a glorious chance to stake his place in the team when a clever exchange in passes between him and Paul Booth lead to him clean through only for him to smash the ball way over the bar and out of the grounds.

Lewes kept up their attacking style of play, but Crawley Down did have one good chance in a game Lewes dominated when a ball was played in from the right giving a Crawley striker a free header but Mark Zawadski was well placed to catch the ball and keep it out.

So Lewes next make the trip to Withdean to play against Whitehawk where they could face a selction of old faces including Chris Winterton, Sami El-Abd, Any Pearson and Joe Keehan, however one problem they will have to sought out is offsides and sloppy set pieces in what will surely be a tough test before they head off to Lowestoft for the first game of the season.

Lewes: Mark Zawadski, Malvin Kamara (Max Hustwick), Steve Robinson, Dominic Sterling, Lewis Hamilton (Jordan Lang), Hakeem Adelakun (Jaime Cade), Dwayne Lee (Jed Wallace), Matt Somner, Nic Ciardini (G.Lambu), Michael Malcolm (Ian Draycott), Wade Small (Paul Booth)


Sunday 7 August 2011

Bridport Battle To Remain Unbeaten

This week I visited the Dorset town of Chideock after realising that Dorset is the only county that does not have a motor way, my journey up taking over 5 hours after leaving at 7.30 am, showed me why Dorset desperatly needs one.

The journey up was meant to take a measly 3 hours, and all was going well until we stopped of at Ringwood to take the dog on a walk, when the traffic decided to build up on the road next to us so that we had nothing but sitting in a traffic jam for the rest of the journey.

Dinner was late the first night as a BBQ from Argos took a while to construct as the parts were extremly wobbly. When me and my friend, Matt had eventually constructed the dodgy contraption, it was lit immediatly due to hunger, only for the poor neibours to remove their washing from the line as the windsheild, designed by Argos didn't seem to stop the smoke from gassing the neibours... the burgers were nice though.

On tuesday we had planned to go and see Bridport town FC against Exeter Youths, Bridport were unbeaten before the game having played fixtures such as beating Dorchester 3-1 and drawing with Plymouth youths. Bridport play in the same colours as Lewes FC and it felt remarkably welcoming, with Lewes playing on the same night againt Hampton (3-2 win!) I could have been forgiven for thinking I was there.

On the day of the game we went to Hugh Fernly Whittingstalls resturant in Axeminster where i dulged into a £8 cooked breakfast which was very tasty although I could have done with more, but that is posh food places for you, unlike our day at Splashdown in Bournemouth where it was KFC for lunch and 'Maccy D's' for lunch.

The game started with Exeters young players outplaying Bridport with their beautiful passing motion which was quite a shock to see the young under 18's doing, however Bridport soon found their feet and looked good through their left back's pace running down the left causing Exeter big problems.

However it was Exeter who took the lead when a clever one two set the midfielder up on the edge of the box where he calmly side footed it into the very bottom right corner.

Not long before half time I went to get the burgers as Bridport had made an announcemnt that they would not be taking any more "orders" at half time. However in doing so I missed two goals, I completly missed the Bridport equaliser and I caught a glimps of Exeter taking the lead again literally on the half time whistle. A free kick was given on the left of the box where a simple ball was chipped in to the box for a youth player to head the ball home.

Despite the set back, Bridport were encouraged by the goal that they scored and battled on eventually levelling the game.

The Exeter sub goalkeeper was kept very busy and nearly caused trouble when a ball came in to the box and the young keeper rushed out for unnecissarily only for Bridport to win the ball and a shot was well blocked keeping the score level.

With only a minuet to go at 2-2 Bridport were confident of keeping up their unbeaten record in pre season, however Exeter were on the attack under the blare of the extremly bright floodlights. The youth team played a low ball into the box which was deflected out where the same midfielder was given far too much time to hit the ball home again to surely give Exeter the win.

But yet again Bridport were not giving up and had a penalty shout moments later when an Exeter substitute slipped in the area and handelled the ball, however the referee claimed not to see, much to the disturbance of the three old women sitting behind us who gave us a laugh with their constant noises throughout the match, this decision drawing a particularly memorable "oooohhhh"
















However, Bridport did eventually get their penalty when a Exeter challenge appeared to win the ball but maybe the referee regretted his earlier decision and so awarded Bridport the penalty which was calmly slotted away by Dan Wise to maintain Bridports unbeaten record.

Sunday 24 July 2011

Worthing Win Over Wobbly Rooks

Fenelon on trial against one of his former clubs
Steve King suffered his first defeat since returning to the Lewes job in just his second friendly at the club, falling down to Ryman South side Worthing. King decided to experiment with his side that won against St Neots last week by bringing Stuart Robinson out of the goal and replacing him with Mark Zawadski on trial from Horsham.

Another trialist Dylan Merchant also replaced Jordan Lang meaning Hamilton was over at left back with Merchant on the right. There was even one more trialist on display in the form of Hakin who played solidly in the centre of midfield replacing Jed Wallace, on trial at the club last week.

Rooks legendary striker Paul Booth also fitted in to the side replacing Jamie Cade after he has now returned from his holiday.

In a game that you would expect this Lewes sie to dominate, Lewes fell short in what seemed very much like a training game for the Rooks against the Rebels.

Lewes actually started the game on the upper foot and could have been two nil up within the first ten minuets when Ian Draycott, who was playing on the wide right side, was played through on goal only for his shot blocked well after he took a second too long to get his shot away.

The second chance came when a similar ball played attacking midfielder, Michael Malcolm, through but again hesitated before his shot was well blocked on to the side netting by the Worthing keeper who had a good game.

Lewes carried on the offensive style and a Hamilton cross found the top of Paul Booths head which looped up a came close to coming back down into the net but fell just over the bar. Just moments later and the head of Paul Booth had yet another chance, this time Nic Ciardini the creator as his ball found Booth perfectly but he dragged the header just wide of the post.

However, despite Lewes having the majority of chances, Worthing were the team to brake the deadlock when a ball into the box was bouncing up and fell to trialist Dylan Merchant at chest level, the right back attempted the chest the ball back to keeper Mark Zawadski but it was week and Worthing striker, Steve Davis, crept inside and headed the ball in from 1 yard out.

Fans may have expected Lewes to create a wonderful turn around like last week at St Neots but the rest of the half didn't promise much with just two week shots on goal, one from a Michael Malcolm free kick which found its way under the wall but wasn't strong enough to beat the Worthing keeper. The other from Matt Somner who took a shot which was easy for the keeper to dive on.

Lewes made some changes for the second half, bringing on Stuart Robinson in goal and bringing on new signing Warren Mcbean who played on the left wing with Nic Ciardini moving back to left back.

With the game going on and on, no team were creating major chances despite Stuart Robinson having to make a few very good saves from the giant keeper, although his first three goalkicks were miss kicked allowing Worthing to keep coming back at Lewes.

However, again it was Lewes who had the best chances of the second half with Chamel Fenelon, on trial to come back to the club, came on for Ian Draycott and the tired Booth was taken of and replaced by another trialist Nayim.

Lewis Hamilton came forward from his right back position in the second half and twice managed to turn the defender inside out, running in to the box and playing square balls across, only for the strikers various shots to be very well blocked by a resilient Worthing defence.

Fenelon looked strong on the left and barged his way down the wing with strenght and speed before whipping a ball in to the box only for Hakin to drill the ball high and wide. Fenelon repeated this run moments later but this time went alone and sent a powerful shot at goal which the Worthing keeper again made a great save, however the ball fell down to Warren McBean with the goalkeeper on the floor, he side footed away from the last defender only for Nayim to be in his way and Nayim took a week shot on goal which the keeper was able to wrap up.

In the end Worthing deserved their lead as they were more up for the game than Lewes who seemed to just want a run around, however with improved performances sure to come Lewes will look ahead to next week when they will hope to put in a better performance againts a good Essex Utd. side.

Friday 22 July 2011

McBean And Malcolm Latest Rooks

Michael Malcolm
Lewes have pulled off two magnificant signings in forward players Michael Malcolm and Warren McBean who come from Farnborough and Bromley respectivly.

Michael Malcolm is a striker who follows King from Farnborough. The 25 year old who can also play as a right winger has been at Wycombe and Stockport as well as being a trainee at Spurs.

In 2007 Malcolm joined, then onference North side Kettering and clearly impressed as a month later he found him self at Conference Premier side Rushden.

Just last season Malcolm started at big spenders Crawley but was loaned out to also Conference Premier side Hayes before King signed him for Farnborough last christmas.

Warren McBean
The other signing, Warren Mcbean joins up with an already impressive strikeforce including Paul Booth and Ian Draycott. McBean is well known to Conference football as he was such a key player for Bromley and finished their top scorer two seasons ago.

McBean has played for a host of clubs including; Barnet, Farnborough, St Albans and Sutton before making the switch to Bromley in 2009 and quickly establishing himself there.

Steve King is delighted with his new players as the squad is coming together and had this to say on them:

"Both are very talented signings and each are capable of 20 goals a season, as all my strikers are."
"Strikers win you games and we've got four of the best in the Ryman league."

King was particularly pleased to have secured long term target Michael Malcolm stating that he is a "big signing for Lewes Football Club".