An outstanding performance from Christian Nanetti and goals from Paul Booth, Nic Ciardini, Nanetti himself and Michael Malcolm helped the Rooks to their most emphatic victory of the season against Aveley at The Dripping Pan.

Lewes manager Steve King made three changes to the side which had drawn 2-2 at Hendon in their previous game, with Lewis Hamilton, Dwayne Lee and Christian Nanetti effectively replacing Steve Robinson, who was unavailable, Hakeem Adelakun and Aaron Watson in the starting line-up.

Lewes started the game brightly, with Michael Malcolm seeing a 20-yard curling free-kick well saved by David McCartney in the Aveley goal inside the opening few minutes.

The Rooks took the lead after 11 minutes, when Paul Booth latched onto a long kick forward from Stuart Robinson after the goalkeeper had very nearly misjudged a back-pass from Dominic Sterling, before holding off a defender and scrambling the ball past McCartney.

The visitors very nearly equalised almost immediately when Sean Bonnett-Johnson shot from the edge of the penalty area over the crossbar after being set-up by Ellis Remy.

This miss proved costly when Lewes doubled their lead after 22 minutes through Nic Ciardini, who sent a powerful header into the top corner after an excellent run and cross from Malcolm down the left wing.

This second goal galvanised the Rooks, who began playing arguably their best football of the season. They were unlucky not to increase their lead when Ciardini saw a shot  scrambled behind by McCartney at his near post, before Max Hustwick saw his header from the resulting corner cleared off the line.

Lewes increased their lead further six minutes before half-time, with the impressive Nanetti latching onto a through-ball from Malcolm and finishing past McCartney from a tight angle.

Nanetti, who was making only his second appearance for the Rooks having joined from Harrow Borough, began to see a lot of the ball and nearly claimed an assist when Booth sent a mis-hit scissor-kick from his cross straight at McCartney.

Aveley had a good chance to pull a goal back in the opening stages of the second half, when Sherwin Stanley dragged a close-range shot wide after a knock-down from Remy.

The Rooks nearly increased their lead soon after when Malcolm saw his shot parried by McCartney when clean through after a through-ball from Nanetti, although a slightly heavy touch by Malcolm may have given the visiting goalkeeper more of a chance of saving his effort.

Despite being 3-0 up and cruising, Lewes continued to push for more goals and nearly scored when Nanetti saw a curling free-kick parried behind by McCartney.

Lewes came even closer to increasing their lead with just over 20 minutes remaining, as Dwayne Lee sent a looping header from a Ciardini corner against the crossbar.

The best move of the match saw Nanetti denied again by McCartney with a volley, after an excellent cross from Melvin Kamara, who was captain for the day in the absence of Steve Robinson.

It was therefore a surprise when the visitors scored an unlikely consolation goal with three minutes remaining, as Reece Morgan sent a scissor-kick into the bottom corner following a perfectly-weighted clipped through-ball from Micah Hyde.

However, Lewes completed the scoring just a minutes later when Malcolm rounded McCartney and rolled the ball in the empty net following a through-ball from Booth.

This was an outstanding performance from the Rooks, who undoubtedly produced their best display of the season to comfortably beat an Aveley side who had previously lost only one of their opening five league games.

Impressive performances came from Dominic Sterling, Lewis Hamilton, Dwayne Lee, Christian Nanetti and Michael Malcolm.

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

Tom Harper