Lewes leapfrogged Cray Wanderers into fourth place following an entertaining win at the Dripping Pan. PHOTOS

Rooks boss Steve King was looking  for a response from his players following the embarrassing FA Cup defeat the week before at Evo-Stik Central South side Chertsey and had bolstered his team with two on-loan signings from Notts County in goalkeeper Liam Mitchell and midfielder George Nicholas.

Lewes almost got off to the worst start possible when Luke Coleman’s low cross into the area saw Mitchell snatch the ball at the feet of Danny Phillips in the first minute.

Christian Nanetti was up to his usual trickery on the wing and a dinking run seven minutes later forced Cray keeper Andy Walker to push away his powerful shot to keep the scores level.

The game was played at a frenetic pace with Michael Malcolm and Christian Saunders having chances for each side, before the game changed in the 36^th minute with a penalty.

Another eye-catching break from Nanetti was checked by Mark Willy in the area and the referee had no hesitation in awarding a penalty which Paul Booth converted to put the Rooks ahead.

Minutes later, a quick free kick from Dwane Lee on the left surprised everyone with the Cray defence looking for offside, and a grateful Michael Malcolm collected the ball at the far post but his side footed volley was wide.

On the stroke of half time, Tydone Sterling thought he had brought Cray level but a marginal offside decision preserved the Rooks’ lead into the interval.

Three minutes after the interval, Malcolm broke free but his chip couldn’t beat the leap of Walker, who was also able to hold a powerful shot from Lee a few minutes later.

The game lost its sparkle in the second half as both defences coped well keeping attacks to a minimum.

Tony Dolby’s 88^th minute volley from a corner caused problems for Lewes before it was cleared and Nanetti and sub Ian Draycott had two shots blocked in a late attack following a corner.

Right at the end of the game a Dolby free kick hit the Lewes wall and with Walker out of his goal, Malcolm raced towards an open net but a last ditch tackle denied him the chance to add his name to the scoresheet.

Lewes

Mitchell, Hamilton, Sterling, Nicholas, Robinson, Hustwick, Adelakun, Lee, Malcolm, Booth(Draycott 82), Nanetti
Unused: Kamara, Watson, Pringle
Booked: Lee

Cray Wanderers

Walker, Long, Bentley, Day, Willy(Humphreys 79), Sterling, Whitnell, Saunders, Coleman(McLeod 79), Phillips, Clark (Dolby 75)
Unused: Bremner, Hall
Booked: Long

Ref M Taylor

James Boyes