A poor performance saw Lewes suffer only their second league defeat of the season and their first since the opening day, as they lost 1-0 against Kingstonian at Kingsmeadow.

Steve King made one change to the side which had beaten Cray Wanderers just two days previously, with Ian Draycott replacing Paul Booth in the starting line-up. There was also a boost on the injury front for the Rooks, with Nic Ciardini returning to the squad after missing the previous game.

The game started off slowly for both sides, with a Dwayne Lee free-kick deflected straight at Rob Tolfrey in the Kingstonian goal being the closest either side came in the opening stages.

The Rooks nearly took the lead soon after, as Michael Malcolm saw a cross-shot deflected wide by Chris Page after a through-ball by George Nicholas following an impressive counter-attack.

It was therefore a surprise when the hosts took the lead after half an hour. The goal was scored by Bobby Traynor, who sent a header past a defender on the line after Liam Mitchell had come off his line to block an effort from Ali Chaaban from a tight angle.

This goal galvanised Kingstonian, who nearly extended their lead a couple of minutes later during a goalmouth scramble. Thankfully for the Rooks, the ball bounced wide of the post.

The hosts continued to enjoy the better of the play in the closing stages of the second half, with Chaaban twice going close, although the Rooks nearly found an equaliser in between these two chances when Steve Robinson sent a header from a Malcolm corner straight at Tolfrey.

Lewes started the second half far better than they had finished the first, with Hakeem Adelakun seeing a shot from the edge of the penalty area go comfortably over the crossbar and Malcolm seeing a close-range effort well saved by the foot of Tolfrey after the striker had latched onto a loose ball in the Kingstonian midfield.

The introduction of Nic Ciardini for Adelakun ten minutes into the second half immediately gave the Rooks a bit more energy in attack, with this change allowing Christian Nanetti to move back out to the right wing.

Despite this, the hosts nearly doubled their lead soon after, with Mitchell forced into an impressive save to keep out a long-range effort from Romone McCrae.

Mitchell was forced into another fine save to deny McCrae a few minutes later, as Kingstonian looked to score what would have been a decisive second goal.

The introduction of Paul Booth with just over 25 minutes remaining gave the impressive contingent of travelling Lewes fans hope that their side could salvage at least a point, with the experienced striker seeing his low shot from the edge of the penalty area comfortably saved by Tolfrey within minutes of coming on.

With 15 minutes remaining, the Rooks were handed an advantage when Kingstonian central defender Tom Hutchinson received two yellow cards in under a minute to leave the hosts with ten men for the closing stages.

Lewes nearly found an equaliser immediately, with Tolfrey missing a Nanetti free-kick and the hosts defence just about managing to scramble the ball away from inside the six-yard box.

Despite having only ten men for the closing stages, it was the hosts who looked most like scoring, with substitute Allan Tait sending an effort from 20 yards just wide of the near post and Mitchell once again producing an outstanding save to deny McCrae.

This was a slightly flat performance from the Rooks, which was very disappointing when you consider it came just two days after beating then second-place Cray Wanderers.

The games are coming thick and fast now, so there will be plenty of opportunities for Lewes to improve on last night’s display.

Impressive Lewes performances came from Liam Mitchell, Steve Robinson and George Nicholas.

Kingstonian:

Tolfrey, Page, Hutchinson, MacDonald, Jenkins, Harkin (Alimi 43), McCrae, Huckle, Clayton (Duncan 75), Traynor, Chaaban (Tait 70).
Unused Subs: Selley, Maan.
Booked: Huckle, MacDonald, Hutchinson, Jenkins, Traynor.
Sent off: Hutchinson.

Lewes:

Mitchell, Hamilton (Kamara 81), Robinson, Hustwick, Sterling, Nicholas, Lee, Adelakun (Ciardini 55), Nanetti, Malcolm, Draycott (Booth 64).
Unused Subs: Pringle.
Booked: Nicholas.

Referee: Mr A Oldershaw

Tom Harper