25/7/09

Lewes' second pre-season friendly ended in another draw this afternoon against Carshalton Athletic.

In a more entertaining affair than last week's encounter with Eastbourne Borough, Lewes started off slowly but their lethargic performace was soon punished when Lewis Gonsalves put Athletic ahead from a corner with a free header.

Lewes management team Steve Ibbitson and Jason Hopkinson were anything but happy with the Rooks' opening and weren't slow to let the players know about their dissatisfaction.

This didn't take long to register with the players and Lewes slowly began to exert themselves, with David Wheeler and Williams Peauroux both catching the eye in particular.

Sam Crabb and Dan Beck played together for the first time and showed early signs that their partnership could be a fruitful one, with Crabb scoring the equaliser just before half time, beating the keeper one-on-one with a cool finish.

A wonderful solo effort from Wheeler put Lewes ahead after the break, mesmorising the defence with a skipping run before rounding the keeper. Judging by his performances in both friendlies, the winger looks key to the Rooks' ambitions this season.

Ibbitson soon began to switch things round with most of the players who started the match being replaced by many of last season's youth team who became so familiar to Lewes supporters at the end of last season, but Athletic were able to make the most of the changes when Richard Jolly's looping header drew the scores level nine minutes from the end of the match.

Despite conceding the late equaliser, Hopkinson is pleased how the Rooks' pre-season training is going. "We're a little bit behind where we wanted to be," he said, "but things are going well and we're definately moving in the right direction."

"The players are more organised, fitter, and getting used to playing together. We are very positive about things."

Lewes: Rikki Banks, Anthony Barness, Andy Pearson, Chris Breach, Sam Fisk, David Wheeler, Joe Keehan, Williams Peauroux, Dan Royce, Dan Beck, Sam Crabb

Subs: JJ Banasco-Zaragoza, Ryan Timms, Grant Hall, Ross Sutton, Jack Walder, Fred Foreman, Louis Bell, Ryan Storrie, Med Koroma, Sam Schaaf