25/11/09

Lewes earned themselves a place in the 1st round of the FA Trophy this evening with a 1-0 win over Eastleigh.

The Rooks secured tonight's replay following Jack Walder's 94th minute equaliser on Saturday, and the match was their third succesive encounter against the Hampshire side having lost 1-0 in the league earlier this month.

Lewes went ahead in the 21st minute when Kane Louis started a neat move down the right wing which saw David Wheeler's neat cross turned home by Dan Royce.

There were few chances of note for either side for much of the match, although Eastleigh really upped the ante in the last 15 minutes, aided by careless errors by the Lewes players which kept them under the pressure.

Lewes keeper Rikki Banks made two great saves at the end, one reminiscent of his namesake Gordon from Pele in 1970, but despite the onslaught, the Rooks held on for the win, an away tie at Hampton & Richmond in the next round, and rather importantly, a £4k prize fund.

After the match, Lewes manager Steve Ibbitson said: "We played very well first half, but towards the end it got a bit hairy. We just about deserved it."