Men's football news
Written by: DanielL
Lewes FC men produced an improved second-half performance but ultimately came up short against Isthmian League Premier play-off contenders Billericay Town.
The Rooks lost 3-0 at The Dripping Pan on Tuesday night after the visitors from Essex scored a trio of first-half goals.
However, the hosts created more chances after the interval, with substitutes Devonte West, Charlie Walker and Beaux Booth all making impacts and contributing to the attacking drive.
Lewes went into the game hoping to get back on track after a recent run of tough results, but Billericay raced into the lead in the 13th minute.
A counterattack set Alfie Cerulli clear behind the defence, the number 11 calmly slotting a right-footed shot past Lewes goalkeeper Louis Rogers.
Eight minutes later, the visitors doubled their lead from the penalty spot. Referee Jake Woodman adjudged Rogers to have brought down Frankie Merrifield when he came out to meet the oncoming forward.
Cerulli duly converted the penalty to put himself in early contention for a hat-trick.
The best Lewes chance of the opening stanza came at the half-hour mark, when Bobby Unwin passed the ball through to striker George Nunn, whose effort was kept out by a diving James Holden.
Lewes showed signs of improvement as the interval neared, controlling possession even if they struggled to translate that into many chances against a well-organised defence.
However, the ruthless Billericay break struck again in the 45th minute, winning the ball in the Lewes half and leading to a shooting chance for Merrifield, who buried it right-footed in the far corner.
That ultimately put the result beyond doubt, though the Rooks rallied to give their supporters a better display in the second half.
Several chances were created, including a couple for Unwin who fired a pacy left-footed effort narrowly over the crossbar and forced a save from Holden at his near post after a neat Alex Kpakpé through-ball.
Walker, who replaced Nunn at half-time, was also in the thick of the action, teeing up a Tyler Christian-Law shot and backheeling the ball through the West, whose shot required a good save from Holden.
The Billericay keeper also kept out a shot of Walker’s from the right-hand side of the box, earning a clean sheet and denying the Rooks a chance to get what would have been a well-deserved goal.
Praising his side’s response after going into half-time three goals down, Lewes men’s manager Craig Nelson said:
“Adding Parish [Muirhead] to try and help us control the game and Charlie with a bit of energy – he’s just come back from injury, so we have to be mindful of the minutes we give him.
“I felt they were going to bring a bright spark, and we had two more come on [afterwards].
“It was a little too late for me, but it was a good reaction in contrast to the first half. Beaux and Devonte have been excellent the last two games. They were going to find moments to hurt Billericay.
“We don’t want to come here and roll over for anyone. It was more about containment and giving those players the moments that could have defined it for us.
“But, it was a little too late in the day to get back in the game. If we had started with the energy that we had in the second half, we could have made a little bit more of the game.”
Lewes: Rogers, Kpakpé, Watson, Burchell, Bernal, Christian-Law ©, Janneh (Muirhead 46′), Roberts (Booth 59′), Bassett (West 66′), Unwin, Nunn (Walker 46′)
Booked: Rogers, Nunn, Walker
Subs not used: Hamstead
Billericay Town: Holden, Porter, Parsons, Scott ©, Miller-Rodney, Watts (Evans 65′), Lewis-Burgess (Barnum-Bobb 56′), Long (Collis 61′), Ruff (Bonne 72′), Cerulli, Merrifield
Booked: Lewis-Burgess
Subs not used: Davis
Attendance: 351