Club news
Lewes were left to reflect on what might have been, as missed chances prevented the Rooks from taking at least a point as they fell to a 2-1 defeat against Kingstonian at the Pan, reports Tom Harper.
The Rooks started brightly and saw a sliced James Hammond volley drop just wide as they looked to take an early lead.
Kingstonian looked dangerous going forward themselves early on though, with Nathan Stroomberg-Clarke making a smart save to deny Dan Bennett.
Lewes thought they had taken the lead on nine minutes, but saw Hammond ruled offside as he finished from close range after Brandon Diau had failed to make a proper connection with a Tom Day cross.
The visitors made the most of this let-off by taking the lead on 15 minutes through former Lewes midfielder Gus Sow, who headed in from close range after a powerful Eddie D’Sane strike had come back off the bar.
The Rooks should have equalised ten minutes later through Dimitri Hatzimouratis, who blazed a strike from just inside the area well over the crossbar.
Once again, Kingstonian capitalised on a missed Lewes opportunity to double their lead on 27 minutes, as Bennett latched onto a superb Simon Cooper through-ball before rounding Stroomberg-Clarke and finishing into the empty net.
The visitors were seeing plenty of the ball at this stage, with D’Sane sending a shot on the turn into the side-netting as they looked for a third goal.
Lewes continued to look for a route back into the game though, with Rob Tolfrey forced into a smart save to keep out a Diau header.
The Rooks started the second half on the front foot, with Tolfrey having to be alert to save an acrobatic Diau strike and then deny Day at the end of a superb run.
Lewes got back into the game on 65 minutes, as Hammond latched onto a Hatzimouratis through-ball before calmly slotting the ball past Tolfrey.
Kingstonian were seeing plenty of the ball and kept the Rooks at arms length for much of the remainder of the game, whilst always looking capable of putting the game beyond them on the counter-attack.
The Rooks came close to equalising with nine minutes remaining, only for Tolfrey to make another fine save to keep out a Nick Dembele strike.
As the game entered injury-time, Kingstonian very nearly made the game safe, with former Rook Omarr Lawson seeing a strike deflected just wide.
Lewes continued to push for an equaliser and should have scored one with the final action of the game, as Frankie Chappell headed a Tegan Freeman cross into the path of Diau, whose volley from 12 yards out went high and wide, leaving the Rooks to reflect on missed opportunties that could have earned them at least a point had they been converted.
After the game, a frustrated Hugo Langton spoke to Stuart Fuller.
You can read today’s Progcast here.
Next up for the Rooks is the visit of Haringey Borough to the Pan on Wednesday, kick-off at 7.45pm.
Lewes: Stroomberg-Clarke, Day, Redwood, Freeman, Chappell, Frimpong, Hatzimouratis (Olusemo 88), Hammond, Diau, Medlock (Dembele 42), Conlon.
Unused Subs: Cosgrave, D’Arienzo, Popham.
Booked: None.
Kingstonian: Tolfrey, Clohessy, Saraiva, Cooper, Henriques, Beaney, Bennett (Lamont 89), Kavanagh, D’Sane (Hector 70), Sow (Lawson 71), Coker.
Unused Subs: Oguntayo, Whitnell.
Booked: Sow, Coker.
Attendance: 604 (Approx. 75 Kingstonian fans)
Referee: Adrian Harris