Men's football news
Written by: Stuart
A disappointing second-half peformance saw Lewes fall to a 2-1 defeat against Corinthian Casuals at the Pan, reports Tom Harper.
Tony Russell made one change to the side that beat Folkestone 3-0 in their previous game, with Razz Coleman De-Graft replacing Iffy Allen in the starting line-up.
Lewes started brightly and were ahead after just eight minutes through Joe Taylor, who finished from close range after Taylor Maloney had headed an Ollie Tanner cross into his path.
The Rooks nearly doubled their lead just seconds later, as Bradley Pritchard won the ball back high up the pitch before finding De-Graft, who dragged his effort wide when through on goal.
Lewes were dominating proceedings and only the linesman’s flag denied them a second goal, with Tanner seemingly just offside as he latched onto a Michael Klass through-ball before finishing past Daniel Bracken in the visitor’s goal.
Taylor was the next player to go close for the Rooks, seeing a close-range effort blocked after good play down the right by Killian Colombie.
Casuals slowly began to grow into the game though, and came close to levelling the scores minutes later, with Lewis Carey forced into a superb save to push a Benjamin Cheklit volley over the bar.
Kieron Cadogan then blazed a very presentable chance over the bar for the visitors after patient build-up play down the right.
Lewes finished the half strongly, with Taylor guiding a De-Graft cross-shot just wide from inside the six-yard box, before Tanner narrowly missed the target with a powerful strike with almost the final kick of the half.
Having been under pressure for long periods of the first half, the visitors started the second brightly and saw Cheklit send a curling effort just wide after cutting in from the left.
Casuals equalised after 49 minutes, as Cadogan made space for himself on the edge of the box before finding the bottom corner with a well-placed strike.
They turned the game on its head completely by taking the lead on 61 minutes, with Cheklit crossing from the left for the unmarked Warren Mfula to finish from close range.
The visitors were dominating the second half, moving the ball well as they looked to add to their lead and giving Lewes very few opportunities to build any attacking momentum.
Carey was the busier goalkeeper heading into the closing stages, having to be alert to help a powerful Emmanuel Mensah cross-shot round his near post, and then making a more comfortable save to deny Elliott Bolton at the end of a swift counter-attack.
Lewes continued to look for a route back into the game and forced a succession of corners deep into the five minutes of injury-time, with Klass and substitue Ayo Olukoga both going close.
The final chance of the night fell to Carey, who sent a far-post header just wide from a Maloney corner, leaving the Rooks to reflect on a dominant first half that they had been unable to build on after the break.
You can read the match progcast here.
You can watch the highlights from Your Instant Replay here.
Lewes travel to Wingate & Finchley on Saturday, kick-off at 3pm.
Lewes: Carey, Colombie, Carlse, Salmon, Nelson, Klass, Pritchard (Olukoga 76), Maloney, Tanner, De-Graft (Allen 78), Taylor (Parker 65).
Unused Subs: Weaire, Gillela.
Booked: None.
Corinthian Casuals: Bracken, Tucker, Mensah, Thompson, Strange, Williams, Cheklit, Bolton, Mfula (Sitch 79), Cadogan, Bendle.
Unused Subs: Mills, Adelakun, Pinney, Ojemen.
Booked: None.
Attendance: 530