Men's football news
Written by: Jack
Lewes produced an impressive performance to win their final Sussex derby of the season, as goals from Chris Whelpdale and Ola Ogunwamide helped the Rooks to a hard-fought 2-1 victory over rivals Horsham at the Pan.
Tony Russell made two changes to the side that beat Kingstonian by the same scoreline in their previous game, with Ayo Olukoga and Bradley Pritchard replacing Ronnie Vint and Walter Figueira in the starting line-up.
These changes saw Arthur Penney slot in at centre-back alongside Jake Elliott, with Whelpdale taking Figueira’s place in a more advanced role.
Lewes started well and came close to taking an early lead through Ogunwamide, who exchanged passes with Whelpdale on the edge of the area at the end of an incisive counter-attack before seeing his powerful effort parried by Lewis Carey.
Horsham are well-placed to qualify for the play-offs and soon began to pose a threat themselves, with Shamir Fenelon getting in behind Penney and putting a cross just too far in front of the onrushing Daniel Ajakaiye, before shooting just wide on the stretch himself minutes later.
The heavy rain and slick playing surface made for an entertaining first half and the Rooks were next to go close, Whelpdale just failing to get sufficient contact on a Kalvin Lumbombo-Kalala cross in front of goal.
Lewes took the lead on 37 minutes in bizarre circumstances, as Lumbombo-Kalala saw a goal-bound strike blocked, and Carey then reacted well to make a fine double-save, but was only able to claw the second of these onto Whelpdale, with the ball hitting him and looping into the net.
A brief consultation between the referee and linesman nearest the incident followed, with some Horsham players appearing to be appealing for a handball, but the goal stood.
The Rooks remained on the front foot at the start of the second half and came close to doubling their lead within minutes of the restart, as Harvey Sparks did superbly to somehow turn a Lumbombo-Kalala cross over his own bar from inside the six-yard box.
Lewes scored the second goal their pressure had been threatening on 56 minutes, Ogunwamide rounding off an excellent team move by cutting in from the right and firing a rasping strike past former Rook Carey and into the back of the net.
The Rooks were playing some exceptional football at this point, moving the ball quickly through midfield before working it wide to give both Ogunwamide and Lumbombo-Kalala plenty of opportunities to run at the Horsham full-backs.
The visitors came into the game knowing a win would go a long way to securing a play-off place, so it was perhaps unsurprising that as the game progressed, they started to see more of the ball and threaten a comeback.
They ensured there would be a nervous finale by pulling a goal back on 75 minutes, a Lee Harding cross from the right being headed past the previously untroubled Nathan Harvey by substiute Jack Mazzone at the far post.
Mazzone nearly scored an equaliser minutes later, his long-range free-kick taking a wicked deflection off the wall before looping just over the bar and landing on the roof of the net.
Lewes defended resolutely late on, withstanding a barrage of long throws and set-pieces.
It was from a corner that the visitors very nearly scored an equaliser at the start of five minutes of injury-time, as Jack Brivio saw his close-range header cleared off the line.
Lewes saw out the remainder of the game relatively comfortably to record a superb victory and ensure they finish with an impressive 20 points out of a possible 24 from Sussex derbies this season.
The Rooks will hope to continue their recent good form when they welcome Hashtag United to the Pan for their final home game of the season on Saturday, kick-off at 3pm.
Lewes: Harvey, Ming, Elliott, Penney, Oguntayo, Olukoga, Pritchard (Figueira 46), Sablier, Ogunwamide, Lumbombo-Kalala, Whelpdale.
Unused Subs: Vint, Briscoe.
Booked: Elliott, Oguntayo, Ogunwamide, Lumbombo-Kalala.
Horsham: Carey, Harding, Sparks, Brivio, Strange, El-Abd, Hammond (Tuck 60), Rodrigues, Fenelon (Mazzone 72), Ajakaiye, Richards (Myles-Meekums 60).
Unused Subs: Philpot, Romain.
Booked: Harding, Mazzone.
Attendance: 744
Photos from James Boyes