Club news
Written by: Stuart
Lewes produced a professional performance to secure a comprehensive 4-0 win at Faversham Town and progress to the FA Cup second qualifying round, reports Tom Harper.
Tony Russell made two changes to the side that drew 3-3 at Bognor in their previous game, with Chris Whelpdale and Kalvin Lumbombo-Kalala replacing Archie Tamplin and Ryan Gondoh in the starting line-up.
Lewes started brightly, Whelpdale running onto a Jake Elliott through-ball and seeing his deflected effort comfortably saved by Bailey Vose in the host’s goal.
Faversham thought they had taken the lead moments later, only for debutant Stefan Payne to be flagged offside after glancing a Jake McIntyre cross from the left into the bottom corner.
The Rooks continued to see plenty of the ball and took the lead on 22 minutes, Lumbombo-Kalala latching onto an incisive pass from Tommy Wood before composing himself and firing into the bottom corner.
He could have doubled Lewes’ lead and his personal tally six minutes later, only to see his powerful strike from a Deon Moore cut-back hit the bar.
Whelpdale was the next player to go close for Lewes, drawing a smart save from Vose from the edge of the area when his attempt seemed destined for the bottom corner.
The Rooks continued to dominate the game at the start of the second half and saw an excellent passing move down the left end with Wood hitting the inside of the post with a shot on the turn from 12 yards out.
Lewes finally scored the second goal their performance deserved on 52 minutes, a Wood cross from the right only being cleared as far as the onrushing Lumbombo-Kalala, who found the back of the net despite the best efforts of Vose.
The Rooks managed the game well for much of the second half, keeping the ball and restricting Faversham to long-range efforts that either missed the target or were comfortably saved by the otherwise untroubled Nathan Harvey.
They continued to look like adding to their lead too, with Moore running in behind before seeing his strike deflected wide by a covering defender.
Faversham’s best, and perhaps only, clear-cut chance to get back into the game saw substitute Jefferson Aibangbee win the ball back on the edge of the area before forcing Harvey into a comfortable save.
Lewes made it 3-0 with ten minutes remaining, as Harvey Hughes floated a free-kick in from the left that Wood met with a fine volley that found its way into the bottom corner to score a well-deserved first goal for the club.
The Rooks rounded off a fine performance by making it 4-0 deep into injury-time, a superb team move ending with substitute Tamplin firing into the bottom corner after being teed up by Moore.
Lewes return to league action on Saturday when they welcome Folkestone Invicta to the Pan, kick-off at 3pm.
Faversham Town: Vose, Vincent, Essam, Kpog, McIntyre, Parsons (Kemp 75), McCann, Hasler, Bennett (Aibangbee 60), Campbell (Moore 81), Payne.
Unused Subs: Gray, Kamara, Piper, Briggs.
Booked: McIntyre, Hasler, Payne.
Lewes: Harvey, Elliott, Salmon, Penney, Hughes, Pritchard (Tamplin 77), Murtagh, Whelpdale (Olukoga 62), Moore, Lumbombo-Kalala (Dalling 82), Wood.
Unused Subs: Kachosa, Panyi.
Booked: Penney.
Attendance: 260 (approx. 30 travelling Rooks)