Men's football news
Written by: Jack
Lewes returned to winning ways with a convincing 4-2 victory over Margate at the Pan. Reports Tom Harper, photos from James Boyes.
Tony Russell made one change to the side that lost 5-0 at Billericay Town in their previous game, with Ola Ogunwamide replacing Ryan Gondoh in the starting line-up.
Lewes started brightly and could have taken an early lead through Tommy Wood, who saw his powerful close-range effort saved by Harry Seaden after Ronnie Vint had helped a Chris Whelpdale corner towards goal.
The Rooks remained on the front foot and opened the scoring on eight minutes, Marcus Sablier finding Kalvin Lumbombo-Kalala, who cut in from the left and sent a curling effort into the far corner.
Margate soon began to see more of the ball though, with debutant Dom Vose drawing a smart save from Nathan Harvey at his near post after good play down the left.
They went close again minutes later, Ryan Lowe volleying just wide from the edge of the area.
Lewes were handed an excellent chance to double their lead on 27 minutes after Wood was bundled over in the area.
Wood took the penalty himself, sending Seaden the wrong way from the spot to make it 2-0 to the Rooks.
Margate responded well and pulled a goal back just five minutes later, Vinnie Bowman finishing from a tight angle after Steve Cawley had seen his strike kept out by a combination of Harvey and Vint.
The Rooks could have been forgiven for trying to sit on their lead until half-time, but they remained on the front foot and restored their two-goal advantage on 26 minutes, Ogunwamide running in behind down the right and cutting the ball back to Whelpdale, whose first touch was a superb drag back to take him away from a defender before passing the ball into the bottom corner with his second.
Lewes nearly added to their lead with the final chance of the half, Sam Oguntayo being denied by Seaden after being played in by Lumbombo-Kalala at the end of an incisive counter-attack.
The Rooks made it 4-1 on 52 minutes through Lumbombo-Kalala, who controlled a Whelpdale cross from the right at the far post before finishing emphatically into the bottom corner.
Whelpdale was heavily involved in all of Lewes’ best attacking play and drew a smart save from Seaden after being picked out by Ogunwamide.
Margate made the most of this by pulling a goal back on 62 minutes, as Cawley found the bottom corner with a well-placed effort from just outside the area.
The rest of the game passed by without any further clear-cut chances at either end, with Lewes keeping possession well and managing the game reasonably comfortably.
The closest either side came to a goal in the cloaing stages saw Lumbombo-Kalala just miss out on his first hat-trick for the club, shooting just wide under pressure from a covering defender after an excellent through-ball from Gondoh.
Lewes saw out the closing stages comfortably to return to winning ways and move to within three points of the play-off places.
Next up for the Rooks is the visit of Carshalton Athletic to the Pan on Tuesday, kick-off at 7.45pm.
Lewes: Harvey, Ming, Vint, Elliott, Oguntayo, Penney, Sablier (Tamplin 83), Whelpdale (Pritchard 60), Ogunwamide (Gondoh 74), Lumbombo-Kalala, Wood.
Unused Subs: Murtagh, Olukoga.
Booked: Elliott.
Margate: Seaden, Johnson, Kasim, Sterling, Hudson, Vose, Cawley, Ashworth, Rutherford (Dogan 68), Bowman (Sutcliffe 75), Lowe.
Unused Subs: Hobbs, Hill.
Booked: Kasim.
Attendance: 933