Men's football news
A late
Ronnie Conlon goal saw Lewes maintain their unbeaten start to the season with a
hard-fought draw against Sittingbourne at the Pan reports Tom Harper.
Darren
Freeman made two changes to the side that had beaten Newhaven 4-1 in their FA
Cup replay earlier in the week, with Bouwe Bosma and Shomari Barnwell replacing
James Hammond and George Landais in the starting line-up.
Sittingbourne
had won their first two league games and made a bright start, taking the lead
after only eight minutes through Ben Gorham, who was on hand to convert a cross
from the left at the far post after the Rooks had been unable to clear a
corner.
Lewes didn’t
let their heads drop though, and equalised just three minutes later. Bouwe
Bosma was the scorer, sending a thumping volley from just outside the area past
Harry Brooks in the visitor’s goal and into the bottom corner to score his
first goal for the club in spectacular fashion. There were
few chances of note for either side for much of the remainder of the first
half, with Lewes seeing plenty of the ball but being unable to test a
well-organised Sittingbourne back four.
The visitors
came closest to scoring again just before half-time, as David Smith turned on
the edge of the area and sent a curling effort just wide.
Lewes made a
bright start to the second half, with Brooks forced into a smart save to push a
Jamie Brotherton cross behind for a corner after Bosma had just been unable to
connect with the ball at the near post. From the
resulting corner, Brooks made another fine save to keep out a Lloyd Cotton
header on the line before the ball was eventually cleared.
Sittingbourne
had caused the Rooks some problems throughout the game with their direct
approach and this nearly led to a second goal for them around the hour mark, as
Kane Rowlands latched onto a long ball forward from Ollie Brown but could only
drag his effort from a tight angle wide of the far post.
The visitors
were able to take the lead for a second time after 67 minutes though, as Tom
Loynes sent an effort from the edge of the area past Chris Winterton and in off
the post after the Lewes defence had been unable to clear a long throw from
Brown.
Sittingbourne
were on top at this stage, and the Rooks were fortunate not to fall further
behind minutes later, as Winterton made a smart save at his near post to keep
out a powerful Tyrone Guthrie strike.
It was
therefore slightly against the run of play when Lewes equalised with 12 minutes
remaining through Ronnie Conlon, who cut in from the left and sent an
impressive curling finish past Brooks and into the far corner to level the
scores for a second time.
The Rooks
were on the front foot after this goal, and the introduction of George Landais
and Jonte Smith gave them more of a threat going forward.
Sittingbourne
continued to push for a winner themselves though, with David Smith seeing a
shot on the turn from inside the area well saved by Winterton.
Lewes’ best
chance of a late winner fell to the impressive Brotherton, who saw his powerful
free-kick from right on the edge of the area pushed over the bar by Brooks.
The visitors
will feel they could and should have picked up all three points with the final
kick of the game, as a substitute somehow missed the target in front of an open
goal from just a few yards out after a Miles Cornwell effort from the edge of
the area had initially been kept out by a combination of Winterton and a
defender.
A draw was
arguably a fair result on the balance of play, with the Rooks showing plenty of
character to come from behind twice against an impressive Sittingbourne side.
Lewes will
hope to build on this when they travel to Hastings United on Bank Holiday
Monday, kick-off at 3pm.
Lewes: Winterton, Reed (Landais 82), George,
Bosma, Cotton, Malins, Williams-Bowers (Brinkhurst 33), Sow, Barnwell (Smith
79), Brotherton, Conlon.
Unused Subs: MacDevitt, Hurley.
Booked: Reed, Cotton.
Sittingbourne: Brooks, Webber, Brown, Guthrie,
Gorham, Ball (Allan 41), Phillip, Dawodu, Rowland (Cornwell 82), Loynes (Carvalho
71), Smith.
Unused Subs: Adekoya, Blake.
Booked: None.
Referee: Matthew Russell
Attendance: 446