Men's football news
Written by: DanielL
Aidan Elve reporting from The Dripping Pan
Lewes men suffered a 1-0 defeat, through an 82nd-minute goal, against Cray Valley PM in their Isthmian League Premier Division fixture on Saturday.
In the first half, both sides were competitive and created chances. Lewes had a good chance in the 16th minute when Danny Bassett shot low but Cray Valley keeper Prince Adegoke saved well.
The visitors then saw a headed goal from a corner disallowed for a foul, in the 20th minute.
The best period of the game for Lewes was the ten minutes before half-time, when, in the 41st minute, a delicate through ball from Devonte West was played into Charlie Walker, who failed to convert what would be Lewes’ best chance of the match.
West continued to threaten when his cross from the right side of the pitch was whipped into a dangerous position, but ultimately evaded his teammates.
The second half was a cagey affair, with neither team creating many chances of high quality.
However, in the 76th minute, Lewes applied pressure when a Bassett volley was blocked and rebounded to substitute Bobby Unwin, whose shot was deflected just over the bar.
In the 82nd minute, Cray Valley scored, against the run of play, from a free kick that was crossed by Fumnaya Shomotun and tapped into the net by Makise Evans.
Lewes continued to pressure but couldn’t find an equaliser and the game ended 1-0 to the away side.
Speaking after the game, Lewes men’s first team manager Craig Nelson said: “I think overall it was a lot better [than other recent games].
“I just think we didn’t create enough chances in the second half to get the winner and, for me, it’s not good enough how we defended that set piece [for Cray Valley’s goal].
“From memory I think that was their only effort on goal, so the boys have done really well to contain chances from the opposition, but we could’ve put that game out of sight in the first half.”
When questioned about Lewes’ struggle to take advantage of attacking set pieces, Nelson said: “The deliveries of the set pieces weren’t good enough in my opinion.
“We gained good territory in their half and, when it’s about gaining momentum and putting them under pressure, those are key moments we can do that – but it has to start with good deliveries.”
Assistant manager Bryan Nzinga responded to a question concerning a lack of creativity within the attack at the moment, stating: “I think today, in the first half, the key players that we wanted to get on the ball had opportunities to be on the ball, and just needed to be a little bit more clinical.
“We need to be more ruthless in our mindset when it comes to being in the final third and our technical execution of any goalscoring opportunity that we have; we need to be ruthless because if we take those three chances, it’s three-nil and it’s a different game.
“Today the spirit of the group was high – Thursday’s training session was one of the best in a long time – now it’s about that connection from training, to the changing room, to the pitch.
“In moments when we face adversity, those are when the team chemistry and mentality need to come to the forefront.”
Lewes: Rogers, Kpakpé, Hamstead, Watson (Muirhead 84′), Burchell, Christian-Law ©, Allen (Janneh 46′), Booth (Roberts 89′), Bassett, West (Unwin 71′), Walker (Nunn 84′)
Subs not used: none
Booked: none
Cray Valley PM: Adegoke, Asiedu, Newby, Cumberbatch (Tumkaya 79′), Agyemang, Bowry, Waldren © (Aileru 90+4′), Adebiyi (Isiaka 71′), Shomotun, Evans, Ajakaiye (Barrington 63′)
Subs not used: Green
Booked: none
Attendance: 816