Men's football news
Written by: Joe
Lewes FC staged a late comeback to eventually beat Ashford United 8-7 on penalties after a dramatic FA Trophy tie finished 2-2 at the Dripping Pan on Saturday, reports Will Hugall.
On an afternoon that celebrated the formation of the Lewes Football Foundation, the Rooks had to dig deep to avoid exiting the competition and it was two changes before the 70th minute changed the face of the game.
Nabeel Ghannam and Tolu Ladapo both made the most of their chances from the bench as they swung the momentum after Ashford had taken a two-goal lead, helping Shae Hutchinson and Alfie Allen to level things up and take the game to a shoot-out.
Allen’s composed finish in the 92nd minute provided just reward for Lewes’ workrate at the death.
Lewes then held their nerve from the spot, with Toby Bull making a fine save before scoring himself and then seeing Will Moses’ effort go over the bar to confirm the win.
Changes to Rooks XI
The Rooks were much-changed for the tie, with manager Craig Nelson not the only absentee as he undertook a coaching course in Wales.
Previously ever-present left-back Jack Enkh was out of the squad alongside centre-backs Ethan Kaiser (ankle) and Peter Ejemen (suspended), meaning defensive midfielder Parish Muirhead and new signing Marcel McIntosh slotted into an unusual backline.
The tie’s early stages saw the sides feeling each other out, with Lewes keen to stick to their usual passing principles despite the sodden conditions and Ashford responding with a solid defensive stand.
Before either side had enjoyed a genuine sight of goal, however, a moment of incredulity in the 28th minute put the visitors ahead. Ronald Sithole’s cross from the right didn’t seem threatening but it skidded off the turf, and then Toby Bull’s gloves, to creep over the line.
Lewes responded well, with Marcus Sablier having a powerful effort blocked before Danny Bassett and Hutchinson both went on invasive runs into the Ashford box.
They were not troubling ex-Chelsea Academy goalkeeper Mitchell Beeney, however, and the next big chance fell to the visitors.
Three minutes before half-time, Bull pulled off a beautiful stop to turn Adem Ramadan’s outside-of-the-boot effort around his far post.
But Ashford continued to find space on the counter-attack after the break and, in the 51st minute, Sithole fired at Bull and the ball spilled to Gary Lockyer, who drilled home.
Lewes needed something special to come back into the contest at this point, and almost had it three minutes later. Hutchinson benefited from a tremendous clipped through ball by captain Bassett to find himself one-on-one from 18 yards with Benney, who he skipped around before lofting a shot onto the crossbar with the goal begging.
That moment aside, Ashford were growing in confidence and almost went 3-0 up on the hour mark, with Bull at full stretch to steer Jack Saunders’ 20-yard effort away from the top right corner.
The Nuts and Bolts then had a goal disallowed, with Lockyer flagged for offside when assisting Ramadan for a close-range finish.
Subs make the difference
On came Ghannam and Ladapo for the final 20 minutes and their presence turned the tie.
Ghannam was full of beans, and with plenty of willing running he opened space for Mundele and Bassett to connect down the left, with the latter firing a cross past both Ghannam and Ladapo in the middle.
Lewes were showing their usual attacking verve at this stage, and it was just a matter of time and Ashford’s defensive grit that would determine if the tie had a tense conclusion.
In the 80th minute, the pressure would finally tell.
Ladapo broke away on the right from a fantastic raking pass, and he was ably supported by two options, of which he picked out Hutchinson for a powerful finish that struck Beeney on its way into the roof of the net.
Just 90 seconds later, there was a real scramble in the Ashford box as the Rooks sent in another wave of pressure, and after two blocked shots, Allen blasted just wide of the left post.
Ashford were doing all they could to run down the clock as time remained scarce, and Lewes were throwing all they could at the problem.
Bassett was playing incredibly in the second half as a quarterback-like presence on the left, and found Ghannam in space for another nerve-jangling ball across the box, again unfortunately with no recipient.
When the clock struck 90 minutes and the visitors looked like they might hold out, Lewes pulled a rabbit out of the hat.
Ladapo again ran free on the right and squared the ball, with the responsibility falling to an ice-cold Allen, who struck into the bottom-left corner with 92 minutes on the clock to level things up at 2-2.
Bull shines in the shoot-out
Given the performance that had marked those last 20 minutes, Lewes were well worth the penalty shoot-out they had secured.
If the game had been dramatic, then spot kicks was double that.
Ghannam netted before Beeney boldly stepped up to drill past Bull, and when Allsopp scored, an outstanding save by Bull to deny Lockyer was huge.
Hutchinson scored but Louis Collins did too, and when Sablier had his kick to the bottom left corner turned wide by Beeney, Ashford were grateful to then have James Dunne find the top right corner to make it 3-3.
It was sudden death from there, and as Bassett buried the ball just past Beeney into the bottom left corner, there was huge pressure on Kedwell’s son, Preston, who had come on in added time.
The junior Kedwell netted with a cool head, and with Ladapo and Carney both successful, the shoot-out went on.
Debutant McIntosh then delivered with surgical accuracy, Theo Osinfolarin did the same, and so did Allen and William Duprey, with the scores then level at 7-7.
Bull was bullish enough to net past Beeney and then wait for Will Moses while performing some keepy-uppies, and this confidence did the trick, with centre-back Moses spooning the ball over the crossbar to confirm the Rooks as victors.
The win means Lewes are through to the Second Round of the FA Trophy, with the draw due on Monday.
The Rooks visit Chatham Town next weekend in Isthmian Premier League action, when they will be hungry to keep their momentum rolling again versus the side they began their season against.
Kick-off at The Sports Ground, ME4 6LR, is at 3pm next Saturday.
Lewes FC: Bull; Muirhead (Ghannam, 63’), McIntosh, Puemo, Mundele; Allsopp, Allen, Sablier; Williams (Ladapo, 70’), Hutchinson, Bassett (C)