Men's football news
Written by: Joe
An own goal and Gianluca Botti proved pivotal as Lewes returned to the Isthmian Premier League playoff places on Saturday and ended their poor run of form, as a resilient performance saw them overcome Canvey Island 2-1 at the Dripping Pan, reports Jayden Broderick.
Danny Bassett’s deflected shot put Lewes in front in a first half that was even but lacked quality, while Botti’s goal after a set-piece routine put daylight between the Rooks and Canvey.
The visitors pulled one back after Chris Harris scored from a corner, but Lewes’ grit and determination paid dividends as they walked away with all three points.
The three points see Lewes move up two places into fifth, two points clear of sixth while Canvey drops down two places into 11th.
Lewes went into the match in a rough patch of form and suffered a 3-1 loss against league leaders Dover Athletic during midweek.
On the other hand, Canvey, despite their poor start to the season, are enjoying a rich vein of form, winning four of their last five heading into Saturday, including beating Cray Wanderers 2-0 last time out.
Lewes boss Craig Nelson made four changes from their defeat against Dover, with Ben Mundele, Parish Muirhead, Nabeel Ghannam and Ethan Allsopp coming in for Ethan Kaiser, Hamilton Antonio, Tolu Ladapo and Calvin Ekpiteta. Canvey Island made two changes from their win last week.
Canvey enjoyed the first real chance of the match in the fourth minute, with Finlay Dorrell free to shoot inside the box forcing Toby Bull into an excellent save. Harris would have had an easy chance to tap in the rebound but couldn’t get the ball under his feet.
Lewes quickly opened the scoring in the sixth minute after Matt Warren had the freedom to drift around the outside of the box, laying it off for Bassett whose shot heavily deflected off Sonny Hart, which fooled Canvey keeper Bobby Mason to go the wrong way. A quick opening goal proved much needed for the home side.
The game would then devolve to a scrappy affair, with each team fighting to take control of the midfield, and both struggling to create the final chance needed to truly threaten either keeper.
Despite the half being mostly uneventful, drama came after arguments and shoving broke out between the two teams following Jamie Salmon’s flying challenge got him into referee Chris Williams’ book, with the Lewes team arguing whether it should’ve been red.
Action would finally come towards the end of the half as Harris unleashed a venomous volley from just inside the box in the 43rd minute, forcing Bull to fully stretch for a wonderful save.
The away side thought they’d equalised deep into stoppage time in the first half, with the ball bobbling into the net from a corner, but the referee deemed that Bull was pushed, disallowing the goal and allowing Lewes to come into the half with their lead protected.
Canvey Island started the second half positively, pushing Lewes into their own half and a combination of shots from Dorrell and Bradley Sach forcing Mundele into a double block.
Bull, who was named Player of the Match, once again came to the rescue when tipping a shot over after Sach won the ball deep into the Lewes half after a couple of slip-ups from the Rooks defence.
To stop Canvey Island’s dominance to start the second half, Lewes would look to the bench to try to take a hold of the match, with Ekpiteta coming on for Ghannam.
Ekpiteta had an immediate effect, pivotal to winning the corner where Lewes would get their second, with Muirhead crossing in the second chance to Jerry Puemo, who controlled it brilliantly and laid off for Botti who smashed it in from close range to make it two in the 66th minute.
Canvey would not be deflated after the second goal however, with Harris smashing it home in the 71st minute after the ball fell to him nicely from a corner to make it 2-1 and a tense end to the game for the Rooks.
As the clock ticked on, Canvey got more and more desperate for the equaliser, but Lewes remained defiant and determined to keep their lead, putting their bodies on the line until the referee finally blew his whistle.
This hard-earned victory could prove essential to Lewes’ season as they look to consolidate their place in the top five of the Isthmian Premier League. The run of hard fixtures, however, doesn’t end for the Rooks as they seek to build on this victory when they travel to second-place Cray Valley (PM) next Saturday.
Words: Jayden Broderick