Club news
An impressive second-half performance saw Lewes come from behind to make it two wins from two in pre-season with an emphatic 4-1 victory at Peacehaven & Telscombe, reports Tom Harper.
Lewes enjoyed plenty of possession for long periods of the first half but struggled to create any clear-cut opportunities, with Michael Dome-Bemwin just missing the target with a powerful 30-yard strike, and Kieron Pamment and Bradley Wilson both drawing comfortable saves from the Peacehaven goalkeeper.
The hosts were looking good on the ball themselves and took the lead just after the half-hour mark, as a quick counter-attack ended with a cool finish past Billy Collings from close range.
Lewes pushed for an equaliser for the remainder of the first half and nearly found one just before the break, with a dangerous Tom Day cross from the right hitting a covering defender and whistling just wide of the near post. From the resulting corner, Day saw his header kept out by a combination of the goalkeeper and a defender on the line.
The Rooks made a number of changes at the break and started the second half brightly, as Charlie Coppola shot just over the bar after good work down the left by Dylan Gifford.
Lewes came even closer to equalising in a goalmouth scramble minutes later, with Dayshonne Golding drawing a fine save from the Peacehaven goalkeeper from close range, before Coppola headed the rebound against the bar and nodded a second follow-up just wide.
The host’s goal was beginning to lead a charmed life, with Day forcing their goalkeeper into another fine save at the end of an incisive passing move.
The Rooks finally equalised after 53 minutes through Jordy Mongoy, who collected a clever reverse pass from James Hammond before finishing into the roof of the net.
Lewes took the lead 11 minutes later, as Frankie Chappell found the back of the net with a thumping header from a trialist’s corner.
The trialist was enjoying a productive half down the right and came close to scoring himself, seeing a curling effort from the edge of the area pushed onto the post by the goalkeeper.
Peacehaven were still posing an occasional threat going forward themselves though, with Nathan Stroomberg forced into a smart save low down to his right to keep out a powerful close-range strike.
The Rooks made the most of this by doubling their lead with just under 15 minutes remaining, as a corner from the right was only cleared as far as the onrushing Ross Barclay, who found the bottom corner from just inside the area.
The scoring was completed by a trialist, who capped a fine individual display by guiding a Coppola cut-back from the right into the bottom corner to make it 4-1 in the closing stages and make it a second consecutive win for Lewes at the start of pre-season.
Lewes return to the Pan for their next friendly when they host Eastbourne Borough on Saturday, kick-off at 3pm.
Lewes: Collings, Day, Gifford, Dome-Bemwin, Fagan, S. Freeman, Golding, Hammond, Adeyemo, Wilson, Pamment.
Subs: Stroomberg, Barclay, Coppola, T. Freeman, Chappell, Mongoy, Karl, Trialist A, Trialist B.