Men's football news
Written by: DanielL
Lewes FC men’s five-match unbeaten run in the Isthmian League Premier Division was ended by a 1-0 defeat at home to ten-man Chichester City.
An 81st-minute goal from Isaac Bello separated the two sides in a close-fought Tuesday night encounter at The Dripping Pan.
The Rooks made three changes to the starting lineup since last Saturday’s draw against Cray Wanderers, including the addition of new signing Cameron Andrews in midfield.
Perri Iandolo was also back in the squad after missing the last three games through injury, while striker Charlie Walker returned to the starting XI.
Chichester, playing in yellow and black stripes, held more possession in the opening 15 minutes, but the red Rooks soon turned the tide in their favour and produced the best first-half chances.
Antonio Morgan was a handful on the left flank and almost scored from an awkward angle when he met Ian Gayle’s aerial through ball on the half volley at full stretch, the ball only just clearing the crossbar.
Clearer opportunities were to come as the half progressed, including for Kaan Bennett who twice went one-on-one with Chichester goalkeeper Kieran Magee, but had both low efforts saved.
Those were two of three good scoring chances for Lewes in a flurry of action around the half-hour mark, the other being a deflected Morgan shot that Magee scrambled to divert around the post.
That kept the scores level heading into the break, with the Rooks keen to maintain their pressure on the visitors’ goal.
However, it was Chichester who sprang out of the gates quicker in the second half. One shot from outside the box deflected wickedly in front of Lewes keeper Louis Rogers, who reacted well to make an acrobatic save.
Lewes manager Bradley Pritchard made two midfield substitutions in the 58th minute, Arezki Hamouchene replacing debutant Andrews and Mark Swainston coming on for Finlay Chadwick.
A pivotal moment then occurred in the 65th minute when Chichester midfielder Emmett Dunn was dismissed for an off-the-ball foul on Hamouchene.
Chichester’s reduction to 10 men resulted in Lewes having more possession in the opposition third, but despite several promising incursions into the penalty area, none of the chances appeared to cause Magee as much trouble as in the first half.
The hosts were then caught on the break in the 81st minute when Bello strode forward against the run of play and fired right-footed past Rogers, giving Chichester the lead.
Despite continuing to put pressure on the Chichester box through six minutes of additional time, the Rooks were unable to find a late equaliser.
Pritchard said after the full-time whistle: ‘We had a lot of possession, a lot of chances. We didn’t capitalise on that in the first half.
‘In the second half, we started sloppily. We then turned it around and had a few more chances, but didn’t score goals.
‘They went down to 10 men and hit us on the counter, and defended really well.
‘That was a body blow, because we needed to score when we were on top. We had enough opportunities to at least be a couple of goals up. We weren’t.
‘They took their opportunity and defended well. They’re a good team.’
The narrow defeat came after a strong early run of league matches for Lewes that included three wins in a row.
The Rooks will seek to bounce back from their Tuesday night loss when they host Ramsgate at The Dripping Pan on Saturday, 20th September. Click here for tickets.
Lewes: Rogers, Asiedu, Bernal, Iandolo (West 82’), Gayle ©, Morgan, Chadwick (Swainston 59’), Walker, Bennett, Andrews (Hamouchene 58’), Burchell
Subs not used: Erskine, Figueira
Chichester City: Magee, Davidson, Hutchings ©, Clarke, Horncastle, Pashley, Bello, Dunn, Rustell (Moore 46’), Rowlatt, Prichard (Bennetts 90+3’)
Subs not used: Vigar, Cahusac
Booked: Hutchings
Sent off: Dunn
Referee: Gerry Heron
Assistants: Paul Agyei-Tabi, Gavin Farrington
Attendance: 567