Men's football news
Written by: Jack
Lewes returned to winning ways in the league, as goals from Chris Whelpdale and Ola Ogunwamide saw the Rooks come from behind to beat Concord Rangers 2-1 at the Pan.
Tony Russell made several changes to the side that played in Oslo in the Fenix Trophy on Wednesday, with Ogunwamide returning to the side in place of new signing Walter Figueira and Bradley Pritchard captaining the team in the absence of Ronnie Vint.
Lewes saw plenty of the ball early on but it was the visitors who had the first attempt on goal, Frederick Agyemang stinging the palms of Nathan Harvey from the edge of the area.
Concord were handed an excellent chance to take the lead on 19 minutes, as Harrison Day ran in behind Sam Oguntayo before being fouled by the left-back in the area.
Day took the spot-kick himself, calmly slotting the ball into the bottom corner to put the visitors 1-0 up.
The Rooks could and arguably should have equalised almost immediately, as the unmarked Whelpdale headed an Oguntayo cross wide at the far post.
Ayo Olukoga was the next player to go close for Lewes, guiding a strike from the edge of the area just wide after patient build-up play.
Lewes finally scored the equaliser their pressure had been threatening on 35 minutes, Oguntayo delivering another superb cross from the left which Whelpdale headed back across Mason Terry and into the bottom corner to level the scores.
Whelpdale went close again minutes later, heading a Sanchez Ming cross against the inside of the post before the ball was hacked off the line by a covering defender.
Concord were struggling to keep tabs on Whelpdale, who headed yet another dangerous cross onto the roof of the net before drawing a smart save from Terry with a close-range strike just before half-time.
Lewes remained on the front foot at the start of the second half and took a deserved lead on 58 minutes, as Kalvin Lumbombo-Kalala broke free down the left, despite appeals from the visitors that an attempted clearance had struck his arm, and saw his effort saved by Terry, only for Ogunwamide to roll the rebound into the empty net.
With Lewes having only returned from Oslo on Thursday and Concord having played twice during the week due to a fixture backlog, it was perhaps unsurprising that the tempo of the game slowed and there was very little goalmouth action for much of the second half.
The Rooks managed the remainder of the encounter comfortably and came close to adding a spectacular third goal late on, as Marcus Sablier sent a long-range half-volley just wide.
This was a deserved win for Lewes, who will hope to build on it when they welcome Horsham to the Pan on Tuesday, kick-off at 7.45pm.
Lewes: Harvey, Ming, Elliott, Penney, Oguntayo, Olukoga, Pritchard, Sablier, Ogunwamide (Gondoh 84), Lumbombo-Kalala (Figueira 76), Whelpdale (Wood 89).
Unused Subs: Murtagh, Dreher.
Booked: Ming.
Concord Rangers: Terry, Hasley, Martin (Rusoke 46), Steward, Dupray, Allen, Bland, Mbonkwi (Deslandes 54), Agyemang, Day (Desa 61), Ifeanyi.
Unused Subs: Apat, Burton.
Booked: Terry, Dupray.
Attendance: 970