Men's football news
An early
goal from Kalvin Morath-Gibbs saw Lewes suffer their first defeat since New
Year’s Day against promotion rivals Carshalton Athletic in a closely-fought
game at the Pan reports Tom Harper.
Darren
Freeman made one change to the side that beat Ramsgate 3-2 in their previous
game, with Charlie Coppola replacing Ronnie Conlon in the starting line-up.
The visitors
started the game knowing that a win would take them to within three points of
the Rooks with a game in hand, and they took the lead after two minutes through
Kalvin Morath-Gibbs, who finished from close range after the Lewes defence had
been unable to clear a dangerous Jordan Cheadle corner from the right.
Scoring such
an early goal unsurprisingly galvanised the visitors, who enjoyed plenty of
possession for long periods of the half without really testing Chris Winterton.
Lewes were
finding it difficult to get into the game and their cause wasn’t helped by
several breaks in play, with Bouwe Bosma being booked for a late challenge on
Peter Adeniyi and two further Carshalton players requiring treatment after
innocuous challenges.
The visitors
finished the half strongly and came close to doubling their lead just before
half-time, as Ricky Korboa cut in from the left and saw his powerful 30-yard
effort come back off the post with Winterton beaten.
Lewes
started the second half on the front foot, with a drilled James Hammond
free-kick from the left hitting Frankie Chappell in front of goal and going
just over the bar within minutes of the restart.
Carshalton
were organised at the back and continued to pose a threat going forward, with
Winterton forced into a smart save to keep out a low Cheadle free-kick.
Set-pieces
were looking like the most likely source of goals for Lewes, who saw Gus Sow
have a corner cleared off the line by Cheadle before Lloyd Cotton put the
rebound over the bar when off balance as the Rooks pushed for an equaliser.
The visitors
nearly made the most of this let-off, as Winterton was forced into a superb
save to keep out a close-range volley from Ola Sogbanmu after good play down
the left by Korboa.
Winterton
was called into action minutes later to deny Sogbanmu again, getting down well
at his near post to push the ball behind for a corner.
Cheadle was
the next visiting player to be thwarted by Winterton, who got across well to
keep out his curling free-kick as Carshalton looked for a second goal to secure
the win.
Lewes
started to dominate possession in the closing stages and had a very presentable
chance to equalise just before the end of normal time, as substitute Billy
Medlock saw his tame close-range flick comfortably saved by Billy Bishop after
Leon Redwood’s cross from the left had been helped on by Marcus Elliott.
The Rooks
had an arguably even better chance to level the scores in the final minute of
stoppage time, but saw Jonte Smith send a close-range header from a Redwood
free-kick wide.
Referee
Graeme Ions signalled full time moments later, leaving the visitors to
celebrate a hard-earned three points and the Rooks to reflect on the end of
their ten-match unbeaten run.
It was a disappointing night for the Rooks, summed up when Ross Standen spoke to Barry Collins post-match.
Lewes will
hope to put this result behind them when they host VCD Athletic at the Pan on
Saturday, kick-off at 3pm.
Lewes: Winterton, Brinkhurst, Redwood,
Hammond (Conlon 84), Chappell, Cotton, Bosma (Medlock 63), Sow, Smith,
Brotherton (Elliott 66), Coppola.
Unused Subs: George, Lawson.
Booked: Brinkhurst, Bosma, Brotherton.
Carshalton Athletic: Bishop, Price, Hamilton-Downes,
Morath-Gibbs, Adeniyi, Sogbanmu, Bradford, Korboa (Sterling-Parker 87), Aziaya,
Cheadle, Pattison (Koroma 76).
Unused Subs: Oshilaja, Dudley, Healey.
Booked: Adeniyi, Pattison.
Referee: Graeme Ions
Attendance: 615