Men's football news
Written by: Jack
First-half goals from Bradley Pritchard and Tommy Wood helped Lewes into the second round of the FA Trophy with an impressive 2-0 win at Dulwich Hamlet.
Tony Russell made two changes to the side that drew 1-1 at Carshalton Athletic in their previous game, with Bradley Pritchard and Chris Whelpdale replacing Kieran Murtagh and Marcus Sablier in the starting line-up.
It was a cagey start from both sides, with Lewes looking to play out from the back and Dulwich adopting a more direct approach to apply pressure early on.
The Rooks took the lead on 11 minutes with their first chance of the game, Pritchard seeing a deflected effort from the edge of the area beat Preston Edwards after the goalkeeper had initially done well to keep out a close-range Jake Elliott header.
Lewes were dominating possession at this stage and only a superb last-ditch block prevented Whelpdale doubling their lead after good play down the left by Deon Moore.
Dulwich briefly threatened a response as the half progressed, with Nathan Harvey called into action to keep out a Jerome Binnom-Williams effort, before Luke Wanadio saw a powerful strike clip the top of the bar at the end of a purposeful run into the area.
Lewes made the most of this let-off by doubling their lead seven minutes before half-time, a sweeping move down the left ending with Harvey Hughes crossing for Tommy Wood to take a touch before showing excellent composure to place his finish into the top corner.
The Rooks would probably have expected Dulwich to put them under pressure at the start of the second half, but they kept the hosts at arm’s length whilst continuing to pose a threat themselves going forward.
Dulwich did come close to pulling a goal back just after the hour, with Binnom-Williams seeing a powerful 30-yard free-kick hit the inside of the post before being cleared.
Lewes quickly regained control and could easily have added to their lead heading into the closing stages, as Moore saw a strike helped over the bar by Edwards at his near post.
From the resulting corner taken by Pritchard, Wood could only glance a close-range header wide of the far post.
Moore went close again minutes later, cutting in from the left before just missing the target from the edge of the area.
The Rooks saw out the final few minutes comfortably, with Harvey remaining untroubled in goal to ensure a safe progression into the second round.
Lewes return to league action with a trip to Margate next Saturday, kick-off at 3pm.
Dulwich Hamlet: Edwards, Scarlett (Braham-Barrett 80), Chambers, Wanadio, Scott, Bonnett-Johnson (Jeffrey 58), Clifton (Mills 58), Krasniqi, Tarh, Binnom-Williams, Parry.
Unused Subs: Ricketts, Allen, Lakin, Romain.
Booked: Wanadio, Binnom-Williams.
Lewes: Harvey, Tamplin, Vint, Elliott, Hughes, Penney, Pritchard (Egan 90), Whelpdale, Ogunwamide (Lumbombo-Kalala 71), Moore, Wood.
Unused Subs: Panyi, Dalling, Salmon.
Booked: Vint, Ogunwamide.
Attendance: 2,745