Men's football news
Two penalties from Jamie Brotherton were not enough to help Lewes to a third consecutive league win, as they were forced to settle for a point against a hardworking Shoreham side in a game played in terrible conditions in West Sussex reports Tom Harper.
Darren Freeman made one change to the side that beat Hythe 1-0 in their previous game, with Liam MacDevitt replacing Charlie Coppola in the starting line-up.
There were few chances of note for either side in the opening stages, with the heavy rain and strong winds making it virtually impossible to play football.
The first opportunity of the game didn’t come until just before the half-hour mark, as Brotherton showed some excellent footwork 25 yards from goal before seeing his chipped effort hit the post with James Broadbent in the Shoreham goal beaten.
The hosts nearly made the most of this let-off by taking the lead themselves barely a minute later, as a Daniel Simmonds corner got caught in the wind and had to be scrambled off the line by the Lewes defence.
The game was beginning to open up at this stage, with James Hammond forcing a smart save from Broadbent with a curling 25-yard free-kick.
After a first half of very few clear-cut opportunities, the Rooks nearly went ahead straight after the restart, but saw Broadbent keep out a close-range strike from Brotherton.
Lewes were able to take the lead after 48 minutes though, as Brotherton blasted a penalty high into the roof of the net after Bouwe Bosma had been fouled in the area.
Any hopes the Rooks had of a more comfortable second half against a side that had only scored one league goal in their first five games before this were ended instantly, as Shoreham equalised within a minute.
The goal was scored in bizarre circumstances, with Luke Tan chasing a long ball forward and seeing his effort saved by Chris Winterton, only for the loose ball to hit Lloyd Cotton and roll into the unguarded net to level the scores.
Things got even worse for Lewes just after the hour, as Shoreham took the lead through Scott Packer, who cut in from the left and sent a curling strike across Winterton and into the bottom corner.
Falling behind seemed to wake Lewes up, and they saw Bosma have a powerful effort deflected just wide. From the resulting corner, Steve Brinkhurst sent a header wide as the Rooks looked to find an immediate response.
Lewes were handed a great opportunity to equalise after 73 minutes, as substitute George Landais was pulled back in the area by Ryan Timms as he looked to get on the end of a cross from the right.
Brotherton took the penalty, and rolled it straight down the middle to level the scores and give the Rooks hope of picking up another win.
Despite this, Shoreham continued to create chances of their own and saw Tom Caplin send an effort from the edge of the area just over the bar, before Winterton was forced into an impressive double save to deny Simmonds and Evan Archibald.
The game was becoming end-to-end, with substitute Alex Malins missing the target for Lewes with a far-post volley after the home defence had been unable to clear a corner, before Ashley Nazala could only hit the side-netting for the hosts when well placed.
The Rooks thought they had won the game deep into stoppage time, as Landais converted a deflected Matthew George cross from close range, sparking jubilant celebrations behind the goal.
Unfortunately for Lewes, the linesman raised his flag and disallowed the goal for offside, despite the ball appearing to go backwards and none of the Shoreham players appealing when the ball hit the back of the net.
To add to the controversy, the host’s captain Lee Denyer was shown a second yellow card for something that was said in the aftermath.
With barely a minute left to play, the Rooks were unable to make the most of their brief numerical advantage and were forced to settle for a point, although a draw was arguably a fair result on the balance of play.
Lewes will hope to return to winning ways when they host Cray Wanderers at the Pan on Saturday, kick-off at 3pm.
Shoreham: Broadbent, Gathern, Whitehead, Hand (Goldson 56), Denyer, Timms, Packer, Simmonds, Archibald, Tan (Caplin 60), Nazala.
Unused Subs: Burton, Nayee, Qudri.
Booked: Denyer, Timms, Packer.
Sent off: Denyer.
Lewes: Winterton, Brinkhurst, George, Hammond, Cotton (Reed 90), Chappell, Williams-Bowers (Landais 63), Bosma, Brotherton, MacDevitt (Malins 69), Conlon.
Unused Subs: Robinson, Sow.
Booked: George, Chappell.
Attendance: 221