Men's football news
Lewes left it late to put the game to bed against a resilient Faversham Town side and stay top of the Bostik League South, reports Stuart Fuller.
Darren Freeman, wanting a reaction to the defeat at Horsham on New Year’s Day, made a number of changes to the starting XI with Ronnie Conlon and Billy Medlock dropping down to the bench, whilst Charlie Coppola was unavailable through illness, with Jamie Brotherton, Omar Lawson and Bouwe Bosma taking their place.
The Rooks started well, with their usual passing play creating space on a heavy pitch and could have been ahead in the opening ten minutes with Jonte Smith and Omar Lawson both nearly getting onto the end of good passes from the lively Jamie Brotherton. However, it was the visitors who had the best chance in the opening quarter when a free-kick from the Lewes right was flicked on by and Chris Winterton made an excellent one-handed save.
A few minutes later the Rooks took the lead as Bouwe Bosma reacted quickest to a bouncing ball in the Faversham area and turned the ball back towards the edge of the box where Gus Sow ran onto it and smashed it home for his third goal in three games.
Faversham made two changes at the start of the second half but it was the substitutions made by Rooks boss Darren Freeman that ultimately changed the game. The visitors certainly had their fair share of possession and on a better day would have tested Winterton more. On-loan winger Harry Stannard was a constant threat going forward but ultimately it was substitute Billy Medlock who put the game out of sight, firstly unselfishly squaring the ball when he had the goal at his mercy to Ronnie Conlon to score in the 90th minute and then winning a rather fortuitous penalty two minutes later when he was adjudged to have been bundled over, dusting himself down to send Overland the wrong way.
Post-match, Stuart Fuller spoke to Darren Freeman about the game, how the squad is developing and life at the top of the league. You can also see Faversham Town’s match highlights here.
Lewes head to Chipstead next Saturday in the Bostik League South, kick off 3pm.
Lewes: Winterton, Brinkhurst, Redwood, Hammond, Chappell, Wilson, Bosma (Conlon 51mins), Sow, Smith (Medlock 77mins), Lawson, Brotherton (Reed 68mins)
Subs not used: Landais, Barclay
Booked: Conlon
Faversham Town: Overland, Carrington, Tenyue, Walder, Bourne, Lee, Griffiths (Barnard 46mins), Monger, King (Lovell 46mins), Miller, Stannard
Subs not used: Batney, Cheek
Booked: Walder, Monger
Man of the Match: Winterton
Attendance: 551