Club news
A desperately poor second-half display saw Lewes suffer a humiliating 6-1 defeat at home to Cheshunt, a result which drags the Rooks into a relegation battle, reports Tom Harper.
It had all started so well for Lewes, who were ahead inside two minutes, as Dayshonne Golding capitalised on a loose pass in the visitor’s defence and rounded Harry Girlong before rolling the ball into the empty net to score the Rooks’ first home league goal since the 9th November.
Cheshunt soon began to grow into the game though, and saw Reece Beckles-Richards hit the bar at the end of an incisive counter-attack as they looked for an immediate reply.
The visitors equalised on 19 minutes through Beckles-Richards, who reacted quickest to finish from close range after Nathan Stroomberg-Clarke had made a superb save to deny Ryan Moss.
There were few chances of note for the remainder of the first half, with the ball spending a lot of time in midfield.
Despite this, Lewes could easily have gone into the break ahead, only to see Lewis Taylor miss the target from close range after a James Hammond cross from the right had picked him out at the far post just before half-time.
The second half got off to the worst possible start for Lewes, as the visitors took the lead just three minutes after the restart. Moss was the scorer, chesting a powerful Beckles-Richards cross over the line from point-blank range.
Beckles-Richards was proving a constant threat, and he was denied twice in quick succession by Stroomberg-Clarke as Cheshunt took control of the game.
The visitors thought they had doubled their lead just before the hour, but saw Amadou Kassarate’s close-range finish from a corner ruled out for a foul on Stroomberg-Clarke.
Cheshunt and Kassarate weren’t to be denied for long though, as the full-back was on hand to finish from inside the six-yard box after Tom Day could only guide his attempted clearance from a corner back towards his own goal.
It was 4-1 after 74 minutes, as Beckles-Richards turned on the edge of the area before finding the bottom corner with a well-placed strike.
The visitors saw another goal disallowed in the final ten minutes, with Moss adjudged to be offside when applying the finish to an impressive passing move.
Cheshunt were able to make it 5-1 with two minutes remaining though, as Zack Newton exchanged passes with Beckles-Richards down the right before firing across Stroomberg-Clarke and into the far corner.
The rout was completed with the final kick-of the game through substitute Mo Camara, who flicked a quickly-taken short corner past Stroomberg-Clarke at the near post.
After the game co-manager Ross Standen gave an honest assessment of the game when he spoke to Barry Collins.
Today’s Progcast can be viewed here.
Lewes will have to put this result behind them quickly, as they host Hornchurch at the Pan on Wednesday, kick-off at 7.45pm.
Lewes: Stroomberg-Clarke, Day, Redwood, Malins, Chappell, Freeman (Mendy 60), Golding, Hammond (Dome-Bemwin 82), Medlock, Taylor, Conlon (Diedrick-Roberts 70).
Unused Subs: Reed, Halsey.
Booked: None.
Cheshunt: Girling, Kassarate, Abrahams, Re (Hession-Harris 90), McKenzie, Cronin, Newton, Miles (Nelson-Roberts 90), Moss (Camara 85), Beckles-Richards, Reynolds.
Unused Sub: Diallo.
Booked: None.
Referee: Will Briers
Attendance: 505 (Approx. 25 Cheshunt fans)