Men's football news
Written by: Jack
Lewes missed the chance to close the gap on the play-off places, as a below-par performance was punished by an impressive Carshalton Athletic side, who deservedly left the Pan with all three points after a 3-1 win.
Tony Russell named an unchanged side from Saturday’s 4-2 win against Margate and the Rooks started brightly, with both Ola Ogunwamide and Marcus Sablier drawing smart saves from Will Huffer in the Carshalton goal early on.
The visitors grew into the game as the half progressed and saw Oluwabunmi Babjide cut inside from the left and shoot just wide of the far post, before forcing Nathan Harvey into a superb save to tip his next strike over the bar minutes later.
Carshalton continued to grow in confidence and took the lead on 39 minutes, Ibrahim Olutade emphatically finishing from close range after a corner from the right had found him in space in front of goal.
The Rooks responded well to this setback and nearly equalised right on the stroke of half-time, as a 25-yard volley from Arthur Penney was deflected just wide.
The visitors made a bright start to the second half, with Danny Bassett calling Harvey into action with a shot on the turn from the edge of the area.
They continued to push for a second goal and were rewarded just five minutes after the break, as Babajide capitalised on a loose pass at the back to send a fine strike from just outside the area past Harvey and into the bottom corner.
Archie Tamplin and Ryan Gondoh were introduced from the bench on 52 minutes and the former nearly made an immediate impact, seeing a curling shot from the edge of the area pushed to safety by Huffer.
Carshalton continued to look a threat themselves though, and made it 3-0 after 65 minutes, as a loose pass from Harvey was seized upon by substitute Mark Marshall, who sent a superb lob back over the goalkeeper and just under the bar to send the vocal away support into raptures behind the goal.
To their credit, Lewes continued to look for a way back into the game and were handed one just two minutes later when Gondoh was fouled in the area by Abdul Sankoh as he tried to make space to get a shot away.
Gondoh took the penalty himself and sent Huffer the wrong way from the spot to make it 3-1 and potentially set up a grandstand finish.
Unfortunately for the majority of the fans in attendance, despite seeing plenty of the ball, Lewes were unable to turn this into clear-cut chances until the closing stages.
Their best opportunity fell to Ronnie Vint, who headed an Ogunwamide free-kick just wide, before Chris Whelpdale saw a close-range strike just about kept out by Huffer deep into stoppage time, as the Rooks were left to reflect on a spell either side of half-time that ultinately cost them the game.
Lewes will hope to return to winning ways when they visit Wingate & Finchley on Saturday, kick-off at 3pm.
Lewes: Harvey, Ming, Vint, Elliott, Oguntayo, Penney (Pritchard 83), Sablier (Tamplin 52), Whelpdale, Ogunwamide, Lumbombo-Kalala, Wood (Gondoh 52).
Unused Subs: Murtagh, Olukoga.
Booked: Ming, Tamplin, Gondoh.
Carshalton Athletic: Huffer, Kennett (Sankoh 63), Bell, Read, Beeden, Williams, Frimpong, Lucan (Marshall 63), Bassett, Olutade (Everitt 74), Babajide.
Unused Subs: Bradford, O’Brien.
Booked: Kennett, Frimpong.
Attendance: 455