Sub-edited by Dan Lambert
Welcome to a chilly Tuesday evening down at the Dripping Pan in Lewes, where I will be covering tonight’s game between promotion chasers Lewes FC, up against bottom club leatherhead FC. My names Nick Whiteman, hope you enjoy.
The team news just coming in.
Last time out for Lewes was an emphatic 2-6 away win at Margate. Tonight is their first game under the lights.
For Leatherhead, this is their first game since sacking manager Nikki Bull with Mustafa Bashkal taking over as Head Coach. The announcement followed after a 3-0 home defeat to Enfield town last time out.
KICK OFF
3 mins- Lewes looking to impose themselves early on in the game and a promising run from Tom Carlse draws a foul deep into the Leatherhead half. Can they make the breakthrough from this?
5 mins- Chants from a small section of Lewes fans ring around in support of winger Ollie Tanner and you can see why as the wide man creates a yard for himself on the edge of the Leatherhead area and forces a save from Myles Bowman. Lewes unsurprisingly looking the more likely.
7 mins- Leatherhead have a rare opportunity to create something in this opening ten minutes but their free kick in a dangerous area is tamely struck straight into Carey’s hands. What a waste.
12 mins- WHAT A MISS. Lewes play some intricate football down the left hand side of Leatherhead’s half before the ball is worked into Tanner, but from no more then six yards out he puts it horribly wide. However he almost instantly makes up for it with a nice mazy run and shot forcing a save from Bowman.
14 mins- BRILLIANT RECOVERY! It looks as though Leatherhead are about to go 1-0 up as their number 9 Chidubem Onokwai finds himself through on goal, but a brilliant recovery tackle from Matt Wearie who rescues Lewes FC. Similar challenge to that of Darren Anderton’s in the France 98 quarter finals against Argentina for those who remember.
21 mins- The game has died down a bit but we are certainly being entertained by some of the Lewes FC chants. Unfortunately I probably can’t repeat the majority of them on here.
22 mins- GREAT CHANCE. Lewes skipper Mitchell Nelson finds himself no more than a few yards out with a free header but its wide. Surely we will see the breakthrough soon.
29 mins- A rare piece of brilliance from the Leatherhead number 11 Darnell Kithambo, who’s trickery on the wide left of the box sees him find a bit of space and get a shot off, forcing Carey into a save. A little warning for Lewes but it remains still 0-0.
32 mins- HOW MANY MORE. Nelson is again guilty of missing a great chance after a good cross from Pritchard picks him out free in the box but he completely spoons the header. Frustration from the home supporters “50p head.”
36 mins- BOOKING. Home fans are unhappy after Michael Klass goes into the book. They feel Leatherhead have gotten away with a few late tackles themselves. To be fair, Klass did petulantly kick the ball away following a poor challenge. He gave the ref no choice.
39 mins- GOOOALLL!!! We finally have the breakthrough and its for the home side. They’ve missed a few sitters in this opening 39 minutes but they find the lead through a half chance. The ball is worked well down the right channel and it finds it’s way to the number 9 Taylor with his back to goal. There’s a lot of bodies around him but he manages to swivel and emphatically lash it in to the roof of the Leatherhead net. It had a touch of Robert Lewandowski about that.
40 mins- DISALLOWED GOAL. Leatherhead thought they had an instant reply but the goal is ruled out for offside. Agonising.
43 mins- RED CARD. It goes from bad to worse for Leatherhead who not only are a goal down but now a man down. Taylor goes through on goal and Ryan Huckle has a rush of blood to the head and drags him down. Why not trust your keeper to bail you out and keep 11 men?
45 mins- GOOOALL! From bad to worse as the resulting free kick from Tyler Maloney is deflected in to make it 2-0 Lewes. Huckle’s decision seems even sillier now.
HALF TIME- Dominant display for the most part by the home side and its looking like a long second half for Leatherhead who are a man and 2 goals down.
SUB– Changes for both teams with Leatherhead bringing on Cameron Black for Stephane Bombelenga and Lewes bringing on Killian Colombie for Kenny Yao
Second half begins
50 mins- GOAAALL! And you can probably guess who it has gone to. Only five minutes into the second half and Lewes make it 3-0 with another deflected effort, this time by Bradley Pritchard.
55 mins- “Leatherhead get battered everywhere they go” chants ring out. You cant help but feel sorry for the away side, it’s surely just a case of damage limitation for the remaining 35 mins.
59 mins- SUBSTITUTION– Lewes make another change with Freddie Parker coming on for Michael Klass.
61 mins- GOOOALL! This could get humiliating for the away side. Lewes add a fourth and its the big number 9 again Taylor, scrambling in a header. The goal was immediately met with chants of “wake up highlighter” aimed at Leatherheads keeper in reference to his bright yellow kit.
65 mins- The home fans want a goal from Tanner but again he has his shot saved after a promising run. He will feel he should have a goal no doubt.
69 mins- Another chance goes begging for Tanner as again he find himself in a good position inside the Leatherhead box, but his effort is straight at the keeper. A great performance otherwise but just lacking a goal.
70 mins- SUBSTITUTION-Lewes’s Iffy Allen replaces Razzaq Coleman De-Graft.
74 mins- GOALLL!!! Its five but again Tanner is frustrated. He works a yard for himself but he shot hits the post before the rebound is tapped in by Allen.
78 mins- WHAT A MISS. Leatherhead gifted a rare chance but what looks like simple tap in is blazed over.
85 mins- Tanner again frustrated. This time by Bowman. After sitting down two leatherhead defenders he sees his shot saved. You have to give it to the Leatherhead keeper, he’s been getting a lot of abuse from a small section of Lewes fans but he has made some big saves to keep it at 5.
88 mins- MOTM. No surprise as it’s a Lewes player that is awarded Man of the Match. Its gone to the big number 9 Joe Taylor who has been clinical in front of goal. Tanner certainly ran him close but it was Taylor clinical first that got things moving for Lewes.
90+2 mins- More promising play from Tanner, who looks more and more like a non-league Grealish, as he works his way down the left before pulling the ball back to Parker who shot squirms wide.
FULL TIME: 5-0
Onwards and upwards for Lewes who continue their winning run with an emphatic 5-0 victory over 10 man bottom side Leatherhead. Mustafa Bashkal now sees the challenge that awaits him at Leatherhead.
What a thoroughly enjoyable evening at Lewes. All that is left for me to do is to thank you for following my live blog of tonight’s game at the Dripping Pan.
