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Match Reports by Tony Rickson
Saturday 26th August 2017
Bostik League South
Lewes 2 Sittingbourne 2, att 446
Sittingbourne continued their unbeaten start to
the Bostik League South season with what I for
one thought was an outstanding team performance
in sunny Sussex.
So where to start? With:
The popular Tommy Loynes rejoining Sittingbourne
the day before and celebrating his
return with an excellent goal.
Or:
Harry Brooks coming in for his debut in goal
when first choice keeper Darren Hawkes
dropped out with a back injury and pulling off
two spectacular second half saves.
Or:
Sittingbourne having a great chance to win it
with virtually the last kick of the game only for a
shot to roll agonisingly wide of an almost open
goal.
Lewes went into the match unbeaten and – like
Sittingbourne – with a two-out-of-two winning
start to the league season.
But it was the Brickies who almost totally dominated
the first half with an excellent display of
determined and enterprising football.
They’d suffered disruption before the game
when Hawkes showed he’d failed to recover
from a back problem, with Brooks thrown in at
the deep end.
The only other change from the team that lost in
the FA Cup in midweek to Pagham was the return
of Loynes to the side in place of Lawson
Okimeji.
Sittingbourne began brightly on a lovely pitch in
front of a good-sized
450 crowd – though it was only the Brickies
fans who made the noise throughout.
And they took an early lead when a corner was
only half-cleared and Laurence Ball headed a
pass to Kane Rowland in space on the left. His
terrific cross beat all the defence and skipper
Ben Gorham ran in for a simple headed goal
from a couple of yards out.
Lewes took only a couple of minutes to equalise,
forcing a corner from virtually their first attack.
Gorham headed clear but Bosma, on the
edge of the box, volleyed it first time into the far
corner with an outstanding strike.
Sittingbourne hassled Lewes out of possession
all over the pitch and were well on top the rest
of the half. Rowland – who was terrific all game
– went close, as did Loynes and David Smith,
and I thought Rowland was fouled as he tried to
break clear of the last defenders.
The Brickies lost Ball to a first half injury but Lex
Allan was a capable replacement and made a
terrific block on a Lewes shot as the home side
began to make more headway in the second
half.
Keeper Brooks suddenly had more to do and
after tipping a shot away for a corner he made a
terrific save from a close-range header, diving
instinctively to his right to keep it out.
But Sittingbourne were also dangerous going
forward and regained the lead midway through
the half when Loynes dummied a defender to
make room for himself on the edge of the area
and then hit his shot through a crowded area to
watch it go in off the far post.
A lot of the Sittingbourne success up till their
last 15 minutes came from quickly closing down
players in possession but perhaps they began
to tire slightly in the heat of the afternoon.
So Conlon was given too much room for Lewes
10 minutes later and advanced to equalise with
a good shot into the far corner.
Even then there was drama as both sides went
for the winner.
Smith’s clever shot was well tipped away by the
keeper at one end and then sub Gil Carvalho
was penalised for an aerial challenge on the
edge of his own area in the 90th minute. Brotherton’s
powerful free-kick beat the wall but
Brooks was equal to it with a truly brilliant save.
Back went Sittingbourne and when the keeper
saved at full stretch from sub Miles Cornwell he
was still struggling to get up as the rebound fell
invitingly for Smith. But his attempt to sidefoot
the ball first time into the huge gap at the near
post was just inches wide.
So both sides lost their 100 per cent league records
but maintained their unbeaten starts, Sittingbourne
bouncing back impressively from the
midweek FA Cup disappointment to show they
should be a force this season if they keep up
this level of play.
Sittingbourne: Harry Brooks, Chris Webber,
Ollie Brown, Tyrone Guthrie, Ben Gorham, Laurence
Ball (Lex Allan, 39 min), Kane Phillip, Bola
Dowadu, Kane Rowland (Miles Cornwell, 80
min), Tommy Loynes (Gil Carvalho, 69 min),
David Smith. Subs not used: David Adekoya,
George Blake.