Southern Premier Men’s League 2
Lewes Men’s 1s, 4
Ashford (Kent) Men’s 1s, 0
(Jervis (2), Roberts (2))
Lewes went up to second in the league with a well deserved win at the Southdown Club. After an enforced two week break due to the weather it was no surprise that Lewes struggled in the opening twenty minutes. Too many misplaced passes and breakdown of play resulted in possession for Ashford who failed to capitalise on early chances and penalty corners. Lewes gradually got into the match and it took skipper Matt Clark’s anticipation to break the deadlock ten minutes before half time. He intercepted a pass drew the last defender and passed to David Roberts to slot into the goal. This gave Lewes the confidence to push forward more and just before half time Rory Jervis converted a penalty corner with a fierce drag flick high into the goal.
The second half followed a similar pattern with Ashford enjoying early spells of possession and it took some outstanding reflex saves by keeper Sam Brooks to prevent Ashford from getting back into the match. Midway through the half Jon Petch and Roberts combined in the circle to leave Roberts to hit home the third and ten minutes from time Jervis deftly converted a penalty corner from close range for Lewes’s fourth and his seventeenth of the season. In the final seconds Alex Warner saw his penalty corner flick strike the crossbar as Lewes finished on top.
New coach Mark Robinson will have been impressed with most of what he saw from Lewes but will know that they will need to raise their performance in forthcoming weeks to ensure one of the two promotion places. This week they are away to Gore Court.
