Industrious 5s prove worthy at Worthing

Match report by James Williams-

Floating dangerously close to the relegation zone, the 5s travelled to play the first of two Saturday games against Worthing sides in search of much needed points.

In hotter-than-expected conditions, the men in green started out a little sluggish, winning tackles, but not quite stringing together the passes needed to threaten the home defence. The Worthing attack relied pretty much on one tactic- releasing their portly, but surprisingly light-footed centre forward on the break - and it was this which led to them taking an early lead. 10 minutes in, however, the coffee kicked in and a sustained period of attacking pressure led to a handful of short corners for Lewes. After a fluffed effort at the “Lost Property” (left behind) and a “Liz Truss” (veers wildly to the right) that came close, it was the “Stop fannying around and just hit it at the goal” routine that brought results as Dave C struck a ball direct into the corner with a strike as sweet and crisp as a granny smith.

Lewes continued to threaten throughout the remainder of the half building on some sterling work down the right-hand side by Felix who timed his tackles calmly and released the midfield on multiple occasions. JC came close on a couple of occasions, denied only by the Worthing woodwork, but it was Joe who hit the backboard before half time to make it 2:1.

Things started to heat up further in the second half with the umpires warning both teams that cards would be issued for sloppy tackles and talking back. Against the run of play, Worthing’s centre forward sneaked in again after a mix up in the Lewes defence which pulled the score back level. From then on however, Lewes’s (relative) fitness and hard work across the pitch started to pay off. Industrious Mark S followed in on his own short corner to make it 3:2 and was involved again in Lewes’s two further goals – one placed in by Joe after some lovely build up through the midfield and interplay with Rupert and a second flicked in by James W on the rebound.

It wasn’t always pretty, but all in all, a gritty, hard-working performance, earning a well-deserved three points. With six more points to play for this season, the 5s take on the stronger Worthing 4s at home next week.