Twenty one days of pain and frustration
Twenty one days ago the sun was shining. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky as Lewes kicked off against Canvey Island. Twenty four hours later I landed in Los Angeles to temperatures that would have had The Sun trumpeting as “Phew, what a scorcher” and “It’s hotter than Greece”. During the next week I worked with the sun shining all day, with my walk to the office along the empty beach in Santa Monica. Bliss, you may say and I would agree. Yet you mortals back in England were suffering freezing temperatures and tonnes of the white stuff. And of course that mean a serious lack of football.
Being purely selfish I was glad when the whole country called off their games the following weekend. Lewes’s game at Wingate & Finchley was postponed whilst I travelled east from California to New York. I cheered. Wingate is one of only two grounds I haven’t been to in the league so a re-arranged midweek fixture suited me perfectly. Seven days later and I was back in the UK but the after effects of the coldest February on record in many places in England again decimated the fixture let (and our plans for a game). What did this mean? Well, on the positive side, Lewes had gone unbeaten during February. On the pessimistic side, it would mean their last league win was 7 weeks ago when they beat Hastings United.
The enforced break had given manager Simon Wormull to assess his squad. Out had gone striker Michael Malcolm, and returning to the club was centre-back and ex-captain Chris Breach. Three good centre-backs may be needed for the visit to AFC Hornchurch.
The Urchins were enjoying a good season. They had devastated Lewes earlier in the season, ending The Rooks 100% home record with a four goal second half display. Since then they had topped the league, and despite losing a few games, had hung onto Billericay’s coat tails thanks to their strong, well organised approach play, and a proven non league centre-forward in Martin Tuohy, Golden Boot winner three seasons ago with 50 goals.
AFC Hornchurch actually play in Upminster, which is really the starting point of Essex. The drive down the country lanes from the M25 revealed some impressive houses, and the area can boast such residents as Jessie J, Frank Bruno and that girl from S Club 7 (Not Rachel Stevens, or the one that looked like a boy). It also has two windmills. One which is one of the last remaining grade II windmills left in England; the other is a pub outside the tube station. Guess which one we saw today?
As we supped our fine Essex Ales (Peroni, Strongbow and Tetley’s), the team news came through. AFC Hornchurch were fielding their two new players – Ex-Norwich City, Crystal Palace and Peterborough United striker Leon McKenzie and Fola Orilonishe from Sutton United. Lewes included signed that morning from the youth team Kelvin Brown as one of the three subs.
Hornchurch’s ground is a real mixed bag for spectators. Firstly, it is an athletics ground – but not a proper one as it only has six lanes. Unlike Melbourne Park, home of Chelmsford City, there are no big stands where you can watch the game from a bit of a height, nor is there any temporary stands behind either goal. This means the views from the small stands around the pitch are poor. However, they have an excellent bar area behind one goal that is set high above the pitch, meaning you can watch the whole game from inside the bar, or on a nice sunny day from the terrace outside.
As with all away games this season, Lewes arrive bearing gifts. A pretty impressive gift if you ask me as well. Seventy two pints of FREE BEER in the form of a polypin from Harvey’s, known globally as the world’s greatest beer. Within minutes of the beer arriving the away fans (and officials) will be queuing at the bar to get their pint of local luxury. The clubs can charge what they want for the beer (although few seem to grasp the whole point of the exercise and faced with an opportunity to earn 100% profit, still overcharge). We arrived in the bar at The Stadium and became one of many to ask for a Harveys. ”We haven’t put it on yet”…after the twentieth person came and asked they eventually obliged, although the barman who took the first pint screwed his face up and threw most of his drink away – a fine endorsement indeed.
Hornchurch also have a satellite feed from overseas. Based on the adverts I deduced it was Albanian. Whilst people crowded round to watch the Chelsea v Birmingham City game (which was on UK TV anyway) they were showing Everton v Blackpool at 3pm, which was watched by no-one. And here lies one of the points why it is a bit of a non-issue.
As the teams emerged from the dressing rooms and down the steps onto the pitch, the rain started falling. Hornchurch’s pitch had not endured the past few weeks well, and up until Friday were still not 100% confident this game would go ahead.
AFC Hornchurch 1 Lewes 0 – The Stadium – Saturday 18th February 2012
Big Deaksy chastised me after my post-match comments when I said we battled well but ultimately fell short. He suggested this was the corporate line. He is of course right to an extent. It was a crap game, played in crap conditions, on a pitch that helped neither team which eventually had a big hand in deciding the result.
Illness had robbed Lewes of Chris Breach, and Wormull attempted to fit square pegs in round holes, with Nanetti playing just behind Paul Booth. But there was little they could do about the strong wind blowing down the pitch that saw the ball by-pass the midfield in the opening exchanges. The home side made the best of the early running, and Lewes keeper Pawel Szelemj was the busier of the two but was rarely troubled although Hornchurch did have a good shout for a penalty when Tuohy was sent crashing in the area. Perhaps the referee, aware of the two soft penalties given for the Urchins in the reverse fixture earlier in the season was trying to even it all up!
On the half hour mark came the deciding moment of the game. Hustwick underhit a back pass to Pawel and the heavy ground slowed the ball up further, allowing the predatory Tuohy to anticipate the roll of the ball and he nipped in, rounded Pawel and slotted home into an empty net from an acute angle.
During half time the heavy rain upgraded itself to a monsoon. Consequently around a third of the 298 fans in the ground stayed in the bar, watching the game from our own large Executive Box. The tail wind was now blowing towards the Hornchurch goal and Lewes started to create some chances. Harry Harding, fresh from his two weeks at Fulham, started to dominate proceedings and Booth had a couple of half chances. But the Hornchurch keeper was rarely called into action – in fact it was still Pawel who had to make the saves from the likes of Tuohy and Thompson.
Lewes’s fight boiled over during the second half on one occasion when Jack Walder’s tackle on McKenzie started a mini-difference of opinion and the Lewes youngster could count himself a bit lucky to stay on the pitch.
The final whistle was greeted with some relief by the home fans – a 1-0 win is never comfortable whilst Lewes can take some heart by the performances of the back four, especially Charlie Leach who showed maturity well beyond his young years.
The next few weeks will prove a massive test for the team. Two games against the most in-form team in the league start the run of games. East Thurrock United have strengthened their squad thanks to the money they earnt in their FA Cup run to the televised first round game versus Macclesfield Town, and Lewes visit them first on Tuesday in the Ryman League Cup semi-final, before they come down to Sussex on Saturday. After that the Rooks have games against four of the top six in March. New players are on the horizon and the play-offs are still only a few points away, but it will need something extra to spark the team back into life. The watching world (in BN7) turns to Simon Wormull to see what that will be.
No Dr Feelgood factor for Lewes
“”You have to have the rain before you can have the rainbow”
In just 24 hours I would be walking along Santa Monica Pier in SoCal as us surfers know it, the sunshine on my face and the sand between my toes. You can’t beat a bit of winter sunshine to recharge the batteries after Christmas. And as if I needed any more incentive to go I had the promise of a date with the not too shabby Natalia Velez to look forward to.
But first I had a date with one of Essex’s finest – Canvey Island who were visiting the Dripping Pan for an early doors game against The Rooks. Early doors because of Brighton’s cup game versus Newcastle United just down the road at 5.15pm. Thanks to the Ryman League seeing sense, and the Essex side happy to leave Lakeside an hour earlier than normal, Lewes stood a chance of a decent crowd. We littered the Toon websites, forums and Twitter feeds with invites and promises of pints of Dog, Jimmy Nail look-a-likes and Lewes wearing a special one-off black and white striped shirt just for the day. Not strictly true but would they really notice after tucking into a few pints of Harveys?
Our cause had been helped no end by the efforts of the Guardian’s sports team who plugged the game via their Fiver email, eulogising that :-
“At this quaint little ground, you’ll be allowed to stand up, smoke your gills out, watch entertaining Brazil-circa-1970 style football, eat delicious modestly priced organic burgers and lorry back refreshing pints of the local brew Harveys all at the same time”
Thanks to some opportunist sales techniques that would have shamed a time-share salesperson in the Canary Islands I had managed to convince The Guardian’s Barry Glendenning as an owner a few weeks ago. Yes, he had been worse for wear; Yes, he was distracted by Sarah Hot Scores and yes I may have told him that by being an owner he was entitled to certain perks that weren’t strictly true, but Pressganging is not illegal (I think) in the 21st century. One man’s Richard Branson is another man’s Asil Nadir. Barry was making his first visit to the Pan and we were determined to make his visit a special one. After all, since he thrust the £30 in my top pocket back in December, “our” team had won three, drawn four and lost four as well as seeing the manager depart. Investments can go up and well as down as I reminded him when he asked for a refund.
Canvey Island, the Gulls, the pride of Park Lane. Lewes had already beaten the Islanders earlier in the season and what they could do with a moral boosting win today. Performances had been good, but a lack of goals was becoming a real worry. Five goals in the last six wasn’t a fair return for the effort, but add on the fact that three had come from penalties and you see the issue. Last Saturday the team lost 5-1 at Margate. Lewes shots 8, Margate shots 8. On Wednesday night the woodwork and a bobble in the six yards area stopped two certain goals. Today there was to be no excuse. It was win or bust….well not exactly that traumatic but we are hyping this up for the Guardian remember?
This was my third trip to Lewes in just four days after the Sussex Senior Cup match on Wednesday and then the Fans Forum on Thursday where we had batted away all questions fired at us from the fans. Now was the time for us to live up to our promise of Barcelona-esque football.
Lewes 1 Canvey Island 2 – The Dripping Pan – Saturday 28th January 2012
“You will win nothing with kids” One of the most famous understatements uttered by a pundit. Alan Hansen may have had to eat his words back when Sir Alex Ferguson blooded the likes of Scholes, Beckham and Giggs at Villa Park in August 1995, but since then how right he has been. Lewes today were forced to field a very young team as injuries ravaged Simon Wormull’s squad. The manager himself was even forced to play himself for the final thirty minutes, turning back the years with some of his visionary passing.
I can only imagine the mood in the Wormull house when the sick notes arrived this morning. Kamara – hip injury. Robinson – hamstring. Hamilton – foot. Hustwick – neck strain. These four are the Lewes back four. Any club would struggle to cope with such a situation. A major reshuffle saw Charlie Leech and Jack Phillips in the starting line up as well as new signing Jack Walder in the centre of midfield.
One good bit of news was that the Rooks had ditched the white shorts – going down the full Rosseneri look of red and black – Canvey opting for Crystal Palace away circa 1989. It was the yellows who started the stronger of the two and thankfully keeper Rikki Banks was in good form. With Lewes’s recent goals coming from the boot of Paul Booth it didn’t take a brave man (me) to predict he would be the first goalscorer, although Eddie Freemantle refused to take my tenner, reminding me that as a Director I was not able to place a bet on my team. Sure enough, a minute later Paul Booth rose and headed home a Nanetti cross to put the Rooks one nil up.
The second half saw Canvey well on top and it was no surprise when Jason Hallett scored in the 51st minute. We weren’t used to conceding a goal before the 90th minute so the crowd were stunned into silence. Everyone was confused. What to do? Well, how about the player/manager bringing himself on…Wormull stripped off and within a minute had played a trademark cross field pass to Nanetti. Every touch was greeted with a cheer. Could he win us the game and roll back the years?
Alas no. Canvey got stronger as the game wore on and with twenty minutes to go Bradley Woods-Garness smacked a loose ball home to give the Essexmen the three points. The thirty or so Canvey fans went home happy, having enjoyed their day out in the sunshine whilst the Rooks fans had to scratch their heads wondering what the team had to do to get that break and three points.
With the rain out of the way it was time to prepare for the Rainbow. Natalia Velez was sure to ask about the result. Don’t worry – I will take this one for the team. Until I return I bid you a fond farewell.
Last minute .com again
After the cup exploits last week against AFC Sudbury, it was back to earth with a very big bang, complete with a “Kiss Me Quick Hat” on Saturday as five second half goals sunk the Rooks at Margate. The journey back from a day out at the seaside on a normal trip is depressing enough, but one in the middle of January when you have been spanked 5-1 is possibly up there with a trip to the dentist or one of those “can we have a quick word in the cubicle” conversations with customs at the airport.
However, all was not lost. The Rooks had to chance to show their “bouncebackability” with another home cup tie. And not just any old cup tie. One against Eastbourne Borough, sworn enemies, deadly rivals and pretenders to the title “Best Non League team in Sussex”.
The Sussex Senior Cup is a strange competition. The bigger clubs (i.e Crawley Town and Brighton & Hove Albion) rarely take it seriously, yet every year it is the same story. The former seem to be eliminated early, the latter in for the duration despite fielding essentially a reserve team. Last season Lewes lost in the quarter finals at home to Brighton & Hove Albion, thus denying themselves the chance to reach the final, which was played at The Amex. This year, wins over Wick and East Grinstead had sent up a mouth-watering tie with Eastbourne Borough. The winners would join Crawley Down, Whitehawk and the winner of the BHA v Bognor Regis Town game in the draw for the semi-final.
Brighton & Hove Albion had reached the final of the last five competitions, winning four. In fact it was Lewes who were the last team to break this run back in 2006 when they beat Horsham.
Lewes hadn’t met Eastbourne Borough since New Year’s Day in 2009 when they met in the Conference Premier. Both teams had been promoted from the Blue Square South the previous season – Lewes as winners and Boro via the play offs. Those two games over the Christmas period had attracted near 5,000 fans. How both would love half of that now.
The clubs have lived almost parallel lives in the past season. Both were relegated last year – Eastbourne Borough from the Blue Square Bet Premier, and Lewes from the South division. More recently both had become manager-less as Eastbourne decided to part company with their management team who in part had been at the helm for over a decade. But whatever the circumstances both sets of fans wanted to get one over on the “old enemy”.
We were expecting a decent crowd. Obviously this was a “minor” cup competition in the eyes of many fans and we would normally only expect a few hundred. However, the draw of the derby-day atmosphere was certain to bring a few more through the gate. But perhaps the real compelling event would be the lure of the Lewes burger. Last week The Guardian Food and Drink supplement no less had spoken about the Lewes Organic burger being “the best fast food he has come across so far. The club spends more on its chefs that it does on players”- The Guardian Food and Drink – 18th January 2012
Lewes 1 Eastbourne Borough 2 – The Dripping Pan – Wednesday 25th January 2012
For 94 minutes this was a classic cup tie full of passion (on and off the pitch), hard tackles, goal mouth incidents and a decent atmosphere created by 637 fans. And then, the curse of the Dripping Pan struck again. Just as we had seen so many times (in fact twice already in January) we concede a late goal. Not quite a Horsham late goal, but still deep into injury time. Unlike the Horsham game this one was the knock-out box. With the game poised to enter Extra Time, Eastbourne Borough took all of the spoils and dumped Lewes on their backsides and out of the Sussex Senior Cup.
Pre-match had been a juggling act for new boss Simon Wormull. I arrived at the group at 4pm to find him busy on his phone trying to work out the formation. With our only goal keeping option, Rikki Banks, on loan from Eastbourne Borough and thus not able to play, he had managed to pull in a young Polish keeper to make his debut (Pawel would later dislocate his finger in the warm up, yet in true British Bulldog spirit simply taped it up and carried on playing). He brought in a number of the impressive youth team players and leading from the front, named himself on the bench. The spirit of the team of 2008 was not yet dead.
The opening exchanges were fast and frantic. Eastbourne had the better of the opening exchanges but then the Lewes midfield got hold of the ball, and Mel Kamara started powering forward from midfield. In a space of a few first half minutes Michael Malcolm showed that when luck is not on your side, nothing rolls for you. First he powered a header against the inside of the post, with the Eastbourne keeper stranded and then he saw his goal-bound toe poke trickle slowly towards an unguarded net only for it to be cleared by a last gasp sliding tackle. Half time – all square in love and war.
The Eastbourne fans had come in good voice, although some of them had obviously brought the “Football Fans song book from Green Street” with some of their chanting. Chaps – it’s a Sussex Senior Cup game not Millwall v West Ham. A chant of “No one likes us” made me chuckle as I recalled an away game back in April 2009 when they played at Altrincham which I saw where the home fans all clapped the 13 supporters who had made the trip on a cold Tuesday night – see someone does love you!
Ten minutes into the second period Eastbourne took the lead when a misjudged throw from the Lewes keeper fell straight at the feet of Matt Crabb and he sent the ball back over his head into the net. Lewes doubled their efforts with the impressive Harding always looking dangerous and Malcolm seeing efforts blocked by last gasp defending. Finally Lewes got their reward when Nanetti was brought down by the Eastbourne keeper Masters. With no covering defender and Nanetti not going away from goal it was bizarre that the referee (interestingly sharing the same unusual surname as an Eastbourne player) did not even book the keeper. Good job Hansen et al didn’t see it as we would still be discussing it now. Booth stepped up and dispatched the millionth penalty of the season for Lewes and it was game on.
We were in for a frantic final period with both teams having chances but failing to really test the keeper. Four minutes of injury time were announced, and with the clock showing 93:47 Ciardini’s sliced clearance fell to Ben Watson who thumped the ball home.
Lewes can feel hard done by to lose so late on, but in these games there always has to be a winner. This was one of the best performances of the season without a doubt and with more luck the scoreline would have been more favourable. But that is football. This is a team in transition and most of the fans appreciated the spirit, effort and hard work of the players as they made their way off the pitch. The Sussex Senior Cup will just have to wait another season.
The magic of the Alan Boon Cup
Deep down any football fan of a lower level team (and by lower level I mean anyone apart from Man City, Man Utd or Chelsea) wants to see their team play in a cup final – yes Arsenal and Liverpool fans I am also talking about you. We all say “who really wants to win the Carling Cup/Johnstone Paint Trophy/FA Trophy” when we are knocked out of the competition to a lower level team, but if our team ever gets to a final we all know the fans will come out in force.
It is amazing to think that clubs were average attendances sometimes barely break 2,000 can muster ten or twenty times that when there is a cup final in the offing. Take the example of last season’s FA Trophy Final. Darlington played local rivals Mansfield Town at Wembley Stadium. The attendance? 24,668 which was less than in previous years. Nearly 15,000 had come down the M1 from Nottinghamshire for their first appearance at Wembley Stadium. Yet in the fixtures between the two sides earlier in the season the crowds had been 2,234 and 1,614 respectively.
Or who can forget the site of Luton Town legend Mick (friend of The Ball is Round) Harford holding aloft the Johnstone Paints Trophy at Wembley Stadium in April 2009? The Hatters were about to be demoted from the Football League thanks to the ridiculous 30 point penalty levied on them by the authorities yet nearly 40,000 fans had made the short hop down from Bedfordshire for the game. 40,000 is quite a difference to the average 6,019 who attended games at Kenilworth Road during the season.
The magic of the cup eh!
Lewes are another side starved of cup final glory. Our Wembley aspirations this season were firmly shut by Bonfire night thanks to away defeats to lower league Chertsey Town in the FA Cup and Harlow Town in the FA Trophy. Our last cup final was many-a-year ago in the Sussex Senior Cup (in 2006 to be precise) so like most fans at this level, The Rooks feel they deserve a chance to dust down the Rosettes and the tin-foil replica’s of the trophy.
Despite the early exits in the two FA competitions we had made steady progress in the other two cups available to us. In the Sussex Senior Cup victories over Wick and East Grinstead have set up a mouth-watering local derby next week with Eastbourne Borough but first up was the quarter final of the Ryman League cup against AFC Sudbury.
The competition, which had been renamed the Alan Boon Trophy in honour of the ex-Staines Town chairman who had done so much for Non League football had proved to be incredibly competitive this season. Lewes had overcome Crawley Down and Folkstone Invicta in the early rounds before being drawn away to Met Police in December. A hard fought 2-1 victory put the Rooks in the last eight of the competition and fortunately avoided a long away trip (also in the draw was Lowestoft Town and Bury Town – both 3 hour plus away trips). Instead a home tie against Ryman League North AFC Sudbury was our reward.
That is not to take anything away from the Suffolk club. We visited them last season, thoroughly enjoying the afternoon in the sunshine at their smart King’s Marsh ground. They have tasted success before as a non-league side, reaching three consecutive FA Vase finals. Alas it was in the period when Wembley was being rebuilt and so they cannot wear the “I’ve played at Wembley” badge.
After the impressive turn out on Saturday for the visit of Kingstonian it would be interesting to see how many would be back for this match. Cheap admission (just £5 for the 700+ Lewes Members), warmer weather (a balmy 13 degrees forecast for East Sussex), the lure of a cup semi-final appearance and the second game of Simon Wormull’s temporary stewardship of the team. All valid reasons for people to get on down to the Pan for this one to see if Lewes could join Lowestoft Town and Bury Town in the semi-final draw and be just one step away from the final at Staines Town’s Wheatsheaf Park.
This really was a journey and a half on a wet and misty evening for the visitors and it was no surprise that we received notice from them that they were delayed north of the river. As time ticked on the referee instructed the Sudbury players to be “changed and ready for action” by the time they arrived at the Pan, which they duly did around 7.45pm. A quick warm up on the pitch and it was time for the fate of the two teams to be decided.
Lewes 1 AFC Sudbury 1 – The Dripping Pan – Wednesday 18th January 2012
As a neutral penalty shoot outs are the best invention ever. As a fan who is watching one unfold in front of you it is a completely different affair. Every time a player comes up to take one you feel yourself trying to get into their head, trying to work out what they will do. At 10.08pm last night when, after eleven spot kicks, Lewes keeper Rikki Banks dived low to his left and pushed the ball out we could all breathe a sigh of relief. This extended torture was not in the script.
The game had started with both teams playing some decent football. Sudbury surprised the home fans with their expansive play and created the first real chances of the game which Banks had to be alive to. Lewes rarely threatened the Sudbury keeper in the first half an hour, and what balls were pumped into the box were easily handled by their keeper. Michael Malcolm saw his toe poke past the keeper roll agonizingly for the Lewes fans towards the goal but then hitting the post and falling to safety.
However, as if to remind the Lewes fans standing on The Jungle that football can be a fickle master, Sudbury then went and took the lead when Robbie Martin’s “lofted” shot flew over Bank’s head. This was not in the script. Fortunately the lead only lasted ten minutes as Matt Somner powered in a near post header from a Nanetti cross to level the scores.
I don’t think any neutrals or Sudbury fans could say that the second half wasn’t one way traffic as Lewes pounded the visitors goal. The Rooks had three shouts for penalties which 99% of officials would have given (well, two of them anyway – the third appeared to have been committed inside the area but he gave it outside) and Malcolm, Booth and youngster Howell all went incredibly close.
With five minutes to go we had a horrible thought – “Does Simon Wormull know if the game finished all square it goes straight to penalties?”. ClubSec Kev was dispatched to the bench to find out – fortunately he knew which was handy as at just on 10pm the referee blew full time and the game would be decided by spot kicks.
I could describe them all in glorious detail, but instead Lewes owner Matt Holland filmed all of the tension on his trusty iPhone where I can be seen in the foreground as calm as anything (in front of Big Deaksy, who is the big chap in front of camera).
There always has to be a winner and a loser in penalties, and whilst we commiserate our visitors, our attentions now turn to the draw for the semi-finals and the hope we avoid long away trips to Bury Town and Lowestoft Town.
The magic of the cup is still alive and well in East Sussex.
Postscript: Just as the game was starting, the club announced that manager Steve King had left after a mutual consent agreement had been reached.
Duffed up
It is rare that I go to a game and do not whip out my camera or my phone to record the action but yesterday as the referee blew the final whistle at The Dripping Pan I realised that I hadn’t taken one picture. Not that there wasn’t any action on the pitch, but I had a guest with me. Football Jo.
For those of you who are new to The Ball is Round you will have never come across Football Jo. A few years ago she used to accompany me around the world to watch football. But then she decided she really did need a boyfriend. In the past she had a “love my football and love me” motto. She has her own house, own car, own extensive porn collection and own teeth. But some men couldn’t hack her commitment to the beautiful game. So she compromised and stopped coming to strange overseas locations to watch bizarre games. But it didn’t last and she rang me two weeks ago asking when she could come down to Lewes. She was single again and thus she wanted to get back into football. And what better place than The Dripping Pan.
Today’s visitors were Kingstonain, complete with Martin Tyler as their assistant manager. Yep, THAT Martin Tyler. One can only speculate if he commentated on the game from the bench in the same style he does for Sky Sports.
This was another Lewes game that was due to clash with Brighton. Previous clashes had seen average gates of less than 600 and on a chilly afternoon a crowd of around that would be a good turn out.
Lewes 1 Kingstonian 1 – The Dripping Pan – Saturday 14th January 2012
It was Horsham all over again. Lewes ended up conceding a late equaliser in a game that they should have put to bed before half time. At least this week we didn’t see any silly antics when Lewes were awarded a first half penalty as Paul Booth took one look at the bench and Simon Wormull’s nod said it all.
Lewes started in third gear, racing forward and using the width of Nanetti and Ciardini from the first few minutes. However, it was the visitors who had the best early chance when Duff blasted over from close range. Lewes responded, Harding danced into the area and was brought down. Harsh? Well, compared to one that wasn’t given later on then I would say so. Booth stepped up and made no mistake from the spot for his tenth goal of the season.
Half way through the first period the linesman called the referee over. A heated debate took place on the touchline with the Kingstonian bench, the result of which was the K’s manager was sent off. In a day and age where any language seems to be acceptable on a football pitch it must have been something very bad for the red card.
Half time and to feed my hunger I queued for a burger. ”Cheese burger please” I asked…”Chedder, Stilton or Burger Cheese?” I can honestly say I have never been offered Stilton on a burger at a football game and it was tops. If that is not enough to put another few hundred on the gate I don’t know what ever will.
The second half saw Kingstonian come back into the game and test Rikki Banks. Lewes had a great shout for a penalty when Nanetti was hauled down but the referee instead chose to book the Italian for diving. A big let off for the visitors and they made The Rooks pay. First Banks pulled off the “save of the season” from Simon Huckle. But the 711 in the ground could feel a K’s goal coming and with ten minutes to go Duff skipped around the normally solid Hustwick and he beat Rikki Banks to give Kingstonian a deserved equaliser.
A draw wasn’t the tonic we were looking for after a difficult week but results elsewhere still kept the Rooks in 4th place. The cold wasn’t enough to keep away the fans and even Football Jo loved it, although that was perhaps she fell in lust with a certain little Italian with magic feet. Here we go again.
A Hornets sting in the tail
The world changed for Lewes FC in July 2011 when Brighton & Hove Albion moved into the American Express Community Stadium, located just one train stop or 4.7 miles from The Dripping Pan. We always knew that there would be an exodus of fans to the new stadium and hoped that the fixture computer would be kind to us and not arrange any major fixture clashes. The first half of the season saw just two such clashes, which had around a 20% impact on the gate. So we (the board of directors don’t you know) decided to experiment with the game on Bank Holiday Monday with Horsham when the next clash was due to take place and decreed it would be a midday kick off.
The reasons for this were plentiful. A local derby against one of Lewes’s oldest rivals, and one just 30 minutes away by car was always going to attract a large crowd. Coupled with Brighton’s “local” game versus Southampton at 3pm, the fact that Lewes has become the place to “park and ride” for the Amex, as well as the local licencing laws meaning the pubs couldn’t open until midday anyway. Finally, Plumpton racecourse was hosting the Sussex Grand National no less (Many thanks to Eddie The Shoe for the tip on Double Dizzy) so a few of the crowd may be planning to head up to the estate of Lord Plumpton and lay a bet or two and keep him in fine wines and cigars for another year. So we (the board) voted overwhelmingly to move the game.
Every fan at this level matters. The average league attendance at The Pan this season is 599, the second best in the league behind Lowestoft Town. But on the two occasions when the game has directly clashed with Brighton, the attendance has on average been 521. Per game, we see £11.54 spent per paying fan so that 78 difference costs us around £900. For a small club that is quite a bit of cash. So by moving the game to an earlier kick off not only will we not lose those 78 fans, and their £900 but we may also gain a few “early doors” Brighton fans (in theory). And if we can get 100 of them then we will see another £780. Grown up thinking? We will see.
The world of watching Lewes for me changed on the 27th October when I joined the board. I now feel the pain of every ball that is hoofed out of the ground, every player that goes down holding his leg and every Golden Goal ticket left unsold. Such is the community spirit now within the club that there is a regular sweepstake among the Lewes Lunatic Fringe not only on the final score, but also the crowd. Anything that starts with a 5 normally produced a frown, a 4 is a wince and a 6 or above a smile.
Today was going to be interesting though. With a number of pubs in the area also not open until 12pm the Rook Inn could be the social hub of the town. It would also mean I got to see my mate Hugo Langton. One of the nicest people you could ever want to meet, I first met Hugo a year ago (well, 364 days ago) when he was a coach at Thamesmead Town. He then joined Horsham in the same capacity in the summer and then in the Autumn stepped into the hot seat. Despite all of his efforts, Horsham are still rock bottom of the league and came into the game on the back of seven consecutive league defeats. What odds would you get on a away win today? Could they do a Blackburn and upset the form book?
Lewes 1 Horsham 1 – The Dripping Pan – Monday 2nd January 2011
With all three additional minutes played in this game, Lewes were wasting time in the corner, happy that a 1-0 win would take us closer to Billericay at the top of the league. Twenty seconds our Bank Holiday world had been turned upside down as the visitors broke and scored with literally the last kick of the game. Fair? Well, actually to some extent, yes.
By 11.30am there was a good five hundred in the Dripping Pan, and our initial pessimistic view of a crowd of 600 looked wide of the mark. The “Brighton factor” or more likely Danny Last’s networking, had pulled in a number of early doors Seagulls fans, resplendent in their candy striped shirts. Extra hands were being employed in the Rook Inn and in Maria’s kitchen where Venison pasties were on the menu (They didn’t sell very well according to Mr Freemantle because they were too deer!). The sun was shining, the beer was flowing and people were loving the early start. What could go wrong?
Horsham’s fans had turned up in big numbers, complete with big flags. They didn’t let up their support for their team throughout the 94 minutes, despite their team’s wretched form, and it was the visitors who had the better of the opening exchanges. In fact if it wasn’t for the reflexes of Rikki Banks they would have been a couple of goals to the good within the first half an hour.
With such excellent weather I decided to climb to the top of the mound outside the ground to get a different perspective on things. The mound was made, apparently, from the earth moved from the site of the Dripping Pan and commands fantastic views over the ground to the South Downs as well as Lewes Castle to the North. Within minutes Lewes took the lead. Nanetti crossed and the every impressive Harry Harding smashed the ball home.
As I cheered from my lofty position I saw a flash of green out of the corner of my eye. I turned my head quickly to the side, but saw nothing. Then again, but from the other side of the mound. I must have been seeing things, with Northern Rachael’s punch from New Year’s Eve now taking on hallucinogenic properties. But no – straight ahead of me panting as he climbed the final few steps was a man (I think) dressed as the Green Hornet, complete with mask and yellow gloves with flashes on. He was followed by a man (again I think) with a blue full body suit on. They looked at me, I looked at them and then they turned, pulled out a video camera and started shooting a make-believe super hero action scene. Two’s company, three’s a crowd so I left…
The second half saw Lewes more comfortable on the ball. Nanetti was again teasing and tormenting the full back into mistakes, and it was inevitable he would be booked for one foul too many. However, it was a surprise that it remained 1-0 until the 72nd minute when Horsham’s Hunter, who had just saved his team with a great stop, brought down Harding in the area.
It became obvious that with first choice (Ciardini) and second choice (Booth) penalty takers on the bench, no instructions had been given to the team. Queue a farcical scene of bickering between a group of players before rock, scissors, stone decided that Albert Jarrett would take the kick. It wasn’t the worst spot kick you will ever see but Hunter dived and parried it away.
Time ticked down and Lewes seemed happy to hang on for a 1-0 win. But then with time up Horsham broke and the ball fell to Kedze on the edge of the box and his shot beat Banks and rippled the net. A collective sigh went up from the crowd at one end, ecstatic cheers at the other as the form book had indeed been upset again.
It wasn’t all doom and gloom though. The official attendance of 1,005 beat our most optimistic expectations, and was over 400 higher than our average. If all of them spent their £11.54 it would have been a very successful financial decision to move the kick off. Time will tell but for now we just had to be content with a point and our place in the top four.
More pictures from the afternoon can be found here.
Rooks avoid crash landing at Pilot Field
You would have thought reading all the fuss around the tube strike and the Chelsea/Arsenal games that this was something new. For those of us who like our football a bit more “rural”, the issue of lack of public transport on Boxing Day has always been a spectre.
The fixture computer had been a bit cruel this season for Lewes, seeing us playing away on Non League Day, Bonfire Night (THE night of the year in Lewes) and New Years Eve (The last night of the year spent in the company of the Met Police isn’t that appealing I am sure you will agree). But Boxing Day has seen us drawn to play along the coast at Hastings United, “The Arrows”. Whilst not in the same league as the rivalry with Eastbourne Borough, it was still the game at this level between two teams from East Sussex.
You would expect this to be a bumper crowd. Lewes, with an ever growing away support, playing just twenty miles to the east in Hastings, or “God’s overflow waiting room”. Hastings, where Harold lost his eye and subsequently the English throne forever. Hastings, birthplace of such distinguished world figures as Andy Bell (of Erasure fame), Harry H Corbett (of Steptoe and Son fame), My namesake Simon Fuller (of S Club 7, Spice Girls fame) and Graham McPherson (of Suggs fame). Hastings, home of The Pilot Field.
Who wouldn’t want to miss this one? High flying Lewes, unbeaten away from The Pan for over a month, against a Hastings side that has struggle to find consistency this season. A mouth-watering derby, and a chance to blow away the Christmas Day cobwebs. Just a short hop on a Southern train. Except it wasn’t. Southern decided that they didn’t want to run any trains on Boxing Day, and buses between the two towns are almost non-existent, so literally hundreds of fans would not be able to get to the game. Did we expect anything different? Not really – after all it is ONLY Non League football.
I was OK as I was driving anyway. The Lewes FC chauffeur driven directors car was picking me up from home and taking me straight to the Executive Entrance in Hastings (OK – my Dad was driving) and for me this would be a visit to a new ground which simply doubled the excitement to fever pitched level.
Boxing Day football has always been very kind to me. I’ve seen some absolute crackers down the years and it has long been a Fuller Family tradition that we all go to a game on Boxing Day. Despite the fact I also try to sandwich in another half a dozen games before the New Year I was unlikely to break the tradition as it has been handed over from father to son and now to daughter as Lolly came along decked out in Hollister and Ralph Lauren. The kids of today eh! In my day it would have been a Y-Cardigan and a pair of stay-press Farah’s. None of this US-branded stuff malarkey. Have you been into a Hollister shop? Do they not pay their electricity bills or something? Or is it a ploy so that you don’t know what you are buying. Anyway, teenage clothing rant over, let’s get on with some action.
Lewes came into the game on the back of a “hot streak” of away form. Five consecutive away wins sort of hot streak, and with Hastings not exactly enjoying life at the wonderful Pilot Field, my money was going on a Rooks win. Of course, as Mr Marber reminded me, I cannot actually put money on the game. As a director of Lewes it is one of the things I have to remember not to do, along with singing along to “sack the board” and not passing brown envelopes stuffed full of cash to strange men in dark overcoats.
We arrived in good time in Hastings and caught a glimpse of Pilot Field through the trees on the way down the hill. It was clear that this would be a big crowd for the Arrows, in fact as it would prove, the biggest crowd of the season by some distance (689 if you must know). The ground lived up to its reputation as one of the finest traditional arenas in the Non Leagues. Once home to greyhound and speedway racing, the ground sits on the edge of a natural hill. The old grass bank that once allowed the capacity to be over 10,000 cannot be used anymore but the large Lewes following behind the goal made a huge amount of noise in the cavernous stand as the teams walked out onto the pitch.
There was just time to grab a pint of Harveys, provided by Lewes FC, in the bar before the Rooks kicked off, looking to put pressure on Lowestoft in third place.
Hastings United 0 Lewes 1 – The Pilot Field – Monday 26th December 2011
With players even falling foul of the lack of public transport, Lewes started with one of the most experienced benches they have had this season with both leading goalscorers sitting out the opening period of the game. Replacement striker Ian Draycott nearly opened the scoring in the first few minutes but his shot was well saved by the Hastings keeper.
With Jarrett and Nanetti both seeing lots of the ball it was a very positive Rooks team that dominated the first half. Despite not being able to create many chances of their own Lewes simply did not looked troubled at the back. Perhaps this is due to the settled back four, who have started over 70% of the games together this season. Familiarity breeds solid defensive robustness, as the saying goes.
Harding, one of the most impressive players in the last month came the nearest to breaking the deadlock when his header somehow managed to hit the post and stay out with half time approaching.
The Lewes fans were undoubtably the stars of the first half, raising the roof on the covered terrace. With the Non League tradition of swapping ends at half time, the Rooks fans found themselves almost on top of the action, willing the ball into the net. We nearly had our wish on the hour mark when substitute Michael Malcolm headed the ball into the net but was harshly ruled offside.
With just ten minutes to go, Hasting’s midfielder Attwood received his second yellow card in just a few minutes and he became the victim of another refereeing decision in Lewes’s favour in the past few weeks. The Rooks sensed victory and both Nanetti and Jarrett stuck to their wings, creating havoc with the full backs. With just five minutes to play, Jarrett beat his man again, sent in a deep cross that was then hit back into the area and in a carbon copy of Trevor Brooking’s 1980 FA Cup winning goal, Malcolm stooped to head the ball home. Such was the relief from the players that Harry Harding ran to the crowd and was embraced by the Rooks fans as if he was Santa Claus himself.
Lewes saw out the final few minutes with some comfort and for a brief few minutes whilst we waited for the Lowestoft score to come in, rose to second in the league for the first time in three months. Captain Steve Robinson came over and shook hands with it seemed the whole away support. Six out of six away from home demands respect and that is what the team have from the fans at the moment.
On days like today football overcame the inefficiencies of our public transport system and a bumper holiday crowd enjoyed a game free of the poison of the professional game.
More pictures from the Christmas extravagansa can be seen here.
A Christian Cracker
‘Tis the season to be jolly. That is unless you are an out of work football manager. Just two weeks ago Tooting & Mitcham United parted company with ex-Sheffield United player Mark Beard as their manager. The life of a non league manager is a perilous one that is for sure. Whilst the tenure of a league manager is at its all time low of 1.5 years, the non leagues tend to be even harsher. Few managers below the Blue Square Bet Premier enjoy contracts in length of more than a season. There is no loyalty in football, simple as.
The Terrors came into the Christmas special with Lewes on a horrendous run. One point from their last eight league games, and twenty-three goals conceded put them firmly at the bottom of the current form table. Despite Mark Beard being a “good all round chap”, any club owner would be compelled to act in such circumstances, mores the pity, especially when a new board had just taken over the club with grand plans that included “League Two football in a 14,000 seater stadium within 10 years”.
The non leagues are littered with clubs who thought they could change the world. Few clubs have ever made it – Yeovil Town’s rise was built on being the biggest club in a huge catchment area, coupled with a well run club. Accrington’s rebirth on community spirit and even Crawley Town had plied their trade in the Conference Premier for a number of years before the money appeared. Whilst I admire the ambition of any club (and being a director of Lewes I know what our ambition is), there is a sense that someone needs to just remind them of reality.
They currently get crowds hovering around the 300 mark, sitting at the apex of a triangle with Sutton United and Carshalton Athletic just a couple of miles away, whilst AFC Wimbledon are just five miles to the west. With thousands of people sitting on the doorstep you have to wonder why they haven’t been through the gates of The Hub (as their ground complex is called).
With their new owners came a new manager. Kenny Brown, son of the legendary West Ham defender and Norwich City manager Ken, was last seen in the non league game at Grays Athletic working alongside Julian Dicks. Kenny once cost Manchester United the league title with a goal for West Ham against them in April 1992 which handed the momentum to Leeds United.
Brown joined the club just a few days ago and had already brought in a number of new faces, some of which who met for the first time on the coach down to Lewes. With the Rooks recent form (apart from the blip last week against Concord Rangers) being white-hot, few would have backed anything apart from a home win.
With this being the last game before Christmas and to celebrate our nomination as the Best Football Blog at the NOPA’s (Well done to In Bed With Maradona for winning the award btw) we agreed to be Matchball sponsors for the day. My special guest, Sarah “Hotscores” Flotel was to decide the man of the match. Little did we know that the choice would be so easy.
Lewes 3 Tooting & Mitcham United 1 – The Dripping Pan – Saturday 17th December 2011
At 3:12pm, five miles away at Falmer, Brighton & Hove Albion had been reduced to nine men. ”Blimey” was the collective comment on the Jungle terrace as Lewes battered Tooting & Mitcham United (hereby called TMUFC for brevity). Less than an hour later the visitors would have gone one better than the Seagulls, playing out the final period of the game with just eight men. Anyone looking from the outside in would assume this was a dirty game. The truth was very different.
In one of those instances where the planets align, the game was being attended not only by the Sussex FA but also by a referee assessor putting undue pressure on the man in the middle Saul Kay. That can be the only reason why the official was far too quick to take action in a game where there wasn’t a malicious tackle.
Lewes started as if they meant business, carrying on the attacking intent from Tuesday nights win at Carshalton Athletic. Early in the game TMUFC keeper Darren Behcet was called into making a couple of saves from Malcolm and Harding. In fact Behcet earnt top marks for his banter with the crowd all afternoon. It is rare that keepers bother to interact with the crowd, but when they do it creates a bond, and the fans appreciate it. Even when Christian Nanetti’s cross drifted over his head in the 45th minute to give Lewes the lead we couldn’t bring ourselves to mock him even though it had to be his fault.
By this stage TMUFC were already down to ten men. Midfielder Charlie Dove went to challenge Nanetti in front of the benches and the linesman. He didn’t leave the ground in the tackle, his studs were not showing and contact with Nanetti, who was already trying to hurdle the tackle, was minimal. A yellow card would have been harsh, but Mr Kay pulled out a straight red. Even the Lewes players put arms around Dove as he walked off the pitch.
The second half started with a bang as within a few seconds of the restart Malcolm hit the bar with a thunderous shot and Harding’s follow-up somehow being kept out by the TMUFC fullback on the line. With Lewes camped firmly in the TMUFC half things went from bad to worse when Jordan Wilson received a second yellow for a very soft challenge. With the possessionometer (that must be a Sky inspired word?) firmly in the red for Lewes, and the visitors now two men down only a fool would have put a bet on TMUFC scoring the next goal, but that is exactly what happened when Charlie Stimson was unmarked (how? We had two extra players!) at the far post and steered the ball home.
If it wasn’t for Rikki Banks in the Lewes goal TMUFC would have then taken the lead as he made two world-class saves in quick succession. Were the wheels about to fall off the Lewes juggernaut? Cometh the hour, cometh the little Italian wizard. Finally Lewes realised that there was more room on the pitch and started feeding Nanetti. With full back Terry Fennessy already on a yellow, and a trigger happy referee, he started to take on the full back at will, getting to the byline on a number of occasions without the final ball finding a home.
Then with twenty minutes to go Malcolm managed to get on the end of one of these runs and despite Behcet’s initial save, he followed it up to stab it home. Number three came again from Nanetti’s byline insertions although he had decided to swap wings. His low cross was smashed home by Alex Stavrinou to make it three with ten minutes still to play.
It was inevitable that Nanetti would taunt Fennessy once too often and the full back brought him down, earning his second yellow and TMUFC’s third red card. Can they claim they were “cheated” as their fans thought? There was no doubt every single incident was a foul and perhaps under another referee (not being assessed?) they would have finished with a couple more men on the field.
With a few minutes to go I had to make the call on Man of the Match. Banks for his brilliant saves? Max Hustwick for his outstanding defensive performance? Matt Somner for his solid performance in the middle of the park? Stavrinou for his box to box running? There really could only be one choice…..The referee. No sorry, Christian Nanetti scored one, made two, had a hand in three sendings off and still had the most bizarre haircut on the pitch. The lad is a real talent and when he is on song like today there are few teams who would want to face him.
So Lewes go into the Christmas period with six wins in their last seven games, back in the playoff positions and having two home ties in the quarter finals of two cups there was reasons to be cheerful. For the visitors? One point from a possible twenty-seven, three suspensions pending and a new squad to bed in mean things look a bit Bob Scratchit.
More pictures from an interesting day can be found here.
Six on the Ley Lines
East Grinstead is a strange old place. Sitting on the border of Kent and Sussex it has been home to many famous people, drawn to the town by the peace and quiet, the sweeping South Downs and the country pubs with roaring fires. Winston Churchill retired here, purchasing the impressive gaff Chartwell, Winnie-The-Pooh set up his pad in the nearby Ashdown Forest and talking of joke characters, Peter André lived here too.
But what draws such strange people to the area like Plastic Peter, or the ridiculous Right Said Fred (currently singing weekly at Saracens Rugby Club with their version of “Stand Up for the Champions”)? Some suggest it is not for the slice of Daily Mail inspired middle England, but because of Ley Lines. Ley Lines are alleged alignments of a number of places of geographical and historical interest, such as ancient monuments and megaliths, natural ridge-tops and water-fords. So is this the explanation for the presence in the town of organisations such as The Mormons, The Church Of Scientology, The New Life Church as well as your regular old religious denominations.
So why congregate on East Grinstead? The Scientologists arrived when founder L Ron Hubbard bought a big old pad in the town back in 1959 and since has welcomed celebrity followers such as Tom Cruise, John Travolta, Katie Holmes, Kirstie Alley and, er Peaches Geldof to their mansion on the outskirts of the town. Tom and Katie love a trip down to the Co-Op when they are in the shack, whilst John can park his Jumbo at Gatwick nearby.
With so many celebs wandering around town how could there be room for a football team? Last time I saw Tom Cruise at a game it was watching David Beckham playing in the Bernabau. So where does he get his fix of “soccer” in this part of East Sussex? East Grinstead Town obviously. The Wasps were formed back in 1890 and have probably seen a fair few Mormons and Scientologists tucking into a cup of tea and a burger in the GEC Stadium over the years. The Sussex League team have floated along without causing too much of a kerfuffle in the town during the last 120 years unlike the various religious sects and their moment of glory came one hundred years ago when they reached the final of the Sussex Senior Cup, losing to those legendary St Leonards Amateurs in a snow storm. Ironically with winter weather threatening to take hold of South East England, I was watching the Wasps take on the Rooks in the same competition one hundred years later.
Every year Lewes come into this competition with hope of at least an appearance in the final. With only two football league clubs in the county (Brighton and Crawley Town), and Eastbourne Borough playing at a higher level, with a prevailing wind and a favourable draw there is always hope that this season will be the one. Last season with the carrot of the final being the inaugural game at the Amex Stadium, Lewes drew Brighton in the quarter finals but couldn’t overturn an early Seagulls goal at the Pan and went out. So this season hope was again still flying when the Rooks beat Crawley Down in round two and were then drawn in the Third Round away at East Grinstead.
A swift change from Director of Communications to a, well, Director of Communications that Superman would have been proud of saw me just getting into the GAC Stadium (aka East Court) just in time for the 7.15pm kick off. To say the ground is hard to find is a bit of an understatement. It is tucked away down a narrow lane that C S Lewis would have used for inspiration with no visible signs of life. However, the capacity car park suggested that this was a big game. Was cup fever in the air or were the Rooks going to suffer at the hands of a lower division side for the third time this season?
East Grinstead Town 0 Lewes 6 – The GAC Stadium – Tuesday 29th November 2011
In the end this went according to the script. Lewes scored six, could have had double that and towards the end the East Grinstead players starting looking at taking out their frustrations on the Rooks players on an ever-increasing muddy pitch.
I had literally taken my place next to Big Deaksy and Dave (Trivia question of the day – name the English team who hold the record of 27 consecutive European games where they have scored) when Ian Draycott cut in from the right and fired the ball home. Super snapper Boysie was still chatting to random tram lovers (He loves a tram does Boysie) so do not expect any pictures of that goal. Draycott only seems to score the difficult goals for Lewes, almost perfecting that “smash in from the edge of the box”.
East Grinstead had an opportunity to draw level when Lewis Hamilton brought down a home player in the box. For a minute it seemed like that Hamilton would get a red card, which in this competition can prove a nightmare as the County FA’s issue bans in weeks rather than games. But in the Lewes goal was Stuart Robinson, returning to the team after a two month hiatus. Robinson is a big chap, in fact it seemed as if he had to duck to stand under the cross bar on his line, but he still got down very quickly and palmed the ball away.
The home defence were living on borrowed time with last ditch clearances being the order of the evening. Finally a mistake was made and Paul Booth had the easiest of jobs to slot home.
A swift retreat to the ample and welcoming club house saw a return to retro football. We all remember page 312 on Ceefax where the latest scores could be found. Today it is the red button on your TV for 21st century Ceefax to get the latest scores. Marvellous stuff.
With the second half barely a few minutes old another defensive mix up saw Harry Harding take advantage and walk the ball into an empty net to essentially kill the tie. Three became four ten minutes later when Ciardini, obviously been studying the techniques of Ray “Tonka” Stewart, smashed home a penalty. Steve King, protected from the elements by his Russian Cossack hat brought on Christian Nanetti for the final twenty minutes and his twinkling toes soon had the home defence losing their cool.
Number five came with ten minutes to go when Mickey Malcolm appeared to have taken one too many touches of the ball but somehow got a shot in that flew into the roof of the net. With that goal it was time to leave and try and dig my car out of the mud. As I walked along the side of the pitch a shout went up and Lewes had another penalty. Despite Nanetti snatching the ball, and Kamara pleading with the manager that he should take it, Ciardini retained his professionalism and took the kick, again powering it down the middle to make it six nil.
Cup competitions often throw up shocks, especially if the bigger teams put out weakened teams. But this season the Sussex Senior Cup now has three teams in the quarter finals, all of whom who have overcome games against smaller teams, scoring an average of 6.5 goals in the process.
The magic of the cup is still alive in East Sussex – perhaps those Ley Lines were magical after all.
The Leatherhead Tip
A few weeks ago, Lewes visited FA Cup giant killers Harlow Town and came away with a shock of their own after the Ryman League One North side came from two goals down to win three-two in the FA Trophy. Today we were on the road again to another club whose exploits were inscribed on the fabric of the cup, Leatherhead FC.
The year was 1975. The Tanners then of the Isthmian League had gone on a mazy run in the FA Cup and had beaten Bishops Stortford, Colchester United and Brighton & Hove Albion to set up a fourth round tie at home to 1st division Leicester City. In a move that today would be “banned”, the game was switched to Filbert Street on request of Leatherhead to maximise the revenue earning potential and over 32,000 fans and the Match of the Day cameras crammed in the ground to see the non league side take a two goal lead. Star of the show (and of the club) was a chap called Chris Kelly who liked to talk up not only the team’s abilities but those of his own and earned him the nickname, The Leatherhead Lip. Unfortunately fitness saw the 1st division side score three goals to take the tie but the Tanners held a place in many neutrals heart (A great article on their cup run can be found here).
Today they still ply their trade in the top level of the Isthmian league after promotion via the play offs last season under legendary manager Mick Sullivan. Sullivan didn’t take fools gladly but was a great non league character and we will be ever grateful for the signed shirt he donated to Lewes’s Rook Inn last season. This season the club started poorly, and ultimately Sullivan paid the price as he departed Fetcham Grove after just two points from their first nine games.
After Lewes’s last gasp defeat to East Thurrock United on Wednesday a win was more important than ever. On Friday one phone call sent the club into crisis though. On loan keeper Fabian Spiess had been injured in training with his club Notts County. With no other keeper at the club the phone calls started. It was looking like I was going to be dusting off the old Uhlsports and doing a John Burridge and sleeping with a ball, just to get ready until I got a call from Club Secretary Kev. A deal had been done to bring back Rikki Banks from Eastbourne Borough for the month. Banks was a hero in our survival season two years ago, and would be welcomed back again, starting with the trip to Leatherhead.
Also joining the squad was Harry Harding, previously with Reading and Bromley. As with all new signings I try and get a bit of information. On the gospel that is Wikipedia Harry was either a 65 year old American Political Scientist who wrote “Sino-American Relations, 1945-1955: A Joint Reassessment of a Critical Decade” or that he was the Canadian Minister of Government Services for Newfoundland and Labrador. Hmm, I think it was more likely to be @HarryHarding91 on Twitter come to think of it.
This as a short trip for TBIR – 30 minutes around the M25 and down into Mole Valley. I cannot see that word without recalling of Ever Decreasing Circles, the BBC Sitcom from the 80′s starring Richard Briers where he played an obsessive, compulsive chap living in middle England hell. He worked for a fictious company called Mole Valley Valves. As I parked at the ground a couple walked past with matching coats on – very Howard and Hilda.
Leatherhead’s Fetcham Grove ground is one of the finest in the south of England in terms of location. Nestled next to the River Mole and surrounded by trees it is perfectly complimented by the autumnal colours, falling leaves and the ramshackle old stands of the Tanners. If only all non league grounds had so much character.
With this being a short hop and a skip for most Lewes fans, the turn out was high, including the veritable Rob K Read, the brains and brawn behind the world famous Lewes Membership scheme, forming a formidable Twitterati to report on the game.
Leatherhead 0 Lewes 1 – Fetcham Grove – Saturday 26th November 2011
With half a dozen fans poised with their fingers on the iPhone buttons to send news of the unfolding events to the world all we needed was something to report on. Well we waited, and waited and waited. On forty minutes the highpoint of the half occurred. Young George, son of ClubSec Kev made a dash for freedom from his buggy and felt he could do better than any of the twenty outfield players, making it as far as the corner flag before being thwarted.
Neither team created much despite almost perfect playing conditions. Lewes welcomed back Matt Somner in the middle of the park and he was joined by new signing Harding, with his “unusual” hair. It would be interesting to see who will now monopolise the hairdryer before the game between him and Nanetti.
With only Booth up front and five in midfield it was clear on Steve King’s intentions – stop Leatherhead passing through the middle. And it worked, although the Rooks created few chances themselves in the opening period that could trouble the Tanners keeper.
After a refreshment stop in the bar, and a welcome pint of Harveys (the fans not the players), the second half started with more of the same. However, it took a number of changes from the bench to change the game. Malcolm came on for Nanetti and with that Lewes became more positive. The corner count started mounting and with Albert Jarrett and Malcolm cutting in from the wings, the Leatherhead defence took to strong-arm tactics to stop them.
With ten minutes to go Booth was scythed down on the edge of the area and Malcolm’s free kick could not have been more perfectly flighted into the top corner of the net. Relief washed over the fans, players and management alike. Whilst the team have sat in the play off spots for weeks, form has been disappointing and at this stage we would all take a win at whatever cost.
The final minutes saw some nerves defending from Lewes, which always looks worse from the far end, but in the end they held out. It is all about the result, not the performance at this stage of the season (is that right, or is that pre-season?) and the win solidifies the Rooks place in the top five.
Next stop – East Grinstead United in the Sussex Senior Cup. You can stick your Nou Camp, San Siro and Allianz Arena. It’s the GAC Stadium for us on Tuesday and we couldn’t be more excited.
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