Chatham Town 3 vs Lewes 2: The Monroe Doctrine

I know it’s early season and we shouldn’t read too much into form at this nascent stage, but an alarming trend has already emerged.

In two of the away-day greasy spoons we’ve visited already this season, there have been pictures of Marilyn Monroe on the wall. You may be remember Norma Jeane featured in the rather disturbing tableau ahead of the pre-match fry-up in St Albans, alongside half of the 20th century’s most despicable human beings.

Well, now she’s back, this time on the walls of the appropriately named Legends of Rochester.

Is this sneaky subliminal messaging by Big Fry-Up? Scoff enough double egg and chips and you too could have a body like Marilyn Monroe’s? We need look no further than the elasticated waistbands of The Stodgebusters to know that this isn’t true, but more research is needed to find out if we’ve uncovered one of the biggest public health scandals of modern times. Stay tuned.

In the first half of this game, it looked like the Chatham squad had been down to Legends for a pre-match meal, as we largely dominated first-half proceedings. There was a new boy at the back, Harry Mills, filling in at centre-back for the injured Tom Bender and Josh Spinks, alongside Olly Hamstead. Tyler Cox was in at right-back and he picked up from where he left off against Cray on Tuesday, constantly getting forward and getting balls into the box.

There was an extremely decent shout for a penalty when Noel Fisher had his ankles tapped from behind him in the box, but the YTS linesman and the anything-goes referee were having none of it.

The ref finally did spot a foul late into the first half, giving the Rooks a free-kick about five yards outside of the box. Charlie Walker thunderbastarded it past Nathan Harvey into the top corner to give the Rooks a deserved lead.

A minute later and Charlie was on the scoresheet again. A ball over the top set Charlie away behind their lumbering centre-backs and for the second week on the spin he poked a delicious lob over the keeper to double our lead.

This was enough to prompt me to open the wallet for a celebratory pint of half-time Guinness with Tall James, only for the bonhomie to be spoiled when we clocked this picture behind the bar:

Sadly, that cockwomble wasn’t playing for them, but Alex Giles was. And it took only two minutes of the second half for him to bundle home a corner and set the away end’s nerves on edge.

Everything that we did right in the first half – closing down men, getting in behind, forcing their clogger centre-backs to make hasty clearances –we stopped doing in the second. We couldn’t keep hold of the ball for longer than three passes, and even though it started to look like we might just hold out as the half wore on, the dam eventually burst.

Ben Allen banged home an equaliser in the 79th minute after we’d passed up a good couple of opportunities to clear, and then Harry Lodovica wrapped it up two minutes later after we were inexplicably caught two-on-one at the back.

We were top of the league for a little while there. Sadly, it was a candle in the wind.

Lewes: Rogers, Cox (Mundele), Mills, Hamstead, Enkh, Briggs (Garzon), Owen, Fisher, Gondoh (Bassett), Unwin (Allen), Walker (Newson)

Supporters Club player of the match: Charlie Walker’s sublime double means we can’t even think about looking elsewhere.