After yesterday’s late comeback and penalty shoot-out win, this game carried on where Saturday left off, writes Mike Wallis.
Cheltenham started very quickly, pressing Lewes high up the pitch for much of the opening 15 minutes. Lewes didn’t have many touches in the Cheltenham half, let alone any shots. Hannah Godfrey was lucky not to be sent off, fouling Cheltenham striker Lue as she tried to break free twice in quick succession but getting away with a booking first and a lengthy lecture from the referee for the second.
Cheltenham had been well on top for the entire game, right up until Mia Adaway broke down the right and her cross was headed in at the far post by the unmarked Poppy Derhun. Against the run of play, as the pundits say. Cheltenham appealed vociferously for offside, in vain. 1-0 Lewes.
Cheltenham did have the odd chance after that, and things may have been very different if shortly after the Lewes goal, Lue hadn’t kicked at thin air rather than the ball in the six-yard box. Quayle and Derhun both had a go at turning Carpenter’s cross in at the other end, but neither could make contact.
Lewes started the second half better with Sammy Quayle making a nuisance in the Cheltenham defence, nicking the ball off Owen, holding off the challenge from the Wellesley-Davies and rolling the ball across goal for Olivia Carpenter to tap in at the far post. 2-0 Lewes.
Lewes added a third late on, when Cheltenham defender Owen miscontrolled the ball straight to Poppy Derhun, who lifted her shot over Smith in the Cheltenham goal for 3-0. Cheltenham had a couple of chances late on, when Greenwood got around Emily Moore but couldn’t get a clear shot away. Then Owen shot from range into the Philcox and Butcher headed wide, but Lewes never really looked in trouble.
In the background to all this was the story of the linesman on the Mountfield Road side. He’d clearly missed the news about the electrical transformer closing most of the roads in East Sussex as it moved at walking pace from Shoreham Port to Uckfield, meaning it had taken him three hours to get from Brighton to the Pan.
The kick off was delayed as a result and the late lino didn’t bother with a warm-up to get the game started as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, this decision came at a cost. Midway through the second half the linesman went down and there was immediate concern from players nearby. After a long period of treatment, he was helped from the pitch by the physios of both teams.
Now, there is an obvious problem. “If there are any qualified officials in the ground, could they make themselves known please?” and after a 15-minute delay, someone did. I’m not sure when Pete Bull came to the Supporters Club meeting about a year ago to pitch his idea for the Lewes FC Foundation, he’d envisaged he’d spend the launch weekend running the line, but that’s exactly what happened. I’m not sure how the referee let him do it wearing a Lewes Vets jacket, but that’s exactly what happened too. Fair play to Pete for stepping up and thankfully he wasn’t involved in any contentious offside calls!
Lewes have finally got their season going, now with two home wins in a row. Ipswich beating MK Dons 13-0 today isn’t a great look for the league and with MK and Plymouth already adrift at the bottom and Lewes 11 points behind Hashtag at the top of the league, it looks like we’re going to be safely ensconced in mid-table. We could do with a good cup run and there is an opportunity for that next week against Dulwich Hamlet. Hopefully it’s just as eventful following Lewes FC next weekend!
Lewes: Moore; Brant, Godfrey, Harvey, Connolly-Brame; Carpenter (Gilligan), Schreimaier, Roche; Derhun(Bacon), Quayle (Eze), Adaway (Fatuga-Dada).
Cheltenham: Smith, Hateley, Collis, Liggett, Attenborough (Trinci), Bell (Butcher), Llewellyn, Wellesley-Davies (Finch), Owen, Greenwood (Leach), Lue (Pemberton).
Goals: Derhun (23,83), Carpenter (49)
POTM: Poppy Derhun’s first goal turned the game and her second finished it off. Sarah Harvey had an excellent game at centre half as well.