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Ryman League Division One South
LEWES (1) 2 (Whiteman, Rogers OG)
WORTHING (1) 2 (Ekoku, Hill)
Attendance 932 (And at least 400 were Worthing fans)
A huge game and one that surely couldn’t be as eventful as our previous visit to The Pan when Jimmy went bananas and Brackers was the hero, could it? Well not until the 90th minute. The game had actually been pretty tame until that point and it just happened to co-incide with the arrival as substitute of Darren Freeman who in only three minutes, committed three fouls, missed a penalty and got himself sent off in surely the most remarkable WFC appearance of the season.
Worthing were without Wes Lopez, Glen Davies and most importantly 34 goal Sam Francis. Ben Carrington surprisingly failed to make the bench as “prodigal son” Freeman was welcomed back into the fold after his spell away from the squad in recent weeks. Lewes featured ex-Rebels Paul Kennett and Danny Davis in their starting XI (interestingly, 2 of only 3 Sussex-based players in the side) while Chris Dicker, Mark Knee, Stewart Holmes and Owen Hill could all claim “previous” at Lewes.
The opening exchanges were nervy as we struggled to get to grips with a Sam-less forward line and Lewes looked to impose themselves on the game. Ekoku and Harvey were booked early on as they tussled for the ball on the far touchline. Few clear-cut chances were created until Nko burst through inbetween two Lewes defenders. Lewes “goalkeeper” Dominic Jean-Zepherin should have been first but he made a complete hash of his attempt to gather the ball and Nko bundled it in. Quite how the Frenchman retains his place in the Lewes side remains a mystery as for all his sharp reflexes, a lack of basic concentration and judgement has cost his side vital points all season. Parity was restored just before half time when a well-worked move was finished by Marc Whiteman to level things up.
Lewes started strongly in the second half and took the lead when a free kick from Davis took a couple of fortuitous deflections before beating Will in the Worthing goal to make it 2-1. We didn’t give up and Mark Knee’s right foot (yes, right foot!) cross from the left was headed home by an airborne Owen Hill for his second goal in three days. Adeyeni was brought on and his close control caused some problems but the game fizzled out until the 90th minute when Owen Hill was adjudged to have been brought down for the most debatable of penalties. Darren Freeman had been on the pitch for less than 2 minutes but grabbed the ball and elected to take the kick ahead of regular penalty taker Shaun Grice. Freeman’s kick crashed against the top of the crossbar and as the ball looped high in the air, obstructed Zepherin in the Lewes goal. All hell broke loose with the main protagonists being Michael Harvey and Freeman. Both were red carded along with (surprisingly) Shaun Grice who didn’t appear to do anything noticeably worse than some of the other brawlers. Having remembered he is a self-styled “hardman” Harvey then went ballistic and had to be dragged away by the responsible Ipka. This will no doubt be mentioned in the referee’s report and he could face a lengthier ban as a result. Shaun will miss at least three games; while Freeman will miss at least three as well although most Worthing fans would concur we are better off without him anyway. It was a baffling decision by Pooky to put him on the bench ahead of Ben, especially as Lutwyche, Johnson and Edwards are similar players and Roy isn’t even match fit yet. The referee blew his whistle and there was no more time left, just as the game had ignited. As both sets of players warmed down Paul Kennett received a good ovation from Worthing fans and when asked why he was still at Lewes, shrugged his shoulders and smiled. Man of the match Joe Vines also took some good-natured stick about how “Even his Uncle [Crawley boss Francis] wouldn’t give him a game” the right way with a smile on his face.
Despite throwing away the best of chances to win the game, I reckon Pook will be happy with a good away point, especially as we did it without Sam Francis. What I am sure about is the return match is going to be electric and is a game not to be missed. With other results going our way, we win all our remaining games then we are Champions. Simple as that.
TEAM – Will Packham 7, Owen Hill 7, Chris Dicker 7, Des Guile 6, Clay Lamont 7, Stewart Holmes 6, Shaun Grice 7, Paul Rogers 6, Mark Pulling 7, Nko Ekoku 8 (sub Darren Freeman 3), Mark Knee 7 SUBS NOT USED Ross Johnson, Roy Pook, Andy Lutwyche, Sean Edwards
MY MAN OF THE MATCH – The Worthing fans, a phenomenal turnout to support the boys. From the pubs of the Cobden and the Selden, from the old to the young, we made ourselves heard and had a great day out. I salute you all!
7th Feb 2004