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Great away win in difficult conditions

Great away win in difficult conditions

DERECK Wade22 Oct 2017 - 10:59
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Lewes move up to fourth in table

We rate our performances each week and this was 10 out of 10 for heart, commitment and guts. The ability to come back from 15 points down to win the game shows so much character and I am so pleased for them
- Head Coach Chris Roberts

The red sky this week reminded those (of a certain age) of the final scenes of Flash Gordon, as Flash descended to defeat Ming the Merciless. The downpours of rain and wind were similarly rather apocalyptic and had those in the back three looking out the window and thinking it was going to be a tough day. 

For the third time in four matches, Lewes - with nine players unavailable from their normal squad - crossed the border into Kent. Head Coach Chris Roberts had mentioned before the game that he felt this was the most balanced side he had elected since joining the club.

See Danny Simpson's pictures of the 2nds' game here>>

However, the start of the game would have had many scratching their heads wondering what he was on about. A Folkestone penalty was shortly followed by a converted try, the latter completely against the run of play, to make it 10-0 to the hosts. A second Folkestone try following some direct running meant that Lewes were going to have to do things the hard way at 15-0 down. This was made even harder as a rather over-officious official sin-binned Gus Taylor for his appealing of the injustice of a blatant hand in a  Lewes ruck. Roberts commented "Gus does need to watch his chat and learn how to work with referees but this was beyond harsh".

On his return, the side hit a purple patch and scored three tries in eight minutes. The first saw debutant and Man of the Match Luke Robinson storm over after an overthrown Folkestone line out throw, 15-5. The second - to make it 15-10 - was a work of art as the Lewes line-out caught and drove from 10 metres out, Iain Irvine touching down. The third was as slick as one could hope for. In response to a Billy Shiell effort being ruled out for crossing, the side continued to attack and the returning Abe Bredin went in under the sticks, to give Jon Pitts an easy conversion and Lewes a 17-15 lead at the break.

The second half was reminiscent of a heavyweight boxing match of the '70s as the two sides slugged it out, Lewes in the face of a now gale force wind. There were times when it was not pretty but still a beautiful game of (metaphorical) punch and counter punch. For much of the half Folkestone were camped in the Lewes half but never looked like scoring. A very clever change of tactics saw Lewes able to relieve some pressure but still struggled to add to the scoreboard. With seven minutes to go, Folkestone had a long range kick at goal to steal the lead but despite the wind behind, it fell short. Some great kicking and the benefit of fresh legs maintained the Lewes effort. They kept the ball for the final two minutes and kicked out to claim an exceptional win. This fine victory sees Lewes move up to fourth in the table, and with Lewes' next opponents Old Williamsonians, beating League leaders Thanet, it will be another tough game on Saturday, but least Lewes will have home advantage (k.o. 3.00pm at the Stanley Turner Ground). 

Chris Roberts added his thoughts after the game "I could not be more proud of the squad. We rate our performances each week and this was 10 out of 10 for heart, commitment and guts. The ability to come back from 15 points down to win the game shows so much character and I am so pleased for them. We continue to learn as a group and we will always be hard on ourselves. However, the way the side played out the final two minutes of the game showed just how far we have come. We now sit fourth in the table having made the three big trips away to Kent done and with nine league points from those games. All the top sides will need to come to Lewes in due course and we will without doubt give ourselves a chance to be in the mix come the business end of the season."

Lewes: Luke Raynor, Iain Irvine, Gus Taylor, Elliott Moule, Daniel Wade, James Durrant, Abe Bredin, Toby Mills, Fraser Warren, Sam Hewitt, Nathan Lowen, Sam Furse (Capt), Luke Robinson, Matthew Blunt, Billy Shiell, Jonathan Pitts, Owen Jones, Seb Roberts.

In the League match between two unbeaten sides - Hove 3s v Lewes 2s - something was bound to give, and so it turned out. Hove eventually ran out winners by 34-20 with the advantage of a lumpier pack and one or two players who were obviously used to playing at a higher level, but to Lewes' credit, they still managed to score four tries (Lewis Austin, James Brown, Kris Maloney and Owen Edmonds), thus coming home with a losing bonus point. (action from this game in above photo)

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