Late Goal Dampens Trip To The Pan

By Tom Morris

A late goal by Luke Blewden snatched the points for Lewes in a game Jay and the players will be wondering how we lost after dominating possession for large chunks of the match.

In front of 450 supporters it was the Gate who started brighter dominating possession and chipping away at the deep Lewes defensive line. Prestedge (15’) and Richards (16’) both had long range shots blocked and neither team tested the goal keepers in the opening quarter.

Vose was called into action in the 20th minute as Conlon turned and fired at goal but the Gate keeper tipped the ball over the bar. Moncur received a yellow card for the high challenge in the 35th minute and Ufuah broke clear of the Lewes defence a minute later but his cross could not find a teammate in the box. The half ended with a scuffle in the box from a corner but Ufuah could only fire Swift’s knockdown high over the bar!

In the early exchanges of the second half Lewes looked the livelier and Cosgrave forced another smart save from Vose (52’) before a succession of corners were well cleared by Friend and Swift respectively.

In the 60th minute Noel Leighton replaced Luke Carey to add some much-needed fire power to the Gate attack, but it was the host that grabbed the opening goal (72’) against the run of play. A short corner caught the defence napping and Blewden, via a slight deflection from Swift, cushioned the ball past Vose with a near post header. 1-0 Lewes.

Despite dominating the ball for the final 15 minutes a Leighton header (85’) was the only chance of note as the Gate failed to break down a resolute Lewes defence and the game ended 1-0.

Margate: Vose, Egole, Porter, Prestedge, Friend, Swift ©, Carey, Moncur, Ufuah, Evans, Richards.

Subs: Kallmeier, Steele, Hatton (Ufuah 81’), Leighton (Carey 61’)

The Gate are next in Isthmian League action on Saturday 17th October as we welcome Worthing to Hartsdown Park.