The Oval, Eastbourne
Admission: £3.00
Programme: None
Attendance: 60 (approx)
The weather conditions today would probably have put me off going to a game this evening under normal circumstances, with heavy rain in the morning, followed by strong winds into the afternoon and evening. But with this being the first mid-week that senior clubs have been able to welcome supporters, I decided that a bit of wind was not going to put me off going to a game this evening.
The Oval has undergone a few minor changes since my last visit in March, some inevitably related to Covid-19. Admission was paid at a table, instead of paying somebody inside a wooden hut through a window, and visitors were invited to leave their names and contact numbers on a pad of paper. The tea bar was closed this evening, and instead quite a decent selection of snacks, sandwiches and pastries was available from a table inside a gazebo - probably not an ideal construction with this evening's high winds, although it did look secure enough throughout. In March, the dugouts were temporary constructions, after the roofs had been dislodged by a storm, but they have since been reconstructed.
When last season was abandoned, Eastbourne United were in sixth place in the Southern Combination League Premier Division, following 13 wins and three draws from 27 league games. Lewes, two steps above Eastbourne United in the pyramid, were in 16th place in the 22 club Isthmian League Premier Division, following eight wins and seven draws from their 34 league games.
Conditions were extremely difficult to play in this evening, and were not pleasant to watch in, with a constant very strong wind blowing across the pitch, with rain mixed in at times. After Eastbourne United had started well with the wind behind them, Lewes scored first of four minutes after a low pass through the defence by Ronnie Conlon allowed Aaron Cosgrove to run through on goal, gently lifting the ball over the advancing keeper and into the net. But on 9 minutes, Eastbourne United equalised, Jack Murphy played in a teasing cross low from the left, and Panashe Makwiramiti forced the ball home at the far post. Both sides played some decent football despite the conditions, and Lewes' Conlon saw his curling shot come back off the far post, whilst a triallist had a fierce shot saved by the keeper at his near post. But the visitors did regain the lead on 23 minutes, when a cross that looped high across the goal was not properly claimed by the keeper, and the same triallist struck the ball home, and on 43 minutes, Lewes scored their third when Conlon crossed the ball from the left, and Ross Barclay headed home at the far post, to give the scoreline a reflection of Lewes asserting their superiority on the game.
Lewes continued to dominate after the break, and scored their fourth on 69 minutes when Luke Blewden dispossessed an Eastbourne defender out wide, before passing the ball to Cosgrove who rolled it past the keeper. Within 3 minutes Lewes made it 1-5, Cosgrove claiming his hat-trick when he struck the ball home after the ball spilled away from the keeper following a challenge from Blewden. And on 84 minutes, Lewes scored their sixth, a cross from the right was saved low at full stretch by the keeper, but into the path of a defender and the ball rolled over the line. On 86 minutes, Eastbourne United scored another, a consolation that a decent performance deserved, the Lewes keeper fumbled the ball Toby Guest turned the ball home.
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