With neither side having won their opening game of the season, both teams came to The Dripping Pan hoping to gain their first three points. However a come back from Lewes meant that in the end, both teams had to share the spoils in a game decided by refereeing controversy.
Whisper the name 'David Spain' quietly in Lewes, for he is not very popular with supporters of the Rooks. Before the game started fans were taking a look at the back of the programme and browning as they saw the name of the man in the middle. Why such a disliking towards Mr Spain? Well, two years ago Lewes first encountered his 'unique' refereeing style when they played in an away fixture to Hastings Utd. Mr Spain awarded Hastings a penalty early on after a Lewes clearance struck another Lewes player in the chest outside of the penalty box and then failed to award the Rooks a stonewall penalty after Steve Brinkhurst was brought down through on goal.
Now, this first poor game could go down as just another poor performance from a referee, however it was not long later that Mr Spain was terrorising Lewes again. Lewes were in the depth of a relegation battle and high flying Kingstonian were paying a visit to the Pan. Kingstonian controversially went ahead when Mr Spain failed to give a blatant foul on the keeper, allowing the K's to score in to an empty net. Lewes fought back and equalised, however in the 93rd minute yet another foul on the keeper was not given, this time an elbow to the head and yet the referee allowed the K's to have 5 (five) shots on goal while the keeper was on the floor with a head injury, not only stupid but plain dangerous.
Added to his poor performances in front of a Lewes crowd, Mr Spain also has many other mentions if you search his name online for dodgy refereeing. He once sent off a player for escorting a streaker off the pitch when the stewards weren't able to. He has been criticised by several managers saying he is not up to refereeing.
Anyway, enough ranting about what Mr Spain has done in the past and back to the game at hand. Both sides seemed intent on playing a long ball game with the first seven minutes passing without anything in the way of an attacking threat. Therefore maybe David Spain awarded Hornchurch a free kick to the left of the Lewes area out of boredom? For there appeared to be very little other explanation. However, Lewes fans bemusement about this decision was quickly gone as the free kick was swung in and caught by Rikki Banks, David Spain blew his whistle again. What for? Everyone wondered, must have been a foul and a free kick to Lewes somewhere. Lewes and Hornchurch players alike started jogging back in to positions for a Lewes free kick, Rikki Banks layer the ball on the floor to take it, however, Hornchurch number 5 Omar Beckles must not have heard the whistle as he took the ball and put it in to an empty Lewes net. David Spain pointed towards the half way line, he had given a goal.
As you would expect pandaemonium erupted in the Lewes dugout, stand and on the pitch, no one could believe what was going on. Lewes players and management protested to the referee and his linesman, however Mr Spain was having none of it, claiming he had blown the whistle before the free kick was taken.
For the rest of the half the Lewes players looked shocked, they struggled to compete with Hornchurch dominating the game as it progressed. Eventually Hornchurch made Lewes pay and added a second goal on the half hour mark when Lewes static defending allowed a ball along the box to be firmly met by Martin Tuohy, doubling the Essex sides lead.
Lewes were offering little in the form of attacking threat, their main strategy to pump the ball forward towards their striking partnership of Terry Dodd and Luke Blewden, however the tall Hornchurch defenders were quickly mopping up everything that came their way.
The second half didn't start much better for Lewes, their tactics needed changing and despite a grilling from manager Garry Wilson, there did not appear to be many changes made. The game swung on the sixtieth minute when Lewes injected some pace in to the game, adding Nathan Crabb and Elliot Romain. Lewes grew in confidence and started running at the Hornchurch defence causing them all sorts of problems, however, it wasn't until Lewes scored that they created any real chances.
Lewes pulled the first goal back on the 73rd minute. Rikki Banks played a long ball out wide to Elliot Romain who took the ball down well sprinted past the left back before stopping, turning a defender and blasting away again. Romain put a low ball in to the area finding its way all the way across the box and to Nick Wheeler who smashed the ball home in to the top corner from the edge of the area.
The goal gave Lewes the lift they needed and despite a scare when Hornchurch hit the cross bar, it was Lewes who were creating the better chances. They nearly equalised through an own goal when a free kick was out in to a dangerous area and a Hornchurch head forced the keeper in to a flying save to deny Lewes a point. However, this was not the end as in the 88th minute another free kick was sent in to the box, a tussle inside the box away from the ball saw a Lewes player felled down to the ground. The linesman spotted the infringement and Lewes were awarded a penalty. Luke Blewden calmly stepped up and smashed the ball in giving delight to the Lewes fans and management alike.
Lewes should not kid themselves, despite rescuing a point from an unlikely position and some very dodgy refereeing, they did not play to the standard that they should be at. They will need to improve if they ant to meet their ambitions and challenge for a play off place.
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