Seagulls boss Adams watched as Kevin Keehan's Rooks side were only denied a fine 1-0 victory by a late, late strike from Dough Loft.

Lewes had taken the lead with 13 minutes to go thanks to a well-crafted goal when the impressive Seb Wallis-Tayler ran onto a superb through ball from Matt Geard and chipped a shot past keeper John Sullivan and into the far corner of the net.

And when asked of the Lewes performance, he replied, "Fantastic. I thought they were magnificent today. They gave us a real test and they've signed some good players."

Of the Rooks' chances in the Blue Square Premier next season, he said,"On today's performance you have to say that they'll be ok, I think they will anyway.

"I certainly hope they will because I've got a lot of respect for Lewes Football Club in general but mainly for Kevin Keehan. He's a good man.

"Everybody's written them off and that should be the main focus of motivation for Kevin and his boys."

Adams admitted he was surprised by the physicality of the Lewes players. He said, "They were very enthusiastic, that's for sure. At times they caught us out with the ferocity of their challenges, but that woke us up a little bit as well.

"We needed that. We've had it too easy and all our own way in all of the pre-season friendlies so far but certainly we didn't have that today."

• Read more in Friday's Sussex Express, including Kevin Keehan's comments on Saturday's game.