Ten-man Lewes hold on for replay against Hastings
LEWES managed to hold out for a draw against Hastings on Wednesday (February 3) despite going down to ten men in their Sussex Senior Cup third round tie at The Dripping Pan.
Lewes got off to a great start going 1-0 up through Kane Louis before Adrian Stone equalised for the visitors.
But the home side had to hold out for a replay for most of the second half after Dan Royce was sent off for an alleged head-butt on a Hastings player.
Lewes manager Steve Ibbitson said: "I think the referee has had a pernickety game, he saw things that nobody else saw.
"I don't like complaining about referees because they have a hard job.
"The referee said he (Royce) was sent off for a head-butt. I think the two of them put their heads together andwhen players do that one of them is going to get sent off."
Ibbitson rested several of his players ahead of Saturday's crunch game against Braintree, bringing in youngster George Jones and Jamie Crellan, who both made their debuts for the club.
And it was the impressive 16-year-old Jones who set-up Louis to put The Rooks a goal up after two minutes.
However Hastings, who sit second in the Ryman League Premier, pulled a goal back after 17 minutes when Adrian Stone guided a superb header past the helpless Rikki Banks.
The biggest talking point came on 71 minutes when Royce was given his marching orders by the referee.
This seemed to galvanise the home side who looked the more likely to grab an equaliser before the 90 minutes were up.
However it was Hastings who nearly grabbed the winner in the last minute of extra-time when Tyrone Stelling's strike was just cleared off the line by Anthony Barness.
After the match Ibbitson said: "We had a lot of kids in there as we have a lot of injuries and players that couldn't play.
"Some could have played at a push but it is more important that we make sure we do well in the league on Saturday.
"Jamie Crellan played really well on his debut controlling the midfield and George Jones on the right played really well. It was a good battling performance and we didn't seem in any trouble even when we had
10 men."
LEWES: Banks, Barness, Timms, Pearson, Crellan (Lang ET 10), Breach, Jones (Hopkinson 63), Chamberlain, Pope (Keehan 78), Louis, Royce
Subs not used: Manning, Joe, Benasco-Zaragoza
Attendance: 161
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Friday 25 May 2012
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