Lewes FC boss proud of young guns despite early exit from Sussex Senior Cup
Lewes manager Bradley Pritchard said he hoped supporters didn’t feel he “disrespected” the Sussex Senior Cup after a side composed of Under-18s lost at Roffey.
In a disappointing week for the Rooks, Pritchard’s side exited both the FA Trophy – with a 2-1 defeat to Leiston – and the Senior Cup, of which they are five-time winners.
The latter defeat came with an entirely new squad, as Pritchard opted to rest his first-team squad and staff on a night where Under-18s manager Dale Hurley was also unavailable.
Hurley has taken up a new role as Lancing manager, which he will combine with his U18 role, and it meant Pritchard led the side alongside U18 assistant manager Jacob Baitup.
Pritchard explained his selection process as being focused on avoiding ‘upheaval’.
The Lewes boss said: “We've had six or seven [under-18s] training with us consistently, and the two options were, I could play those six or seven, and there'd be a lot of upheaval, or I could play them all.
“It gave me an opportunity to see what they're really like when they have the responsibility of no older, experienced players to steer them.
“I was incredibly impressed with all of them. I've never walked away from a 2-1 loss as happy as I was after watching them. They grew in confidence and I was really proud of that.”
Despites the positive element of giving young players experience, the result in West Sussex inevitably led to questions about the team’s direction.
Lewes have now exited all three cup competitions at the first round of entry, and are winless in seven consecutive matches.
“I have to prioritise the league, but I also have to look at us as an overall,” said Pritchard.
“We have a small squad, so I need to be able to trust the younger players.
“In cup games, I've tried to give players opportunities. If I don't give them chances, I don't know when else I would. I also need to show that I trust them.”
This weekend, the Rooks head to Chichester City in a rearrangement of the fixture that was set to take place a fortnight ago.
Pritchard stated that Lewes will contact Chichester and “defer to them” in terms of the tone of the match, which will be played in the shadow of former Chi striker Billy Vigar’s recent death.
Kick-off is at 3pm this Saturday at Oaklands Park.