Lewes sunk by late double as Carshalton claim victory

Having led 1-0 at half-time, Lewes were good value for their lead against an unexpectedly passive Carshalton side, with Shae Hutchinson scoring for the second week running.

The Surrey-based visitors responded well, though, and equalised midway through the second half before launching a stunning added-time assault to claim all three points.

All of this left Lewes disappointed with their afternoon’s work as they head into the final week of their season with just a mid-table battle left to play for.

Following an FA hearing earlier in the week regarding historical betting offences, Lewes captain Danny Bassett was unavailable for the match, as he will be for the remaining two games of the season.

In his place came midfielder Parish Muirhead, while a host of other changes saw Jack Meeres, Izzy Jones and Calvin Ekpiteta replace Matt Warren, Hamilton Antonio and Tolu Ladapo.

The visitors, meanwhile, included two former Rooks in their squad, with Nabeel Ghannam and Kalvin Lumbombo-Kalala forming part of a powerful front four.

It was this Robins attack who had the first couple of chances in the contest, too, with one slick move seeing Ghannam set up Lumbombo-Kalala for a shot straight at goalkeeper Toby Bull.

Lewes were building gradually by comparison, but striker Hutchinson’s pace was a clear damger to the visitors.

In the 17th minute, Lewes used this to beautiful effect as they stole possession and slipped in Hutchinson to round the ‘keeper, but defender Luke Read slid in to clear the resulting effort.

Back at the other end, Bull pulled off an incredible save in the 25th minute to deny Sharon Ifeanyi, who attempted to curl an effort into the top right corner over a sea of bodies.

Besides these chances, however, it was a most curious half of football.

Carshalton insisted on sitting off their hosts, allowing Bull to proceed almost to the halfway line with the ball whilst inviting him to pick a pass.

Occasionally, this would pay off for Peter Adeniyi’s side, as they worked a couple of decent counter-attacking chances, but their use of the ball was often underwhelming.

Lewes were quite happy to be the team in possession, and as they grew in confidence, the perfect opening eventually fell their way.

In the 37th minute, a beautiful lofted pass from defence set Hutchinson free with only defender Dylan Pepe to beat, and after shrugging off the centre-back, he opened up his body to tuck a finish into the bottom right corner.

That was just Hutchinson’s third league goal of he season, but coming a week after his equaliser at Cheshunt, it marked a perfectly-timed return to form.

With no further chances arising before the whistle blew, Lewes’ half-time lead – just their third of 2025 – was one of the most comfortable they had enjoyed this season.

After the break, Carshalton came out energised and with a considerably more aggressive game plan. Lewes expected this, but how they responded would be important.

At the back, Bull did superbly to respond to increased pressure and more shots, including a great stop to prevent Smith from the right.

In front of him, things were slightly more passive, with Lewes doing enough but not thrilling the crowd, with only a half-chance for Sablier to show for their endeavours.

In the 68th minute, this would come back to sting the Rooks. Ghannam was given far too much space 25 yards from goal, and with his strike taking a heavy deflection, it beat a stranded Bull, who seemed to believe the ball was going wide.

The game settled back into its established rhythm after the goal, however, with Carshalton seemingly content to work for a point.

Lewes were glad to have the ball, and with Sablier weaving his magic across the game, a goal was never far away.

Try as they might, however, Lewes were up against the clock. In an excellent end to the game, Carshalton turned up to make a contest of it.

In the first minute of added time, the visitors sprinted down the left through Ifeanyi, who took his chance delightfully.

After skinning Jack Meeres, the forward reached the left of the six-yard box and powered an unstoppable finish over Bull and into the roof of the net.

Ninety seconds later, it got even worse for Lewes.

With Josh Spinks beaten on the right, substitute Kole Salami sprinted clear and then squared the ball to Tommy Bradford, who tucked a finish away to make it 3-1.

Lewes simply had no time to respond to this sudden disappointment, and were forced to accept defeat from an outing where they should have had much more.

Up next for the Rooks

Lewes next head to Folkestone Invicta on Easter Monday, where they face the side one side below them in the Isthmian League Premier Division, looking to pick up points to help them finish in the top half.

The Rooks can now only finish between 10th and 14th in the table, so in their mini section of the league, this match becomes a big clash.

Lewes then return home on Saturday 26th April for the final match of the season, at home to 10th-placed Cray Wanderers.

Both matches over the next week kick off at 3pm.

Lewes: Bull; Jones (Kaiser, 85’), Spinks (C), Meeres, Ojemen; Allen, Muirhead, Sablier; Ekpiteta (Ladapo, 70’), Hutchinson, Unwin. Unused: Antonio, Jalloh, Nano.