Nelson wants Lewes to fire again after missing bonfire week spark

In a tough pair of fixtures, Nelson’s side welcomed play-off-pushing Wingate & Finchley and Dartford to The Dripping Pan and netted three goals across the games.

They ended with a 2-2 draw with the North Londoners and a 2-1 defeat to their Kent visitors, however, and will reflect on two entertaining games where they lacked the fine margins.

Following the midweek defeat to Dartford, Nelson said: “I think we fashioned chances, but in those chances, we've got to take one at least.

“I can't keep standing in front of you and saying that we've had so many chances, but we end up with a low goal ratio.”

In the defeat to Ben Greenhalgh’s Dartford side, Lewes were punished by a seven-minute double from the visitors and had too little time to draw level after Brian Garzon’s 82nd-minute goal.

There were several decent chances, but in the face of a sturdy Darts defence, the Rooks fell just short.

As the Kent side look to build on a 6th-place finish last season and secure a return to the National League South, it was a useful marker of where Lewes stand with a third of the league season gone.

“I think they didn't have many chances in the game to warrant the win based on our second half performance,” said Nelson.

“But credit to them; they've come here, done what they needed to do, and in the end, we couldn't break them down.

“You don't win games of football by having ‘nearly’ chances. They were the ones that took their chances. But I think on the balance of the game, we did enough to get something from it.”

The story was similar last Saturday, when Lewes led Wingate & Finchley through a 14th-minute Charlie Walker free-kick but let the visitors back in through a scrappy couple of goals before half-time.

A well-worked short corner just two minutes into the second half saw Enkh notch the crucial equaliser, but an end-to-end second half saw neither side net a winner.

Lewes dropped one place in the table over the weekend, with Eastbourne Borough leapfrogging them into 3rd, and they will be conscious about how the table is now contracting.

Nelson urged his players to move on quickly, saying: “Don't feel sorry for yourself. We haven't got the time for that. We've got two back-to-back hard games again with Dulwich away, and then Enfield in the week; they're not going to feel sorry for us.

“Sometimes you need a little bit of a reality check.”

The Rooks head to Dulwich Hamlet this Saturday, with a 3pm kick-off at Champion Hill.