Lewes boss Russell: We're a bigger fish nowadays

The Lewes players celebrate after Joe Taylor’s late penalty wraps up victory over Bognor on New Year's Day. Picture by Angela Brinkhurst

Tony Russell was ‘absolutely delighted’ with Lewes’ new year performances in the Isthmian Premier – despite mixed results.

The Rooks beat Sussex rivals Bognor 2-0 on New Year’s Day in front of a bumper Dripping Pan crowd of 1,416.

Razz Coleman De-Graft gave the visitors the lead on the stroke of half-time before Joe Taylor sealed the win from the penalty spot at the death.

But, just two days later, Lewes went down 4-2 at play-off rivals Kingstonian. Iffy Allen and Ollie Tanner were on target for the Rooks.

The results leave the Rooks fifth, the final play-off spot. Lewes are a point ahead of place-below Cheshunt although the Rooks have played a game more.

Russell said: "In terms of how we played over the two games I was absolutely delighted. In terms of our progression, I’ve come away a lot more confident.

"I’ve got a huge amount of respect for Kingstonian and [manager] Hayden Bird. The fact that they’ve changed their shape is a huge compliment to our work and what we’re doing.

"Vinesy [assistant boss Joe Vines] made a good point, and said he thought we’d become quite a big fish now in the league.

"If you listen to Hayden’s interview after, he knows that it could’ve gone either way. If we play them again, we beat them.

"I could hear a couple of their supporters within my earshot and they were saying how good of a side we were.

"I’m disappointed that we lost, obviously. We won three games in a row and it’s a bit of a kick in the nuts a little bit, but we can also reflect and say you know what, we’re doing okay."

The loss at Kingstonian brought an end to Lewes’ three-game winning streak in the league.

Russell admitted his players had previously lost confidence after defeats that halted good runs of form.

He added: “We’ve returned to training and everyone is in good spirits, but that’s been our downfall this season. We’ve gone on nice little runs and then we’ve lost a game and then we’ve dwelled on it for too long.

"Winning heightens the confidence levels within the squad because you come away and think, we’re miles better than them.

"But when you lose you think, oh my God, how has that happened? The fallout is much bigger than normal."

The Rooks travel to fourth-placed Enfield Town this Saturday in a massive game in the Isthmian Premier play-off race.