1st Team v Lewes

THE WINNER TAKES IT ALL
Tuesday 26th September 2018.     F A Cup – 2nd Qualifying Round
Lewes        2 (Smith 32 pen, Hammond 48)           Kings Langley        1  (Adebiyi 50)           
The F A decision to radically increase the prize money for successfully negotiated Cup rounds can almost ensure a season’s financial stability at this stage and continued to add an edge to this already fiercly contested tie as it went to an evening replay at Lewes’ picturesque Sussex ground.
For unchanged Kings it was Groundhog Day as they again came out of the blocks at speed and dominated the opening exchanges, with Stevie Ward running riot on the right flank, to such an extent that he was sent crashing to ground three times, two of which resulted in cautions for his antagonists. As early as the fourth minute his break into the box and powerful shot looked a goal all the way, but the impressive Lewis Carey just got a hand to it to deflect it away. Callum Adebiyi’s power runs on the left, the subtle link up play of the experienced Rene Howe in the middle and the work rate and trickery of the predatory Mitchell Weiss set up several chances and near misses and had the Rooks back-pedalling and it was to be almost a quarter of an hour before they produced a long shot on goal and nearly half an hour before Martin Bennett was called on to make a brave stop with his feet. Whether that had any bearing on the decision that saw his next call to action in a one-on-one result in an unexpected penalty award is hard to say, but the award seemed a ‘soft’ one to say the least and Lewes , in the form of Jonte Smith, gratefully accepted the present. The small band of travelling supporters, who had been far more vociferous than their three hundred plus counterparts, were understandably stunned by this contradiction to the run of play, but although they were soon urging their team on again, the early Kings’ zip had dropped a gear.
It was important to get the second half off to a flyer, but a momentary lack of concentration on a free kick saw James Hammond drive the ball through the crowd to seemingly put the tie beyond Kings. However, the visitors had no such thoughts and within two minutes a Callum Adebiyi header from a Dean Hitchcock corner had put the contest back in the oven. As the clock ran down, Kings tried to hurry proceedings, while the Rooks tried to slow them down and the referee, who was not having the finest of nights, seemed to view any contact as an infringement, although he did get right the interpretation of the law that states that any blood injury cannot see the player retake the field until inspected by the referee during a break in play, even though it resulted in Max Ryan straining on his touchline leash for several minutes.
The final quarter of an hour was a replica of Saturday’s closing sequence, as Kings threw everything forward, a superb shot on the turn by Rene Howard was inches wide, Roy Sila’s rocket was just over and a Howe header was tipped over. But credit must be given to an equally spirited and solid defence who withstood nearly everything that Langley threw at them. By their own admission, Lewes rode their luck on Saturday and it would not be unfair to say that they did so again tonight, with Kings, who played some of their best football of the season so far, looking the more accomplished over both matches. But Lewes took their chances when they came up and that’s what wins games. Kings had given their all and made their fans proud of them, while both sides had contributed to two absorbing games that will remain in the memory for some time. All at Kings wish Lewes the best of luck in the next round. RM