Brentwood Town suffer a third consecutive league defeat on the road at Lewes.
Despite their valiant second half display, fine margins proved to be the difference between the two sides at The Dripping Pan. An early chance fell to the Blues as Jon Nzengo played a through ball to Danny Ogunleye, but the striker saw his shot fly over the bar.
The hosts opened the scoring through Devonte West on 18 minutes. A corner caused chaos in the Brentwood box, and West was on hand to convert from close range. Benas Vaivada momentarily thought he’d found an equaliser by tapping home a rebound from Alejandro Machado’s shot at the back post, but it was eventually waved for offside. Charlie Walker then doubled Lewes’ lead by slotting home a shot from another scramble in the box from a corner 10 minutes later.
The Blues continued to push for a goal through a pair of chances by Kymani Thomas, with the first striking against the crossbar and an acrobatic bicycle kick falling short of the left post to leave the hosts holding onto an advantage at the break.
The Blues started the second-half brightly, but it was Parish Murihead who secured a third for the hosts as he nestled a centrally positioned free-kick into the far corner of goal. However, from then on, Town started to dominate in attacking areas, with an identically placed free-kick at the other other end of the pitch struck wide by Machado.
In the final 15 minutes, substitute Jesse Olukolu reduced the deficit by converting the pass of Ogunleye, and provided an in swinging delivery down the right flank to assist the Blues’ second, netted by fellow sub Charlee Hughes.
In the final moments, with Brentwood pushing for an equaliser, a penalty was awarded to the hosts. Although Lukas Franzen-Jones saw his spot-kick denied by the gloves of Minter, Martell Taylor-Crossdale buried a loose ball into the far corner to seal the win.
The Blues return to league action this coming Tuesday with a trip to St Albans City.
By Michaela Georgopoulos
