Rooks triumph on derby day

We’re never short of Sussex derbies in the Pitching In Isthmian League. 

Here we were in mid October, and already our top flight alone had hosted seven Sussex seaside and non-seaside specials, and there were many more to come. The latest, however, and the subject of our coverage tonight, was a rather less frequent fixture in our calendar. Three Bridges were hosting Lewes in a League fixture for the first time in almost ten years.

They haven’t exactly been strangers during that decade. The sides had met six times- only the first two in the League- and whilst four of those had been won by the Rooks, with only one result going the other way, that wasn’t really a surprise. After all, with the exception of those two meetings during the 16-17 campaign, there had been a Division between the two sides for all of that period, and Bridges two defeats to their local rivals had been two of thirty one losses during that particular season, which they ended in a relegation place. The fact that they were meeting on equal terms tonight was down to the fact that our hosts delivered the best season in their history in 2025-26, and of course that the Rooks eight consecutive top flight campaigns had seen them fail to participate meaningfully in either the promotion or relegation fights (although there was a memorable sixth place in 23-24). 

The sides came into this match with rather different ambitions. A win for Bridges would lift them out of the bottom four for the first time since August Bank Holiday Monday; whilst an away win would propel Lewes to the heady heights of second. There was, of course, rather a long way to go, but so far this season the travelling fans had seen their summer worries about the competitiveness of their side allayed in some style, whilst the Bridges faithful had seen their favourites become the joint fifth highest scorers in the Division, with that positive statistic needing to be balanced by the fact that only Maldon and Tiptree had conceded more goals. 

The Jubilee Field hierarchy had taken action to allay their defensive worries with two new arrivals, Owen Spicer and- most impressively- Scott Malone lining up in the back four as they won at Stanway Rovers on Saturday, picking up three points for only the second time this season. Malone was playing in EFL League Two for Bridges neighbours Crawley Town as recently as last season, and a player with almost five hundred professional appearances was always likely to inspire those around him. In contrast, the strength of Lewes so far this season had been at the back, with six clean sheets from eleven matches. Only Welling United, Eastbourne Borough and Burgess Hill Town had conceded fewer goals- although nobody in the top half of the table had scored fewer than the Rooks, either!

Were we about to witness a game of attack versus defence? It was time to find out.

The team news arrived around forty five minutes prior to kick off, and it showed the hosts without leading scorer Noel Leighton. With his six goals from eight appearances prior to tonight, his team mates would need to step up. That was rather a large void to fill.

Bridges started well. They had the first effort on target four minutes in, and dominated the opening stages, passing the ball nicely and closing down quickly when not in possession. And then the visitors began to take control, with Ryan Gondoh- as always- seemingly everywhere. 

In the fifteenth minute the Rooks were ahead, and it was a beauty. Brian Garzon, central, shrugged off all defensive attentions and curled a stunner into the top corner from twenty yards, to the understandable delight of the travelling fans behind Sam Roberts goal. The keeper had no chance. Could Bridges respond?

Goal: Three Bridges 0 Lewes 1, Brian Garzon, 15 minutes

It was almost two for the visitors three minutes later, Roberts forced to make a fine save from Alfie Allen. At the other end Ade Adeyinka powered forward and shot across the goal, but beyond the far post, and Adeyinka was involved in their next attack, too, an excellent pass to Hayden Velvick ending in a scramble by the near post. Quickly back up the other end we went, Charlie Walker heading wide.

On the half hour a foul on Dakara Wifa twenty two yards out gave Sam Bull a chance. He beat the four man wall, but his effort wasn’t on target. One minute later, however, Kevin Rivera reached a cross ahead of his marker, was felled, and the referee pointed to the spot. Even behind the goal there were no protests, just a chorus of groans- and we were spared the spectacle of VAR (Very Angry Rooks). 

Adeyinka spotted the ball, stepped up, and his effort was saved by Louis Rogers- but the Bridges number four was first to the rebound and made no mistake with his second effort. He was having a fine match, and the goal was deserved. 

Goal: Three Bridges 1 Lewes 1, Ade Adeyinka, 32 minutes

Bridges remained on top as we approached the final five minutes of the half, and a corner that looked to be too long turned out to be anything but, Sam Bull almost hooking it home at the back post. 

Into added time and a defensive error left the hosts under pressure, but Tyler Christian-Law pulled his shot wide. And that was that for an entertaining first half, with the scores level, an outcome that reflected the balance of play overall. 

Half time: Three Bridges 1 Lewes 1

It was the Rooks who started the second half strongest. Almost immediately Roberts was forced to punch away a cross under pressure, and two minutes later Walker should have done better with a free kick twenty five yards out, neither the three man wall nor the goalkeeper troubled.

On fifty three minutes a defensive error gave Wifa a chance, his effort curling over the bar, and that perhaps exemplified the opening stages of the half- lots of endeavour, but lacking in quality. A collection of niggly fouls also interrupted the flow, and the match badly needed a moment of brilliance. What it got instead was the away support doing their best Tony Hadley impression, as yet another foul stopped play. “Football in a library,” was then followed by “football in a car park” and even more bizarrely, “a bus stop near Gatwick,” (they seemed to have forgotten the five-platformed railway station a quarter of a mile away, surely “a station near Gatwick”) as the Rooks faithful moved on from Spandau Ballet to channel their inner Morrisey, a double decker bus passing by on the road behind the clubhouse failing to crash into us, rather fortuitously. At this point the Lewes choir were more entertaining than the football, but the match sparked back into life soon afterwards, the visitors piling on the pressure.

By the way, did you know that Three Bridges is not called Three Bridges because of the three bridges carrying the railway, but instead due to three bridges that crossed tributaries of the River Mole (not that those tributaries still exist, so far as we can see, only one appearing on current maps)? Also, did you know that when the football becomes boring those watching it look up interesting facts on their phones? Both of those statements are true. 

There is also a moat, incidentally, but no sign of a castle…

We had a long stoppage for an injury to the Rooks skipper Josh Spinks, and the ground descended into silence, eventually broken by a small knot of away fans revisiting their library/car park repertoire. A moment later they actually had something tangible to sing about, a pass from Gondoh splitting the Bridges defence, Noel Fisher passing it past Roberts, and their side ahead once more.

Goal: Three Bridges 1 Lewes 2, Noel Fisher, 73 minutes

Lewes remained in control as we entered the last ten minutes. One attack was thwarted by the Assistant’s flag, Gondoh suggesting he’d not been up with play- “you haven’t had your Weetabix’-  and then a Bridges effort had to be tipped over by Rogers. Three minutes from time the Rooks should have had a third, a breakaway seeing three attackers with the ball converging on only one defender, but somehow that attack ended with a goal kick as we all shook our heads in amazement. A foul from Velvick (a “dirty northern basket,” apparently) ate up some more time, and then five additional minutes were confirmed. 

Two minutes in a free kick from the right of the box was passed to Reece Hallard eighteen yards out, and his effort crashed off the bar. A minute later Hallard was in the thick of the action again, forcing Rogers to throw himself on the ball, but the hosts were running out of time- and, indeed, after haring around valiantly but repeatedly losing control of the ball, their time expired. 

Final score: Three Bridges 1 Lewes 2

Over ninety minutes and on the balance of play, the best team won. But you had to feel a little sorry for Bridges. Their seventh defeat of the campaign, the fourth of those to end with them only a goal behind, and there was enough to suggest that they weren’t far away from getting things right. They attacked with verve, passed the ball nicely, and tried to build from the back- but the last of those caused them a few problems because they had a habit of misplacing a pass or miscontrolling the ball in dangerous areas as a result. Goalscorer Adeyinka was named their man of the match, by the way, and he certainly had a fine game. 

As for the Rooks, it’s difficult not to be impressed by the job boss Craig Nelson is doing at the Dripping Pan. During his initial spell with the club prior to departing for Tonbridge Angels he built an entertaining, hard working side, and he has done the same again since his return, but this time under what appear to be far more straightened circumstances. His team play with smiles on their faces, work hard for each other, and-  opening day debacle against Enfield Town aside- have been good value for their second place. 

After the match the away support stayed behind to high five their heroes, and there seemed to be a genuine warmth and affection between the two parties. It was nice to witness; and indeed the entire evening had been permeated by a similar level of ‘niceness’ on both sides. Whether nice will be enough to give either team success at the end of the campaign- however success is measured- remains to be seen; but it left your correspondent with a warm glow nonetheless. 

Perhaps this might be the season when Lewes finally sustain a promotion push? On the basis of what we watched tonight, that doesn’t seem an unrealistic aspiration.