Bostik Matchday: The Rooks progress

In the past, when we’ve suggested that The Dripping Pan is so named because it’s always bloody raining, we’ve been gently reprimanded by the home support- who insist that they inhabit a world bathed in glorious sunshine, where birds sing cheerfully, children are always happy and the bar in the Rook Inn serves only nectar. Well if that is indeed the case, answer this- why are Lewes the only club in the Bostik Premier Division this season to have two matches abandoned due to a waterlogged pitch? We’ll give you the birds, the cheerful children and, whilst we’ve never experienced the liquor in the bar, even the nectar- but Lewes is officially the dampest place in the Bostik world.

Except perhaps South Park.

Anyway, for once, our visit to the Pan didn’t come with added rain. That said, there was no sunshine, either- but you don’t need too much ultraviolet light to make a visit to Lewes a rewarding experience, as The Dripping Pan is one of the best places in the football world to watch a game. That’s not just our view- it’s been the favourite of Bostik League supporters in the last two pre-season surveys, and regularly appears in top ten lists of the best grounds in the UK- and even on one occasion, the world. The global reach of the club shouldn’t really be a surprise; a community owned organisation, these days that community spans every continent- perhaps apart from those that are currently melting due to global warming.

You might ask why a club in the Bostik Premier Division would have such a global reach? After all, there are many community clubs in the world, and although the ground is picturesque that in itself can’t be enough. You’d be right, too. But there is one thing they do very differently at Lewes. They treat their women’s side with the same respect, and funding, as the men.

When the club launched their Equality FC initiative at the start of last season, there were even those on the terraces at the Pan who didn’t think it was a good idea. Would it take resources from the first team and hamper their success? A promotion later the answer seems to be an unequivocal no- and the women’s team have also made impressive progress, so it seems that sharing is caring. Over the last few weeks the Lewes commitment to equality has been in the news once more, as they highlighted the disparity in prize money between the FA Cup and the Women’s FA Cup- the latter paying out less than one percent of the former. This has opened up a debate which has already reached Parliament, giving our politicians something else that they can’t agree on. This ground-breaking approach to equality has been reported all over the globe, and had the unexpected but welcomed benefit of bringing the club new owners from just about everywhere you can think of, and a number of places you’ve probably never thought of in your life.

Before the match today we caught up with Lewes club shop supremo, Barry. From a sales perspective, he explained that he was having the best season ever. And that, surprisingly, it was the women’s games that were bringing in the most income.

“It’s difficult to say whether the pay parity decision has been the reason for that increase, simply because until last season I didn’t open the shop for women’s games. But the amount we sell at a Sunday home fixture is enormous. The crowds for the women’s matches have increased by hundreds, perhaps quadrupled from what they were, and most of them are people who are new to the club, new to the Pan. That’s a lot of people who previously had no Lewes merchandise previously, and so who want to buy it- particularly hats and scarves, which are our best sellers. The Kappa range has been selling very well, too.”

Has the campaign regarding the FA Cup had an impact?

“Our online sales are increasing enormously, and over the past couple of weeks around 80% of the orders have come from the USA. It isn’t new that we’re getting overseas orders, but it is perhaps significant that these have increased during the last fortnight, as our equality stance has had another airing across the world.”

We left him to display his new range of unisex silver wristbands at this point, and headed off to watch some football and read the ‘Progcast.’ Lewes are one of a handful of Bostik League clubs who have stopped producing a traditional programme and instead gone entirely online. This has met with mixed reviews, but whether you are a traditionalist or not, the Lewes version is excellent- read it in our ‘Get with the e-programme’ article on Monday. Much of it is taken up with discussion around postponements and abandonments, particularly an article from club secretary Barry who makes an impassioned plea not to be labelled a pillock when games get called off- and rightly so. It isn’t like he harnesses a plough to the back of his enormous greyhound and spends Saturday mornings churning up the goalmouth. Even if he wanted to, Roger the groundsman would have something to say about it- and we wouldn’t be allowed to repeat it in front of a family audience. Indeed, we’re not entirely convinced we’ll even get away with using the word pillock.

Now, back to the weather! The visitors to the Dripping Pan today used to have damp problems of their own. League leaders Dorking Wanderers former Westhumble ground was always prone to water retention, but these days, safely ensconced in their new Meadowbank Stadium, those issues have been consigned to history. They’ve also got the best home record in the division, with only two defeats all season. The two teams to inflict those reverses? Tonbridge Angels and- of course- Lewes. Today was a chance for revenge, a chance for their lead at the top of the table to be increased to as many as nine points, and a chance for them to win their eighth consecutive league match- a run in which they’ve scored twenty six goals and conceded just five. After hammering seven past Kingstonian last weekend, and six past Folkestone Invicta the weekend before, their confidence couldn’t have ben higher. Lewes had gone three matches- including two nil-nil draws- without a win. It wasn’t difficult to say who the favourites were before kick off.

Wanderers manager Marc White prowled the turf before the match clad in a ‘Boss’ sweatshirt. It was difficult to tell, from a distance, whether the lettering was a brand name or referred to his role, as he is, indeed, the boss in every sense at Wanderers. He seemed in good humour, rather in contrast to the last time we spoke to him after defeat at Merstham, but that was hardly a surprise. It’s easy to be labelled promotion favourites, and far more difficult to live up to that billing- but his side were doing him proud.

After a minute’s silence Wanderers got us underway, kicking towards the clubhouse. The crowd were still drifting in, and it seemed a rather large number were on a double-header; they’d been to watch Brighton and Hove Albion defeat Derby County in the FA Cup before heading here. The Rooks fans had gone to the open terrace, behind Wanderers keeper Slavomir Huk, whilst a smattering of away fans clustered beneath the roof at the other end. It was those away fans who were quickly celebrating; a corner in the seventh minute glancing off the head of Stacey Freeman and ending up in the back of the net. The Wanderers players didn’t really celebrate, and with good reason- they’d had little to do with it.

The Rooks weren’t downhearted. Two minutes later Omarr Lawson got away from his marker down the right, and delivered an excellent cross towards the back post which beat both Huk and, sadly from a home perspective, Lewes new acquisition from Burgess Hill Town, striker Ben Pope. Pope had been the subject of a disagreement in the press between Hillians manager Simon Wormull and Rooks boss Darren Freeman earlier this week, Wormull suggesting he’d been tempted by more money whilst Freeman countered that he was actually earning less now than at the Green Elephants Stadium. Whatever the truth of the matter, Jonte Smith’s replacement (the striker now plying his trade at Oxford United) had big boots to fill, but didn’t seem overawed in the early stages.

Lawson was the Rooks key man, however. Either Freeman had given him a free role or he was dramatically failing to follow his managers instructions, as he was everywhere- left, right and centre, making a nuisance of himself. It was he who was responsible for the first yellow card of the afternoon, Wanderers Lewis Taylor pulling him back when he realised he had no chance of catching him. The free kick led to a corner, and then another, and another, as Lewes piled on the pressure and we reached the twenty minute mark. And then, a penalty! Pope seemed to run into a defender, but the referee was convinced there was a foul. Or at least he was until he spoke to his Assistant, at which point he changed his mind, to the chagrin of the home faithful- and to Pope, who had the ball on the spot.

The Lewes pressure continued. Pamment bravely won a challenge and fired over, Lawson was the victim of yet another foul, and Wanderers were struggling to get out of their own half. Michael Dome-Benwin was given an acre of space to run into and had an age to place a shot, but fired way, way over the bar, dreaming of glory.

As we got past the half hour mark Wanderers got their second corner of the match, and there was almost a repeat of the first as the ball bounced around the Rooks area before going out for corner number three. Luckily for the home side that was wasted, and the game reverted to its former pattern as Lewes pushed forward. When Wanderers again went forward there was Lawson, now at the other end, robbing James McShane and pushing his side forward. In truth, however, for all the Rooks pressure Huk hadn’t been unduly worried. Lewis Carey couldn’t say the same, as he had to watch a shot from David Ray just clear his bar before saving smartly from Reece Hall. The half came to an end without further incident, and the home side could take some comfort from the fact that they’d dominated the game- if none from the scoreline.

Before we kicked off again Wanderers made two changes, bringing on Jerry O’Sullivan and Matt Briggs. Off went Luke Moore and Reece Hall- and that was a decision which must have been tactical, if perhaps a little surprising, as neither of the two withdrawn had done particularly badly. The match continued much as before, and five minutes after the break Freeman had seen enough, making his first change. On came Dayshonne Golding for Luke Blewden, the substitute immediately heading up front with Pope. The next chance came at the other end, however, as a strangely subdued Jason Prior hit the turf eight yards out claiming a push from Frankie Chappell. The referee was entirely unconvinced.

At the other end, Ben Pope earned his side a corner. Pamment swung it in, and we almost had a repeat of the opener as a forward ball hit the head of a defender and had to be smartly saved by Huk. A moment later and a Lewes shot went just past the post- but then, disaster. A defensive error saw McShane get the ball inside the box, chip it over a defender, and then finish smartly. This time there was no reluctance to celebrate, and Dorking had their tails up, another run and a cross from Tom Richards being desperately hacked clear a minute later. Could the Rooks respond?

They tried. A fabulous run from Golding down the right led to a cross which found Pamment at the far post, but the angle was such that he could only direct his header back across the goal and there was no-one on hand to knock it in. More good work from Golding earned a corner, and the home fans finally found their voices, as Golding was this time on the end of the move but could only scuff a shot towards goal. Another change saw Callum Overton enter the fray, Dome-Benwin departing, and this was swiftly followed by a booking, Jason Prior making perhaps his first contribution of the afternoon by fouling Thomas Day.

Things then got rather dull. So dull, in fact, that we had time to count the number of actual Rooks sat on a floodlight stanchion at the far side of the ground- three, which admittedly didn’t take very long- and to wonder why there was nobody watching the game from the balconies of the blocks of flats opposite. And to discuss with the rest of the press box whether Wanderers manager White ever takes off his baseball cap. And then, with five minutes to go, some action. The Rooks former Worthing duo Pope and Pamment combined to set up a shot for the former, which cannoned off a defender for a corner. It was well taken, and went across goal without a home player being able to get a touch, which kind of summed up their afternoon. The majority of the six hundred and eighty nine present groaned, which was perhaps the most noise they’d made all afternoon.

The game crawled to an end, with the away fans in the stand discussing the news that Haringey Borough had suffered a home walloping at the hands of Leatherhead. The gap was nine points, with only eleven games to go. The Rooks slip to tenth, five points off a playoff place- albeit with two matches in hand.

In the Sir John Soane’s Museum in London hangs that famous collection of Hogarth’s paintings, Rake’s Progress, which illustrates the life of a young man in eight stages from riches to madness. The Rooks Progress over the last decade has been rather like Rake’s Progress in reverse. From the madness of throwing away money in the pursuit of success, through penury and the danger of ending up in a debtors prison (well, being wound up by the Inland Revenue, which is fairly similar), through marriage to the club’s supporters (although there’s been no orgy that we know about) to solvency, only the final stage, the acquisition of riches, remains. The truth is that Lewes FC is never likely to be rich, but in one respect the club is rich already. Its ethos is very much set in stone, with community and equality at the centre, and that places it apart from many of the football clubs not only in the UK but across the world.

Whether the Rooks will progress to a higher division in the pyramid is still open to debate. That their progress has been remarkable off the field is absolutely certain.