Highlights: Hashtag United 2 Lewes 3

A much depleted Hashtag United suffered their fifth consecutive defeat of a truly horrible January as they welcomed Lewes- a result which left some of the fickle fans who lauded Jay Devereux when he was awarded Manager of the Month in December calling for his head on social media. That award surely does seem to have come with a curse on this occasion, but it appears to have cursed the players and left the squad rather threadbare, and as a result the Tags dropped to tenth, eight points away from the top five.

In contrast, Monday night’s victors are having a fabulous month, and if it continues this way perhaps their boss Tony Russell may be in line for an award of his own- although given the impact it seems to have had on his opposite number he might wish to decline it! Lewes travelled to the Len Salmon on the end of a six match unbeaten run which included four wins, and added another by triumphing by the odd goal in a five goal thriller.

It took only six minutes for Lewes to take the lead. Veteran midfielder Chris Whelpdale is having a fine season, and he delivered his eighth goal of the campaign when he fired home a beauty from the edge of the box, finding the top corner. The Tags response arrived on the half hour, and again it was worth watching, Camilo Restrepo getting his second in three days to bring his side level.

Sadly for the home faithful, they were level for only three minutes before Kalvin Lumbombo-Kalala (we quite understand why the Rooks supporters social media refers to him as KLK) became their latest nightmare. The Rooks number nineteen has been in scintillating form of late, and he got his fourth goal in five matches- although this one, perhaps to sum up the hosts recent luck, took a wicked deflection on the way past Josh Strizovic. It remained one-two at the break, and indeed it remained that way until fourteen minutes from time, when suddenly the Tags were level. Sak Hassan charged down the left, his cross found Nathan Smith, and he headed home.

Once again, however, the feeling of warmth that enveloped the home support didn’t last for long enough to stave off the freezing weather, as the Rooks went straight up the other end and scored again. Once more it was Lumbombo-Kalala, and once again it was another long range effort, but this time it didn’t need a deflection. Three-two to Lewes- and this time they held onto their advantage.

The Rooks climbed to seventh, five points behind fifth place Enfield Town with a game in hand. They’ll be back in Essex at the weekend, where they face the side with the best defence in the Division, third place Billericay Town.

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