The Rebels will be aiming to return to winning ways tomorrow afternoon, following the midweek defeat to Havant & Waterlooville at Westleigh Park.
Tuesday night’s friendly started strongly, as Odei Martin Sorondo broke the deadlock inside the opening quarter of an hour. Our number eight called upon his tireless energy to latch onto a loose ball and convert the rebound from Nathan Odokonyero’s saved shot.
However, the hosts grew into the contest and levelled matters just before the break through a rasping strike from Alfy Whittingham. In the second period, proceedings devolved into a pedestrian pace, with numerous stoppages preventing both sides from finding their rhythm. Havant’s Harvey Bradbury netted the winner with five minutes remaining as he tapped in from close-range.
Kick-off at the Dripping Pan will take place exactly a fortnight before the start of our Enterprise Rent-A-Car National League South campaign as we welcome Bath City to West Sussex.
As the start of the season fast approaches, Chris Agutter and his coaching team has another opportunity to further integrate some methods and tactics tomorrow afternoon.
The Opposition
Seventh tier outfit Lewes is our fifth foe of the 2025/26 pre-season schedule as we make the 20-mile trip to the Dripping Pan this weekend.
Tomorrow’s match is their first home friendly of the summer, following encounters away from home against Eastbourne Town, Eastbourne United and Corinthian FC in recent weeks.
Last season, the Rooks finished in 13th position in the Isthmian Premier Division. While they enjoyed a season that avoided the jeopardy of flirting with relegation, tomorrow’s opponents were equally distant from reaching the heights of the coveted play-off positions.
Former player Bradley Pritchard has recently been appointed as Manager of the Rooks and will oversee his fourth game at the helm tomorrow against the Rebels.
The 39-year-old made over a century of appearances as a player for the East Sussex side and has decided to dive into football management after hanging up his boots.
Their home, the uniquely-titled ‘The Dripping Pan’, is widely-regarded as one of the most distinctive stadiums in English Non-League football.
Their 3,000 seater arena was chosen by the Huffington Post as one of the Top 10 Stadiums in Europe and was recently chosen as ‘Britain’s Greatest Football Ground’ in a public vote for the book of the same name.
Previous Meeting
Lewes 0-1 Worthing FC, Friendly, 20th July 2024
A first-half penalty from Tommy Willard was the difference in the last pre-season encounter with the Rooks just over a year ago.
Chris Agutter’s third game in charge resulted in a slender victory, as Willard’s spot-kick proved decisive at the Dripping Pan.
The winger, who has since departed the Club this summer, stepped up to take the penalty after being impeded inside the area. Willard made no mistake from 12 yards and found the bottom corner with aplomb.
In the second period, Chris Haigh produced a smart reaction to prevent his goal from being breached by a header from point-blank range.
Worthing held firm to record their first clean sheet of the Agutter era and seal successive pre-season victories.
Tickets
Match Tickets are available to purchase from Lewes’ official website.
General Admission: £7
Children Under 16: FREE
All U16s will need an adult accompanying them to get into the stadium.
Tickets can be purchased online in advance of Matchday (Saturday 26th July) here: https://www.tickettailor.com/events/lewesfootballclub2/1729057
Admission can be purchased on the gate using cash or card payments!
How to Follow
If you can’t be at the game tomorrow, you can follow the game via live updates from the Club’s official Twitter account.
Live commentary will also be provided on the Club’s official Mixlr account.
