This afternoon at the Pan

[spur]

No, the results really don't matter – but it finished 1-1 today, thanks to a 90th minute equaliser for us by Ian Draycott. And before that we saw Lewes Ladies trounce Southampton 6-0 in a very entertaining curtain-raiser.

But, listen: we have quality players again, and the making of a typical SK team. Our opposition today wasn't what it may sound, a freak show from a TV programme. These were players from the likes of Braintree and Bishops Stortford – in other words, from a higher level than the Ryman premiership and a genuine test of our squad of signed-up players and triallists.

A chat with SK at halftime made it clear to me that we're going to have a small squad this season (dangerously so if a crop of injuries hits us), but that we have proven players on board who will be determined to take us back to Conference South at the first attempt if humanly possible.

Gary Holloway is going to be out for a couple of months. He was there watching today, with his leg in a cast.

Just a few points from the match:

1 Great to have Robbo back in typical Robbo form, with a sound performance from Dominic Sterling alongside him.

2 In Matt Somner we have the kind of ball-winning and ball-wanting midfielder we haven't seen here in years. When Holloway is fit to start alongside him we'll have a formidable midfield duo.

3 They're not all on the same wavelength yet, but we had Paul Booth and Michael Malcolm up front from the start, with Warren McBean on the left, and they looked pretty sharp. And then Nic Ciardini and Ian Draycott came on, giving us another range of firepower.

Starting line-up (forgive any errors with the triallists): Robinson, Hustwick, Sterling, Robinson, Lang, Hakkim, Somner, Hickie, McBean, Booth, Malcolm.

Jamie Cade and Lewis Hamilton weren't there today, but are, of course, in the squad.

Conclusion: The team certainly hasn't gelled yet, but we're going to enjoy our football again and, who knows, we may have a league-winning side in the making.

[winscomberook]

Did the attendance make the four figure mark as was hoped?

[unfriendlyghost]

Thanks for the report, much appreciated.

[sotonrook]

Nice report of the game. I think they were a very good side to play against....wasn't sure what what turn up for us to face, but they were a very well organised, hard working side. To be honest, I'm glad this game ended up as a competitive hard fought 1-1 than an easy 5-0 or something, makes for better preparation for the season.

I think individually the Lewes players had more skill (Warren McBean made quite a few nice touches that made the crowd ooh), but Essex worked better as a team, with some nice moves. With time and SK's management this team will grow into a bunch of entertaining match-winners I am sure.

Never heard an official call out for attendance, but I would estimate it at around 300.

[willoenespana]

Thanks for the report spur. Nice to hear that the match was competitive and not as I feared. Sounds as though a decent side is being assembled, looking forward to when I arrange a visit back to the UK. Just gotta arrange it so that the Rooks and Seagulls play homes games within a couple of days of each other!

[Nick]

Thank you for that Spur. Shame that Holloway is out for a couple of months as i feel he will be our best player this season. Another shame is that we dont have Lewis Ide as back up because we could proberly get the best out of him playing alongside Matt Somner. I agree that we have a very good squad but as you say it is a massive resk e.g. illness strikes the camp etc. So i make that a centre mid and maybe another defender then were done !

[garethlewes]

Good report Spur, I think the small squad could be tricky but I am sure that SK has something up his sleeve if we do loose a few to injury. Nickyboy I don't think there will be a squad illness as it's not FM11 and we don't have a team coach so if one was ill then he stay at home anyway.

[davidarnold1]

:DYep - this was a helluva test for the Lewes lads and a great spectacle for the fans on a magnificent Sussex summer afternoon. Quality, hard-fought football. Brilliant that the Ladies won their noon kick-off game against Southampton 6-0. The total gate was circa 400 and the bar and catering were busy. The occasion deserved a bigger crowd but those there enjoyed every minute especially those folk coming down to the Pan for the very first time. Quite a few expressed amazement that the stands and facilities were there right on their doorstep and they didn't even know it.

[sotonrook]

I'd say a lot of credit should go to those responsible in making this fixture. A lot of people questioned the credibility of this friendly, but I thought it made for a great day out, 2 excellent matches, with a bit of celeb spotting thrown in.

So, Hampton next...and then Havant. Let's hope they're on a downer after their 7-0 defeat against Real Betis!

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-14352962

[pj]

I thought it was going to be a "novelty" game but it sounds as if I was way out. Sounds like a good day all round for Lewes FC.

[gammon]

Yes it was a proper game - problem was they were better than us and they are not a proper team - heard from 2 girls behind me who had come to see Mark Wright and Nanny Pat - "Lewes aren't very good are they" and "yeah the other team are much better...." If O'Shea had been in charge then spur would have gone to town, I am sure Kingy will get it together but a long way to go yet I would say...

[spur]

Well, I won't rise to Gammon's remark about O’Shea, but the result was probably a fair one, I'd say. No, we weren't a team, but we're three weeks away from the beginning of the season. What I would emphasise is that the players we had out there today were far in advance (overall) of those we've watched under Keehan, Ibbo or O’Shea in recent years, which is why I sounded optimistic about the season ahead. These aren't boys among men or recruits from lower leagues: they're mature players, mostly from higher leagues. We're going to compete.

I should also have mentioned the pitch, which looked superb. It was, I'm told, a bit 'sticky' underfoot, whatever that technical term means ;D. I congratulated Roger who, in a typical groundsman's reponse, said, 'Yeah, but now they're going to ruin it by playing on it!’

[simon]

Is Hakim the ex St Albans player Paul Hakim?

[youngspur]

Jul 31, 2011 22:17:29 GMT simon said:

Is Hakim the ex St Albans player Paul Hakim?

Hakeem Adelakun, ex-Palace I think Kingy said

[tomharper]

I thought it was a very good test for the players in a surprisingly competitive game, as I was under the impression that their squad would be made up almost entirely of people from 'The Only Way is Essex'! However, a lot of their players have a lot of experience of Non-League football, so it proved to be a very difficult game against a reasonably high standard of opposition.

I think Steve King will be able to take a lot out of this friendly, as there were spells when they put us under a lot of pressure and forced both Stuart Robinson and Mark Zawadski in goal into two fine saves each.

However, there was also a ten or 15-minute spell midway through the second half where we enjoyed a lot of possession and put them under a fair amount of pressure. The fact that King made several substitutes during this spell shows that this was only a friendly and that the result is not important, although the players who came on all put in a good shift and contributed to us scoring an equaliser.

Based on the two friendlies I have seen so far (yesterday and Worthing), I would say that we only need another two or three players to ensure that we have quality players right across the squad.

In my opinion, we look fairly solid defensively when you bear in mind that Max Hustwick can easily play at centre-back as well as at right-back, which means that we have cover for Steve Robinson and Dominic Sterling. We also have both Lewis Hamilton and Jordan Lang who can play at left-back, although I'm not sure whether Lang has actually signed on for the forthcoming season.

In midfield, we look a bit short. However, Gary Holloway is still to return from injury and I have been impressed with Matt Somner during both the matches I have seen him play. I think Hakeem Adelakun is a decent player and was involved in a lot of our attacking play yesterday, so hopefully we will get to see him play again in our remaining friendlies.

Up front is where we have the most strength in depth, as we have no fewer than five players who can play as an out-and-out striker. This will be the toughest area to decide who will play and if there was some way of accommodating all of our attacking players into the side whilst remaining solid defensively, then I think we would be in a very good position.

All in all, though, yesterday was an interesting game and I look forward to hopefully seeing some more entertaining football in our remaining friendlies.