BASINGSTOKE Town boss Ernie Howe was upbeat despite watching his side lose at the Dripping Pan ground in Lewes on Saturday.
In recent weeks his side have been completely out of sorts, but there seemed some light at the end of the tunnel in this game.
For the first 20 minutes, they dominated proceedings and the home side did not have a look-in.
Town manager Howe said: "We will take a lot of positives from the game.
"We created more chances in this match, than we have in our last four or five games, so it is a step in the right direction.
"They certainly scored their first goal against the run of play, and, before that, we could have been two goals up."
Saturday's game on the Sussex coast started brightly for the visiting team, with Dean Peltohaka hitting the post with a shot as early as the second minute.
Town had another good chance soon after.
They continued to pressurise until the Rooks knocked a ball upfield, and Gavin Holligan made the most of the chance to fire home with Lewes' first shot of the game after 22 minutes.
The lead was doubled when a Lewes corner was cleared only as far as Kirk Watts, whose cross was put away by Holligan.
Soon after, Cook limped off and was replaced by David Ray, who twice got into good positions in the box, but failed to get any power in his shots.
The visitors were given a lifeline as the half came to a close, as Owa Ogbodo chased a ball into the penalty area and was brought down by Leon Legge for a penalty.
However, James Taylor's spot-kick was saved by Paul Wilkerson, diving to his right, so the score remained 2-0 at half-time.
After the break, Lewes added a third goal as another Watts cross was headed home firmly by Legge to complete the scoring. |
