By Noah Bercott
It was 6th vs 7th at the Maurice Rebak Stadium on Saturday afternoon, with two playoff chasing sides involved in a fascinating game, with the spoils shared in the end, but the hosts will feel the more disappointed of the two for not having won.
Both sides struggled to get a foothold in the game with the swirling windy conditions in the early stages, with both defences restricting their opponents to shots outside the box and neither keeper was troubled with the efforts from distance.
On the half hour mark the Blues broke the deadlock. Wingate counter-attacked from a Lewes corner, and with one clever pass, league top-scorer Ogo Obi was set free from the half way line. He beat the covering defenders and poked the ball around the stranded goalkeeper to see it roll home, the last defender unable to clear it off the line, for Obi's 18th league goal of the season, and 21st in all competitions for the Blues this season.
Not long after that, the hosts thought they had doubled their advantage, but a bundled goal from a corner was disallowed for a foul on the keeper. Goalscorer Obi then missed a golden chance as he fired wide of the right post from ten yards.
The hosts did eventually manage to double their lead on the hour mark. A clipped ball forward was held up by Obi, and the keeper came out to defend and was left stranded. Two passes later, Jaiden Drakes-Thomas was left with an empty net to roll the ball into.
With only one league clean sheet so far this season, and the threat that Lewes have posed to teams this season, the Blues fans in attendance will have been all too aware of the risks going into the dying minutes, but not many will have foreseen what happened in the final ten minutes...
Lewes cut the deficit with ten minutes remaining; Danny Bassett scoring a penalty after a foul by left back Alex Kpapke on his full debut for the Blues. As the five additional minutes were announced, the visitors netted their equaliser with Gianluca Botti netting an excellent header from a right wing cross.
As many fans inside the stadium will have been preparing for their journey home, Zack Newton was fouled inside the box, giving the Blues a chance to convert a penalty in the 95th minute, which would've surely sealed all three points. Ryan Lowe stepped up but skied his penalty over the bar and into Summers Lane, to keep the scores level, with the Blues dropping down one place to 7th as a result.
The Blues are in home action again on Boxing Day as they welcome Cheshunt on the short journey from Hertfordshire. Please note the earlier kick-off time of 1pm for this clash as we look to get back to winning ways. It promises to be an excellent fixture, you can buy tickets in advance here.
Wingate & Finchley: Grainger; Cracknell; Byron; Drakes-Thomas; Frempah; Lowe; Garrett-Douglas (Georgiou 70'); Restrepo (Newton 55'); Obi (Iontton 76'); Keller; Kpapke (Hernandez 83').
Unused sub: Webb
Attendance: 232
Photos courtesy of Martin Addison.
Hear from manager Ahmet Rifat on yesterday's draw below:
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