Defensive error leads to defeat

Lewes have now lost three of their last four games but remain in relative safety six points clear of the bottom three.

Periods of heavy rain in the week and before kick-off reduced many parts of the pitch to a swamp and under the circumstances the usual Lewes passing game was a near impossibility.

Thanet adapted the better, concentrating on rucking and mauling in the forwards and dominating territorially for much of the match.

Wanderers showed their intentions from the start, pinning Lewes in their own half and, after a series of forward drives, scoring an unconverted pushover try in the corner.

However, Lewes took the lead with virtually their first foray into the opposition half. The forwards set up a good position 20 metres out from which wing Scott Patto made space for himself for a fine individual try.

The visitors quickly reasserted themselves and after Lewes had countered another series of forward drives the ball was moved wide for wing N'dong to score.

Lewes then equalled the scores at 10-10 with a Rumble penalty before the break.

The second half' featured two virtually indistinguishable packs slugging it out in the mud. Play was restricted to home territory until Rumble restored the Lewes lead with a second well-struck penalty.

His effort was cancelled out when, direct from the re-start, Lewes tried to run the ball from an impossible position under the posts. The outcome was a simple penalty for Thanet and a sin-binning for Jason Lundin.

A draw still looked the most likely result as conditions underfoot worsened, but the Lewes persistence with trying to use the backs did threaten with good breaks by Barnard and Rumble.

Then Lewes made their big error to hand Thanet the points.