Lewes slumped to a 3-0 defeat at Braintree Town in the Blue Square south.

Town led at half-time through George Purcell’s 15th-minute goal as Lewes were given plenty of problems by a lively Braintree.

Slack defending helped Sean Marks make it 2-0 on 65 minutes and Purcell added his second of the game nine minutes later.

Rooks assistant manager Jason Hopkinson said: “We were disappointed.

“They played with a high tempo in the first half and we could not live with them.

“They had two very good players in central midfield and one upfront and we were fortunate to only be 1-0 down at the break.

“We improved after the break and we almost scored and if they had gone in we would have been on top.

“Chris Breach, Danny Cullip and Dan Beck all had solid games but we shall need to improve for Saturday.”

Lewes: Banks, Pearson, Barness, Cullip, Chamberlain, Breach, Wheeler, Keehan, Beck, Crabb, Storrie. Subs: Timms, Peauroux, Sutton, Foreman, Fisk.