Forget Kent and Essex outposts – Lewes end season with visit to Italy

They head to the Lake Garda district of Italy for Friday evening’s Fenix Trophy semi-final against FC United of Manchester – and, if they come through that, Saturday’s final.

It follows their successful group campaign in the invitation-only tournament, the club’s first venture into European competition which the fans have lapped up.

Three of the four teams through to the Fenix semi-finals are English – tonight’s second semi-final pits Enfield Town, fresh from winning the Isthmian premier division play-offs, against Prague Raptors.

A contingent of Rooks fans will be supporting Tony Russell’s team in Italy and hoping they can bring back the trophy – reward for supporters who have followed the Rooks to all sorts of towns and outposts across south-east England over the past nine months..

Lewes bosses said it would be a ‘truly historic moment’ for the club if the trophy was won.

For the group stages, Lewes were drawn with Belgium’s KSK Beveren, a club with rich history on the European stage, and Norway’s FC Oslo.

The first game was at home to FC Oslo and there were 1,109 fans in attendance to see a header by Kalvin Lumbombo-Kalala earn a 1-0 win.

Then they headed to Antwerp to face KSK Beveren and goals from Luke Dreher, Kalvin, and Athur Penney gave them a 3-1 win.

Next it was KSK Beveren’s turn to come to the Pan and the Rooks romped to a 4-0 win to make sure of their place at the finals. They finished the group stage with a 1-1 draw in cold and snowy Oslo.

For fans not in Italy, the action will be shown live at the Rook Inn.