Lewes have now got a ground fit for the Ryman League premier division and according to striker Tony Reid they also have the team to get there.

The Rooks frontman scored the second goal in a comfortable win against Egham which puts Lewes just two points off the second promotion place in division one south with a game in hand.

His 65th-minute strike came in front of supporters gathered in a new 1,000 capacity covered stand.

It was the first time the stand had been used and enables the Dripping Pan to meet requirements needed for a higher level of football if Lewes gain promotion.

Reid believes that will happen this year and the nomadic striker is a good judge after spells at no less than 14 clubs before joining the Rooks from Burnham last September.

He said: "We are definitely good enough to go up, that's why I came here. I have been at quite a few clubs and I think this is one of the best.

"I had offers from quite a few other clubs but you can see from the new stand that this club is heading in the right direction.

"We have five games left and I think if we play like we did against Egham in every one then we will have no worries at all."

Reid's 20th goal of the season was no more than he deserved after running the Egham defence ragged in a one-sided second half.

He beat a half-hearted offside trap to race onto a long ball and slid his finish past visiting keeper Stuart Walton.

The goal was a relief to Rooks fans in the revamped Dripping Pan as the home side's slender half-time advantage was always vulnerable against a poor Egham side.

It came via the penalty spot on 27 minutes after a handball by Brian Wood, which Lewes top scorer Lee Newman converted to go one better than Reid for the season.

Manager Jimmy Quinn was pleased his side managed to kill off the mid-table Surrey side to extend Lewes' unbeaten run to nine games.

He said: "In the past we have dropped too many points against what I would call pretty poor teams and, to be fair, Egham were pretty poor.

"It is so important to beat teams who are struggling down the bottom as well as the ones at the top because that is the only way you have any chance of doing well."

Before the game, Quinn received the division one south manager of the month award for January, testimony to the strides Lewes have made this season.

With the ground now ready for promotion, the Rooks boss is hoping his side are also up to scratch.

He said: "The directors have done really well to make sure the club is in order to go up, so we now have to make sure the team is good enough on the pitch.

"I was pleased with the three points after we drew our last couple of games and hopefully now we can go on from this in the last part of the season."

The win puts the promotion race back in the hands of Lewes after Sussex neighbours Worthing did them a favour with a 2-0 home win over second-placed Carshalton.

Quinn knows Barry Lloyd's Rebels will prove less accommodating when they travel to the Dripping Pan a week on Wednesday, which comes just two days after another home derby against Horsham on Easter Monday.

These games form part of a tough run-in for Lewes which includes a trip to Croydon this Saturday and a home game against Windsor and Eton on the last game of the season.

All eyes, however, are on the penultimate game when the Rooks travel to league leaders Bognor.

Quinn is trying to ignore the hype surrounding the game.

He said: "Everyone talks about the Bognor match, but it is going to be just as important as all the rest. We go to Croydon on Saturday which will be just as tough, so there is still a bit to do before we meet Bog-nor."

Quinn is not over-complicating his side's target for promotion by setting a target of five wins from the final five games.

He said: "If we get maximum points then we go up, it's as simple as that.

"It is going to be close and will go down to the wire but it is in our hands so if we make sure we don't slip up then we will do it."

Lewes: Tanner, Harper (Venables 69), Dickson, Kennett, Chin, Cable, Curnow, Davis, Reid, Newman (Palmer 69), Wright (Pomroy 53). Subs not used: Soutar, Crumplin.

Egham: S. Walton, Wood, Reed, McKinlay, Jordan, Dugdale, Xavier (Stewart 24), Payne, De Luca (Lee 76), Edwards, White. Subs not used: B. Walton.

Referee: Mr I. Crouch (Eltham).

Attendance: 282.

Man-of-the-match: Tony Reid.