Terry Parris has warned against complacency after Lewes agreed an 11th hour deal to avoid going out of business.

Managing director Martin Elliott believes he has reached an agreement with HM Revenue and Customs which should prevent the club from being wound-up in the High Court on Wednesday.

Elliott revealed before Saturday’s game that Lewes had made a down payment of £30,000 on Friday towards the £110,000 they owe the tax man and an agreement had been reached to make three further payments of £10,000 over the next three months.

The deal with HMRC will be ratified tomorrow and although the matter will still go court on Wednesday Lewes are confident of being given a stay of execution.

Although he no longer holds an active role, Parris remains the most recognisable face of Lewes Football Club.

The Rooks’ record appearance-maker, former manager and chairman is delighted the club seems set to be given a short-term reprieve but he insists people must not assume their problems are over.

Parris knows surviving a winding-up petition would be merely the first step in getting their house in order.

As well as honouring those payments for the next three months, the club would have to find a further £50,000 to repay the rest of the tax debt as well as service other debts, which they have said all along they intend to do.

A head of steam has been built up over the last few days with sizeable pledges being made to start repaying their debts as well as smaller pledges from supporters who want to do what they can to help the club. This includes one pensioner who offered the club £1,000.

Parris said: “This is just the start of it, a hurdle we have cleared. We still have debts and money to pay.

“We are doing things the right way on the pitch and we are trying to be sensible off the field with how we restructure our finances and repay the money we owe “It seems we have been given an opportunity we must take.

“Everybody has got to pull together. We have got lots of new faces involved in the administration of the club recently but we need more and more people involved going forward.

“A lot of hard work has been done to create what we have here and we don’t want to waste that hard work. Look at the facilities we have now, we don’t want to waste those.

“I am calling on everybody to try to respect our situation, come on board and help us. We just want people to make some sort of imput, whether it be time, effort or money.”

News of the club’s agreement with HMRC will put an end for now to talk of going into administration, which has been a real possibility for the last few days.

Just as well really because, aside from the more serious implications, Lewes are still well short of the ten points that would be taken away from them by going into administration.

A best crowd of the season of 675 turned up for Saturday’s match, many of them fearing it could be the last ever game at the Dripping Pan.

Manager Steve Ibbitson said the off-field matters had not affected the players, which showed as they failed to produce the type of performance to suggest it could be their swansong at a ground which has been home for more than 100 years.

Lewes’s best chance came 12 minutes into the second half when David Wheeler burst down the right and crossed for Joe Keehan, arriving late, but he fired over the bar with his left-foot.

Woking, who are third in the table, were happy to sit deep and hit on the break, which they did with success at the end of each half.

Harry Arter led a counter from a Lewes corner for Rikki Annane to break the deadlock on 44 minutes and substitute Charlie Moone added a second in stoppage time from a Moses Ademola break.

The visitors had manager Graham Baker sent to the stands 16 minutes from time for kicking a spare football at a linesman when he failed to get a Woking substitute on.

Woking fans celebrated like they had won the league at the end while Lewes were just grateful they are still in business.

Supporter Alec Foord said: “It is good that it appears we are going to avoid being wound-up.

“This town needs Lewes Football Club. Maybe we can use it as a springboard for our first win.”

Lewes: Banks, Timms, Pearson, Breach, Barness, Wheeler, Keehan (sub Kirkwood 81), Walder (sub Peauroux 54), Royce, Foreman (sub Pople 54), Crabb. Subs not used: Fisk, Storrie.

Woking: Warner, Annane, Thomas, Ricketts, Hutchinson, Sinclair, Ademola, Arter, Watkins (sub Sam-Yorke 76), Sole (sub Moone 76), Sloma (sub Medley 87). Subs not used: Sintim, Pegler.

Referee: Matt Foley (London).