6am phone call from keeper sets tone for Eastbourne Borough's difficult day

The home side’s victory extended their unbeaten record against Borough to a remarkable 20 games, and the visitors could not really complain. Craig Tanner’s breakthrough free-kick shortly before half-time set the home side on their way, with Dominic Poleon adding the sheen to the scoreline with a late second strike. Here is the match in a gallery of pictures by Lydia and Nick Redman.

Danny Bloor’s day had begun with a 6am phone call from his mainstay goalkeeper: a sickness bug would deprive the team of Lee Worgan’s expertise, but also of his experience and organisational skills. Drafted swiftly in, 18-year-old Conor Manderson played bravely and was not at fault for the goals. Conor is a former Borough youth player now on a scholarship at Portsmouth – but the knock-on problem for Bloor was that, under League rules, his inclusion meant leaving out another loan player. Potent attacker Dom Hutchinson, who has been in terrific recent form, was the man to stand down.

Brilliant, pin-sharp sunshine, and equally sharp temperatures, greeted the teams at Ebbsfleet’s home ground, now impressively revamped – on one side of the pitch – with a rather Modernist main stand full of lurching wavy lines. Great facilities and perfect view of the action; while on the far side, the proud solid timberwork of the sturdy old grandstand, stood as a reminder of former days – even down to the flaking red and white paintwork!

Ebbsfleet included two former Sports. Toby Adebayo-Rowling made a dashing early impression with his wing-back runs, but an injury forced Toby off just after half-time. And striker Elliott Romain underwhelmed, partly through lack of decent service, and was replaced at the break by the lethal pace and movement of Dom Poleon, who usually leads the Fleet line.

Why there is no pressure on Eastbourne Borough.

An accidental collision inside the first minute left James Hammond and Fleet’s Christian N’Guessan pole-axed. Although both players fortunately recovered, the tone was set for an afternoon of knocks, injuries and scampering physios. Neither goal was seriously threatened

The visitors looked by no means second best, creating several attempts on goal but none that seriously worried Louie Moulden between the Ebbsfleet posts. Chris Whelpdale and Charley Kendall both sent low shots across the Fleet six-yard box but beyond the right-hand post.

On 13 minutes United vainly claimed a handball in the box , but their closest chance came with Sefa Kahraman’s huge raking effort from deep inside his own half, watched carefully by Conor Manderson as it dipped towards goal.

Borough get reward for braving the storms.

And so the first half progressed, half-chances traded but no breakthrough – until five minutes before the break. A twist, squirm and tumble just outside the Borough penalty area earned Ebbsfleet a direct free-kick in the D. Five red shirts tucked tight into a defensive wall, and five more sought out opponents to mark – but they were left helpless as Craig Tanner curled his exquisite strike beyond Manderson’s stretching left hand.

And so, with little to separate the teams except that single piece of brilliance, we turned around. Could the Sports go up a gear?

Poleon, on at half-time for Romain, made an immediate impact and especially brought explosive pace, carving out a couple of excellent opportunities. On 57 minutes Tanner broke through the middle to set up the striker, who zipped between two defenders but shot wastefully across goal.

Alert defending by Trent Mahorn then denied the Fleet from a corner, before Poleon’s second extravagant miss allowed Borough to breathe thankfully.

The interest of honest reporting does require a mention, however, for referee Ben Atkinson, who managed to dish out seven or eight cautions in a game that was never more than slightly tetchy, and to upset both sides with some unpredictable decisions. If we expect perfection from our officials, we should demand it also from centre-forwards, managers, coaches, and radio reporters (this one managed to announce Conor Manderson’s name wrongly to the thousands of Sussex listeners). We move on…

Leone Gravata brought a bit of extra inventiveness, and Borough posted a couple of reminders that it was still a two-sided game: Greg Luer saw a deflected shot hacked off the goalline. Hammond tried a stupendous arching shot from wide out on the right, which Moulden scrambled to safety via the crossbar. And Chris Whelpdale drilled a scorching daisy-cutter from 25 yards which the home keeper excellently kept out at the foot of the left-hand post.

There was time for a third Poleon miss – but the pounding striker had the last word with Fleet’s second goal - effectively ending the contest eight minutes from the end. Substitute Jack Paxman shimmied and sent a lethal pass in behind the last defender for Poleon, who kept his head and his balance to bury the ball beyond Manderson. 2-0, and a forgettable afternoon in North Kent.

Borough: Manderson; Nippard, Mahorn, Dickenson, Currie; Hammond, Whelpdale; Rollinson (Gravata 70), Walker (Allsopp 77), Luer; Kendall. Unused subs: Shaw, James.

Att:944

Referee: Ben Atkinson

Borough MoM: a committed athletic performance from Trent Mahorn