Can Eastbourne Town stop Newhaven’s 36-goal striker Lee Robinson?

By Ryan Newman
Newhaven's Lee Robinson (left) has 36 league goals this seasonNewhaven's Lee Robinson (left) has 36 league goals this season
Newhaven's Lee Robinson (left) has 36 league goals this season

Eastbourne Town will look to make it 13 games unbeaten in the league when they travel to promotion chasing Newhaven tomorrow (Saturday, 3pm).

Town’s run has seen them steadily climb the Southern Combination Premier table to fourth, but they still remain 14 points off the top and boss John Lambert knows they can’t afford any slip ups if they are to reel those sides in.

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First-half strikes from Samuel Carrington and Zac Attwood saw Town past a physical Lingfield at the Saffrons this past Saturday despite a consolation Richard Wetton strike midway through the second-half.

“It can only be seen as a positive that Town are now winning games when perhaps not at their best, but boss John Lambert knows only an improved performance will be enough to return from Newhaven with all three points.

“That was probably our worst performance since we’ve been on this run, but the result was of course all important, especially as two of the top three sides only drew,” he explained.

“To be fair we were the better side and we deserved to win it, but Tibbs (Jason Tibble) made a good save right at the death to preserve the lead. It was a tough game.

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“Lingfield are a fairly decent side and they are the Wimbledon of our league in terms of their physicality.

“Newhaven is a massive game. We need to beat them to stay within touching distance. We’ll go there full of confidence and looking to extend our unbeaten run.

“It’s always tough at Newhaven wherever they are in the league and of course in Lee Robinson they have an absolute goal machine who can get a goal out of nothing, but we fancy our chances. We don’t normally make special arrangements for one player because we like to focus on ourselves because we know that on our day, we can beat anybody in this league.”

Lambert also confirmed he is hopeful of having a full squad to select from for the crunch game.

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“We’ve got a few niggles at the moment but nothing too major and I’m sure that most of them will be available on Saturday.

“At this stage of the season it is sometimes about putting on a brave face and getting back out there.

Dan Perry is still not 100% over his injury and on top of that he’s been ill so we’re working him back in slowly but he’s not far away now.”

Lee Robinson scored his 36th league goal of the season but it wasn’t enough for title chasing Newhaven Town to claim all three points at Little Common.

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Robinson opened the scoring on 14 minutes but a strike from Lewis Parsons shortly before the break ensured a valuable point for lowly Common.

Newhaven are second in the Southern Combination Premier, two points behind leaders Chichester.

Tables, p 70