Champions at Chelsea! Eastbourne youngsters are brilliant at the Bridge

There was a fabulous mixture of nerves and excitement when Eastbourne Town started their first match against Stoneham AFC. However, the nerves were soon calmed when the tenacious Bertie Baxter-Scott scored Town’s first goal, quickly followed by a cracker from Town’s prolific striker Archie Manton.

Stoneham fought back to level the scores before Logan Gisby scored a sensational goal from the halfway line to win Town’s first match. Town dominated the second game against Europa Titans with powerful, attacking play from Henry McPherson and two great goals.

The first was from Flynn Roberts, who also played some outstanding football, and the second from Bertie Baxter-Scott which saw them end with a comfortable 2-0 victory. In the final group game against Leigh Ramblers Whites, the team needed just a point to seal qualification as group winners.

It was a tense match where Eastbourne had to come back from a goal down, the equaliser courtesy of Archie Manton, to clinch the point needed. Tom Price and Archie had the chance to add more goals but for the opposition keeper who was certainly their man of the match.

Town qualified as one of the top four teams and faced Thatcham Tornadoes in the semi-final.

After a prolonged period of pressure, Archie Manton was on hand with a sublime finish to give Town the lead. This goal sparked the Tornadoes into life and it was up to Bertie McDougall to keep Town in the lead with a string of fine saves. The 1-0 win took Town to the final. Town faced Cheam Sports in the final and it proved to be another tense affair.

Archie put Town in front after Finley Monk used his skills and trickery down the left. Town had a couple more chances to put the game to bed but decided to make it even more tense for the fans. It was left to Town’s solid back two of Zak Bahemou and Seb Temple to thwart as many Cheam shots and attacks as they could.

This proved vital and when the final whistle arrived, Town were crowned champions. The team were a real credit to Eastbourne Town in the tournament and played with passion, determination and belief. Their success had a lot to do with how well they played together as a team.

The chants of ‘we are the champions’ echoed around Stamford Bridge once more, but from the voices of the Eastbourne Town players, staff and fans.

AWARDS APLENTY

It was an evening of celebration for players and supporters alike as Eastbourne Town Youth FC held their first awards evening for three years..

The event was shared with their associate club, Old Town Boys and Girls FC.

There was much to celebrate for the 400 plus players, parents and supporters as awards were handed out for improvement and sportsmanship as well as those voted for by managers and players. There were smiles on the faces of Old Town Boys and Girls players as they received participation trophies as they start their footballing journey.

There was additional cheer as the U12 Yellows and U13 Blues were awarded trophies for wining divisional titles. Town need a coach for an U14 side and players at U10, U13 and U15.. Old Town meet at The Saffrons on Saturdays. For more contact [email protected]

NEW BOSS

Eastbourne Town will have a new man in the dugout when the 2022-23 SCFL season starts. Former Whitehawk manager Jude Macdonald has taken over as Town manager.

He spent seven years at Whitehawk, five years as the under-18 manager before replacing Steve King and the next two as first team manager when they were in the Isthmian premier. Chairman Dave Shearing said “We thank all the applicants who applied. It was a tough selection and we welcome Jude. We look forward to working with him and as a committee supporting him.”