Eastbourne Borough can take heart despite FA Cup loss to Boreham Wood

Luke Garrard’s Boreham Wood are a credit to football at this level. Much of their football is swift pass-and-move, with players interchanging at will, and reading each other’s runs with the sweetest timing. No particular physical superiority, and certainly no bullying: just a little extra pace, together with the understanding of a team which has been playing together.

And it was no little credit to Chris Day’s players that, for most of the game, Borough kept pace with their North London visitors, and indeed they mirrored the same fluent style. The Sports had shape and purpose, and only in the very final stages of the ninety minutes did they look a little ragged.

The match itself, too, was played out in the very best spirit, and frankly it felt, after that dismal early season, that Priory Lane had got its soul back. Home supporters – although rueful that the FA Cup dreams were over – had plenty to applaud at the final whistle.

Caretaker manager Day rang one or two changes from Matt Gray’s preferred line-up and team shape. The Sports opened with three centre-backs, including the welcome return from injury of the powerful, ebullient Camron Gbadebo – who will surely be a driving force as Brough now look to climb the National South table.

And there was a start for striker George Alexander – who under Gray had often resigned himself to just twenty minutes off the bench. This game, with Borough enjoying very few spells of dominance, was not the ideal arena for George’s skills, but his time will come again.

After a few minutes of phoney war, Wood fired a tenth-minute opening shot, Lewis Richardson firing high and wide after a smart right-to-left move. The Sports responded with a break to the by-line by top scorer Pemi Aderoju, whose fierce pull-back brought a shot and a smart Finn Herrick save.

And so the stage was set, both teams quick on the break and trading chances. Pemi saw another shot blocked, while at the home end the outstanding Freddie Carter snuffed out a dangerous Wood chance just inside the home penalty box.

Boreham’s Zac Brunt curled a 25-yarder over the crossbar, before Laiith Fairlie – and what a signing he has proved – stormed forward to see his lunging shot saved.

Past the half-hour mark, the National League visitors were edging possession and territory, with footballers throughout their team, and perhaps with the cohesion which Chris Day’s reshaped side did not always manage.

Jes Uchegbulam, after a quietish first half-hour, burst to life with a run in from the left, from a quickly-taken free-kick. And then excitement rose with an Eastbourne break, four against three – but halted by the tightest of offside calls.

There was just time before the break for an awful Wood miss at the left post, and for an Aderoju penalty appeal to be waved away – and then players and supporters headed respectively for the dressing rooms and the tea-bars.

Now, the joys of a non-League half-time include the chance to stretch the legs, catch up with old friends, and discuss the weather, the state of politics and the prospects for the second half. A minute into the restart your Herald reporter, as it happened, was still ambling back to his seat – and was dead level with Boreham Wood’s right-wing attack.

As the ball was drilled into him, six yards out from goal, Matt Bush looked offside by half a shoulder – and post-match video confirmed the Herald’s suspicions. But the Wood striker had clinically finished with a low shot under keeper Ryan Sandford, and the visitors had a crucial 1-0 lead.

Legal or otherwise, it was a game-changing strike. Boreham Wood now turned slight advantage into energised dominance – and they never looked back. With the match suddenly turning from phoney war to urgent combat, Eastbourne forced three successive corners, all scrambled clear – and the whole contest moved up at least one gear.

The Wood, in truth, still had control with their quick passing and their support for the man on the ball. For a while, scoring chances were scarce at either end, the visitors winning one dangerous free-kick but dispatching it high into the River End car park, before the relentless Aderoju powered through on the left but saw his tight-angled drive bravely saved by Finn Herrick in the visitors’ goal.

And midway through the half, Wood doubled the lead. A pounding break down the right touchline produced a low cross, which Rush neatly flicked back for the onrushing Abdul Abdulmalik to slide it into the net. Freddie Carter pounded the turf with an angry fist, and that brave young defender’s frustration was felt right across the stadium.

There was no way back, against a disciplined visiting team, and with barely a minute remaining, a midfield turn-over caught the Borough defence exposed, for Junior Dixon to slot home a third goal from close range. 3-0: a slightly harsh final scoreline, but from the Priory Lane faithful there were no harsh judgements, only a few sighs of resignation and a genuinely warm wave of applause for the defeated Borough players.

Whatever happens next, as the club’s hierarchy ponder the management succession, Chris Day can be proud of his players’ commitment, and in most respects by their performance. This Borough squad is not relegation fodder.