Eastbourne Borough come out of Covid-19 crisis bursting to return

After an enforced break, Eastbourne Borough have two National South games – both at home – in the next few days. And assistant boss Sergio Torres says they can’t wait.

The Sports were obliged to call off their Bank Holiday game with Maidstone and last weekend’s trip to Havant and Waterlooville, following a positive Covid-19 test in the squad. With an all-clear now declared, the home game with Billericay tomorrow goes ahead – and Maidstone’s visit is re-scheduled for next Tuesday at 7.45pm, with the club ramping up its Covid testing system.

“We had a terrific training session on Tuesday,” Torres told the Herald in midweek, “and the players are bursting to get back to action. We are all so grateful to the club for the upgraded testing regime. I am sure this crisis has actually brought us even tighter together.

“We had not got together since the week before Christmas, so we possibly needed a good blow-out! But the players were absolutely on fire, and with another session on Thursday night we will be tuned up nicely for an important weekend.”

Borough CEO John Bonar said: “The situation is still a challenge and we know that the virus is still rife, especially in the south-east but we are redoubling our efforts. The club has succeeded in procuring enough supplies of the lateral-flow test kits to test every player before every match or training session. It’s a swift 15-minute test with a 98 per cent reliability, and it gives an extra layer of defence against the possibility of another shutdown.”

All football tiers from National South up to Premier League are classed as elite sport and fixtures can continue behind firmly closed doors. The Billericay and Maidstone games will be live-streamed with full commentary – details on the club website.

Billericay will arrive at the Lane as one of the division’s enigmas. Back in 2018-19, they exploded on to the National South scene under colourful owner-manager Glenn Tamplin – and then imploded. A squad with the quality and experience of players like former Albion striker Jake Robinson and formidable playmaker Jai Reason loiter in 17th place.

They will arrive with a new manager. Yesterday (Jan 7) they unveiled Kevin Watson as their new manager. The former Ebbsfleet United boss replaces Jamie O'Hara at New Lodge, although Dan Brown has been in charge since he left. Watson will be joined by Tristan Lewis as assistant manager.

Borough coach Ben Austin said: “They have an awful lot of quality and we will not take them lightly. What we do know about Billericay is you give them time and space to play, they will do exactly that and they can hurt you. But we reckon that with the legs we’ve got in our team, and the intensity that we can bring to a game, we can run the legs out of them and win the game that way.

“But we have ability too and we are pretty confident we can match them or any opponent.”

The Sports enter the weekend still in the play-off places, and if they can add another six points to their healthy total by Tuesday night, they will be really well set for a good new year.

Maidstone, like Billericay, will be disappointed to find themselves in mid-table. The Kent side, effectively full-timers, possibly regard their National South membership as purely temporary, following their relegation 18 months ago.