Eastbourne Borough’s fortress holds firm as Terras are terrorised

While Borough have National League football in their sights, the Terras have only the Southern League in prospect. They arrived at the ReachTV Stadium with relegation all but mathematically certain – and by five o’clock their two minibus-loads of supporters would be heading west with their fate glumly sealed.

But in any match, even a struggling team has a puncher’s chance, and once or twice during a slightly unpredictable ninety minutes, Weymouth did threaten. For Borough, it was about striking early and then controlling the game.

Eastbourne Borough v Weymouth in pictures by Lydia and Nick Redman.

How early would you like? A sixth-minute opener would do nicely: Jason Adigun picked up possession on halfway and raced forward, arrowing in towards the penalty area but then sliding a diagonal ball to Yahaya Bamba, wide on the right side.

Six Weymouth defenders in the box? No problem. The lofty striker mesmerised his marker with a swivel and a switch from outside to inside, and threaded rather than smashed his shot, low across goalkeeper Lloyd Thomas, and into the far corner. 1-0 and Borough were up and running.

Just two minutes later, the Sports won a corner on the right, met by Ollie Kensdale – the Mr Consistent of this Eastbourne eleven – who took a touch and drilled it goalwards from fifteen yards.

With poor Lloyd Thomas caught like the rabbit in the headlights, George Alexander was the fox in the box. Kensdale’s shot might have found the net anyway, but Alexander flicked it right-footed into the top of the net, wheeled in triumph, and Eastbourne were two-nil up before you could say unstoppable.

Jayden Davis, now enjoying an extended run in Murray’s starting eleven, is adding a dimension on the left, and his neat skills created himself a shooting chance – grasped at the second attempt by Thomas as Alexander darted in to nick the loose ball. Then Bamba was back in action, drilling a shot from the left which Thomas only pushed upwards into the dazzling bright sky, before Adigun smashed the free ball just wide.

This was more pinball than football – a relentless pouring forward and simply shooting with the safety catch off. Any chance of a third goal, boys? On the half-hour Adigun slalomed into the box past two defenders and was knocked over by a third: penalty! Any volunteers to take it, boys? Ah, that man Alexander had already grabbed the ball – and he hammered the spot-kick into the top corner of the net as Thomas gambled and guessed wrong.

So 3-0 at half-time would have suited the Sports nicely, but the Terras had finally shaken off their 160-mile minibus journey, and a left-flank break created a ball into the Eastbourne box, half-cleared but whacked back into goal by Jake McCarthy – a deflection wrong-footing home keeper Joe Wright.

If Weymouth had serious hopes of a stunning comeback, they were snuffed out by Eastbourne’s game management in the early stages of the second half. With Kensdale holding the defensive midfield in front of the impressive back trio of Gbadego, Diarra and Innocent, the home vistory was looking secure.

Going forward, the two Clarkes came into their own – Courtney with the quickest pace in the arena, and Jack with the quickest brain. But Borough have recently been scoring four goals a game at home: any chance of a fourth today?

Several times, the Sports came breathlessly close, while Weymouth steadily ran out of legs. Bamba’s pounding run and shot was foiled by Thomas, and then Pierce Bird’s curling free-kick did not quite curl enough. Then Bamba, clean through on goal, was sliced down by Terras defender Hamblin – a red card offence, surely, for any referee, but not for Morgan Conn, who surprisingly flourished only a yellow.

Thomas then saved brilliantly from Adigun, and the scoreboard still showed a 3-1 scoreline which was a feeble reflection of the true balance of the game. Finally, Jack Clarke’s low torpedo was turned in at close range by – needless to say – that man Alexander. Right place, right time, quick brain, quick feet: George is in the form of his life.

Did we say finally? Well, substitute front men Alfie Pavey and Matt Green – two men with a couple of hundred career goals between them – did their very best to cap off the day with a combination goal, but from Matt’s tee-up, Alfie’s piledriver came back off the crossbar. It must have been still shuddering as Mr Conn blew the final whistle.

Four-one, and plenty to celebrate. Which are Borough’s next opponents at the Lane? There’s a rather tasty Good Friday fixture on the calendar…