Eastbourne United wallop Wick to keep league ambitions on track
Following a Halloween horror show at Hassocks, going out of the FA Vase in a 5-2 defeat, Eastbourne United were keen to get back on track with their very competitive SCFL Premier campaign.
A rare 4-3 home reversal against Roffey had not helped the mood, the near hurricane conditions rendering the match a spectacle rather than a competition.
On United went to Horsham YM last Tuesday. Sam Scott was suspended and Zach Robitaille made his full debut as United steamrollered hapless YM.
It could have been different; in a first half in which Alieu Secka only touched the ball from a couple of back passes, it was a solitary Ryan Blunt goal that separated the teams, and YM might be forgiven for thinking that it would be contained.
There was none of that as Anthony Storey’s half-time talk obviously did the trick. In a second half that once again they dominated, United added four more.
Blunt added a second with a left-foot drive before Callum Barlow rose at an impossible angle to head the third.
The YM keeper had earned his corn all match, and made an exceptional save from Ball before Blunt completed his hat-trick. Baran Kartal joined from the bench, and managed to sneak one home to make it 5-0, and to be fair, YM were fortunate that it was just five.
United knew that was more of a test coming on Saturday as they travelled to Wick.
Wick are having work done at Crabtree Park and are playing home games at Bognor’s Nyewood Lane ground. United were on a bit of a high and were unchanged but it was a very different start – as in the first minute at Hassocks, a defensive mix-up led to Wick taking the lead.
The difference here was that United bounced straight back. Joe Overy grabbed the first of his brace with eight minutes on the clock, and Wick were immediately looking more fragile. Overy and Jones were penetrating time and again, but without a real meaningful attempt.
Brett Patton, dominant as ever in midfield, took it upon himself to do the job, picking the ball up in the midfield, pushing straight through the defence and rounding the full-back like he wasn’t there, smashing home to make it 2-1. Patton does not score many, but when he does, it’s usually goal of the month.
Wick hearts were broken and it was an inevitable second half as United piled up the goal attempts. Blunt made it 3-1 just after the break before Overy’s excellent effort was pushed out by the keeper to Jorge Nones to sidefoot home from 12 yards.
The rout was completed minutes later as Overy scored his second, making it 5-2 before a raft of changes as surely the strongest bench in the league released Ball, Stone, James Hull, Gander and Kartal into the action.
The win meant United stayed a strong second in the table, and United have now scored 60 goals in their first 17 matches.
It’s a long campaign, but it’s not far off the halfway mark now, and United must be considered serious contenders for the league and certainly for the play-offs. Next up on Saturday it’s Little Common, so often a thorn in United’s side, at the Oval Arena.