Energy, pace, style, finishing, and steel: Eastbourne Borough show what they’re capable of to win at Tonbridge Angels
Seven goals - four of them at the right end - and three points. A biting cold night in Kent, but fire in the boots of the Sussex visitors and glowing smiles on the face of every Borough supporter: and three precious points towards National South security.
After that Boxing Day reverse against Worthing, the Sports’ 4-3 victory at Tonbridge Angels on Tuesday was a huge step towards survival - lifting them just a single place in the table, but bringing at least half a dozen clubs into their field of vision, if the victories can continue.
And while the final-whistle margin was tight, the manner of victory had everything. Energy, pace, style, finishing, and steel.
Three times, Eastbourne took a two-goal lead - and each time, the dogged home side pegged it back to a single goal. And for a full ten minutes of stoppage time, Tonbridge pounded Woody Williamson’s goal. This was an absolute classic.
Home manager Alan Dunne, relatively new in post, was less than lavish with his praise for Borough, claiming that Angels “could have scored 17 or 18 goals” and that “Eastbourne have no structure - it’s like playground football”. Dunne also had scant praise for referee Craig Barnett - “We have 12 men against us every week!”
In the spirit of Christmas, we should cut Dunne a bit of slack. This was, in fairness, a blizzard of a game, and the Angels did really well to stay in the contest until the very end. You honestly could not have been better entertained, or more tensely gripped, if you had spent £100 on a Premier League ticket.
And just along the coast, every Rebels fan would say the same after Worthing’s epic victory over Dorking Wanderers.
National South, once again after that epic 24-25 season, really is unmissable.
And although the Angels came mighty close to snatching a point, it would scarcely have been deserved. While the second half did sway back and forth on the way to an anarchic stoppage time, the Sports had earlier produced a breathtaking first half-hour which would have graced the Nou Camp.
In football, and football coaching, the magic number is three. Even the classic “one-two” pass is a little triangle. And for most of the opening 45 minutes, the Sports’ movement off the ball, creating those triangles and blind-siding opponents, was an absolute object lesson. Anifowose to Davis via Grout. Eastmond to Aderoju via Phipps. Seek out the YouTube highlights, and admire!
Never mind three, it was an eight-pass move, without Tonbridge touching the ball, which brought Borough a 7th minute lead, finished off by Pemi Aderoju. And five minutes later, a similar swift movement doubled the lead, although the final touch was off a Tonbridge defender.
Eight minutes before the interval, slackness at the back allowed Bunmi Babajide to pull a goal back, and the 2-1 scoreline will have given the home side some encouragement at the break. But all the half-time talk, including from the locals, was of Eastbourne’s style and confidence.
The second half was less one-sided. Tonbridge were quicker into the challenges and more forceful with the ball. Were the Sports about to implode? We had enjoyed the artistry with the ball, but now we needed some discipline without it.
Not a problem for Tommy’s newly confident troops - who restored the two-goal cushion on 53 minutes, Aderoju pouncing on a midfield error and storming through to score.
But this contest was certainly not over, and Tonbridge were battling admirably now. Just past the hour Alfie Pavey - former Borough striker and one of the nicest guys on the circuit - showed his former teammates no Christmas charity, reducing the lead to 3-2 with a back-post header. Now the Angels, with renewed hope and momentum, had half an hour to rescue the game.
Borough were now defending deeper, although with Williamson in very impressive form, they never really wobbled. And on 74 minutes the Sports scored a fourth - the sweetest of corner routines, straight off the training ground, and finished by the excellent Harry Phipps. Readers, catch that one if you possibly can: it is the highlight of the highlights.
Is anyone keeping the score? 4-2 now and surely a sufficient cushion to see the game out? Oh no - as we reached 90 minutes, that man Pavey repeated the back-post header trick and Borough found themselves manning the ramparts as the Angels threw absolutely everything at them.
The announced six minutes of stoppage time stretched and stretched, until on ten minutes - with home keeper Laurence Shala sent forward for the very final Tonbridge corner - the Sports clearance was whacked away to safety, and the three points were safe. What a contest.