Exhilaration – and expectation – as Eastbourne Borough hit form at right time
From exhilaration to expectation: Eastbourne Borough – and their fans – will head to Dorking Wanderers tomorrow, looking to pick up exactly where they left off last Saturday.
The Sports had simply destroyed visiting Farnborough with an exuberant, spectacular display of finishing: four goals in the Priory Lane sunshine and the shared, gleeful joy of players, supporters, officials and the man who cooks the burgers.
Those who prefer to play their football in the online Fantasy Leagues are missing all the fun. Sell Harry Kane? Buy Saka? Sack Ange? Stop there. Close down your laptops and get yourselves – by bus, train or automobile – to the Meadowbank Stadium on Saturday, where the real action will unfold.
Eight clubs at the top of National South are jostling for one title and six more play-off places. Like that enjoyably daft teatime quiz game on BBC1, The Finish Line, where contestants edge forward on those little sledges, none of the eight clubs has so far held a clear lead.
You grab a late victory, and nudge to the front. You concede a late equaliser, and you’re back in fifth again. And the drama just gets more compelling – and less predictable. This time last week, the title was Worthing’s to lose – with a four point lead, a game in hand, and two winnable fixtures.
And lose they did – not the actual title, of course, and the Rebels do still lead the table, but now by just a single point. But a 0-2 reverse at struggling Welling United last Saturday was followed by a disappointing 0-1 defeat at mid-table Hornchurch. Those results alone are, of course, a sobering reminder that proper football is played on the pitch and not on the laptop screen!
Tomorrow (Saturday) sees Worthing back at Woodside Road, entertaining Hampton and Richmond Borough. The Beavers have only pride to play for, but they are no pushovers – and truthfully, every one of the eight promotion-chasers will need to battle for every run-in victory.
By Good Friday, when the Rebels arrive at the ReachTV Stadium for a classic six-pointer, the picture might be clearer. Or it may actually be just as tight. The Sports have moved from credible play-off candidates to potential champions: a settled line-up, a buoyant team ethic, and actual goal-scoring instead of near misses.
And so to Meadowbank, not the easiest ground to visit. The stadium itself has no public parking, but two full coaches of supporters will be heading for the Surrey Hills – and an improbable three rail stations are within walking distance. All Dorking games are segregated, with away fans somewhat unfavourably corralled at one end, with very limited seating.
Borough have a respectable record against the Wands – including a heart-stopping FA Trophy victory in November, secured on penalties after a dramatic 89th minute equaliser from the head of towering centre-back Moussa Diarra.
And equally dramatic, but in the surreal and sobering context of a lockdown-restricted arena, was Borough’s FA Cup victory in 2021.
Three-all after extra time, with a Chris Whelpdale hat-trick – and to score the winning penalty, up stepped an 18-year-old loanee from QPR, freshly signed by Danny Bloor. Yes, it was Kai Innocent – who since that spot kick has returned to the Lane as a first team regular.
I recall throwing Kai the inevitable question at the time: “Were you nervous?” – “Nope. I take them every day in training!”
Marc White’s team, relegated last April from the National League, have been a bit inconsistent this season – with their owner-manager blaming the difficult Meadowbank playing surface as one factor – but they were back in gear last Saturday with a crucial away win at promotion rivals Boreham Wood.
Meanwhile, Sussex football is swirling in the most remarkable season for years. Teatime on Saturday, at the Amex, will see Fabian Huerzeler’s exhilarating Albion bidding for an FA Cup semi-final place. Just up the A23, Crawley Town are scrambling to escape the quicksand of relegation from League One.
In the semi-pro arena, Horsham relentlessly chasing the Isthmian Premier title, while – at the other end of that league table – we are witnessing the very possible relegation of Hastings United and Bognor Regis Town.
And locally, Anthony Storey’s Eastbourne United still have hopes of promotion to Step Four via the Southern Combination play-offs. Two Eastbourne clubs in the Isthmian? We have not seen that for decades. But steady on: one week at a time, and a super Saturday in prospect this weekend.