It's not all about Worgan as Eastbourne Borough dig in for point at Braintree

One weekly newspaper beloved of all non-league fans headlined its match report “Worgan’s heroics seal point for Sports”. Well, the experienced Borough goalkeeper doesn’t particularly do heroics, and certainly not histrionics, but his afternoon of excellent judgement, decisive saves and calming influence behind the Borough defence was certainly a factor.

Worgs, of course, had less influence at the other end of the field, where the Eastbourne forwards worked hard without reward. Charley Kendall led the line with persistence, and with the bursts of pace which are a hallmark of his game, but rarely found himself clear on goal.

Ahead of Tuesday night’s Priory Lane meeting with Tonbridge Angels, Borough have been on the road for four of the past five games – and all four have been on grass pitches. The Cressing Road surface was not in bad shape, but the ball simply does not run quite as true as on a 3G pitch. The Sports are at their best when they can ping their passes and attack at high pace. Grass doesn’t quite cut it.

Braintree v Eastbourne Borough in pictures.

Early exchanges were uneventful, until a sweeping left to right move earned Borough two successive Jack Currie corners, the second claimed by the towering figure of home keeper Billy Johnson. Braintree going forward were energetic and eager, and Worgan had to react brilliantly on 11 minutes to stop a Kamil Conteh effort with his feet from just a couple of yards out.

Joel Rollinson responded for Borough with a run and low shot, well saved by Johnson, and then from a home corner the Sports broke quickly but a defender just nicked the ball away from Kendall. The young marksman was on the end of some heavyweight defending, and Jay Porter was a little fortunate to earn only a warning from Mr Mackey after one spoiling foul.

The middle phase of the first half had produced no flashes of inspired play, frantic goalmouth scrambles, or heart-stopping moments for the 400 spectators – a conveniently round figure in a sparse and rather desolate stadium. But on 35 minutes Dom Hutchinson roused the game back to life with an excellent swerving run, cutting in from the left and curling a lovely shot just wide of the far post.

And the final minutes of the first half were suddenly more vigorous: Luke Holness burst clear and frankly should have put the Iron in front, but he shot straight at Worgan. Then a minute before the break, the impressive Steve James – weary, perhaps, of all those tedious centre-back duties – plundered forward for a set-piece, but his goalbound effort was blocked and Charlie Walker put the rebound over the bar. Time for a mug of hot Bovril.

If Braintree had enjoyed more of the first-half action, Borough had never looked less than comfortable, and the balance of play swung their way after the break. With James Hammond in a reliable holding role and Luke Nippard bringing energy and inventiveness to the midfield, the visitors now looked to raise the tempo. Hutchinson played a neat give-and-go but put his shot wide, and from Currie’s speedy break Walker headed too high.

The Iron resumed where they had left off – missing chances with reckless finishing. From a rare error by Trent Mahorn – athletic and enterprising at centre-back – Holness blasted his shot high into the winter sky. And from a long throw on the right, Alfie Payne’s effort was gloriously wasteful.

Borough steadied, and Kendall struck a decent angled shot from Trent’s raking long ball, with Rollinson only just failing to follow up, and then Hutchinson popped another shot off target. Goodness, this was almost getting exciting…

Braintree – who incidentally were impeccable and very genial hosts from the first welcome to the farewell wave off – have shown a recent upturn in form but they still glance uneasily over the shoulder at their neighbours and current bottom club Billericay Town. With a playing budget rumoured to be much higher than Borough’s, they ought to be looking up the table and not down. But this National South division has no easy opponents, and – as Danny Bloor’s buoyant and exciting squad prove – every fixture is won and lost on the day.

Won, lost or drawn. Would either side break this deadlock? The hosts almost took the lead from a corner, but that man James cleared off the Borough goalline. Then just after the hour mark after clever work by Rollinson and Jake Elliott, Walker got in behind, but his low cross was cleared.

In midweek at Hampton, Chris Whelpdale had enjoyed his first competitive action in three months, and Bloor introduced him for the final 20 minutes of the Cressing Road action. Whelps offered movement and inventiveness, and he will surely have a major role to play as Borough approach the final third of the season.

And the final third of this game actually saw the tempo raised. A Whelpdale shot was deflected over, and Danny’s next substitution saw an exciting cameo for Leone Gravata. His perfectly weighted pass into the box found Kendall, who turned smartly to arrow a low shot that was bound for the bottom left corner of the net. But Johnson was equal to it, parrying the potentially match-winning strike with his right hand to keep the scoreline goalless.

Breathless stuff in Braintree? Well, briefly perhaps, but this game will not live long in the memory. No blame in Braintree either: two teams gave honest effort in uninspiring conditions. It’s the joy and the addiction of live sport.

Borough: Worgan; Elliott, James, Mahorn, Currie; Nippard, Hammond; Rollinson (Gravata 80), Walker, Hutchinson (Whelpdale 71); Kendall. Unused subs: Holter, Perez, Allsop.

Referee: Oliver Mackey Att: 400

Borough MoM: Steven James with another solid performance at the back