Loxwood 'hard done by' in defeat to high-flying Eastbourne Town

Alex Walsh felt Loxwood were ‘hard done by’ after they fell to a narrow 2-1 defeat at third-placed Eastbourne Town in the Premier Division on Saturday.
Loxwood's Jason Dawson. Picture by Steve Robards.Loxwood's Jason Dawson. Picture by Steve Robards.
Loxwood's Jason Dawson. Picture by Steve Robards.

An Eddie French own goal and a Dan Perry strike gave the hosts a 2-0 lead before Jason Dawson struck for the Magpies with ten minutes to go.

Loxwood remain 16th and six points clear of the relegation zone with three fixtures left to play.

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Magpies manager Walsh said: “I thought we were hard done by that we didn’t get something. We were fighting right to the end and we executed our game plan very well.

“With ten minutes to go we pulled one back and we had some good chances. We should be walking away with a point.

“Credit to them though, you can see why they (Eastbourne Town) are near the top. I hate losing, but we gave it a good go.”

Loxwood made four enforced changes to the side that overcame Little Common last weekend.

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The visitors competed well with their high-flying opposition for the opening 25 minutes of the game, but the Magpies came unstuck three minutes later in unfortunate circumstances.

A cross into the Loxwood box met the head of defender French and the Magpies centre-back watched as the ball flew agonisingly past his own keeper to give Town the lead.

Walsh’s side battled well for the remainder of the half but couldn’t find the equaliser before the break.

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The hosts did eventually double the advantage on 65 minutes.

A great outside-of-the-boot cross from Town right-back Marcus Goldsmith down the right-flank found Perry in the box, who nipped in front of the defender to nod home.

Loxwood did force an equaliser on 82 minutes after a wonderful strike from Dawson.

The stand-in winger picked the ball up on the right and flashed a venomous piledriver past Eastbourne keeper Dan Tibble to give the Magpies hope.

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Loxwood pushed for an equaliser once more but time was against them as the referee blew for full-time.

Walsh added: “We had a few players out so we trusted a few of the youngsters and they did really well.

“We had a couple away which was frustrating. We were without people like Hugo (Cowan) and Josh (Courtney) so we had to rotate it around.

“But I firmly believe in the squad and that’s why you’ve got a team. We would have like to have those players available but we’ve got good enough players.”

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The Magpies don’t have a game on Saturday, but host Crawley Down Gatwick on Saturday April 20.

Loxwood: Matthews, Frankland, French, Boiling, Hooper-Ridsdale, Goldson, Robinson, Dawson, Follea, Bennett, Broughton. Subs: Dunningham, Smith, Morey.