New Eastbourne Borough boss Steve King's dream start lasts just 30 minutes in Ebbsfleet defeat

Steve King's dream start as new Borough manager had lasted just 30 minutes. A stunning Adam May strike gave Borough an early lead against title chasing Ebbsfleet, but the visitors equalised on the half hour and dominated the rest of the night, running out fairly comfortable winners.

The Sports remain bottom of National South, and six points from safety. King - who lives in the town - has a heap of experience, having enjoyed previous success with several other clubs including Lewes and Whitehawk, but he now has just eight games left to winch Borough to safety.

To be clear: this was no humiliation and, in itself, no disgrace. Borough competed keenly and bravely for most of the game, against talented and very experienced opponents. Ebbsfleet are nailed-on play-off contenders, and only some early-season inconsistency has undermined their chances of the National South title.

But King is inheriting a squad short on experience in some positions, and short on confidence almost throughout the side. Youth and energy alone can take you only so far, and only three or four of the squad can claim, say, a decade of front-line professional experience.

The home side certainly opened with a flourish. Some of the Ebbsfleet players seemed to be mentally still on the coach as Borough ripped through them in the early minutes. The tireless George Alexander, wearing the captain's armband and leading by example, played in Arthur Grout but the youngster's angled shot was saved.

Two more early efforts were then blocked before, on eleven minutes, Adam May gave the Sports a 1-0 lead with one of the stand-out goals of this or any season. Advancing from the centre circle, the midfielder strode forward imperiously and released a stunning 30-yarder which flew past flailing keeper Matt Hall and cannoned into the net off the underside of the crossbar.

Then Hall just about saved with his feet from Grout's low effort, and Borough fans' noisy delight - mixed with just a little disbelief - was resounding across Priory Lane.

The Fleet wobbled, but did not quite capsize. Home keeper Rohan Luthra saved with his feet - twice in three minutes - from piercing visitors' attacks. But the Sports were still on the offensive, a left-channel move ending with a Matt Burgess strike against the outside of the left post.

Then a lovely ball into the D found Harvey Lintott, whose rifled strike was touched over for a Borough corner. This was a proper contest, and a passing neutral would have had the slightest inkling that the teams were separated by twenty places and twenty-eight points. So far, so good - but could it last?

Only until the half-hour mark: then, after a Fleet corner, Mus Olagunju spotted and exploited a top-corner opening from just inside the penalty area, and his sweetly struck volley levelled the scores at 1-1.

Undismayed, Eastbourne pressed forward again with speed and purpose - but on 36 minutes they were undone by a match-changing moment. Luthra, on his goal-line and perhaps slightly unsighted, should easily have collected or cleared a half-hit low shot from Charlie Seaman, but he fumbled it over the line for an excruciating own goal. For goalkeepers, including this young man, there is sometimes nowhere to hide...

Right on half-time Borough lost Kai Corbett to what looked like a painful turned ankle - and a half which had started with elation concluded in deflation.

Straight after the break - and possibly chastened by their manager's half-time words of wisdom, Ebbsfleet produced five minutes of astonishing close control and squeezing pressure on the Eastbourne goal. Someone really should clip the sequence of play and show it in a coaching video - it was that stunning.

And crucially, it produced a third Ebbsfleet goal, finessed between defenders and angled into the net by Jake Hessenthaler. Forty minutes still to play - but a sense of game-over, rather like that moment in the annual Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race when one Eight pulls decisively ahead of the other....

Appiah should have scored an Ebbsfleet fourth, intercepting a Luthra play-out, but the young keeper redeemed himself with a frantic scrambled save. Then the Sports' hopes rose when Alexander did find the net, but was ruled narrowly offside.

The Fleet managed the rest of the game pretty confidently, although they were fortunate not to finish with ten men after an ugly and needless foul by Josh Passley on Craig Eastnond - escaping with a just a rather reluctant yellow from referee Daniel Baines, after lengthy deliberating.

The officials also declined to throw a lifeline to the slowly sinking Borough when Alexander found the net, for what would have been 3-2 and a potentially dramatic final few minutes. But nope: when you're down, you're down, and the unforgiving offside flag goes up...

Not the most dreadful performance, by any means, for Steve King's troop of battlers. But now, with time running out, they will need more than a charitable offside decision to haul them to National South safety.