Points surrendered as Chesham make Eastbourne Borough pay the penalty
Eastbourne Borough surrendered another three points last Saturday as missed chances – and perhaps a little misfortune – allowed visitors Chesham United to come from behind and claim a 2-1 win in National South.
Another defeat snatched from the jaws of victory? Yes, to a degree: the Sports had enjoyed a lively first half, and their single-goal lead was actually poor reward for some front-foot play and a clutch of scoring chances.
Centre-back Freddie Carter’s superb flashing header, from a left-wing corner, had opened the scoring on 41 minutes. But after the break, Borough failed to consolidate, while visitors Chesham grew ever stronger – first snatching an equaliser and then profiting from a generous penalty award in the very last minute.
An open and enjoyable first half saw Borough edging the possession against a rather sluggish visiting side. Several scoring chances came and went before Carter's opener just before the break.
But Borough faced a powerful response after half-time from a Chesham side who took no prisoners, took full advantage of some rather underpowered refereeing, and took their chances late in the game.
The visitors were already pressing hard before they finally equalised on 70 minutes.
And with a 1-1 draw looming, Chesham were awarded two successive penalties: the first, which looked correct, was feebly struck and easily saved by Ryan Sandford, but the second was a dispiriting decision by referee Richard Wharton, after a minimal contact and an extravagant fall by striker Alex Babos. And that spot-kick sealed the Chesham victory and left Borough convinced that the world was against them.
Some you win, some you think you should have won.