Priory Lane is a home away from home for Eastbourne Borough

The New Normal? It didn’t feel very different from the Old Normal at Priory Lane on Tuesday night.
Langney and Eastbourne Borough do battle at Priory Lane / Picture: Andy PellingLangney and Eastbourne Borough do battle at Priory Lane / Picture: Andy Pelling
Langney and Eastbourne Borough do battle at Priory Lane / Picture: Andy Pelling

Langney Wanderers were “hosting their hosts” with a friendly against landlords Eastbourne Borough – arranged with a bit of creative thinking which allowed the first paying spectators since March.

A string of directives for the staging of games gave the all-clear last week for clubs from Step 3 downwards to admit spectators – but Borough play at Step 2, and are still awaiting that permission. Tenants Wanderers took on the role of home club for the night, and presto, the match was fully within the rules!

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To be clear, this was no reckless venture. Smiling and efficient stewards , from both clubs, ran the show. A smilingly efficient Helen Blackmore, wife of Borough chairman David, became the Dido Harding of Priory Lane for the night, taking temperatures and personal details of every single supporter and club official. (For the record, your Herald reporter came in at a cool 36.1 degrees.)

Langney and Eastbourne Borough do battle at Priory Lane / Picture: Andy PellingLangney and Eastbourne Borough do battle at Priory Lane / Picture: Andy Pelling
Langney and Eastbourne Borough do battle at Priory Lane / Picture: Andy Pelling

Smartly jacketed stewards did the same for all players and match officials. Once inside the ground, non-league life resumed. The tea-bar was open, with a snake-like queuing line carefully staked out. The main stand had plenty of room for the relatively small crowd, but all seating was marked out with red and green stickers and directional signs.

Young substitutes – not permitted inside the dugouts – clattered their boots impatiently, but stayed dutifully in their allocated seats. And every time a football was returned to the technical area, it was swiftly and skilfully washed and disinfected by Helen and her equally efficient colleague Lady Karen Peskett.

Traditionalist roles are evidently still observed at the Lane… The whole set-up was professional, hitch-free and Covid-free. “We felt safe as houses,” remarked senior citizens and loyal supporters John and Wendy, from Polegate, as they strolled back to the car park. “We won’t hesitate to come back. It was beautifully organised and we’re not exactly a reckless bunch!”

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The other dose of Priory Lane normality came from the weather, in the shape of a battering south-westerly gale with intermittent drenchings of torrential rain. This British summer of ridiculous extremes still has a trick or two to play. But the teams coped admirably.

The Sports ran out 4-1 winners, a scoreline slightly unjust on a Wanderers side who worked hard and, especially in the first half, had matched Borough stride for stride. Ben Overton’s arching wind-assisted corner gave the “visitors” a half-hour lead, cancelled out by Gary Ingram’s jubilant close-range finish on the stroke of half-time.

But after the break Borough played superbly into the teeth of the gale, Charlie Walker notching two goals and new signing Chris Whelpdale rounding off the 4-1 scoreline.

New Wanderers manager Alex Walsh has been quick to infuse a sense of collective team spirit, a disciplined team shape and a lively sense of adventure. His side will surprise a few people this season – which starts properly on Tuesday night (Sept 1st) when they entertain Towers Hamlets in the FA Cup.

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The Sports do not enter the FA Cup until 3rd October – their first competitive game – by which time Wanderers, along with their fellow Southern Combination clubs, could already have progressed through four rounds of the competition!

FA Cup ties this season will be decided without replays, progressing straight to penalties if scores are level on 90 minutes. The other – less welcome – FA Cup news is that prize money, always a welcome boost to non-league clubs’ funds, has been halved this season.

And one more disappointment for Borough fans: the Sussex Senior Cup Final, in which the Sports should have faced Brighton and Hove Albion, will not take place, and the 2019-20 competition is declared null and void.

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