‘There is so much work to be done’ – Eastbourne Borough boss Beard reflects on defeats to Yeovil Town and Worthing

Following a maddening 0-1 defeat to leaders Yeovil Town, the Sports imploded at Woodside Road on Boxing Day, to lose 3-0 to Sussex rivals Worthing. Beard cut a quite forlorn figure as the chill winter evening closed in around him: it can be a pretty lonely job.

Three days earlier he had seen a plucky performance by his Sports side, who held their own for most of the Yeovil game, but were undone by a shabby piece of gamesmanship. After a stoppage to treat a Yeovil player’s injury, referee Jack Bloxham restarted play with what should have been an uncontested dropped ball for Borough. But as Freddie Carter shaped to play it, Yeovil’s Rhys Murphy nipped in and stole the ball, setting up Frank Nouble to score through a wide open Eastbourne defence.

For any cricketers out there, it was the equivalent of running out the non-striking batsman at the bowler’s end – within the letter of the laws, but outside the spirit of the game. All sport is surely built on sportsmanship, and not gamesmanship.

The two defeats have left Borough fourth bottom of the National South table, five points adrift of safety – and the immediate fixtures are no easier. A return fixture with Worthing, at Priory Lane, awaits on New Year’s Day, and with the Rebels back in the groove after some recent slips, they will take some holding.

Then on Saturday 6th, Borough head west to Torquay United – their second longest trip of the season. The Devon club took the three points back home from Priory Lane just three weeks ago, with a 4-1 demolition job – but they have proved vulnerable at times, and lost at home to lowly Truro on Boxing Day.

Beard, a thinking manager and a detailed strategist, had some of his best laid plans undermined at Woodside Road when centre-half Michael Olarewaju pulled out shortly before kick-off, while the other first-choice centre-back, Freddie Carter pulled up in the warm-up. A reshuffled starting eleven actually opened the game brightly, with only two outstanding saves by home keeper Rocco Rees thwarting Billy Vigar strikes. Then Jack Paxman finessed his way brilliantly into the box, but opted to shoot at Rees from a very tight angle – when a pass across the face of goal would have given Fletcher Holman an easy tap-in. How simple the game always looks from the safety of the press bench…!

And then, on 22 and 27 minutes, Worthing were presented with a couple of Christmas gifts – a snap shot from a corner, which Borough should not have conceded in the first place, and a lightning breakaway through a wide open midfield after a Borough attack broke down.

Five minutes into the second half, Worthing notched a third, and the contest was over. Beard and his staff will be working to wipe out those errors – and Adam Hinshelwood’s side are unlikely to find Borough in such generous mood on New Year’s Day.

“I’m cross with myself,” commented Beard after the final whistle. “I pick the team, and I thought I’d picked the right team. I know exactly what we have to do to beat Worthing. We get into good areas, but then we don’t shoot enough and we don’t get enough bodies into the box. And sometimes we’re not making the right decisions.

“There is so much work to be done – and we cover it in training, we prepare, but then we’re not doing it in the matches.”

And what of the New Year’s journey? Twenty-one games to play, and the Sports will probably have to win nine or ten of them to secure their National South status. They will need fitness, preparation, nerve, and possibly better good fortune than Beard's men have been blessed with so far!