Worthing beat Eastbourne Borough with dramatic late winner - as title rivals Dorking lose at Horsham
Eastbourne Borough came so close to denting Worthing’s title bid at Woodside Road – but a 95th minute Rebels winner has left the Sports all but down and put Worthing just three points behind leaders Dorking.
For much of the afternoon Steve King’s side led the Rebels 1-0, Adam May putting them ahead on 14 minutes.
But sub Razz Coleman De Graft came to Worthing’s rescue with a fine equaliser ten minutes from time. Then in amazing scenes in front of another huge Woodside crowd of 3,034, Joe Cook headed home Sam Packham’s 95th minute free-kick to send home fans wild and leave Steve King’s team heartbroken.
The win for Worthing came on a day when leaders Dorking slipped up at Horsham – it leaves Adam Hinshelwood’s side just three points behind Wanderers with four to play, and the Rebels visit them on Monday for a real six-pointer.
And the loss does not quite relegate Eastbourne Borough. But they are 12 points off safety with four to play and look certain to go down.
Horsham boss Dominic Di Paola will be delighted with his side’s 3-0 win at home to Dorking. Leone Gravata, Charlie Hester-Cook and Jack Bates were the scorers.
In the Isthmian south east division, there were huge wins for Three Bridges and Hassocks at either end of the table.
Bridges won 2-1 at Sheppey to go nine points clear at the top – Ade Adeyinka and Reece Hallard the scorers.
And Hassocks had Lewis Finney to thank for burying a late penalty to secure a 2-1 win at home to Hastings, which keeps them level on points with Erith Town on the edge of the Isthmian SE relegation zone.
Earlier Jamie Wilkes gave Hassocks the lead but James Stone levelled for Hastings.
See Finney’s winning penalty in footage by Colin Bowman in the video player at the top of the page.
The defeat means Hastings themselves are not yet safe.
In Friday’s early kick-off in the Isthmian south east division Eastbourne Town hit SEVEN to batter Beckenham.
In the Isthmian premier, Lewes lost 2-1 at Potters Bar – with Danny Bassett getting their goal late on – and are still only seven points above the drop zone.
Alfie Rogers grabbed a hat-trick and Leon Greig, Ollie Davies and James Waters (2) were all on target for Jude Macdonald’s team, who are up to 12th.
There’s more Isthmian premier, Isthmian SE, Isthmian SC and SCFL action on Saturday – we’ll have a round-up here.