Monday 24 December 2018

Eastbourne Borough 1 v 2 St Albans City

Saturday 22nd December 2018
National League South
Priory Lane, Eastbourne
Admission: £13.00
Programme: £2.50
Attendance: 550

 


This afternoon I would complete my series of revisits to of all three senior clubs in Eastbourne this month, and although I have visited Priory Lane quite a few times over the years, this would be the first time I had watched Eastbourne Borough in a league game since 1993 - in their previous guise of Langney Sports, before being renamed in 2001.




Having already visited Priory Lane twice this season (including pre-season), there have been no noticeable alterations or improvements to a ground that offers excellent facilities for Step 2 football, with plenty of covered standing area available on three sides, and unobstructed views from an all-seater stand straddling the half way line. The 48 page programme was a very good read, in full colour and on glossy paper, it had plenty of interesting material to read about the club, today's opponents, and all of the important stats and facts.




A glance at the league table ahead of kick off pointed to this being a match between two very evenly matched teams, having racked up the same number of points, with St Albans City, in 14th place following eight wins and three draws from their opening 19 league games, a place above Eastbourne Borough, who had won seven and drawn six of their 20 league games. St Albans did not come into this game in the best of form, with goalless draws in their last two league games, and were winless in five league games stretching back to late October. Eastbourne Borough would be looking to bounce back from a 0-2 league defeat at home to Billericay and most recently a surprisingly comprehensive 0-4 defeat at home to Dorchester Town, who were lower half of the Southern League Premier Division South, in the FA Trophy.




On a bright, sunny and relatively mild afternoon - the complete opposite of the atrocious wild conditions I had endured on the east coast at Holland FC last Saturday, this would be very much a game of two halves, with the hosts on the front foot, looking lively doing most of the attacking, but the final ball would let them down for the most part. But following a couple of half chances for both sides, it was the home side who took the lead on 18 minutes, Ryan Hall slipping the ball low forward for Dean Cox to run onto at the edge of the area, and he passed the ball past the keeper and inside the post. Eastbourne Borough then created some decent chances, and thought they had doubled their lead on 29 minutes when a free kick played to the back post was headed goalwards by Manny Adebowale and helped on its way into the net by Tom Gardiner, but the referee disallowed the goal for offside. Both teams created some decent chances, particularly Eastbourne, in what was an entertaining first half, but Eastbourne held a slender lead at the break.




After Eastbourne had the better of the first half, it soon became apparent that St Albans would have the better of the second, and they equalised in 52 minutes. Ben Wyatt, after battling his way through midfield, passed the ball forward, finding the run of David Moyo, and eventually he stroked the ball home from a fairly tight angle past the keeper who had come out close the angle down. That was to prove the game changing moment, as three minutes later, Lewis Knight headed a corner just over the bar, and after Eastbourne saw a free kick fizz just wide of the post, the visitors took the lead on 58 minutes. Wyatt looped the ball from the byline into the edge of the six yard box, the deflected away from goal, only for Knight to beautifully volley the ball home through a crowd of players into the net. St Albans were on top now, but the game might potentially have swung back in Eastbourne favour, after St Albans' Clovis Kamdjo was shown a straight red card for a reckless high lunge, fortunately not doing the recipient any real damage. Although Eastbourne did do plenty of attacking in the remaining time, they never really looked like scoring again, and St Albans heldon to claim the three points. Eastbourne Borough will be very disappointed with the outcome, having taken the lead, but were not clinical enough and their intensity seemed to dip after the break, which they ultimately paid the price for.




Video highlights of the match can be viewed by clicking here

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