Eastbourne Borough boss Garry Wilson branded
Sacha Opinel’s red card ‘stupid’ as
Boro slipped to a morale sapping defeat at Altrincham
on Tuesday.
Goals from Peter Doran, Chris Denham and
a second half penalty from Chris Senior gave the Robins
the three points. Altrincham were reduced to ten men in
the 41st minute, after midfielder Doran’s two footed
tackle on Joe Benjamin. Wilson said,
"Sacha’s sending off was stupid. He should
have more experience. If we went into half time eleven
against ten then we could have used the extra man in the
second half and found a way back into the game. "It
was a catalogue of errors that cost us today."
Borough threatened first when Liam Enver-Marum’s
sixth minute free-kick from the edge of the box struck
the right hand post and flew wide. Altrincham, though,
made their superior possession count and took the lead
in the 16th minute. Shaun Densmore cut the ball back to
Doran on the edge of the box and he curled a right footed
effort into the top corner.
Altrincham added a second after Borough
failed to clear a corner and Clee’s deft cross left
Denham unmarked at the back post to double the lead. The
game really sparked into life when opening goal scorer
Doran was sent-off ffor his lunge on Banjamin. From the
resulting free-kick Crabb swung in a cross which was misjudged
by the home goalkeeper and flew into the far corner, only
for play to be pulled back after referee Darren Bond ruled
Gary Elphick had fouled the Altrincham stopper. Opinel
then saw red in only his second game after joining on
loan from Farnborough for violent conduct for throwing
an arm at Clee.
Altrincham sealed the win in the second
half when Marc Pullan was dispossessed and hauled down
Denham in the area. Senior dispatched the resulting penalty.
To add to the entertainment, Altrincham boss Graham Heathcote
was sent to the stands late on for remonstrating with
the fourth official over Bond’s refereeing decisions.
Simon Johnson’s deep cross
clipped the top of the bar in injury time for Borough
as the match petered out for a disappointing defeat for
the Sports.
Words : Mark Hines - Courtesy The Eastbourne
Herald
