EASTBOURNE BOROUGH FOOTBALL CLUB

Burton Albion maintained their chase for league football with a late, late winner at Priory Lane - in somewhat controversial circumstances. Boro management duo Garry Wilson and Nick Greenwood 'shuffled the pack' with Jack Jeffery and Sam Gargan starting up front, Matt Smart dropping to the bench.

The howling wind that accompanies many fixtures at 'The Lane' was absent and with early spring sunshine the scene was set for a pulsating and entertaining game. Aaron Webster fired wide from 25yds on 6 minutes and Shaun Harrod came off 2nd best in a 1-on-1 with Lee Hook on 18; the 1st of 2 magnificent saves 'Hooky' would make. Dan Brown fired over from outside 'The Brewers' penalty area but 2 minutes later would open the scoring and his account for 'The Sports'. A Matt Crabb corner allowed the Boro midfielder to rise unchallenged and plant a powerful header past Kevin Poole for 1-0. Darren Baker denied Albion a route to goal with a covering tackle as the visitors put the home side under pressure; skipper Paul Armstrong also required to tidy up on the edge of his own area. Boro almost doubled their lead just after the half-hour as a Matt crabb free-kick was cleared back to the elder of the Crabb brothers; his 1st time right foot volley flying through a crowd of players and Poole required to parry. The half ended with Hook making a point blank save to keep his side 1 up.

Dan Brown

The 2nd 45 saw the visitors open very much in the ascendancy and a period of dominance was only ended with Boro awarded a free-kick allowing the home side chance to clear. 'Crabby' delivered a fine cross for Jay Lovett but no finish could be applied before 'The Sports' made a positive double substitution; Andy Atkin and Nathan Crabb replacing Jack and Sam. Unfortunately the next notable event was a an equaliser for Burton. With virtually everyone in the ground awaiting the referee's assistant to flag sub Mark Byrne off-side he raced through to roll the ball past Hook for 1-1. As Burton fans completed their celebrations (and some even finished apologising !) Neil Jenkins was booked for protesting. However the sense of injustice inspired Boro and they dominated proceedings as they sought to recover the lead. 'Armo' was inches off a Lovett cross and fired wide on 82 minutes as Boro finished strongly. Greg Pearson was given the last 5 minutes but with the officials 'finding' 5 minutes (that actually stretched out to 7 !) he was given just enough time to claim all 3 points. Presumably the extra extra time came as Jenkins was pole-axed and then kept waiting on the sideline for what seemed an age as play continued following treatment. As he broke down and Pat Harding was introduced Burton delivered a final ball high and deep into the Boro area. As the ball came down from high Pearson was on hand to nod home from point blank range and send the visiting team and fans wild.

Matt Crabb

'Roy (McFarland) apolgised at the end there' Garry Wilson advised the journalists at the post match press conference. But football is littered with games where the result does not fit the performance. Following the late lost points at Histon just weeks before (another 5 minutes extended out) the Boro fans and players could argue that the 'men with the watch' have been a thorn in their side this season. But again the side performed admirably against a side on the verge of promotion into league status and the Eastbourne public turned up in numbers and were royally entertained by their team.

Words - Lee Peskett
Pictures - Lee Smith