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match details & summary
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Eastbourne Borough FC
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3
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03/05/08
15:00
Priory Lane
Eastbourne
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Braintree Town FC
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0
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Conference Football League Blue Square South Play-off Semi Final 2nd Leg
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Match Sponsor : Premier Inns
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Referee:
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S. Burt
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Attendance:
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1802
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1 L Hook
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1 N Morgan
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2 D Baker
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2 B Burgess (C)
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3 N Jenkins
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3 J Hawes
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4 D Budd
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4 B Chenery
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5 B Austin
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5 R Moran
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6 M Pullan
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6 S Good
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7 P Harding
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7 C Smith
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8 P Armstrong (C)
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8 M Shinn
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9 A Atkin
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9 E Ofori
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10 A Tait
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10 C Sullivan
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11 M Crabb
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11 A Deane
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Substitutes:
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12 J Lovett for 6 after 65
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12 L Archer for 11 after 81
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14 M Smart for 4 after 74
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14 I Cousins
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15 N Crabb for 10 after 66
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15 L Overall for 6 after 55
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16 A Ballard
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16 M Jones
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17 D Lightwood
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17 L Riddle for 7 after 45
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Goals:
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Tait (41), N Crabb (86), Atkin (90+)
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Bookings:
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Ofori, Burgess
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Sent Off:
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Man Of The Match:
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Allan Tait
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Match Report:
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Borough faced Braintree Town for the 3rd time in a week with a Play-off Final place the prize. Boro were 2-0 up from the 1st leg and but ‘The Iron’ would obviously visit Sussex gunning for an early goal to unsettle the hosts. ’The Sports’ named an unchanged squad from the midweek victory; the visitors in contrast fielding a vastly different team.
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The opening exchanges were fairly even, Pat Harding providing the early excitement with 2 deep crosses un-met and a shot blocked on the edge of the ‘D’. On the 14-minute mark Eugene Ofori was only denied a clear run on goal by a timely intervention from Neil Jenkins. Andy Atkin was back to his best in terms of strength and hold-up play and he provided an opportunity for Darren Budd to shoot, again the effort blocked. Ofori was guilty of wasting his sides best chance on 23 minutes when he shot over Lee Hook’s bar when a ball dropped into the 18 yard box as Boro failed to clear. Allan Tait was Boroughs 2 goal hero in the 1st leg and he was beginning to set his sight when he fired across Nicky Morgan but wide of the post before Hook made a  wonderful save from Chris Sullivan; stretching to block the No.10’s looping header on edge of the 18 yard box. Sullivan had the ball in the net a minute later but he had pushed Marc Pullan to create the opportunity; the goal ruled out. As the half drew to a close Tait finally got his goal. Paul Armstrong played a clever ball to Budd and his fine delivery into the No.10’s stride was finished across Morgan for 1-0.
Braintree introduced Louis Riddle at half-time but Boro were the still the stronger side with Budd, Atkin and especially Tait testing Morgan; the keeper equal to everything. On 4 minutes Riddle tricked the Boro centre-backs with a clever flick, ran strongly round Hook but fired high over the bar. Micky Shinn appeared to handle on the line as a goal-bound header looked to sneak in at the far post but on 86 minutes the game was put beyond doubt when substitute Nathan Crabb hooked the ball home past Morgan. The 4th official indicated 3 minutes of extra-time and Atkin made it 3-0 with a towering header from a fabulous left-wing cross in the closing moments.
It is often stated that 2-0 is a difficult lead to defend. Many Boro supporters may have looked nervously at the 1st 20 minutes of the away fixture and the final league match of this and last season when Braintree got results against Boro when they needed. In truth the hosts played well within themselves; limited Briantree to few chances whilst creating chances at the other end for strikers full of confidence and running. Nick Greenwood, Head Coach at Eastbourne Borough reflected on the tie. “ Over the 2 legs I think most would agree we deserved to go through to the final. Allan Tait has been missing for much of the season through injury but he has come into the side and is working hard, hitting the target and scoring goals. Credit to Braintree, they gave it a go and had momentum with them as the season drew to a close but we scored goals at important times and must now look forward to the final”
Match Details - Webmaster.
Photos - Lee Smith & Kieran Fitzwalter |
