Eastbourne Borough resume their new season with routine trip

High and lows, and now something in the middle: After two testing encounters with Dorking Wanderers, Eastbourne Borough resume their new season tomorrow (Saturday) with a routine trip to Hemel Hempstead.
Action from Eastbourne Borough v Dorking on Tuesday night. Picture by Andy PellingAction from Eastbourne Borough v Dorking on Tuesday night. Picture by Andy Pelling
Action from Eastbourne Borough v Dorking on Tuesday night. Picture by Andy Pelling

The Sports followed up last weekend’s FA Cup thriller with a downbeat defeat on a wet Tuesday night against the same opponents. And manager Danny Bloor will probably be content to get back to the middle of the road.

“We won’t be playing Dorking every week,” remarked a slightly rueful Bloor after Tuesday’s defeat to the title favourites. “Their manager Marc White has a fantastic budget and he has players sitting in the stands who would go straight into most National South sides. Our season was never going to be defined by these first two matches.

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Eastbourne Borough and Chichester City get home draws in the FA Cup

“This season is going to be a good learning curve for our players, and they learn from every game. It’s a good barometer for us. People – ourselves included – may have got a little bit carried away after Saturday. We need to work hard, within our means, and we’ll move in the right direction. The charismatic Bloor is usually a fierce defender of his players – who themselves are developing a strong team ethos – but his assessment of their errors on Tuesday night was candid.

“We had talked about giving silly free-kicks away – which we then did to give Dorking the lead – and then we concede a stupid penalty, and then on the stroke of half-time we present them with another goal.

“However, at 3-0 down at half-time, it can go one of two ways. You can either capitulate and lose by double that score, or you can battle back and ensure you don’t lose the second half. In that, the boys showed good character.

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Hemel Hempstead Town are usually somewhere around ourselves in the league table. Like us, they’ve done a fair bit of rebuilding and are bedding in new players. For us, it’s back on the road in both senses.”

The fixtures are rushing up on Borough – and all clubs – and the road trip to Hertfordshire will be swiftly followed by the intriguing visit of Sheppey United next Tuesday (13th) in the FA Cup.

Sheppey play at Step Five – the same level as the Southern Combination – but they are revelling in their Cup run and last weekend they tipped National South Welling United out of the competition with a 2-0 home victory. Their side is young, vigorous and built around seasoned campaigner Jack Midson.

The Sports expect to stream the match online, after successful experiments against Dorking. In normal times, the Lane would be alive with eager visiting fans alongside Borough supporters for a proper FA Cup occasion. Instead, sadly, the stadium will have as much atmosphere as a hollowed-out warehouse. Football, Jim – but not as we know it….