With John Brough not fully recovered from the short illness that sidelined him at Sutton on Saturday, Stewart Edwards continued at centre-back with James Simpson replacing Lee Collier in midfield and Julian Alsop returning in place of Charlie Griffin in attack.  County started impressively with Jules posing problems for the home defence.

 

Ian Hillier and Jules both had headers cleared off the line in the first six minutes before Eastbourne produced a threat though Pat Harding forced an outstanding save from Jacob Giles in the 21st minute.  That was matched by home keeper Lee Hook from Jason Bowen after Edwards had provided a superb 50 yard pass to the former Wales winger.  Eastbourne were gaining in strength though as the game progressed and Andy Atkin and Paul Armstrong both tested Giles before half-time.

 

County regained the initiative in the early stages of the second half though it took a bizarre own goal from DOMINIC DOUGLAS to give them the lead in the 57th minute.  There was no danger when a long Damon Searle free-kick found its way through to the Borough full-back on the edge of the penalty area but it appeared that there was no communication from Hook who had advanced too far and the back header from Douglas rolled into the net.

 

However with Matt Smart replacing the injured Scott Ramsay in the Eastbourne attack, the home team’s shape changed and they posed serious questions with some slick attacking which brought its reward in the 60th minute.  Harding’s right wing cross was headed on by Allan Tait into the path of left winger ADAM WILDE who confidently netted what was surprisingly his first goal of the season.

 

He almost grabbed his second four minutes later before Peter Beadle made a double substitution, swapping his strike pairing of Alsop and Craig Hughes for Dean Holdsworth and Griffin.  But seconds after making a decent save to deny Armstrong, Giles strayed five yards out of his area after Atkin beat the County back line and when he checked the Eastbourne player, referee Warren Atkin (no relation it is presumed) produced a red card and County were down to 10 men.  Mark Ovendale came on in goal with O’Sullivan making way and an Eastbourne winner started to look inevitable.

 

The dangerous SMART scored it with seven minutes remaining and the home side finished looking good value for the points with a display full of quality in front of a disappointingly small crowd.

 

County had to dust themselves down with the knowledge that two wins from the final two games will still guarantee a play-off place.  A hamstring injury to Griffin with two minutes remaining meant that County finished the match with nine men.

 

Line-ups

Eastbourne: Hook, Baker, Douglas, Atkin, Austin, Pullan, Harding, Armstrong, Ramsay (Smart 52), Tait, Wilde.  Subs not used: McArthur, Agutter, Flaherty, Lightwood.

 

County: Giles, Jenkins, Searle, Davies, Edwards, Hillier, Bowen, Simpson, Alsop (Holdsworth 65), Hughes (Griffin 65), O’Sullivan (Ovendale 71).  Subs not used: Bassett, Collier.

 

Scorers:               

Eastbourne: Wilde (60), Smart (83).

County: Douglas (57 og).

 

Cautions:                              

Eastbourne: Tait (90+3)

County: Searle (90), Jenkins (90+4), Giles sent off (70).

 

Man of the Match:               

Eastbourne: Pat Harding

County: Ian Hillier.

 

Officials:                               

Referee: Warren Atkin (Crawley).

Assistants: CM Hopkins, DA Martin.

 

Attendance: 522

Match rating: 4/5