Report: Eastbourne Town 1-1 East Grinstead

A boxing day match down the Saffrons always provides entertainment and this one was no different. An early goal from James Stone put the hosts ahead in the 9^th minute. The match was evenly balanced after the early goal, until the contentious decision to not send off Matt Pierson as the GK took out Ruda as the last man but escaped with only a yellow. East Grinstead stayed in the game and then secured a point through a superb bicycle kick from Connor Tighe.

It was a fast start from The Town as a clever through ball from James Waters found the well-timed run of James Stone to put him one-on-one with Matte Pierson. Pierson was brave with his first block, but the rebound fell back to Town’s number 9 who finished into an empty net.

A mistake at the back for Eastbourne allowed Connor Tighe a great chance to go through on goal. However, a superb recovering tackle from Walker prevented Tighe from levelling the match. The game remained even for the remainder of the first half, with the only other event of note being when Eastbourne Town were forced into a first half substitution with Alfie Simmons chosen to replace an injured Anesu Sisimasi. Halftime and Eastbourne had held onto their early lead.

In the 59^th minute, Ruda was bearing through on goal towards an onrushing Pierson. Pierson missed the ball but took down Ruda preventing him from being clean through. The ref decided a yellow would suffice and the subsequent freekick was expertly saved by the fortunate goalkeeper.

The next contentious decision fell favourably for the hosts as JJ Walker flew into Filipe leaving him on the floor. Like the earlier decision, the referee deemed it only worthy of a yellow much to the dismay of East Grinstead.

The drama was amplified in the 93^rd minute where a corner was awarded to the visitors despite many protests from Eastbourne. The resulting corner fell for Connor Tighe who made no mistake with the finish as his expert bicycle kick rifled into the Town goal.

A 1-1 draw see’s both teams stay next to one another in the league, with Eastbourne in 13^th and East Grinstead 14^th. Eastbourne are back on the road this weekend away to Beckenham Town with our next home fixture on the 4th January versus Lancing at 3pm. Discounted Tickets available here