Report: Eastbourne Town 2-0 Herne Bay

Eastbourne Town welcomed Herne Bay to The Saffrons on Remembrance weekend. A minute’s silence precluded the start of the match to remember all those who gave their life in the service of this country. With other Eastbourne teams playing away, the Saffrons was the place to be to get your footballing fix this Saturday.

The game kicked off and Town started well with some good link up play to move up the pitch but then lacked the decisiveness in the final third to convert. This trend repeated itself in several attacks from Town, at which point Herne Bay seized the opportunity of Eastbourne taking their foot off the pedal to launch some attacks of their own. This forced the hosts back into their own half where much of the play remained before the halftime whistle. The highlight of the half came from Town’s defence in the form of JJ Walker getting across to slam the door shut on a good chance from Herne. A yellow card a piece was all each team had to show for their efforts in the first half.

The floodlights were on for the start of the second half, heralding the end of sunny 3pm kick offs down the Saffrons. The chill in the air didn’t slow down the teams however, with Herne Bay thumping an effort from range off the bottom of the post early on. This chance seemed to spark Town into life who then went on to apply some pressure themselves. This pressure culminated in a mistake from Crump, who passed the ball straight out to James Stone. Town’s number 9 isn’t someone who needs asking twice, and he lifted the ball into the empty side of the net to put Eastbourne one up.

The second half continued much in the same way, with a lot of the play residing in the middle of the pitch. The home side marginally had the edge, but Herne Bay stayed switched and looked to try and launch an attack whenever an opportunity presented itself. James Waters on as a sub looked to inject some further energy into Town’s attack, and nearly had the desired impact but his shot from the edge of the box narrowly missed the bottom corner.

There wasn’t much else to report on until Eastbourne launched a high ball up the field in the 85^th minute. A miscommunication between defender Salmon and an onrushing Crump coming out of his penalty area led to the ball bouncing between them and over the hapless goalkeeper. An ever-alert Marcin Ruda rushed past the disorientated pair to slot the ball into an empty net and seal all 3 points for the hosts. It’s a valuable win for the Town who now turn their attention to an equally important match next Saturday where they take on Broadbridge away who currently sit one point and two places behind Eastbourne in 15^th.

Written By: Matteo Lombarelli
Photos By: Alfie Fuller
Full Photo Gallery: https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjBRfMD