Gary Johnson’s side are back on the road tomorrow, as United head for East Sussex looking to get an important three points on their travels.
Following Saturday’s defeat at Dartford, United have a chance to quickly get back to winning ways as they go to Eastbourne in this rearranged fixture.
Who’s the Boss?
Mark Beard has been in charge of The Sports since the summer of 2023 after previously having coaching roles at Dorking Wanderers, Brighton & Hove Albion & Crawley Town, being assistant manager at Stockport County, as well as managerial stints at Haywards Heath Town, Tooting & Mitcham and Loxwood.
Beard’s playing career saw him come through the ranks at Millwall, for whom he also went on to make over 50 first team appearances for the club before moving to Sheffield United in 1995. Two years at Bramall Lane also saw a loan spell at Southend United, which was then made permanent in 1998, before the midfielder joined Kingstonian for one season in 2000. A second spell at Roots Hall was next and upon his exit from the Essex club, Beard returned to Kingstonian for a second spell.
Two seasons in Spain at San Pedro preceded his return to England, where he joined Stevenage and helped them to win the FA Trophy in 2007, though he was then released and joined AFC Wimbledon, where he helped the Dons to reach the National League South via the Play-Offs in 2008, before player/manager roles at both Haywards Heath and Tooting & Mitcham were to be the last of the 49 year olds playing days.
How have they been doing?
Four points from their opening two games were followed by four straight defeats for The Sports although that run was halted by two consecutive wins over Weston and Havant respectively. However this run was short-lived as Eastbourne went the next three games without a win before a 3-2 win at St Albans, though another five match winless run came after that, ending with a 3-1 win at home to Braintree which is the East Sussex club’s last victory, with their last game being a narrow 1-0 defeat at Hemel Hempstead Town on Saturday. That defeat means Eastbourne come into this game in 20th position with 21 points and a record of five wins, five draws and eleven defeats from their 21 games played.
Player to Watch
Zak Emmerson is currently on loan at Eastbourne from Blackpool, and has scored five goals already for the club including a hat-trick in the 3-2 win at St Albans. Emmerson came through the youth ranks at Oldham Athletic, with the first of his two first team appearances for the Latics making him the second youngest EFL player in history, when he came on as an 85th minute substitute in a 2-0 win over Walsall at the age of 15 years and 73 days old in 2019.
The forward then joined Premier League Brighton in 2020 but in two years at the club he failed to make an appearance, and upon leaving the Amex Stadium he joined current club Blackpool, though he has yet to make an appearance for the League One club prior to his loan spell at Priory Lane.
Played for Both
Ashley Barnes started his career at Paulton Rovers before joining Plymouth Argyle in 2007, and in three seasons at Home Park Barnes played 22 games and scored two goals. Loans spells during his time at Argyle saw him play for Oxford United, Salisbury City, Eastbourne Borough, here at Plainmoor where he made six appearances and at Brighton where he scored four goals in eight games leading to a permanent move to the club in 2010.
Four season at Brighton were followed by nine seasons at Burnley where he played for many years in the Premier League, and also included a European adventure in the Europa League in the 2018/19 season. Barnes spent his last season at Turf Moor helping the club regain their Premier League place they had lost the season before, and upon his release from the Clarets Barnes finds himself at Norwich City in the Championship.
Previous Encounter
Eastbourne 2 – 4 Torquay United, Saturday 13th October 2018, National League South
United produced a superb second half performance to secure three valuable points on the road against Eastbourne Borough, with a terrific equalizer from Jake Andrews and a clinical hat-trick from Jamie Reid earning United three points. United needed to dig deep and come out fighting in the second half, and they did.
Alfie Rutherford gave the hosts the lead on 36 minutes to give them a 1-0 interval lead. However Jake Andrews got United back into it in the 55th minute before Jamie Ried grabbed his first of the game a minute later as the Gulls turned the game around. Eastbourne weren’t done though and equalised in the 77th minute through Dean Cox, but Reid completed his hat-trick with goals in the 83rd and 91st minutes to grab the match ball, and give United the three points to bring back to Devon.
Vanarama National League South | Eastbourne v Torquay United | 28/11/23 | KO: 7:45pm | Live commentary via Official TUFC Radio available HERE