Eastbourne 1
(Alexander 33′)
United 1
(Craske 36′)
It finished a point apiece in East Sussex on Saturday, as United and Eastbourne played out a 1-1 draw at Priory Lane.
After exchanging first-half goals through George Alexander and Finley Craske, both teams battled it out for a second-half winner, however, neither were able to force a decisive breakthrough.
Two weeks on from The Gulls’ last outing, manager Paul Wotton made one change to the starting line-up that triumphed 1-0 at Hampton & Richmond last time out. Jordan Dyer came into the starting XI at the expense of Finn Tonks, with the former making a welcome return to action following injury. Joining Tonks amongst the substitutes was another player returning to the matchday squad after his own spell on the sidelines, Omar Mussa.
With both sides within touching distance of the National League South summit, it was perhaps unsurprising that a closely-fought opening start to proceedings produced little in the way of goalmouth action.
The hosts did have the ball in the net on 16 minutes, however the goal was swiftly ruled out by the officials, who spotted a push on a Torquay defender inside a packed goalmouth following a corner.
United failed to heed that warning though, and after failing to impose themselves in attack, another flag kick proved The Gulls’ undoing in the 33rd minute.
Pierce Bird’s inswinging delivery to the far-post had James Hamon stretching, and with Alexander’s strike adjudged to have crossed the line before Craske could hook it back, The Sports duly took a deserved lead.
The advantage didn’t last too long though.
Rousing themselves from their slumber, a neat passing move across the face of the 18-yard box paid dividends, with Dan Hayfield laying the ball on a plate for Craske to have a telling impact at the other end, as he slammed home a strike into the top corner from just inside the box.
1-1, and that was the way it stayed until the interval, following a first-half of few chances.
It was the hosts who started the brighter after the restart, with Yahya Bamba testing Hamon’s handling with a diagonal shot from inside the box on 52 minutes – Torquay’s No.1 was equal to it.
Cody Cooke responded with a stinging drive from 20 yards that was a little too close to home goalkeeper Joe Wright to seriously trouble him, although the shot still possessed enough power to prompt the ball to spill from his grasp.
An increasingly tight encounter refused to open up, although the introduction of Brad Ash, Lirak Hasani and Omar Mussa did provide a new dimension to The Gulls’ attack in the latter stages .
A determined run followed by a deflected shot from fifteen yards from a rampaging Mussa saw the ball spin away from goal, before the resultant corner saw a goalmouth scramble ensue, with Wotton’s side just unable to poke the ball home.
As the clocked ticked down, it was United who looked the likelier to grab a late winner, however, they weren’t quite able to turn one point into three, as Sam Dreyer’s stoppage time header was directed straight into Wright’s hands.
Onto Tuesday, and a return home to Plainmoor v Worthing.
EASTBOURNE BOROUGH: 1. Joe Wright, 4. Brad Barry (3. Isaac Pitblado, 60′), 5. Dan Quick, 9. George Alexander (17. Jayden Davis, 90+1′), 10. Michael Klass (19. Alfie Pavey, 79′), 14. David Sesay, 20. Yahya Bamba (7. Siya Ligendza, 69′), 24. Dominic Odusanya, 26. Shaun Williams (25. Brayden Johnson, 69′), 27. Courtney Clarke, 33. Pierce Bird.
Yellow Card: Bird 54′, Pavey 89′, Sesay 90+5′, Ligendza FT’
UNITED: 1. James Hamon, 2. Finley Craske, 3. Jay Foulston, 4. Jordan Dyer, 5. Sam Dreyer, 9. Ben Seymour (11. Brad Ash, 63′), 14. Matt Carson (10. Omar Mussa, 76′), 18. Oscar Threlkeld (c), 19. Cody Cooke, 20. Dan Hayfield, 22. Will Jenkins Davies (7. Lirak Hasani, 64′).
SUBS NOT USED: 17. Finn Tonks, 23. Ollie Tomlinson.
Yellow Card: Jenkins Davies 22′, Cooke 54′, Mussa FT’
Attendance: 1,483