Town maintain slim championship hopes

Eastbourne Town 3 Arundel 0, SCFL Premier Division, Saturday 9^th February 2019

Better late than never, as the saying goes.

I’d actually planned on paying my first ever visit to Eastbourne Town’s The Saffrons Ground (at least for football purposes) a couple of weeks ago, only for my plans to be thwarted by a certain professional football club’s inability to be able to raise a side. Bless them. Still, I had my rant about that subject a couple of weeks ago, so no need to reopen that particular can of worms.

Therefore, when it came to choosing a game to attend this weekend, one eye was always on the SCFL Premier Division match between Eastbourne Town and Arundel. Coincidently, I’d originally been planning a visit to Arundel’s ground last weekend, only for the good old British weather to intervene. My presence at this fixture was obviously meant to be. I'll still be heading to Arundel before the season is out, mind you! 

With my eldest heading off to this afternoon’s Brighton game with one of his Withdean Youth teammates, and the youngest heading off to the cinema with wifey to watch Lego Movie 2 (pretty sure I know which one will have had more fun) reaching Eastbourne from my morning coaching in Brighton was more of a logistical nightmare than it should have been.

Still, I arrived at the Saffrons in good time for kick off. 

 

Entrance to the ground, which is located close to the centre of Eastbourne town centre, was £6 with a program costing a further £1.50. As an ardent reader of Shoot magazine back in the late 1980s/early 1990s (I know, I know, it’s hard to believe that I’m that old, but I really am) I loved the program’s cover design which was clearly influence by that magazine’s style. The inside content was also great - especially for those of us who love their stats and facts. Not only did it include average attendances for all the SCFL Prem teams so far this season (pleasing to see quite a few averages up on last year) but there was also a run-down of final league positions for every single club who have played in the division over the last ten years. Interesting stuff (at least for statto’s like me). Unfortunately, my much looked forward to evening further studying the stats was denied to me when I carelessly lost the program somewhere between the Saffrons and the town centre. Never mind.

 The Saffron’s is a multi-purpose sport’s ground, hosting football, cricket, hockey and lawn bowl facilities (among others). You can access the football ground directly from Meads Road (as I did) or by another entrance which takes you past the cricket pitch and clubhouse.

The football ground is one of the more impressive stadiums that I’ve been to in the SCFL Prem. Unlike most other Non-League grounds that I’ve visited this season, the covered seated area is located behind one of the goals (where there are also areas to buy hot drinks and hot food – in addition to the aforementioned clubhouse), while along the side of the pitch there is a smaller covered terraced area which also offers up a couple of benches.

One of the other touches that I liked about the ground was the fact that some of the barriers were painted in club colours (blue and yellow). I know this is a relatively small thing, but I just felt it helped to bring a sense of identity to the club (as did the blue and yellow goal netting).

The other thing that is different about The Saffrons compared to most other SCFL grounds, are the fans. I’ve previously mentioned Eastbourne Town’s self-proclaimed ‘Ultras’ (Pier Pressure) in an earlier blog, and they were out in force once again today, banging their drums, blowing their trumpets and singing vociferously for most of the 90 minutes.

I really enjoy the atmosphere they add to the county league matchday scene. It’s good fun – which is exactly what going to watch football should be; win, lose or draw (although admittedly it is much more enjoyable when your team wins).

With Eastbourne Town currently on a good run of form, including a win last week against championship hopefuls Newhaven, and Arundel struggling at the wrong end of the table with the worst defensive record in the division, I was expecting to witness a fairly comfortable home win this afternoon.

While the scoreline may suggest that this is exactly how things panned out, it’s fair to say it wasn’t necessarily a true reflection of the game. Arundel were in the game for a long, long time, and with better decisions in the final third, things could have turned out very differently.

While Town were undoubtedly the better, more accomplished side from the off (they really did look to move the ball around quickly on a fairly heavy looking pitch), they struggled to create too many clear-cut opportunities in the first half. There were a number of goalmouth scrambles where the ball didn’t quite fall to an attacking player, and a couple of opportunities that were flagged offside, but for the most part Arundel’s defence looked more solid then a glance at the league table suggested it should be.

In fact, it was the visitors who probably created the best first-half chances with a couple of their rare forays forward. First Ben Gray latched on to Harry Russell’s flick on, but could only shoot straight at Jason Tibble, before Tibble was tested again just before half-time, saving well from the hard-working Dave Crouch.

Having seen Arundel lose narrowly at Lancing earlier in the season, I have to say I’m surprised to see them struggling at the wrong end of the table. They look more than useful going forward, and the front three of Gray, Russell and Crouch certainly kept Town’s backline on their toes throughout.

For the first 15 minutes or so of the second half, the pattern of the game matched that of the first. Town were still the better side, but The Mullett’s defended doggedly and looked to hit on the counter.

Then, just after the hour mark, Eastbourne Town put together the kind of classy move that they had been threatening to produce all afternoon. A period of good interplay in midfield eventually led to the ball being worked out to the right and then squared to the only recently introduced substitute Daniel Perry who opened the scoring with a simple finish.

Two minutes later they had doubled their advantage, but not before the visitors had missed a great opportunity to draw level. A surging run from Arundel midfielder Ash Hawes ended with him hitting the post from a shot just outside the area, although a pass to the unmarked Crouch appeared a far better option. Within seconds, Town had broken up the other end and Zac Attwood rifled home from just inside the area to give the hosts breathing space.

Town were rampant now, the visitors visibly deflated. A killer third goal duly arrived ten minutes later, Attwood again the scorer. Eastbourne were now well on top, and while Arundel continued to battle, it was the hosts who looked the more likely team to make the net bulge again. The visitor’s resolve had finally been broken.

The third – and ultimately final – goal prompted a chant of ‘we’re going to win the league’ from the Town Ultra’s. While a 12-point gap to leaders Chichester (albeit with a game in hand) and a nine-point gap to second-placed Newhaven (same games played) suggests to this casual observer that there’s probably just a bit too much ground for them to make up, the top two will certainly be looking nervously over their shoulders should they stumble too often in the coming months.

Should Town manage to somehow overhaul the two frontrunners, you can be sure the celebrations will not be for the fainthearted.