Saturday 24 3:00, The Saffrons, SCFL Premier Division
Reported By William Elvin
Match Preview:
With three wins on the trot in the league for John Lambert’s squad, the side will hope to build on their strong start to the season with decisive performance against the Surrey away side.
Earlier this year, the two sides faced each other at Alford’s home ground. It was a thrilling game, Alford ultimately triumphed in the pouring rain seeing off Eastbourne 3-2. That said upon the abandonment of the division the Saffrons were 28 points clear of today’s visitors- albeit with 3 games in hand.
Eastbourne could be without Brad Pritchard. The Midfielder underwent an ankle assessment following coming early in the game Tuesday night, fortunately there is no break in the ankle, though it remained too swollen to conduct an X-ray as of Thursday night.
Line ups:
Eastbourne Town FC – Managed by John Lambert
1 Chris Winterton
2 Matty Astle
3 Sam Cole
4 Dan Bolwell
5 Dan Rogers
6 Dan Hull
7 Tom Vickers (73′ 14)
8 Simon Johnson
9 Zac Attwood
10 Nathan Crabb (73′ 16)
11 George Taggart
Subs:
12 Sam Scott
14 Matthew Barbosa
15 Joshua Mailey
16 Tom McDonald
17 Ethan Strevett
Alford FC – Managed by Matt Munday
1 Luis Correia
2 Conor Wilford
3 Jamie Chilsworth
4 Jamie Wanstall
5 Clyde Jacques
20 Dan Mobsby
7 Kelvin Lucas
8 Jordan Mase (29′ 17)
9 Ash Mutongerwa
10 Renato Carvalho
11 Sam Leaton
Subs:
12 Kieron Joseph
13 James Stallan
14 Ayo Oke
15 Ryan Harris
17 Tiago Andrade
Live Commentary:
1: Alford kick off, immediately pushing the Eastbourne back line, Kelvin Lucas looks eager to trouble this defence
2: Clyde Jacques showing some technical ability to keep the line strong, both teams look keen to play long ball football in the opening stages of the game
5: Alford work the ball well forward, it arrives to Lucas in the centre of the box who shots comfortably wide of the far post, Chris Winterton makes a photographic dive- bit needless in actuality
6: Zac Attwood looks swift on the break, takes the initiative to test the keeper, Correia hasn’t seen to many starts this season, his defenders look effective though
8: Eastbourne Town move the ball well down the right flank, work the ball to Attwood, a poor finish though he’ll be disappointed to have missed the target with that effort
10: Nathan Crabb tracks back deep into his own half, is frankly working well in defensive mid out of position. Eastbourne are having to commit men from the offence to win the midfield at the moment
11: Alford are showing a lot of enthusiasm up front, definitely trying to grip the game early one
12: Dan Rogers makes a firm slide tackle to prevent Ash Mutongerwa to continue the attack. The Alford forward used to run Track and Field back in his younger days, so he could be a hassle for the defence
14: It’s getting intense at the Saffrons. A scrappy goal line clearance from Dan Hull to prevent Sam Leaton from opening the scoreline, Alford look hungry and Eastbourne need to get more regimented at the back
15: Rogers is the main man Marshalling up this sturdy defence,
16: Alford string some passes down the right wing, it looks to fizzle out, until Lucas stumbles past the full back and moves into the corner of the box, but he loses his own footing , ET goal kick,
18: That’s the third time Rogers has to make another big defensive header, end to end football at the Saffrons
20: Jamie Chilsworth puts a great cross into the box, absolute travesty no Alford head can connect, Shouts of ‘they’re (expletive) tired’ from an Alford defender, creatively A look miles ahead and look to seem confident that they’re tiring out the defence
21: referee blows, injury for Jacques, getting treatment, he is having a good game so far, hopefully he can remain on the pitch
22: Jacques returns after taking a brief moment on the sideline, fortunately he looks stable
24: The home side really have to utilize Matt Astle, consistently finding himself in a lot of space outside on the left wing , why are they so determined to play it through the middle?
27: Sam Leaton holds up the ball, arguably illegally, free kick from 20 yards, good opportunity to get something here
27: Jordan Mase complains to his coach, possible replacement incoming , he laments feeling ‘like they are down to 10 men’
28: wasted chance for A, poor free kick by 2 right over the bar
29: Substitution for Alford FC Tiago Andrade in for Jordan Mase, looks like a necessary sub
30: Zac Attwood shows some flair, moves into the box, shut down by the Alford backline
31: Tom Vickers loses out again in midfield, Alford really controlling the game in midfield, absolutely starving Eastbourne of the ball
33: Lot of congestion in the Middle of the pitch , eventually falls for a A freekick
34: Good move from Mutongerwa and Leaton, quick one two to work the ball in to the box, Eastbourne defender flood into the six yards box and the shot from Leaton is deflected for a corner, Vickers clears comfortably
36: The home side seem to be lacking a lot of chemistry that the away side seem brimming with
37: The visitors are really piling on the pressure, Leaton drifts the ball into the box, Eastbourne defence holding on though
38: Terrific chance for Eastbourne, good move from the midfield to find Crabb in space inside the 18 yard box, he gets a good shot off but it’s another firm save from the goalie, Crabb should probably put Eastbourne ahead there
39: Almost complete collapse from Eastbourne, weak cross comes in and Hull attempts to stomp it out from across inside the box, totally slices it and it almost finds the back of his own net, Winterton dives and makes it look shiny, good save overall
41: Corner for Eastbourne, poor cross in, but they retain it and just can’t get a good shot off
43: Free kick from deep for Alford, Wilford hits it straight at the Eastbourne wall, shouts of encouragement from his teammates to shoot prior to the effort, foolish in hindsight
44: Lucas wins a Corner after a deflected pass of Dan Hull, Corner poorly dealt with by Astle, the away works back in and forces number 5 to finally and properly get it out of the danger zone
45 +1: Andrade is is having a good game after coming on for Moses in the earlier stages
Half time. 0-0 it was 3-1 to Alford this time the last fixture in February. Both teams look likely to score, solid 45 of non league football
46: Eastbourne to kick off, sides unchanged since the break. Crabb in action immediately, forcing Correia to come and clear the ball
48: Astle continues to find himself in good positions, however seems to lack the passing ability when passed the ball in such positions
50: Hull makes a great slide tackle to deny Leaton a chance at a one on one with the keeper, Alford still look the side eager to open the scoring
52: Wilford picks up a knock from Bolwell, he hobbles off doesn’t look like the bench is too concerned, the Centre half didn’t look too remorseful
53: Yellow Card for Mutongerwa, poor tackle, looks soft certainly, games heating up though, lot of cagey play
55: Alford get a freekick in a good position due to a foul on Andrade, he’s really a threat on the left wing for the visitors, Wilford to take, decent cross in but the goal keeper claims it
57: Eastbourne are being forced into playing the ball longer. This Alford side isn’t giving an inch in midfield
59: Eastbourne are being so wasteful up front, the Alford keeper should be having a far more difficult afternoon
61: Lucas picks up a knock in a challenge for a header against an Eastbourne defender, continues on but he is limping
63: This can’t end goalless, surely one of these teams can string a few passes together to break the deadlock?
64: Both sides are lacking a really good supplier at fullback, each of the fullbacks on either team see the ball enough to have an impact but frequently lack the couth to move the ball forward to create something
66: halfway through the second half, neither look as composed the first half. Alford move the ball into attacking the box, and a powerful block from Hull to prevent the keeper from having to make a save
69: Andrade is seeing a lot of the ball, for such a decent sized bloke he moves well and shields the ball effectively
72: Substitutions for Eastbourne. Matt Rodrigues-Barbosa and Tom McDonald replaces Nathan Crabb and Tom Vickers
73: Hull is the leading man for this Eastbourne defence, once again making himself useful keeping the ball out the box with a good clearance
76: For the team in 4th (before kick off), Eastbourne have lacked quality today, could this be the end of their win streak
77: Another ball kicked far out of the Saffrons arena, into a neighbouring bowles pitch, Wastefull on numerous fronts, quite poetic for this particular fixture
79: Simon Johnson, has to be said had a shaky start but has adapted to the game well, looks like Eastbourne’s main option for passing down the wing
80: Correia makes another smart save from close range, strong performance from the Alford goalie
83: The game has calmed down a fair bit, lost most of its intensity, Alford gain a distant free kick, cross goes in, Winterton catches in easily, his handling so far has been sublime
85: Eastbourne work themselves into a good position down the left side, Sam Cole crosses it straight at McDonald and it deflects behind for a goal kick, awful pass
86: Starts to rain at the Saffrons, number Dan Bolwell looks to play in Sam Cole, another misplaced pass, both teams could’ve scored at least 3 in this game, but at the minute it looks unlikely
88: GOAL for Eastbourne. Zac Attwood puts the home side ahead. Eastbourne get the ball through to McDonald he works some space then lays of Attwood 20 yards out, he dribbles for a few paces then aims a left foot from just inside the box, quality finish past the keeper
90: Now a free kick for Eastbourne, near the corner flag on the right wing
91: Eastbourne choose to move the ball into the corner flag to time waste, pretty disappointing for the home crowd
92: Alford have a late free kick, on the edge of box Correia is up, could they equalize
93: nope. Cleared away without much difficulty by Rodrigues- Barbossa
Full time: 1-0. Eastbourne make it 4 wins on the bounce, move up to 3rd in the league and maintain a clean sheet against the Surrey team. Both sides should have really had more goals although. Alford drop down to 13th in the table
