Why Eastbourne Borough are happy to see the green, green 3G of home

The Borough Expeditionary Force has covered almost 900 miles across southern England in ten days, to take on three hardy opponents on the respective home turf of Hampton and Richmond, Cheshunt and Taunton Town – and some of it was tough terrain.

“The grass pitch at Hampton and Richmond was in poor shape. Our 3-2 defeat cannot be simply attributed to the playing surface, but a bumpy and tufty pitch slows you down and often, the team that wants to play football at pace is seriously hampered.

Cheshunt v Eastbourne Borough in pictures by Lydia and Nick Redman.

Borough win at Taunton – the Redmans’ match gallery.

“And the pitch at Cheshunt was possibly the poorest that any team of mine has ever played on. With some other factors, it killed the game.”

The Sports lost by a single late goal last Saturday at Cheshunt’s North London home, coming off second best to a muscular home side whose style of play had no need of a billiard-table surface. Borough’s strengths lie not in strength, but in the speed of their pass-and-move game. And significantly, the last of their three road trips brought victory – on a decent Taunton surface which played true and delivered a really cracking contest.

It was just past noon on Tuesday when the team coach headed out from Priory Lane for the five-hour trundle up the M23 and down the M4. And by 3.35am on Wednesday morning, the travellers were blearily but happily home with three precious National South points. The Somerset side started on the front foot and took a tenth-minute lead, but Borough held their nerve and turned the match around after half-time – young Southampton loanee capping a fine team performance with two goals,

“No complaints about Taunton’s pitch,” declared the Sports manager. “You had to look twice to see that it was grass and not 3G! it was well tended and it allowed both teams to play their football!”

The whole Taunton adventure was tinged with that little dash of insanity that somehow belongs with non-league football. Fifteen hours, five hundred miles, and a proper contest. And the match itself was hallmarked with wonderful sportsmanship, capped off with a rousing ovation for the Borough players – yes, from the noisily partisan home crowd who had just seen their own heroes defeated. When did we last see that at Old Trafford or the Etihad?

This Saturday, the SO Legal Community Stadium will host visitors Chelmsford City, a club among the play-off chasers. The Borough season is far from over, with the play-off positions well within reach – and with no complaints from home fans about the quality, the pace – or the state of the pitch.