Grimsby v Eastbourne Preview

Their History

Borough have had 9 just years under the guise of Eastbourne Borough previously being known as Langney in the hardly well known football hotbed of Sussex. The county only has Brighton as a professional club but Eastbourne’s rise to the Conference back in 2008 maybe the first steps to altering that. The club reached the FA Cup first round for the first time in 2005 and though the clubs previous awards have mostly been from local competitions they club are slowly progressing their way through the leagues.

Last Season Was.

A lot tougher than originally thought. The club had survived the previous season (their first in the Conference) well they found themselves come May 13th and a whopping 17 points clear of relegation. The following year was a different story, the club started fairly well winning games at sporadic but comfortable rates to avoid relegation but come October the club were unable to get a winner in any of their games an incredible 6 draws out of 7 matches plummeted the Sports down the table with only a win against Welling in the FA Trophy offering light relief. By the end of the January the club had managed just 1 win in the league since September but a late rally saw the club pick up enough points to take their fate to the final day which was set up to be the tightest of finishes. An 84th minute penalty was all that separated Eastbourne from relegation at the end a draw would have seen them doomed to the Conference South.

What to expect.

Huge wins against Altrincham and Hayes just show how prolific Eastbourne can be both teams bettered us when we faced them while Eastbourne brushed them aside. On the other hand the club are just as volatile in defeats 4-0’s against Mansfield and Barrow on the road show through their scoring patterns that they can go to pieces quite easily with goals scored quickly after one another. Whatever the score will be on Saturday it’s sure to be a very open game all of Eastbourne’s games have had at least 2 goals in the last 2 had 6 a piece!

Eastbourne’s Last Game

Eastbourne 2-4 Harrow Borough, FA Cup

Manager Garry Wilson was scathing in the clubs recent Cup defeat to Harrow

"There are no excuses, no bad refereeing, It was an inept display. Harrow Borough fully deserved to win,"

"The players must take a lot of the responsibility for that performance, the training has been good during the week, the preparation was good, we spent time reminding the players of what can happen in the FA Cup. I have told them if they are not prepared to take responsibility and improve then we will have to change things."

At one point the club were 4-0 down to the amateur side and Town must be fearing a backlash

Key Players

Richard Pacquette is the clubs current lead goal scorer with 6 but has failed to find the back of the net for over a month an early season charge of 4 in 3 saw him lead the League Goal Scorers briefly but has failed to find form since the clubs 4-3 victory at Forest Green. Since then the club have relied on the supporting cast to fill their boots former Boston man Simon Weatherstone has 5 as does Jamie Taylor but hope now lies with new loanee Luke Rooney who has recently arrived from Gillingham, the midfielder played a pivotal role in the clubs survival last season and the same sort of impetus is needed this time to kick start Eastbourne before they start to slip again.

Prediction

Anything but a win could see Woods out of a job, a win would merely shut the moaners up for a day.

Grimsby Town 3-2 Eastbourne

Grimsby Town

1 Kenny Arthur Goalkeeper
2 Peter Bore Midfielder
3 Lee Ridley Defender
4 Mark Hudson Midfielder
5 Darran Kempson Defender
6 Scott Garner Defender
7 Lewis Gobern Midfielder
8 Michael Cummins Midfielder
9 Charles Ademeno Striker
10 Lee Peacock Striker
11 Michael Coulson Striker
13 Nick Colgan Goalkeeper
14 Michael Leary Midfielder
15 Dwayne Samuels Defender
16 Steven Watt Defender
17 Alan Connell Striker
19 Bradley Wood Midfielder
20 Josh Fuller Midfielder
21 Andi Thanoj
22 Mark Gray
23 Tom Corner Striker
24 Nathan Dixon Striker
25 Robert Atkinson Defender
28 Andrew Wright (on loan from Scunthorpe) Midfielder
29 Robert Eagle Midfielder
30 Steve Croudson Goalkeeper
38 Richard O'Donnell (on loan from Sheff W ) Goalkeeper
40 Robert Peet

Eastbourne

1 England GK Danny Knowles
2 England DF Darren Baker
3 England DF Neil Jenkins
4 England MF Matt Smart
5 England DF Ben Austin
6 England DF Matt Langston
7 England FW Jamie Taylor
8 England MF Simon Johnson
9 England FW Andy Atkin
10 Dominica FW Richard Pacquette
11 England MF Matt Crabb
12 England FW Ethan Strevett
13 England GK Rikki Banks
14 England MF Simon Weatherstone
15 England MF Nathan Crabb
16 England MF Steve Brinkhurst
19 England MF Ross Treleaven
20 England MF Luke Rooney (on loan from Gillingham)
24 England DF Gary Elphick

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