The boys were brilliant last week from the off and today they knew they had to bring the game to Eastbourne.

We had recently played Eastbourne last month at home and despite a good first half, our second half was poor and we ended up going down 2-0 at home.

Today we wanted to start strong and continue the form we had shown in the previous 3 games. It was going to be tough and we knew it would be away against a top United side.

Lineup wise we went very similar to the side that got us results recently - Oliver in goal, Ethan, Toby, Cam and Dean at the back. Jack, Stan and Sam started in our Midfield 3 while Kieron, Stephen and Lewis B started up top. Our bench had some real strength again with Harley, Lewis G, Charlie and Freddie available to come on.

The game started fast with both teams going at it. Looking to gain the upper hand and start strong. United Kicked off and went on the attack right away looking for their 2 danger men, Number 20 (LW) and Number 9 (ST). It was a end to end game right from the off with both teams looking to get an early goal. The ball spent a lot of time in the air so Toby and Cam were doing well at the back keeping the United attack out while Stephen, Kieron and Lewis B were doing their best to keep the ball.

We were getting joy down both wings with Kieron and Lewis B battling well and linking up with Sam in the 10 role. There were a few half chances in the first 10 but nothing of significance.

Our opening goal came from some great work down the left from Kieron and Sam. Sam won the ball well in the middle before playing it into Kieron. Kieron drove past 2 players before playing it into Sam on the edge of the box, Sam drew 2 players into him before turning both inside out and playing a great pass into Kieron who had picked up a great position on the left of the box. Kieron looked up and delivered a brilliant cross into the area and Stephen who had lost his marker, made a great run and finished calmly on the volley from the penalty spot to put us 1-0 up!

The game got even tighter at this point with both teams wanting to get their foothold and take the game to the opposition.
Both teams were getting chances with Lewis B and Kieron battling well down the wings, while Sam, Stan and Jack were strong in the midfield working to create opportunities. Ethan had his hands full but was doing really well down the right while Cam, Toby and Dean were keeping the attackers quiet. Eastbourne shuffled their formation and players around with 20 gone and we took the opportunity to do the same with Harley coming on at RW for Lewis B. The game was end to end and we came close with Harley getting down the right and beating his man before hitting the side netting.

Charlie came on at RB for Ethan with 30 gone and defensively we were really strong, stopping everything that was coming our way. Eastbourne were throwing everything at us and at 33 Nige swapped Kieron for Lewis G down the left to give us a different approach. We got some joy with Lewis pinging some passes into the middle and down the lie for Stephen to Chase. We had a chance where we pressed the RB all the way back forcing him to play a pass across to their Keeper but Stephen intercepted but was unable to get the shot away.

With 35 gone, Eastbourne won the ball high on our right side with a throw and from this our boys switched off ever so slightly giving United the first ball which is touched back to their LW who lashes it into the near corner for 1-1.

This could of caused our boys heads to drop but straight away they pushed for the lead and to go into the half with the advantage.

Our boys won the ball down the right hand side and some quick play from Charlie sent the ball into the midfield with Jack being strong in the middle and winning his 50/50 before playing it into Harley. Harley held off his man and played a pass into Stephen. Stephen played a great pass around the corner with his weak foot into the path of Harley who held off his defender and hit a low shot that despite the defenders sliding efforts, went past the keeper for 2-1 right before the half.

HT - Eastbourne United - 1 - TD - 2

A very good half from the boys and despite switching off once, we held onto the lead. A few changes needed to be made at the half with Stan picking up a knock to his foot meaning a shuffle in the midfield with Kieron coming on at LW, Lewis G moving into the 10 and Sam dropping back into the 8 role. Freddie Also came in for Stephen up top.

We had Kick off and it seemed like we slowed a little bit in the second half. We invited the pressure on and with Eastbourne making 4 subs, you could see they were stepping up the intensity. The boys were strong and were holding their own but the game started to swing towards Eastbourne. Eastbourne were caught a few times offside which was giving our defence a real boost as they were holding their line well and both the number 20 and number 9 were getting a bit keen with the runs despite what the United fans were saying, each call was spot on. Thank you Jon for running the line while also dealing with the grief!

The boys were doing well and battling well and Harley was getting joy down the right hand side causing the issues to their LB. Jack, Sam and Lewis G were strong in the midfield while our back line were holding strong with Charlie and Dean dealing really well with the diagonal balls. Toby and Cam had their hands full but did their best to deal with anything over the top and the number 9.

We took a bit of knock to our plans when Jack took a nasty hit to his knee meaning he had to come off. Lewis B came back on and was brilliant in offering to do a job in the midfield role for us. We had a midfield of Lewis B, Sam and Lewis G for the first time ever and they did themselves proud, battling, scrapping and trying to get the game forwards.

The boys were holding strong however we lost the ball in the front line on 53 minutes and a long through ball was sent towards our defence but a sliced clearance sent their striker through on goal and he finished calmly into the bottom corner. 2-2.

A few moments later, the ref missed a throw in down the right that we should of had and while chasing it back to win the ball, Kieron was pulled back hard on his left arm. This caused Kieron to need to come off for a while. Stephen came back on at LW.

The boys were defending well with Charlie, Toby, Cam and Dean all doing so well keeping the United attack at bay but we were struggling to keep the ball up front. Fred's, Harley and Stephen were working hard to win the ball back high.

With 60 gone, we had to make another sub with Kieron coming on for Freddie O and Stephen slotting back into the ST role. Kieron went back out to the LW spot. Shortly after, United got in behind and whipped a cross into the middle but Dean pulled a brilliant block off to send it over the bar.

On 64 minutes a loose pass was picked off by the United RB who drove forward and played it into the path of their RW. He looked up and sent a diagonal pass into the path of their LW. He controlled it well before shooting into the far corner for 3-2.

Our boys continued to push from here, Oliver was pulling off some great saves and we almost drew level a few minutes later. Sam went past a few players before sending Harley through in space. Harley beat his man for pace before sending a brilliant low cross into the middle of the goal but Stephen sends the shot wide from 6 yards out before being caught by the keeper but it was already a Goal Kick. You would put your house on him scoring that.

All the boys were putting in a shift, Ethan came back on for Charlie at the back. We were continuing to push for the equaliser as Eastbourne were getting a bit physical to stop us.

We continued to push forwards and with 78 minutes on the clock, Lewis B beat his man in the midfield before sending a dangerous ball into the middle and a mix up at the back saw the ball drop into the path of Lewis G. Lewis went to play a pass into Stephen but the defender tackled him and sent the ball into the CM of United who was running back. This sent the ball into the path of Stephen who took it on his right foot and slotted it past the keeper for what we thought was 3-3! The linesman flagged for offside however once we watched it back on the recording he was being played on by the CB in the middle! Unfortunately the ref went with the Linesman and disallowed it. Gutting!

FT - Eastbourne United - 3 - TD - 2

Another top performance from our lads, United are a very good side and you can see that they will finish high in our league but the way our boys stepped up again in a very tough game was brilliant. We deserved more out of this game and especially with the injuries to our Midfield our boys fought until the last minute.

MOTM- Oliver K - Oliver had a very good game today, Confident in crosses, pulling off some good saves while trying to get the boys forwards quickly.

TD Shipley FC

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