Eastbourne Borough ready for FA Cup test following techinal area bust-up with Welling United

There was a technical area bust-up in the game between Eastbourne Borough and Welling United on Tuesday night/ Picture by Lydia Redman

In sport, and especially in football, there is simply nothing better than a cup competition. One round, one winner, one loser. Each round a little bit closer to glory. Welcome, this weekend, to the FA Cup.

Eastbourne Borough join the fray tomorrow (Saturday) but football’s greatest competition actually began on August 6 for several of our local clubs in Step Five and Six, with an extra preliminary round. There was notable success for Eastbourne Town, notching two victories before bowing out in the last round – ironically, to Hanwell Town, the West London club where Borough’s campaign began this time last year.

Last season did not go quite to plan for Bloor’s men. After efficiently dispatching Hanwell with a 2-0 away win, the Sports were held 2-2 at Horsham FC – who then claimed a replay victory.

The Sports would settle for the First Round Proper – which they reached just two years ago with a televised home tie against mighty Blackpool. In fact they would bite your hand off. The financial rewards are precious to any semi-professional club: a minimum of £5,250 for getting past Uxbridge, and a total of at least £18,375 for reaching the First Round Proper.

Action from Borough v Welling. Pic: Trevor Round

On Saturday, the SO Legal Community Stadium will play host to Hanwell’s near neighbours, Uxbridge Football Club. The Isthmian South Central club sit comfortably in their own division, two steps below the Sports in the Pyramid – and they are showing some fine cup form in the FA Cup and FA Trophy, where they beat Chertsey 3-1.

“We sent one of our coaches to watch Uxbridge at Chertsey, and we’ll be treating them with total respect. They look like a club in a good bit of form and they play in a competitive division. Every team and every player will always raise their game for the FA Cup, and it’s up to us to raise our own game to match!

“The FA Cup just has this aura of catching everyone’s imagination – players and fans alike. There will be one or two non-league clubs, maybe three or four, who will see their dreams come true and find themselves against a Championship club or a Premier League club.

“And there will be many more who make the First Round. We did it against Blackpool and we are burning to repeat that experience – only this time, we would be playing not just in front of the lockdown cameras, but in front of a packed and passionate Priory Lane!

“With no Albion fixture on Saturday, we are very much the main match. Let’s have the SO Legal Stadium rocking!”

Off the field, club officials will be holding their breath in the wake of Tuesday night’s encounter with Welling United, when the action melted down – albeit quite briefly – into a heaving Rugby scrum of bodies in the technical area.

Although referee Matt Norton booked only one player when order was restored, there were two highly experienced FA observers in the stands, and it was the kind of incident which can incur a formal disrepute charge.

Such scenes are virtually unheard of at Priory Lane, and Saturday is sure to see a return to the usual buoyant atmosphere, where the nearest thing to outrageous is an occasional chant about the manager’s lack of hair. And Wembley will be just ten games away….