Eastbourne Borough showed they are up for the fight as they came from behind to secure a big three points on Tuesday night.

Having a defensive mistake had seen them fall behind to fellow strugglers Havant & Waterlooville, supporters at Priory Lane were fearing the worst.

But Borough dug deep, and Moussa Diarra and Decarrey Sheriff goals saw the Sports earn a full deserved victory, despite ending the game with ten men after Alfie Bendle was shown a second yellow card.

Adam Murray made three changes to the team that fell to defeat on Saturday, with Billy Vigar, Sheriff and David Sesay coming in to the starting eleven.

The Sports started on the front foot, with Sesay doing well to win the ball on the right before finding the feet of Jake Hutchinson, but his snap shot didn’t trouble the Havant goal.

However, they went behind ten minutes in though a defensive mistake. Ben Dudzinski played a goal kick short to Alex Finney, and his pass back to the goalkeeper was pounced on by Ryan Seager who tapped in.

The Sports needed a response. Sheriff did well to get down the left hand side but his low cross was hacked clear, before Sam Beard saw a low drive across goal blocked, with David Sesay then firing into the side netting from just inside the area.

It wasn’t all one-way traffic though, and Havant had half a chance to double their lead just over the midway point of the first half when a cross from the left dropped to James Roberts at the far post, but he volleyed just over.

But Borough kept pushing. Brad Barry headed Pierce Bird’s cross back across goal to Finney, who shifted the ball on to his right foot only to see his shot saved by Ross Worner at his near post. The Sports kept the ball alive, and Bird again whipped the ball in from the right but Diarra could only head wide of the far corner.

However, the hosts got their reward four minutes before the break. Beard fired in a corner from the left and picked out the towering Diarra, who this time wasn’t to be denied as his bullet header crashed in off the underside of the bar.

Borough continued to press on the front foot after the restart, but without really creating chances in front of goal – but they made their possession count just after the hour mark. Beard’s low ball in from the left wasn’t cleared, and Bendle pounced on the loose ball. After shifting past one challenge, he back-heeled the ball into the path of Sheriff who made no mistake from eight yards out.

Rather than sitting back on their lead, Borough pressed for more. Barry couldn’t get a clean shot away before substitute Leone Gravata saw an effort from outside the box blocked.

Gravata then played a great ball through to Bendle who broke though on goal, but under pressure saw his effort saved by Worner.

As time ticked on, Havant looked to get forwards but the Borough defence stood firm.

However, the game ended on a sour note for the Sports as referee Lewis Sandoe judged Bendle to have kicked the ball away, and with that presented him with a second yellow card to leave Borough a man down in stoppage time.

But Borough stood firm to take a deserved win, and they will be looking to carry that momentum forwards in their battle to avoid relegation.