Eastbourne Borough were made to be patient, but took their chance when it came as they edged past Bath City in horrid conditions.
The Sports were left frustrated at The ReachTV Stadium as the visitors looked set to earn a point they had set out to achieve.
But Adam Murray’s side kept going, and George Alexander’s tenth league goal of the campaign five minutes into stoppage time gave the Sports a deserved three points to keep them third in the National League South standings.
Borough had three changes to the starting line up which took to the field against Dorking in the FA Trophy seven days ago, including the return of skipper Brad Barry with Pierce Bird suspended.
Joe Wright returned in goal, whilst Kai Innocent made his first league start after re-joining from Hemel Hempstead.
Storm Bert was definitely making its presence known on the East Sussex coast, with both teams struggling to play in severe winds coupled with rain that at times was going sideways in the first half.
The Sports went on the front foot with the wind at their backs early on, and they tested Harvey Wiles-Richards after nine minutes when Barry’s cross-field knock picked out the feet of Yahya Bamba, who cut inside onto his left foot but saw the Bath keeper equal to his effort from 20 yards out.
There were several cases of ifs, buts and maybes, with Innocent, Courtney Clarke and then Jayden Davis having crosses flash across goal but no red shirt could turn the ball home.
The hosts then went within a whisker of going in front on 19 minutes. Innocent eventually spotted the ball for a free-kick after the wind kept blowing it away, but once he did finally take it his strike from 25 yards beat everyone – only for the ball to crash back off the angle of post and bar.
Bath offered little going forwards, with Joe Raynes having half a chance but he sliced well over from the edge of the area.
Alexander then couldn’t quite get on the end of Clarke’s low ball in from the right, before the Sports felt they should have had a penalty just before the break – but Innocent’s appeals after being tripped inside the area were waved away.
Shooting into the wind in the second half, chances were few and far between for either side as Borough grew frustrated.
Barry nearly supplied assist of the season with a sublime ball through with the outside of his foot, but the wind took it just out of the reach of Alexander who would have just had the keeper to beat.
Siya Ligendza, Alfie Pavey and David Sesay were all introduced as the game reached its final twenty minutes in a bid to create that magic moment, but Bath’s back line stood firm.
Pavey almost had an instant impact when he glanced on Clarke’s ball in, but a deflection took it straight into the hands of Wiles-Richards.
Six added minutes were shown, and in the fifth of those – the breakthrough.
Pavey did well to win a free-kick on the right, and Dominic Odusanya fired a low ball in which didn’t quite fall favourably to the substitute – but the ball dropped to Alexander eight yards out and the forward fired past Wiles-Richards and a body on the line to finally break the deadlock.
The visitors then looked to go on the front foot in the moments that remained, but the Sports held out comfortably to seal all three points.
