Two early goals saw Chelmsford City claim a smash-and-grab win at Eastbourne Borough.

The damage was done inside six minutes, as the visitors went two goals up at Connect Management Stadium.

Barely four minutes were on the clock when Archie Tamplin lifted the ball in from the right and no one had picked up Joe Grimwood, whose diving header beat Woody Williamson on debut in the Eastbourne goal.

Things then went from bad to worse for the hosts when they failed to clear their lines and former Borough playmaker Jason Adigun scored a delightful volley with six minutes gone.

That left the Sports with a mountain to climb – and had it not been for a smart save from Williamson to deny Kian Ronan it could have been even worse.

Josh Anifowose was a threat for Borough – he had a good effort held by Chris Haigh before the hosts took control of the second period.

Arthur Grout did well to lift the ball up to Pemi Aderoju, but he didn’t get enough on his header when well placed before Aderoju was tripped by Harry Barbrook inside the area, and the forward halved the deficit from the penalty spot midway through the second half.

From there onwards it was one-way traffic, but Haigh did well to deny Grout and then Aderoju before saving well from substitute Jayden Davis late on as the visitors clung on to win.