Eastbourne Borough FC played out a thrilling 2-2 draw against Dorking Wanderers FC at The ReachTV Stadium, with the home side showing tremendous resilience to equalise in the dying moments of the game. The match was marked by the debuts of Courtney Clarke and Fin Holter, and despite dominating the first half, Borough found themselves trailing at the break due to an unfortunate defensive error.

The game started with both teams finding their feet, with plenty of noise from the fans setting the atmosphere. Borough quickly began to assert themselves, with Carter driving forward from defence in the 11th minute, setting up Davis for a shot just outside the box that went narrowly over. The home side continued to pile on the pressure, as Johnson and Ligendza combined well in the 22nd minute, leading to a dangerous cross that was just cleared by the Dorking defence. Despite Eastbourne’s dominance, a misplaced pass from debutant Holter in the 30th minute gifted Dorking’s Briggs an easy goal, leaving Borough unlucky to be 1-0 down.

Undeterred, Borough came out strong in the second half, and their persistence paid off in the 52nd minute. Davis was played through into the box, controlling the ball beautifully before placing it past the Dorking keeper, with the ball bouncing off the post and into the net to level the score at 1-1. However, Dorking regained the lead 19 minutes later when Carter’s heroic efforts to clear the ball off the line were in vain, as Bowerman’s follow-up shot found the back of the net despite Carter’s best efforts.

As the clock ticked down, Borough continued to push for an equaliser. A flurry of chances in the final minutes, including a header from Diarra that went wide and a deflected cross that just missed Pavey, kept the home fans on the edge of their seats. With 12 minutes of added time, the Sports didn’t give up. In the 90+7th minute, a ball into the box by Sesay was initially defended, but Ligendza put it back in, finding substitute Harley, who headed it into the top right corner to secure a dramatic late equaliser and send the home crowd into celebration.

The Borough fans will think the 2-2 draw could have been a win in match which Borough showed great character and determination, particularly in coming back twice from behind. With the debuts of Clarke and Holter now behind them, the team will look to build on this performance and continue their positive momentum as the season progresses.