Eastbourne Borough women’s first midweek game of the season was a tough physical battle against an impressive Saltdean Development Squad.

With both teams unbeaten in the league so far, all eyes were on this crucial game to see who would blink first.

With both Lola Dulake and Lily Ray unavailable, Chris Day chose an attacking line up to stop Saltdean’s highly technical build up, but also brought in Leonie Swaine on her first start of the season after a quad injury.

The Sports dominated the early stages, with multiple chances for Becky Simmons and Molly Hill, but Saltdeans highly experienced goalkeeper Megan Lynch was alert to any danger. With Borough forcing the opposition into unforced errors, the pressure looked like it had paid off in the 40th minute when Molly Hill pounced on a loose clearance and drove into the box, holding off the Saltdean defence.

However, the referee adjudged Hill to have used too much force and gave a free kick the other way, much to the amazement of the large crowd. Hill was then sin binned, leaving Borough to see out the rest of the half with 10 players.

With Saltdean now pressing higher, player of the game Daisy Taylor played one of her trademark passes into Izzy Payne in midfield, whose hold up play fed Abbie Tucker on the wing. With Saltdean back tracking they were forced to put the ball out for a corner – up stepped Charlotte Gurr, whose inswinging corner beat Lynch to give Borough a 1-0 lead going into half-time.

The second half saw both teams with half chances, and a brilliant through ball by Payne in the 70th minute set up Hill whose shot was superbly saved by Lynch.

Megan Griffiths was then introduced for Hill, followed by Phoebe Cram replacing Payne. With The Sports dropping off the pressure which forced Saltdean to play more direct.

Hill was then reintroduced in the 82nd minute for Simmons whose pressing had caused Saltdean constant problems, and Borough held on for the 1-0 win, their sixth win in six games so far this season.

Head Coach Chris Day said: “We knew this would be our toughest test of the season so far – they are highly technical and well organised opponents, and our whole mantra before yesterday was ‘find a way to win’, which we did.

“I thought the crowd were superb, and brought a real energy to the fixture which helped us through some tricky moments. It was great to see so much local talent on the pitch for both sides, and a credit to both clubs commitment to the women’s game.”