Shaken – but now Eastbourne Borough must stir themselves for more National League South survival battles

A damp and chilly Tuesday night had tipped into Wednesday as a frustrated – and rather shaken – Eastbourne Borough squad headed back down the M4 to arrive home in the small hours. And they had left behind – in good hands in Gloucestershire Royal Hospital – their injured centre-back Alex Finney.

Borough were unimpressed with the Cornish club’s match arrangements at Gloucester City and have made a formal complaint. We have asked Truro City for their comments on this.

Finney had to lie on a cold wet 3G pitch for almost an hour until emergency ambulance crew arrived.

Borough owner Simon Leslie told the Herald: “Alex is now home, and in good spirits. We will have clearer news when he has seen his surgeon, but it is obviously not great.”

With 58 goalless minutes played, the popular Borough centre-back had crumpled to the ground with a seriously damaged ACL (anterior cruciate ligament). He was detained overnight in hospital, and the match was abandoned.

Twenty-four hours later, Leslie was already looking towards Saturday and Saturday’s game at Slough Town. “We head to Slough with full resolve,” Leslie said. “And we will use this situation to drive us to the finish.”

Like the club’s supporters, Leslie is well aware that Adam Murray’s squad are battling for their National South lives. With points now being picked up steadily, the mood in the camp is buoyant, and the manager will need his players to refocus, and renew their impressive form, as they head on a rather shorter trip along the M4 to Slough.

The Rebels have recovered from a dreadful start to the season to mount a credible play-off challenge. But the Sports have looked swift, well-balanced and purposeful in recent games, and they have nothing to fear at Arbour Park.

Meanwhile, there is a small matter of re-arranging the Truro fixture. With eight matches still to play, Eastbourne have no clear window – and the Cornish club appear to have no window at all. Truro must somehow play thirteen matches in 29 days from this Saturday until the last day of the league season on 20th April.

For a whole clutch of clubs, the battle for survival is unlikely to be resolved before that date. Just two clubs – Dover and Havant and Waterlooville – lie below Borough in the table, but at least six other clubs are within reach.

They include Dartford, whom the Sports play in a six-pointer on Easter Monday, as well as the free-falling Hemel Hempstead Town and – remarkably Torquay United, who are carrying a ten-point penalty for financial transgressions. All to play for? You bet!