MATCH PREVIEW: Eastbourne Borough vs Chippenham Town | National League South | Saturday 13th April 2024

Matt Billett previews our away game against Eastbourne Borough.

Our last game saw us defeated 3-1 away at Farnborough in our rearranged fixture after poor pitch conditions saw the match postponed a few weeks ago.

Farnborough, also with hopes of reaching the play-offs, opened the scoring in the 31^st minute through Hisham Kasimu, and while Tom Mehew equalised just ten minutes later, Farnborough then took control of the game and scored just before the half-time whistle and secured the victory in the 78^th minute with a goal from Guy Hollis.

That loss pushed Farnborough into the play-off places and eight points ahead of us with two games remaining, which means it’ll be another season in the National League South (NLS) for the Bluebirds next season.

Our hosts this Saturday, Eastbourne Borough (known as the Sports) find themselves in a relegation battle this season after a poor start to the year which led to former manager Mark Beard being sacked on the 1^st of January. They’ve bettered their form since Adam Murray took charge, winning six and drawing four of their 17 games since; however, they still sit 20^th in the table just two points adrift from the relegation zone.

Their last game was a goalless draw against Truro City – the same result we endured against Truro just nine days earlier. The two games before that, however, saw them win twice against Weymouth and Dartford which moved them slightly further away from the relegation zone.

The Sports will be looking to take all three points at Priory Lane on Saturday afternoon as they attempt to secure a 14^th season in the NLS as early as they can.

Historically, Eastbourne have had the better results against the Bluebirds, winning five of the ten games that have been played between the two sides; Chippenham have come out victorious just twice. Both of our wins have come at home against Sports, meaning that a win on Saturday will be the first ever victory at Priory Lane.

We can be encouraged, though, by the most previous game in which we won 4-2 at the Thornbury Surfacing Stadium thanks to goals from Craig Fasanmade, Matt McClure, and a brace from Caine Bradbury.

A bit of a different famous faces segment today as we focus on sponsors as opposed to players. Famous football podcast “Pitchside” are sponsors of the Sports. The podcast is made up of the trio of Tom Garrett, Ollie Fletcher-Warrington (also known as Reev), and local lad Theo Baker.

The podcast is produced weekly and includes heated debate as well as some outrageous footballing takes which has made them gain over 260,000 subscribers on YouTube (with more than 139 million views) and become the most listened-to football podcast in the UK on Apple Music.

This week’s one-to-watch is French international Yahya Bamba, who joined Eastbourne on the 8^th of March from Cray Wanderers and has since scored four goals in six games, contributing to nearly half of Eastbourne’s goals since arriving at the club.

What makes this form even more impressive is that on boxing day last year, Bamba was the subject of a horror head injury while playing for his previous club which led to the match being abandoned. Luckily, Bamba sustained no long-lasting injuries, despite fears of a damaged spinal cord, and is now in the form of his life for the Sports.

This Saturday’s game will be the third in six days for Gary Horgan’s side, which could mean a few changes again after six changes were made between the Weston-super-Mare and Farnborough game.

We’re two games away from the end of the season and it’s another season to be proud of being a part of the Bluebird community.

If you’re making the trip East then have a safe journey and enjoy the game; if you’re unable to make it then commentary will be available on Mixlr.

We look forward to seeing you all next Saturday at the Thornbury Surfacing Stadium as we look to end the season in style.