National League South focus: Could Worthing and Eastbourne Borough both end season achieving their aims?

Two National South clubs in Sussex – and two quite different objectives for Worthing and Eastbourne Borough as they gear up for the final phase of the season.

Just two short seasons after climbing from the Isthmian Premier, the Rebels have their sights set on promotion to the National League. But along the coast and into East Sussex, the relegation-haunted Sports will be happy just to preserve their current status. Can we expect roars of triumph from Woodside Road, and sighs of relief from Priory Lane? Your ever-optimistic Herald reporter thinks so. And here is why…

Worthing’s way up

Going into this weekend’s fixtures, Adam Hinshelwood’s Rebels are on an eight-game unbeaten run and an exuberant scoring spree. Last Saturday at Woodside Road they were like kids in the playground, scoring almost at will against a hapless Dover Athletic.

The Kent visitors were actually flattered by the 6-4 final scoreline, with Dover’s goals all coming in stoppage time – twice at the end of the first half and twice in added time after the 90 minutes.

Hinsh may rightly have been cross with some of his side’s careless defending, but the noisy four-figure crowd packed tightly into Woodside Road were in raptures at the attacking display. Worthing in this mood are impossible to hold: they can play through opponents, or over them, or down the flanks.

The division’s top scorer Ollie Pearce, plundered four of the goals – and the home crowd’s huge new banner proclaiming “Just Stop Ollie” was surely an irresistible message to the whole of National South.

The Rebels will chase down leaders Yeovil Town all the way, although a ten-point gap will probably prove too wide. But almost as important is the runners-up slot: it not only secures a play-off place, but it guarantees Worthing a direct route straight to a home tie in the play-off final. And no opponent, at the end of an exhausting season, will relish an ordeal by fire at Woodside Road.

And there isn’t even an obvious contender for that runners-up place. Chelmsford City – who visit Eastbourne tomorrow (Saturday) – have proved inconsistent and they do not score enough goals. Maidstone United have an impressive squad, but their magnificent FA Cup run will have diverted their focus and left them playing catch-up with fixtures. Just stop Worthing!

Borough's back-door escape

Over in East Sussex, the Borough have lived out the sort of larger-than-life drama that you could make a documentary about – ah, isn’t that what somebody is doing..? Will it end in triumph or footballing catastrophe? The script for the final episodes is not yet written: it will be a cliff-hanger but it may well have a happy ending.

The Sports are still paying a high price for events of last summer and of the early season. A new owner, a new manager and a completely new first-team squad, which gravely under-achieved in the autumn. Winnable games came and went, and Borough fell into that fatal footballing trap of playing good football with no end product.

So why should the spring herald a change of fortune? Two reasons; or actually three. New manager Adam Murray has brought a new sense of purpose and optimism – and his owner Simon Leslie has backed Murray with a whole clutch of new players, and also coaching and back-up staff. If the current squad were re-starting the 23-24 season, they would be a decent bet for a top-ten place.

And the other reason to be cheerful? A whole clutch of clubs around Borough are in poor form, and during the run-in from now to April 20th, the bottom half of the table could well be churning like track-suits in a tumble-dryer.

Dover Athletic may be a lost cause. Welling United have a new manager but no new resources. Havant and Waterlooville have under-achieved all season. Dartford, unfamiliar with a relegation scrap, have sacked their manager and are in free-fall. Truro City may have to play every single remaining fixture away from home. And Taunton Town are under a transfer embargo and may even slip into administration.

The Sports must play five of those six fellow strugglers, and they also face mid-table opposition in Chippenham, Weston-super-Mare, Tonbridge Angels and Weymouth. It is very far from the most daunting of run-ins. Fifteen fixtures – and eight or nine victories are probably needed. Don’t back against the Borough….