Jim Stewart - Eastbourne Borough blog

It must be said that last Saturday presented me with a bit of a dilemma. Our early exit from the FA Cup has been well documented, and it left a gaping hole in the diary of a Boro fan. A football free weekend was unthinkable and the decision was taken to pop along to Priory Lane and take in a spot of TV soccer and the 3rd XI at home. On walking into the clubhouse, it felt like a normal matchday with so many other lost souls present. On the television front little Paulton had their day in the spotlight, but Delia’s Canaries proved too strong.

It's been a very interesting seven days since I sat typing the last blog. I have taken in first team action, reserves and under-18s in the space of four days. The Poppies of Kettering arrived at the Lane in the dizzy position of second, so we knew it was going to be a tough one. In fact as early as the second minute when a huge throw aided by a gusting wind cleared all and sundry to ripple the net. The man with the powerful arms was named Exodus. Thankfully, unlike the Bob Marley one, there was no "Movement of Jah people" so the goal didn't count. Credit has to go to Mr Atkin, our man in black for keeping his eyes on the ball and noting that no player touched it during its trajectory. However, that's probably where the affection towards our Andy's namesake finished. He didn't make the best of the remaining 88 minutes, and I had a huge smile on my face when, whilst booking Matt Smart (The Legend, and the hero of a new FB group) one very young fan shouted out "Why don't you book someone your own size!". Now that's a priceless observation.

It's odd but sometimes I sit here and the words just fall into place. This week however, there seems to be a mental block. I was hoping to be singing from the highest peaks of a triumphant few days for the Boro. Pitchside, things certainly haven't gone according to plan. It was good to get over the 1,000 mark again for the visit of Tamuff, and we now average 1,287 a game at home. Yes it's a tad short of last season's figure but with other big clubs to come, I think we may hold firm. More displays like the one at Histon and we could nosedive! A blip on the radar is how I see the foray to Cambridge.

It's beginning to look like the Kassam is not a place to visit if you want to see a Boro victory. Our third time of asking and the elusive point still evades us! In our three encounters at the three sided stadium the stats read lost three scored three conceded 13. It's a record that being honest flatters the Oxford yellows. The most recent being a 4-0, but the score didn't really reflect the 90 minutes. Even the home fans made the observation that we could have been two up before they hit the opener. We gave away three silly goals but still made Chris Wilder sweat and describe his team as "sloppy". Maybe we will get a chance to lay the Curse of Kassam to rest next season if Oxford are still in our league.

Wrexham didn't suprise me, but what a night v AFC!! Let's hope we can keep up both the points and the crowds!