Eastbourne have 'Owen' emblazoned across their shirts, but Beckham might be more appropriate for young Man Utd fan Ben Bown.

Town's teenage wideman capped an impressive performance with a stunning effort when he lobbed keeper Ashley Walker with an audacious shot from 45 yards from out on the left touchline.

For the spectators who braved the appalling weather, it conjured up comparisons with David Beckham's famous goal from the halfway line against Wimbledon in the Premiership.

Bown's goal in the 39th minute established a lead Eastbourne rarely looked like relinquishing.

They remain third in County League division two and are on course for the final promotion spot.

It was Bown's tenth goal of the season and the 18-year-old was happy to take the plaudits.

He said: "It is not often I score one like that. It was a bit special. I saw the keeper off the line and just thought I would have a go."

Bown set up the second in the 73rd minute when Wes Tate followed up his long-range effort to beat Walker at the second attempt.

Tate then wrapped the points up with his second six minutes from time as he ran on to Mark Reeves' pass and rounded Walker before slotting the ball in from an acute angle. It underlined the gulf in class between the two sides.

For Mark Cox's Mile Oak side, promotion is no longer a realistic ambition. They are stranded in midtable but Dave Winterton and his young side are much more upbeat about their future.

Winterton said: "If we go up I don't think we will have any problems, but we have to get up first.

"We have played a lot more games than anyone else but we have the points which is the main thing. To come here and get three points is fantastic, especially as the pitch was such a leveller.

"The pitch really cut up, but we played some good football at times. The back five were brilliant and Mile Oak didn't have many chances.

"We have some good players here but we have to keep them together. If we don't go up this year we must try and keep the same squad."

Town's victory was all the more impressive as the visitors were without the services of their pacey foward Yemi Odubade who was absent through illness. But the performances of Tate and Bown more than made up for Odubade's loss.

Tate, 19, caught the eye with a series of surging runs down the right flank and Ivan Mainprize and his colleagues in the home defence were forced to work overtime.

Tate ended up with a brace but the wing back could have had a hat-trick.

He said: "I went through into the box and I felt I should have had a penalty because I was pulled back. If we had got it, I would liked to have taken it.

"At the end their keeper made a good save to deny me. It was a heavy pitch and the main thing is getting the three points. That's what we want because we are pushing for promotion. Teams do have games in hand on us but as long as we have the points they have to chase us."

The Mile Oak players trooped off through the mud thoroughly dispirited.

They struggled to come to terms with the conditions and rarely strung any passes together. When they did, they carved out chances.

First, Lee Cattell exchanged passes with Anthony Whittington before poking in a low right-foot effort that just eluded stand-in skipper Neil Roberts and after the break left-winger Ryan Sargent swung over a couple of dangerous crosses.

From the first in the 56th minute Roberts' touch let him down, then four minutes later Roberts released Sargent but Michael Reilly could only divert the ball over the bar.

Veteran Roberts said: "We were second best.

"I expect some of the lads wished they had stayed at home rather than play in that."