Eastbourne Borough 6, Basingstoke 0.

Eastbourne Borough romped to their biggest ever win in four years of Blue Square south football as they hit Basingstoke for six.

Paul Armstrong got the ball rolling from the penalty spot and further goals from Nathan Crabb, Andy Atkin and Matt Crabb meant the game was effectively over at half time.

Nathana Crabb and Atkin completed their braces after the break to keep the pressure on Lewes at the top of the table.

Borough boss Garry Wilson said: "I thought we were excellent. We didn't play particularly well in the first half but our finishing was clinical and there was a 15 minute period in the second half when we were absolutely superb."

Matt Smart and Allan Tait both failed to recover from groin injuries so Borough stuck with the side which beat Dorchester 4-1 in midweek with the in-form Nathan Crabb preferred upfront to Scott Ramsay, who was only on the bench.

A strong wind favoured Borough in the first half but the home side struggled to take advantage of the conditions until they were handed the lead in rather fortuitous circumstances after 14 minutes.

Nathan Crabb used his pace to get in behind the Basingstoke defence but his cross looked harmless until it bounced up and brushed David Tarpey on the arm. The Borough players appealed more in hope than expectation but the referee pointed to the spot and Armstrong fired home his seventh goal of the season.

The goal seemed to settle Borough and Nathan Crabb almost doubled the lead seven minutes later when he pounced on an under-hit backpass by Tarpey but Chris Tardis managed to block his shot.

Tardis had no chance in the 24th minute, though, when Nathan Crabb scored his fifth goal in the last three games in spectacular fashion.

Pat Harding whipped in a cross from the right and Crabb threw himself in front of his marker to direct a diving header into the bottom corner.

The game was effectively over just after the half hour and this time it was Matt Crabb who was the architect.

He ran at the shell-shocked Basingstoke defence before threading a ball through to Atkin who hit a first-time shot from the edge of the area which flew past Tardis and inside the post.

Borough were threatening to score every time they went forward and Matt Crabb got in on the act just before the interval. Once again it came from a cross by Harding from the right which was not properly cleared and Crabb fired the loose ball through a crowd of players and into the net via a slight deflection.

Basingstoke offered little threat going forward in the first 45 minutes but twice went close for pulling a goal back straight after the restart.

First Lee Hook had to be alert to grab a near post shot from Ben Wells and then Tarpey volleyed wide from eight yards.

Normal service was resumed in the 56th minute as Borough made it 5-0.

Nathan Crabb robbed Tardis of the ball inside the area and unselfishly pass to Atkin who did well to find the unguarded net from a difficult angle.

Matt Warner came within a whisker of giving the bare-chested band of visiting fans something to cheer when he rattled the bar from 20 yards in the 65th minute but Borough went straight up the other end and made it 6-0.

This time Atkin returned the favour to Nathan Crabb as he set him up for a simple finish after bursting through from the halfway line.

The visitors were denied a consolation by two fine saves from Hook in the latter stages as Borough took their foot of the gas but the home side almost made it 7-0 when substitute Ramsay shot against the legs of Tardis with the last kick of the game.

Eastbourne Borough: Hook, Baker, Jenkins, Budd, Lovett, Harding, Pullan, Atkin, Armstrong, Nathan Crabb, Matt Crabb. Subs: Ramsay, Ballard, Wilde, Douglas, Barton.

Basingstoke: Tardis, Smith, Watkins, Bristow, Hankin, Fitzgerald, Wells, Tarpey, Charles, Taylor, Warner. Subs: Vockins, Neems, Hamilton, Cates.

Referee: W Bull (Midlands)