Garry Wilson praised Eastbourne Borough’s new-found resilience after a third consecutive clean sheet earned them a hard-fought point against Salisbury at Priory Lane.

A combination of fine goalkeeping by Lee Hook and poor finishing by Charlie Griffin ensured Borough followed up back-to-back 1-0 wins over Wrexham and Kettering with another shut-out against in-form Salisbury.

Borough had conceded ten goals in four games before their recent improvement and only five teams have leaked more goals in the division this season.

Despite that record Borough are comfortably in mid-table and this point took their tally to 50 and almost guarantees their Blue Square premier status for next season.

Boss Wilson said: “The pleasing thing is that we kept a third clean sheet and that is excellent for us after conceding the amount of goals we have.

“We had a dodgy spell where we were too open at the back but to defend as well as we have in the last three games gives us a real platform to build on.

“We have worked hard on the training ground and we are seeing the benefits now as we look a lot more solid.

“Our attacking play may not have been as fluent as it has been but they were a difficult team to break down and overall I think it was a good point.”

Salisbury arrived as the form team in Blue Square premier with four wins and two draws in their last six games but were pegged back by Borough in the opening exchanges.

Nathan Crabb, who was rewarded for his winning goal at Kettering with only his second start in 19 games, combined well with the fit again Andy Atkin up front and they carved out an early chance for Matt Smart to fire wide.

Ben Austin also had an effort blocked as the home side tried to make their dominance count but it was the visitors who should have opened the scoring in the 22nd minute.

A poor punch from Hook fell to Griffin six yards out but he somehow screwed his shot wide.

Borough continued to look the better side but a well-organised Salisbury outift restricted them to long-range efforts, Paul Armstrong off target with two efforts from outside the area.

James Bittner was only called into serious action once in the first half when he comfortably saved a Austin header.

The roles were reversed in the second half as Salisbury started to get on top and Griffin wasted another glorious chance in the 61st minute by shooting wide after beating the offside trap.

Griffin was looking the most likely to break the deadlock and Hook had to be at his best to turn a wicked 20-yard volley around a post.

A disappointing crowd of 1,047 – the second lowest at Priory Lane this season – were growing increasingly frustrated and Wilson responded by introducing on-loan strikers Jack Jeffery and Sam Gargan.

Jeffery almost made an immediate impact when his clever pass put Neil Jenkins through on goal but a heavy touch allowed Bittner to come off his line to block.

It was only brief respite though as Salisbury turned up the pressure again and it required a fine reflex save to tip over Brian Dutton header to secure a third consecutive clean sheet.

Jeffery had a good chance to seal a third consecutive 1-0 win right at the end following good work by Matt Crabb but dragged his shot wide.

Assistant boss Nick Greenwood added: “The atmosphere was almost flat at the end but we have reached 50 points and the supporters should be praising what these players have achieved.

“Perhaps we need to remind everybody what a fantastic job the players have done to secure our safety with ten games to go and I hope they turn out on Saturday to show their appreciation.”

Eastbourne: Hook 7, Austin 7, Baker 7, Pullan 7, Jenkins 7, Armstrong 6, Smart 6 (Jeffery, 73), Brown 7, M Crabb 6, Atkin 6 (Gargan, 78), N Crabb 6 (Lovett, 89). Subs not used: Harding, Wormull.

Booked: Gargan.

Kettering: Bittner, Clohessy, Brough, Todd, Ruddick, Clarke, Herring, Fowler (Bass, 90), Dutton, Ademeno, Griffin. Subs not used: Cox, Webb, Martin, Sangare.

Booked: None.

Referee: Paul Melin (Surrey) Attendance: 1,047 Man-of-the-match: Lee Hook.