Eastbourne Borough 1 Altrincham 0.

The season may only be three weeks old but on this evidence Eastbourne Borough have already learned a lot about what is required to survive in non-league’s top flight.

On the opening day of the season Borough had Rushden and Diamonds on the ropes for the majority of the game at Priory Lane only to walk away with nothing to show for their efforts.

Afterwards boss Garry Wilson and assistant Nick Greenwood stressed how they would rather have played poorly and won than have people patting them on the back about how well they played in defeat.

The managerial duo have obviously got the message across to their players with Borough bouncing back from conceding nine goals in two games against Oxford United and Cambridge United to sneak consecutive 1-0 wins.

On Bank Holiday Monday they needed a penalty save from Lee Hook and a last-minute winner from Matt Smart to see off Grays and Hook was pivotal again as Borough clung on desperately at the end to take maximum points against a lively Altrincham side.

Hook made two marvellous saves from Chris Senior and was also rescued by the crossbar as the Robins threw everything at Borough in an attempt to cancel out Paul Armstrong’s delicious lob in the 28th minute.

This time it was visiting manager Graham Heathcote who had to endure the pats on the back while Wilson and Greenwood reflected on a job well done.

Greenwood said: “It gives us a lot of hope for the rest of the season that we have picked up six points from the last two games without playing particularly well.

“It is fantastic to be grinding out results at this level in the knowledge that there is still plenty of room for improvement. We won ugly on Saturday but three points is three points and I would rather play poorly and win than the other way around.”

A return of nine points from the opening six games is more than anyone at Priory Lane could have hoped for but Wilson is not about to wrest on his laurels.

The Borough boss is hopeful of bringing in a new striker together with a central defender before tomorrow’s home clash with leaders Forest Green Rovers to ensure they build on such a promising start.

A striker looks a priority considering Andy Atkin is likely to be ruled out for at least two weeks with a torn calf muscle he suffered at Grays.

In his absence Jean-Michel Sigere and Allan Tait were partnered together from the start for the first time and they failed to cause the Altrincham defence too many problems.

It was not surprising then that the crucial goal came from midfield and it was apt that skipper Armstrong delivered it to cap another impressive performance.

The visitors had started brightly and the lively Senior had already drawn a good save from Hook when Armstrong raced on to a chip over the top from Ben Austin.

Altrincham keeper Stuart Coburn should have come out of his area to clear but instead tried to get back on his line and Armstrong punished the indecision by exquisitely lifting the ball over him from 20 yards.

Borough would probably have doubled their advantage eight minutes before the break if Tait had managed to complete a simple pass to Sigere who was unmarked inside the area but instead they were forced to defend for their lives in the second half.

Senior looked certain to score when he controlled a clever free-kick from Warren Peyton and pulled the trigger from eight yards but Hook somehow kept it out and the visitors came even closer 14 minutes from time when Peyton’s fierce 30-yard free kick thumped against the bar with Hook well beaten.

Armstrong admitted they had ridden their luck a bit but deserved their reward for refusing to buckle under wave after wave of attacks.

He said: “We lost our shape a little in the second half and they put us under a lot of pressure but Lee made a couple of decent saves and we defended well.

“We know we are going to have to work hard for every point this season but this team has always had a good work ethic and that pulled us through again.

“No disrespect to Altrincham but they are the sort of teams we need to beat if we are to stay up this season. We are never going to be as good as the likes of Cambridge United or Oxford so it was vital to get a result on Saturday.”

Eastbourne: Hook, Austin, Jenkins, Pullan, Baker, Smart, Harding (Harkin, 80), Armstrong, Lovett, Tait (Budd, 88), Sigere (N Crabb, 75). Subs not used: Ballard, Winterton.

Booked: Pullan, Armstrong.

Altrincham: Coburn, Doughty (Little, 53), McGregor, Young, Lawton, Denham, Peyton, Meecham, Danylyk, Battersby (Elam, 53), Senior (Johnson, 73).

Subs: Lane, Street.

Booked: Elam.

Man of the match: Lee Hook.