Eastbourne Borough chairman Len Smith has criticised the police handling of events at the Deva Stadium on Saturday.

Borough’s match against Chester City was abandoned after 72 minutes when supporters invaded the pitch for the second time.

A group of around 20 fans had come on to protest against Chester’s owner Stephen Vaughan in the first half.

Police and stewards managed to clear them off the pitch but crucially did not eject them from the ground and a handful returned immediately after Chester had taken the lead for the third time.

Referee Paul Curry took the players off the pitch and then abandoned the game after police said they could not guarantee the safety of players or supporters.

Borough now face making the long trip to Cheshire again to replay the match unless Chester are kicked out of the league today.

The club began the season with a 25-point penalty due to their financial problems and face a make-or-break meeting with the football authorities today.

If they are unable to repay their debts then it is likely they will be expelled from the league and all their results so far this season expunged.

Smith expressed sympathy for Chester’s situation but was angry that Borough's 500-mile round trip proved pointless.

Smith said: “The whole thing was totally mishandled. They should have chucked the troublemakers out after the first pitch invasion and then it wouldn’t have flared up again later.

“It is a long way for us to come and not to finish the game. I don’t understand why we couldn’t finish the game behind closed doors.

“It cost us thousands of pounds travelling here and staying overnight and if Chester survive then I expect we will have to do it all again.

“We will ask for the points to be awarded to us but I don’t think the rules will allow it.

“We will get some compensation but it doesn’t cover all the money we will have lost and the fact the replay will probably be in midweek causes more problems because our players will have to take two days off work “I feel sorry for our supporters who came up here too. They won't get anything back.”

The match had only gone ahead after Chester’s players withdrew their threat to go on strike as they were owed wages.

Even then boss Jim Harvey was forced to call three youth team players into the squad just to fill the bench.

Bookies had even stopped taking bets on the match but any thought that Chester would just roll over were dispelled pretty quickly.

Anthony Barry gave the home side the lead with a fine 25-yard free kick in just the sixth minute.

Liam Enver-Marum trumped Barry with an even more spectacular strike three minutes later as he arrowed an unstoppable shot into the top corner from 25 yards.

An awful backpass from Simon Weatherstone saw Lloyd Ellams restore Chester’s advantage in the 28th minute and it looked like we were in for an entertaining game until the events on the pitch were overshadowed by the first pitch invasion in the 37th minute.

The short break seemed to help Borough regroup and they equalised for a second time three minutes after play resumed when John Danby dropped Matt Crabb’s corner straight to Kayne McLaggon who gratefully hooked home on the volley.

Weatherstone should have given Borough the lead early in the second half when he made a complete hash of a header from Crabb’s free kick.

Chester took the lead for the third time in the 71st minute when Mark Beesley got away down the left and delivered a cross for Nick Chadwick to head home.

The home fans' celebrations were cut short, though, by the second pitch invasion and after ten minutes of confusion it was announced the game had been abandoned.

Boss Garry Wilson said: “It was such an open game that I think we might have got an equaliser and maybe even gone on to win it.

“When we came off I never expected the game to be abandoned and the stoppage gave me a chance to reorganise in the changing rooms. When I went to see the referee and he said he was calling the game off I was very surprised.

“It is not a great situation and I feel sorry for the people at Chester. It is a good club with great support and I hope they survive."

Chester: Danby, Roberts, Meynell, Ryan, Barry, Owen, Ellams, Beesley, Kelly, Rule, Chadwick. Subs not used: Wilkinson, Murphy, Rea, Rawlinson, Jones.

Booked: Ryan Eastbourne: Knowles, Baker, Austin, Pullan, Brown, McLaggon (Johnson,66) , Armstrong, Weatherstone, M Crabb, Benjamin, Enver-Marum.

Subs not used: Jordan, Atkin, Taylor, Rowe.

Booked: McLaggon