Eastbourne Borough v. Bath City Preview

Borough’s part-time squad clocked up 394 miles – plus, for many, time off work – getting to south Wales and back in midweek and on Saturday they will travel another 350 miles as they take on Adie Britton’s Romans. Garry Wilson’s side have not beaten Bath in their four previous encounters and, to earn victory this time, they will have to score at Twerton Park for the first time.

 

Bath were promoted into the elite of non-league football last season via the Blue Square South playoffs, having finished fourth in the league. They defeated Chelmsford City over two legs and then beat Woking at Twerton Park to spark wild celebrations, and complete their rise from the Southern League to the Blue Square Bet Premier in just four seasons.

Saturday will be the first time the two sides have met in anger since Borough’s 2007-08 promotion season, when both games finished goalless. They also squared up in 2003-04, in the Dr Martens Premier Division. That year, Bath beat Borough 2-0 at Twerton Park (a match unique in itself for including the entirety of striker Luke Fontana’s 25-minute Borough career) and earned a 1-1 draw at Priory Lane, Scott Ramsay scoring Sports’ goal from the penalty spot.

But this will surely be Borough’s best chance of scoring from open play against Bath, given the attackers’ flying start to the season. Remarkably, after 14 games, Borough remain the league’s most prolific attack with 29 goals (just ahead of AFC Wimbledon) while Bath are just about keeping their heads above the relegation zone following their superb 2-1 win at struggling Cambridge United last weekend.

Bath will look to make the most of home advantage – only Wrexham have so far come away from Twerton with all three points and the Romans have beaten Rushden and Kidderminster at home – but with four points from their last three away games, Borough will feel they can get another good result on the road.