A remarkable day at Eastbourne Borough on Saturday saw the hosts battle to a deserved Blue Square Bet Premier draw against Darlington, despite having nine men for an hour, midfielder Matt Smart earn nationwide plaudits for his goalkeeping exploits – and Chelsea captain John Terry take a seat in the main stand at Priory Lane.
The England defender was there to watch his brother Paul, who is captain of Darlington, but also chatted to Borough supporters before the game, at half-time, and after the final whistle, signing autographs and posing for photographs. He and the 1,464 crowd witnessed a resilient and dynamic Borough display after two controversial red cards in the space of a few first half minutes reduced the hosts to nine. Left-back Neil Jenkins was dismissed on the half hour mark for what was deemed a reckless challenge, and goalkeeper Rikki Banks followed him down the tunnel a few minutes later, his feet straying outside the box after he came to catch the ball, the offence adjudged to be denying a goalscoring opportunity.
Long-serving midfielder Matt Smart, 34, donned the gloves and, although he failed to stop Chris Senior’s header giving Darlo the lead just before half-time, he excelled for the rest of the match, claiming crosses and denying the visitors a second goal. The eight outfielders worked frantically to deny Darlington time and space and carve out opportunities themselves, and their efforts were rewarded when Jamie Taylor headed an unlikely equaliser in the 69th minute.
A part-time team down to nine men holding a fully-professional ex-League club to a draw was a result which was bound to attract wider attention – and Borough goalkeeper coach Dean Lightwood used the BBC’s 606 phone-in on Saturday night to praise Smart’s performance. He told hosts Darren Fletcher and Robbie Savage: “Matt looked reminiscent of Clark Kent. He came for four or five balls with one arm in the air and got a punch on them, and he made a terrific save when the centre-forward was clean through. The whole squad has really pulled it out of the bag to get a draw.”
Assistant manager Nick Greenwood also hailed the emergency ‘keeper’s display. He said: “Goalkeepers are mad and I think Matt also fits that bill. He’s always talked about being the spare goalkeeper and he goes in goal in training when he can. It’s a testament to a guy that’s been with us a long time and it proves how much he cares about the football club.”
The timing of the action-packed clash was apt too, with Saturday being earmarked ‘Non-League Day’, a campaign to promote grass roots football on a weekend when there were no top-flight or international matches being played.
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