Late Second Half substitute Angelo Balanta’s stoppage-time header sealed a dramatic victory for Hornchurch, handing them a thrilling first win on the road and condemning Eastbourne Borough to their first defeat of the new Enterprise National League South season.

Before the game started, Daryl McMahon made two changes to the lineup from last weekend’s 3-2 win at home against Weston-Super-Mare, with Myles Weston and Darren McQueen entering the field for Charlie Pegrum and Angelo Balanta.

The game kicked off and Hornchurch played with early intent from the first whistle as Will Greenidge broke through, passed over to Myles Weston and curled the ball into the box, but went over. Eastbourne responded, though with composure. A delicate through ball to George Alexander hinted at promise but was swiftly nullified out for a corner, thanks to a disciplined covering tackle by Nathan Bertrum-Cooper.

From the resulting corner, Eastbourne Borough struck first. Isaac Pitblado delivered a perfectly struck low inswinging corner from the right and sneaked its way past everyone at the near post, leaving keeper Arthur Nasta helpless and into the net, 1-0 Eastbourne.

Hornchurch looked for a response minutes afterwards, Myles Weston cutting left to right, who placed a lovely ball into the box and found Henry Hearn, who over-head kicked the ball towards the goal, which Jamie Searle denied. Eastbourne tried to double their lead from an attack from the denied chance by the Urchins, but Victor Akinwale mustered a tame effort that entered the hands of Arthur Nasta.

A flurry of opportunities landed near the Hornchurch goal around the half-hour point. Jes Uchegbulam charged down the left and unleashed a fierce drive, which was saved by Arthur Nasta; however, the rebound off defender Josh Hare brought danger, which forced Nasta to tip wide over the bar. The set-piece soon followed, where Tayt Trusty nodded back across goal, only to be brilliantly cleared off the line by Charlee Adams.

Five minutes before the interval, Hornchurch struck back. Darren McQueen had his low shot blocked by Pitblado; the rebound fell to Josh Rees, who saw his first effort blocked and second striking underneath the bar, but dropped perfectly for Myles Weston to crash the ball home, which restored parity just before half time, 1-1 Hornchurch.

Half Time – Eastbourne 1-1 Hornchurch

The second half got underway, and an early effort by Henry Hearn was saved at the near post before Borough had a great chance to regain the lead on the hour mark. Uchegbulam’s low ball split through the Urchins’ defence, and set George Alexander with a path to goal, but he pulled his effort wide of the far post.

Later on in the game, Hornchurch bumped the pressure slightly as Eastbourne keeper Jamie Searle turned away a dangerous Charlie Ruff free-kick, and later Ruff sent Henry Hearn away but forced another solid stop by Searle. Then a quick counter-attack by Eastbourne saw substitute Joey Phuthi slash forward and fire from the edge of the area—but Nasta held firm to deny him.

As the match looked destined to finish at 1–1, drama erupted in stoppage time late on. Hornchurch piled the pressure, with the faithful and noisy blue and white army urging the team on, Darren McQueen swung in a teasing low cross from the left and super sub Angelo Balanta rose to the occasion and directed a decisive header beyond Searle, sending Hornchurch onto a dramatic 2–1 win in the dying moments, which sent the away fans into jubilation.

Eastbourne threw bodies forward in a last-gasp attempt to salvage something, but the Urchins’ defence, solid throughout, comfortably saw out the remaining time to record an extremely satisfying win on the road for the first time this season, which was Eastbourne’s first loss at home for 16 months! Hornchurch now sit in 4th place, with two wins in two games and now await a trip to Enfield Town on Tuesday night.

Full Time – Eastbourne 1-2 Hornchurch

Report: By Bailey Howard

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