Eastbourne Borough 0 Oxford United 3

Blow, winds, and crack your cheeks, as they say. King Lear would have felt at home on the Eastbourne pitch, scrambling madly around while Goneril and Regan sheltered in the bar and Cordelia scored direct from a corner. Or was that Fool? Oh no, it was Adam Murray, in the last minute of the first half. Meanwhile, the storm raged around. Such groans of roaring wind and rain, I never remember to have heard; nor yet those from the Eastbourne dugout when Gloucester, or Simon Clist, struck home 20 minutes from time. The younger rises when the old doth fall. Never were truer words spake, or wrote. Whatever. And thus, verily, didst Billy Turley also have a decent game that would cast aside filial ingratitude and put asunder thoughts of his blunder against Torquay. O! That way madness lies. The Constable also didst see his shooting rebounding from the piss-post, a codpiece for his headpiece. Then Edgar disguised as a madman, or was it Craig Farrell, put the Sports to the sword in the final act and the fool is hang'd. But will't the play-offs come some more? Never, never, never, never, never!

With Craig Nelthorpe sitting on the naughty step, Chris Wilder recalled Lewis Haldane to the starting line-up to start on the left. Yemi Odubade was brought back for his first start since his last one to face his former club, ostensibly to give United double the width for half the price, meaning Mr Farrell was benched, initially. The first substitution wasn't long a-coming, when midway through the first half Damien Batt, allegedly suffering from a bruised foot, was replaced by young Edmund Hutchinson. On the hour Chris Carruthers was the jam in the Kevin Sandwith, while quarter of an hour later Yemi fell into a Farrell-shaped hole.

Tonight's man in black was S Burt, a stranger round these parts, but nonetheless a rather better official than officious people we've previously encountered in the role. No Yellows were yellowed. In attendance were 1,168 folk, co-mingling as though there never was apartheid.

Three points moved Oxford up a position, into eighth, while Eastbourne stayed 13th. United remain six points adrift of play-off bottom team Torquay United, who scored three minutes from time to win 2-1 at third-bottom Grays Athletic. Despite Oxford's much-improved goal difference, they remain one place behind Crawley Town, 1-0 winners over sixth-placed Wrexham, thanks to Tintin. Stevenage Borough remain fourth after they were held to a 1-1 draw at home by United's Saturday opponents, Forest Green Rovers, who are stumbling along in 18th place. Kettering Town are still tenth, despite a 3-1 win over Altrincham, who seem strangely unlikely to finish fourth from bottom. Woking's game at home to Kidderminster Harriers was abandoned because of a waterlogged pitch with the score 1-1, while Salisbury City's match against Rushden & Diamonds was postponed for the same reason. [@news]2466[/@news][@opponent]eastbourne borough[/@opponent]