Sussex Non-League podcast - episode 8 | with special guest Eastbourne Borough manager Adam Murray - video Dailymotion

SussexWorld

Matt Pole is joined by Sussex sport guru Steve Bone and a very special guest. Eastbourne Borough manager Adam Murray. Adam had a playing career that included an England under-20 appearance and spells with clubs including Derby County, Mansfield, Carlisle, Kidderminster Harriers, Torquay, Macclesfield and Oxford - before embarking on a managerial career that’s seen him in roles at Mansfield, Boston, Barnsley, AFC Fylde and Cheltenham - from where he joined Eastbourne as manager in January of this year.  He led the Sports to a memorable escape from National League South relegation and after a squad overhaul in the summer, now has Borough near the top of the table this time around.

Transcript

00:00Welcome to another episode of the Sussex Non-League Podcast where we take a look at all the latest

00:05goings on at grassroots football across the county. I'm Matt Pole and on this edition

00:10I'm joined by Sussex Sport guru Steve Bone and a very special guest. Steve and I are

00:14both delighted to be joined by Eastbourne Borough Manager Adam Murray. Adam had a playing

00:18career that included an England under-20 appearance and spells with clubs including Derby County,

00:23Mansfield, Carlisle, Kidderminster Harriers, Torquay, Macclesfield and Oxford before embarking

00:29on a managerial career that seen him in roles at Mansfield, Boston, Barnsley, AFC Fylde

00:33and Cheltenham from where he joined Eastbourne as manager in January of this year. He led

00:37the sport to a memorable escape from the National League South relegation and after a squad

00:41overhaul in the summer now has Borough near the top of the table this time around. First

00:45and foremost Adam thank you very much for joining us, how are you getting on? Yeah I'm

00:49good thanks, just getting ready for Friday morning training but all good. Excellent stuff

00:55and yes we've mentioned the fact that you previously had a managerial career in Football

01:01League club, was it difficult to leave the Football League club in Cheltenham and take

01:05up the Priory Lane job? It was a big decision yeah, I'm not going to lie to you it was a

01:13huge decision that I had to make. I was in a good place in terms of the role I was in

01:20and the projects we were on but after speaking to Simon and spending a lot of time, if I'm

01:25being honest, thinking over it and speaking with the family I just got a really good feel

01:30for the place and even though from the outside it didn't look great and the picture was a

01:35little bit gloomy I was always positive that the project was going to turn out successful

01:41so I took a little bit of a gamble and it was a little bit of leap of faith but so far

01:45it's worked out as planned. Adam were there times over the second half of last season

01:52where you thought actually we might be in trouble here or were you always confident

01:57that you could get the team over the line and you could stay up, that being the first

02:02thing you'd been brought in to do? No there was lots of times I had feelings like that

02:07and there's no point me saying it was all rosy. I think when you, I came in and I kind

02:13of knew what I was taking over, after a couple of weeks there was probably more work to do

02:19than I actually realised so normally you expect to get that manager balance for the

02:23first couple of weeks and you get a few results just through that sheer change but we didn't

02:29really get that. We changed a lot in terms of the playing style, personnel, the system,

02:36we changed a lot around the club and it actually took a little bit longer for us to kick into

02:41gear but there was a lot of hard work going in behind the scenes and I always knew if

02:46we could, the biggest thing for me was did we have enough time, we didn't have 30-40

02:52games to put it right, we were kind of on a stopwatch so my biggest battle was time

02:56and getting the messages across and getting the philosophy across as quick as we could

03:01and it did take a little bit longer than we expected but as soon as it did kick into gear

03:06we went on an unbelievable

03:16then the whole mood changed and everything stayed positive from there.

03:22You've done a lot of work on and with the squad over the post-season, who would you say your two

03:27or three key signings so far, Adam?

03:30We've basically got a new squad so I think it's really tough to pick out two or three

03:36individuals. We knew in the summer it needed an overhaul, we had a handful of players that

03:43performed really, really well at the end of last season and we felt in a new environment

03:49and a new way of doing things they could grow and prosper within what we were doing

03:53but we literally went out and signed kind of double figures new players so we are looking

03:59at a new squad and it's a little bit like last season when I came in, even though we've

04:03had a good start and we're happy where we are, there's still so much more to come from

04:07this squad because for me personally we haven't even kicked into full gear yet so to pick

04:13two or three out would be really tough because I honestly believe we've had some top recruitment.

04:18What we're trying to do now is find what's the best way to put these new players together

04:25to get the best outcome because obviously it's like making a cake, you put loads of

04:29ingredients in, sometimes your first cake don't taste very nice so you have to go back

04:33in the kitchen and get cooking again so we're still in the cooking phase, I've still got

04:38my chef's hat on but we've managed to pick up points as we're doing that which is a bonus

04:44but we do feel that there's much more to come from this group which is only a positive.

04:50Adam, the club's ambition is clearly to go higher than National League South,

04:56you want to get into the National League Premier and maybe longer term even higher,

05:02is promotion the clear aim this season and if so, as things stand at the moment,

05:09how realistic an ambition is that for this season?

05:12Yeah, most definitely. I think I wouldn't have come here if the expectations weren't

05:16anything else. I think the aim last season was to obviously stay up but then my thing to Simon

05:24was if we achieve that, I want to be able to challenge at the other end of the table next

05:29season otherwise for me personally, career-wise, it's not worth doing and Simon was fully on board

05:37with that notion and it's everything he wants so that's our target this season. It's not going to

05:43be that easy, I wish it was. We think we've done really well in our recruitment and we think we're

05:48in a strong place but the league and one thing I've found about non-league is there's so many

05:55levelers and there's so many things that you come across each week that levels the playing field

06:00and that can be a lot of teams change tactics, shape, gamely and literally week by week so you

06:08don't really know what you're going into which is always hard to plan for. I think at the higher

06:12levels, you get more teams with a set way of playing so it is actually a little bit easier

06:18to plan for. Sometimes you're turning up to grounds where you can't play the style you want to play so

06:24you have to adjust and go the opposite which can sometimes throw a curveball in. So it's not

06:30as plain sailing as we've got some really good players and we feel like we play a good style of

06:34football so that means we're going to walk the league. We've seen already that and I said it in

06:38pre-season, this league this season especially is going to be super tight to the end and I think

06:43you're seeing it now. There's so many teams in that top eight that are kind of two or three points

06:49off top so I honestly believe it'll be that close all season just because there's a lot of clubs in

06:55this league that have gone out over the summer and signed three or four players that you go

06:59decent signings that there's a big handful of teams that I look at that go you'll have a chance

07:05of being in there but on the flip side of it I don't think there's one team that you look at and

07:09go they're going to do a yovel and absolutely run away with it. So yeah our aim is to be up there

07:15and it's going to be a long battle, it's going to be a roller coaster. We've seen already we

07:21had 45 minutes on Saturday where we were nowhere near our performance levels and we got punished

07:26for it. Second 45 we were outstanding and we won that half and we probably should have scored

07:31five or six in the second half but the damage was already done so it was a big wake-up call for us

07:37that just because we've recruited well and we're a full-time team you can't just turn up and expect

07:44to win. It's way more complicated and tougher than that and we have to be more than anybody on our

07:50metal every week because being the club that people know we've got big ambitions we've got

07:57a target on our back then and we have to deal with that. Yeah it's a big game for teams when

08:02they play you isn't it. Adam I think we'll go on to talk a bit more about the national

08:08south in a minute but we've mentioned Simon Leslie a couple of times. We had Simon Leslie

08:12on the podcast last season and we asked him about you and he was very sort of complimentary about

08:18what you were doing but I remember he described you as it was like watching a mad professor

08:25working which I think he meant in a good way you know he meant you were trying to

08:29sort of wave your arms around and manage 12 different things at once. So to put the boot

08:35on the other foot what's it like working with Simon Leslie? How do you get on with him?

08:41Is it a good working relationship that you've got? Yeah it's fantastic. We're super close.

08:47We have been from day one. I think Simon oozes that it's hard not to get on with him.

08:55He's got a massive heart and he's got a real passion and desire not just for the football

09:00club but with everything he does and I know he wants to create great things for this football

09:06club but for Eastbourne in general which is a big project to take on board and I speak to him

09:13regularly and he's fully kind of behind and he's jumped into everything with two feet and our

09:21relationship is great in terms of that. We're both on the same page. We both understand where

09:27we're at and what we're trying to achieve. Obviously sometimes as an owner you get sucked

09:34into the football world and emotions take over good and bad and you win a few games and you're

09:40going to win the Champions League and you lose a game and you're going to get relegated to

09:43grassroots so that's the journey and obviously Simon is a new owner. He's new to managing a

09:50football club so obviously he had a lot of probably tough lessons last season but I imagine

09:55he's come out the other side better for it and I've seen a change in him in the short time

10:00that I've worked with him in terms of how he's going about his business at the football club

10:06but one thing I've said to him is just make sure football doesn't change the person

10:12you are because I think that the person he is is unique to football and that's what makes

10:17not just him but what he's trying to do special and that has to stay in the forefront.

10:24Absolutely and as Steve mentioned we're now going to take a look at how our clubs are getting

10:29across the non-league pyramid and start with the National League South. We've not just got East

10:33Bourneborough, Flying Flagler, Sussex but we've also got Worthing. Steve, how have the sports and

10:38the Reds been getting on since we last spoke? We're now 10 games into the league season

10:44and if you thought at the start of the season that after 10 games we'd know what we're looking

10:49at the rest of the season, well good luck with that because it's no clearer really.

10:54As Adam has alluded to, if you look at the table, Hummel Hempstead are top with 21 points,

11:01Dorking Wanderers are 12th and there are only two wins behind them, only 15 points.

11:05So in that top group, happy to say that East Bourneborough and Worthing are both

11:11holding their own and doing well. Barra, I think I'm right in saying that, they're second for a

11:16little while, actually after that defeat at Chelmsford last weekend you're down to 8th

11:20but you're still only three points off top spot. Equally Worthing, I think after they lost to

11:25Maidstone last weekend was 16th, they're now 10th because they had a good win against Welling

11:31in midweek. So Worthing 10th with 16, East Bourne 8th with 18, both right on the fringes of the

11:38play-off zone and right in there. It's the team that has a good October-November now and puts

11:45together maybe six wins out of eight. They will probably be top at the end of November

11:50and you'd say that East Bourneborough and Worthing are both among the contenders to do that.

11:55Adam, I was going to say, I know you haven't played Worthing this season but do you see them

11:59as one of the teams that are probably going to be keeping pace with hopefully yourselves and

12:04the other top teams in the division?

12:06Yeah, definitely. I think they had a great season last season which led to their manager

12:12getting a good move but I think they've replaced him very smartly. I think the new manager that's

12:19gone in fits the profile of the club, it fits the style of play. We played him in one of my

12:24first games when he was at Hastings last season and I sat down with him after the game and

12:29complimented him on his style because I really enjoyed playing against it.

12:36They'll be a team that's up there, they dominate the ball very well and I imagine they'll be in

12:42the group chasing to get out of the league again. We had someone at the game on Tuesday watching,

12:47obviously we're playing Welling tomorrow so we've had a lot of eyes on. When you're coming up

12:54watching your opposition you end up crossing over with a lot of teams so we've seen a fair

12:59bit of working in. They'll 100% be over. You mentioned, Adam, the fact that you've

13:06brought in a double-figure amount of players. Is the fact that you've brought that in and you're

13:11doing so well really heartening because I know that it can be quite difficult to get a team to

13:15gel when you've brought that many players in and as well to be able to get your style of football

13:21across to them. You must be ever so pleased off the back of that.

13:25I'll be honest with you, it's been really strange. Obviously we've been really pleased that we've

13:28managed to pick points up but at the same time it's been really frustrating because obviously I

13:33get to see them every day so I see how good, not just how good they are as individuals,

13:38but how good they are together as a group. Sometimes when you're going into games you're

13:43still waiting for little bits to click, you're waiting for relationships to gel and you can't

13:47rush that process. It is just time. You can do as much work as you want but you are just relying

13:53on time for relationships to click in. It's been great that we've picked up points and we're happy

14:00with the position we're in but it's also been frustrating because I know how much there is

14:06still left in the tank and obviously as a manager I want it out ASAP. Unfortunately I can't squeeze

14:14that out of them. That's a matter of time. Who's the toughest side you've faced so far

14:20this season, Adam, in National League South? I'd probably have to say Chelmsford on Saturday and

14:27again it was so frustrating because we'd had a weekend off without any games so we'd literally

14:34had a two-week build-up. For me and my staff and we fought for the players, it was the clearest

14:40we'd felt in a game plan. It was the clearest we'd been in terms of knowing what was coming from the

14:45opposition. We felt we were set up to exploit their weaknesses and manage their

14:53strengths and for 45 minutes it all went absolutely totally the opposite. That's the beauty of

15:00non-league football. Sometimes you think you know what's coming and then you get a

15:06right punch on the chin. I'd say Sackley was our toughest opponent because they'd been on a

15:11great run already before they played us and they were obviously super confident at home and

15:16for the first 30 minutes of that game they blew us away. Sometimes you have to hold your

15:20hands up, don't you, and credit the opponent and that was definitely one of them cases.

15:25Absolutely. We're now going to take a look at the ISMU in Premier. Lewis remained top of the table

15:29but as Adam mentioned, you do get a punch in the face sometimes in non-league football and

15:33they certainly got that in their last league game. Meanwhile, near neighbours Chichester City and

15:38Bognor having vastly contrasting seasons. Steve Bone, how are our six Sussex sides getting on at

15:44step three? If you were to look back at our pre-season

15:49podcast, I can't quite remember what we said about the ISMU in Premier sides but I'm fully sure we

15:55would not have predicted what's happened so far. I think we said Lewis might struggle,

16:04they're top, point clear of Billa Ricci at the top, Chichester City doing much better than most

16:09people thought, maybe even better than they thought themselves. They're eighth and doing

16:14really well. The surprise is the three teams that you see if you look down to just below halfway,

16:21Hastings, Horsham and Bognor are all struggling for consistency so far. Horsham have got a couple

16:27of games in hand than most other clubs so maybe we shouldn't judge them in quite the same way but

16:32Hastings and Bognor have both been getting the odd good result but then they lose a couple after

16:37that which has left us with Hastings 13th, Horsham 15th, Bognor 18th, Whitehawker and that little

16:44group as well in the 14th, room for improvement for all of those and they'll be looking at Lewis

16:50and Chichester a little bit enviously at the moment. A lot of games have been played, they've

16:55only played seven, eight, nine games but that division, it's always hard to predict but I think

17:00this year is even harder than normal to predict so yeah, interesting to see how it goes from there.

17:07I was just going to ask Adam, have you seen, do you get to many Step 3 games? Do you ever watch

17:12any of the Sussex sides in the Espion Premier? We've got some good contacts in kind of all of

17:21the lower end of the pyramid that we've took a lot of players from. We've done, especially last

17:27season, we did some really good recruitment bringing in players from that level and we've

17:31brought a couple in this season so we're really aware of how strong the level is and

17:37we had a good couple of friendlies this pre-season. We played Lewis pre-season and

17:42actually before we went into that game, I spoke to a manager that had watched them in pre-season and

17:46said I don't feel they're that strong and this is what they go about. We played them and we were

17:51surprised because they were a really strong outfit and we said after the game they'll be

17:56there or thereabouts this season. I do think in the level below, there's not much difference to

18:05our level. You've probably got a handful of teams at the top of the table that might step away

18:11but it's a really, really close standard. Absolutely, I think it was at Hornchurch

18:17and Enfield who went up last season. Have you played either of them yet this season?

18:21Both of them, yeah. We played Chesham first game, we played Hornchurch, we played Enfield,

18:27all really, really tough games. We had Chesham here first game and we drew 1-1. I think we must

18:33have had about 80% possession of the football but they were that organised that we couldn't

18:38break them down. For me, I give a lot of credit to these guys, especially the coaches that are

18:45part-time and only get time with the players on a Tuesday and a Thursday. I don't know how to do it,

18:50I couldn't do it. I tried it at Boston, it's not for me. For me, I have to be on the grass as

18:57much as I can with the players. So, these guys that are doing it and being successful,

19:01for me, I take my hat off to them. Absolutely. Meanwhile, in the Eastman

19:06South East, one of our sides is hot on the heels of the playoffs but another two occupy spaces in

19:11the relegation zone. How have our teams been performing in this division, Steve?

19:16It's still quite early days for the Eastman South East because we've had this thing where

19:21some of the teams in that division have been playing a league game one week and then

19:24FA Cup, FA Trophy or whatever the following week. So, you've still got a big disparity

19:29between you've got Herne Bay who have only played four league games, for example. So,

19:32it's hard to look at the table and kind of work out who's where. But a few things to pick out for

19:38Sussex. Burgess Hill, as we predicted on this podcast, I think we said they'd do well and they

19:43are doing well so far. Five wins out of seven for them so far. Made some good signings early in the

19:48closed season, as we know. Brought in some step three players as well and that's paying off so

19:54far. So, they're the top Sussex side in that division at the moment. They're in sixth.

20:00Eastbourne Town are doing quite well after promotion from the SCFL last season. They're

20:04in tenth and then you've got a lot of our sides a little bit below halfway but not out of touch at

20:12all. People like Walbridge Heath, East Grinstead, Fruitbridges and Stelling are a little further

20:17down. The two with a bit more work to do than the others at the moment are Littlehampton and

20:22Lansing. Both in the bottom four as we speak and I think it is four down this year. So,

20:28they'll need to be aware of that. Littlehampton, not quite the same time but they've only played

20:34six games. Lansing have played more. Lansing have got a new manager and a lot of new players who

20:40maybe just take a little bit of time to bed in together and get used to

20:44life together. But it's still relatively early days. We haven't played as many games as you would

20:50expect us to by mid-October, I don't think yet. So, another month or so, by the time we do another

20:58podcast, we'll have a clearer idea of who's looking up and who's looking over their shoulders a little

21:02bit. Fingers crossed Lansing turn it around because otherwise I feel that's another team

21:06I've put the kiss of death on, Steve. I think I predicted them to do quite well.

21:11They'll be round to blame you. I'm making predictions I think would be the smartest

21:16thing to do for me. One unbeaten still remains in the SCFL Premier, sorry as two neighbours duke

21:22it out at the top of the division. Who's setting the pace, Steve, and who's struggling at the foot

21:26of the table? Yeah, still as last time, it's still the two mid-Tussock sides, Hussocks and

21:32Hayward Heath going toe-to-toe at the top. And they've actually opened up a little gap

21:37now, a gap of four points between those two and the next team down.

21:42Both have won nine out of 11 so far. Hussocks have actually topped by one point

21:46because they are unbeaten. Nine wins, two draws from their 11 games, which is a terrific

21:51effort. They're not the biggest club in the division. They have practically zero budget.

21:58They got to the playoffs last year and lost and showing that was no flash in the pan really.

22:05They're doing really well so far. Hayward Heath, I think I saw the Hayward Heath manager tweet

22:09in midweek that they just got their 16th clean sheet of the season, which is amazing really.

22:15They've let in four goals in their 11 league games so far. It wouldn't be a surprise to see

22:21those two teams sort of stay at the top there and continue to do well. The teams below them

22:27include Crawley Down, Prece Haverland and Towscombe, and Cobra. Always strong sides in

22:35that division. So they'll be looking to sort of making rates as well. At the other end of the

22:41table, the struggles so far include Stockton, Shaw and Linfield. And I'm afraid Broughton at

22:47the moment, and actually Broughton got a few points, are Little Common. Adam, I just wanted

22:52to ask you about Little Common because you played them in the Classic Senior Cup the other night.

22:56You won, I think, fairly comfortably and came through 3-0. Did Little Common look like a team

23:03who should be bottom of a division in Step 5? No, I mean, like we do every game, we did our

23:10homework on them and I think we watched four of the previous games and we were surprised they were

23:16in the position they were in. Obviously, you could when we started the game, we knew they'd be a

23:21little bit low on confidence. And to be fair, for that picture, we weren't quite strong in terms of

23:26our personnel because we wanted to look at a few things and get minutes into a few players that

23:31were coming back from injury. And we actually found it really hard to break them down and we

23:37ended up scoring three goals. But it's not as if they were a team that had kind of downed tools

23:42and had given up. There was a lot of fight in there. The organisation was very good. And sometimes

23:46when you're in a moment like that, you just need a break. You just need a little bit of look and

23:50you can change it all around.

23:53Yeah, they did well last season. They were mid-table last season, I think. So, I'm sure they

23:56will pick up on that. They'll be encouraged to hear that from you, I'm sure.

24:03Absolutely. And then speaking of cup competitions, last weekend saw Severn and Sussex side

24:08compete in the third qualifying round of the FA Trophy. And the Wembley Dream lives on for four

24:13of those clubs who discovered their first-round fates on Monday. Who advanced to the next round,

24:17Steve, and who will they face in the next round?

24:20Yes, we've got four teams, four Sussex teams in the next round, with, of course, we should say

24:25Worthing and East Bournemouth still to come into the draw at a later stage. I think they come in

24:29the round after this. But we've got Lewis, probably had the most favourable draw in the first-round

24:35quad for the trophy. The game is taking place on 26th October, by the way, on that. So, Lewis are

24:41at home to Ashford United, who are a step below them in the Eastbourne League. Hastings United

24:46also playing a Step 4 team, but it's away to Hadley, who I think are Southern League, Step 4.

24:53And that's a little bit of a trip into the unknown for Hastings, so that could be tricky.

24:58Horsham are playing an all-Step 3 game, an all-this-mean-probably game away to Clovelly

25:03Island. And long, old trip for Chichester City, which is the same one that Worthing are making

25:09in the FA Cup tomorrow. They're going all the way down to Plymouth Parkway, who are also Step 3.

25:15So, nice to have four teams in there. We had three teams, Bogner, Whitehawk and Hempton,

25:20all dipped out of the trophy last weekend. But perhaps just a quick question to Adam on this

25:26as well, Adam. The FA Trophy will soon be coming Eastbourne Borough's way. Big competition for

25:33clubs at your sort of level, isn't it? A real chance of decent prize money and a bit of glory

25:37and a bit of excitement on the road to Wembley? Yeah, most definitely. We set out this season

25:43in all cup competitions, we wanted to treat them with, one, the utmost respect to go and try and

25:52win it. And we were really disappointed that we came out of the FA Cup early. I do feel we probably

25:58had the hardest draw in that round in getting Boreham Wood. So, for the trophy for us, it's

26:04another opportunity to go on a bit of a cup run and give our supporters something to get excited

26:11about as well as the league. And also, it helps the club and it'll help Simon if we can get a

26:16little bit more revenue in through the cup competition. So, yeah, we're looking forward

26:20to it and I'm sure it'll be as entertaining as ever. Absolutely. And as Steve mentioned,

26:28it's FA Cup this Saturday. Horsham and Worthingworth battling it out for a hallowed place

26:33in the first round proper of the FA Trophy. The Hornets host Eastbourne North outfit Galston,

26:38while, as Steve said, the Reds make the long trip to Plymouth Parkway. How do you rate both

26:43sides' chances of winning, Steve? I personally think, and again, this is probably going to put

26:48the kiss of death in this because my predictions are always rubbish. We've got high chances.

26:52Okay, I'll just leave it to you then. How do you think they're both going to get on?

26:56They should both win, shouldn't they, really? That's what you were going to say, isn't it?

27:01We're both playing sides from one step lower, but it's the FA Cup. Every round of the FA Cup,

27:09every year, there are surprises and there are shots and there are teams that you have no right

27:14to win actually winning. I'm going to nail our colours to the master on their behalf and say

27:28they're both going to get through it. Horsham are having a similar season to last season in that

27:35they're simply playing more cup games than league games. You speak to Dom every week,

27:40don't you, Horsham? How's he feeling about that at the moment? Is that a concern for him that it

27:46could harm the league? Yeah, Dom's very good in the sense that he's taking one game at a time,

27:53so he's not really thought that far ahead yet. It just seems strange to me that we were only

27:57just in October and they're already playing two games a week because, as we've mentioned,

28:02they won in the FA Trophy and on Tuesday they won in the Sussex Senior Cup again,

28:06them being the Sussex Senior Cup holders. So, the only worry I would have is that, as good as the

28:14cup runs were, I would have kind of liked to see them prioritise the league this year, but you can

28:18never take away from the fact how much the publicity and the prize money does for the

28:22club in this situation. And if they get a home or a way draw, I don't know, against the Birmingham

28:28City in the first round of the cup after winning this, again, financially very, very lucrative.

28:33But, yeah, Dom's taking a game at a time and, yeah, I'm just going to come out and say I think

28:39Horsham and Worthing should both win their game. So, congratulations on that and you're making it

28:45to the first round, I think, we're going as far as to say. And as customary, finally, for our

28:51Monday podcast, Steve and I will pick our game of the week when we select a fixture involving the

28:56Sussex club that we think we should keep an eye out for. Steve Bowne, what have you gone for this

29:01week? I feel I should go for Welling against Eastbourne Borough because we've got one as a

29:05guest tonight. It's obviously a big game and we wish Borough well for that one. But I'm actually

29:09going to pick out the big game in the Esmeen Premier. It's Busts against second at the

29:14Dripping Pen. Tomorrow, Lewis against Billericcy. Lewis will be four points clear at the top if they

29:21win that, which is a great position to be in, especially with people like us sort of

29:26writing them off before the season began. So, it'll be a big crowd in the Dripping Pen. There's

29:30going to be a big crowd down there for the men's games and the women's games as well. The women

29:34there have started to pick up as well, which is good. So, yeah, if you're in the area down there,

29:39there's no Brighton game or anything in the Premier League tomorrow. So,

29:44get down there if you can. It should be a cracker.

29:47Absolutely. I've also gone for the Esmeen Premier, but at the other end of the table,

29:52Bogner at home to Canvey Island. Bogner 18th, Canvey 19th. Bogner just one point clear of the

29:58drop zone and Canvey, but having played a game more. Yeah, it's been a bit of a disappointing

30:04start to the season for Bogner. I don't think I could be wrong for saying that, Steve.

30:09No, you're right. They would not have expected to be down there. They've had terrible luck with

30:13injuries. They've had some... Every injury they seem to get is to a key player. They've had people

30:18like Greg Robson, Lucas Patton and Ben Anderson are injured. Of course, they're goalie to injury

30:24at the start of the season. I think when they get their full squad or something like it back,

30:28they will climb that lead. But these next two weekends, I think they're at home,

30:32just sides around them at the bottom. So, they need to start getting points on the board.

30:37Absolutely. A must-win game for them on Saturday. Adam, I know that you've mentioned it,

30:41but in case people didn't know, what are we from Barra up to on Saturday?

30:46Yeah, we make the trip to Welling. Another big game for us. There's not many

30:51fixtures in our league this week because of the Cup. So, I think if we can get a result tomorrow,

30:57I think it actually puts us joint top. So, it's a good opportunity for us. Again,

31:02a really tough game. Welling are obviously chasing a win at the minute and with no Football League

31:09games, we're expecting a decent crowd there as well. So, there'll be a good atmosphere.

31:13But I'm quite single-focused when it comes to match day in terms of we put the focus on us.

31:22And I honestly believe if we're right in what we do and we turn up, we're a match for anybody. So,

31:28it'll be no different tomorrow.

31:30Absolutely. Well, brilliant. Thank you very much for joining us, Adam.

31:33No problem.

31:33Best of luck, not only on Saturday, but for the rest of the season.

31:36And thank you very much for joining me, Steve, as ever. And don't forget at sussexworld.co.uk

31:40forward slash sport and our newspapers are the best place to get your Sussex non-league coverage.

31:45Thank you very much for listening and watching and we will see you when we see you.

31:50Cheers, guys. Thank you.

31:52Thank you, Adam.

31:53Thanks, Adam.

Sussex Non-League podcast - episode 8 | with special guest Eastbourne Borough manager Adam Murray

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