Eastbourne boss Garry Wilson

Eastbourne clinch promotion spot

Eastbourne Borough had enough gas in the tank to see off the challenge of Hampton & Richmond Borough in the Blue Square South play-off final at Stevenage Borough.

The Beavers came close to breaking the deadlock after just 13 minutes but Orlando Jeffrey's header was cleared off the line by Eastbourne's Darren Budd.

Hampton had another great chance on the half-hour mark but Lawrence Yaku somehow managed to miss the target, when it would have been easier to score.

The opening goal finally came in the 85th minute after a sustained period of pressure and it was Nathan Crabb who sent the Eastbourne supporters into raptures.

Andy Atkin fired a crashing effort into the bar and the ball fell kindly for Crabb, who side-footed into the back of the net.

With just a handful of minutes left on the clock, Hampton were forced to push forward for an equaliser and midfielder Paul Armstrong took advantage of the extra space to double his side's tally in the 90th minute.

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BLUE SQUARE SOUTH

Semi-final first legs (Tuesday, 29 April):

Braintree Town 0

Eastbourne Borough 2 Tait 31, 68

Att: 1,017

Fisher Athletic 1 Tomlin 59

Hampton & Richmond Borough 1 Hodges 34

Att: 450

Semi-final second legs (Saturday, 3 May):

Eastbourne Borough 3 Tait 43, Crabb 86, Atkin 90

Braintree Town 0

Att: 1,802

Eastbourne win 5-0 on aggregate

Hampton & Richmond Borough 0

Fisher Athletic 0

Att: 1,489

Agg: 1-1; Hampton & Richmond win 4-2 on penalties

Play-off final (Thursday, 8 May, at Stevenage Borough):

Eastbourne Borough 2 N Crabb 85, Armstrong 90

Hampton & Richmond Borough 0