Three incredible goals inside the opening 20 minutes at Priory Lane earned City the points against Eastbourne Borough as Ricky Modeste, an own goal and Kenny Clark put Glenn Pennyfather’s side into an unassailable position to push them up the early Blue Square Bet South table.

 

Borough also netted their goal in the first quarter, Matt Crabb converting in the 22nd minute, but they never got near Pennyfather’s triumphant team and suffered a reduction in numbers when defender Darren Baker was sent off towards the end. That meant two wins from two on City’s travels, delighting the visiting Manager.

 

He reacted: “In both away matches so far we’ve been quick out of the blocks and we had the opportunities to go further in front if we’d been more ruthless with our finishing and our final ball. But we saw the rest of the game out with a professional performance, defending well and not letting them have any space in behind us.”

 

David Rainford returned to the Clarets’ starting eleven as Captain after sitting out for one game through suspension, replacing Sam Corcoran in the centre of midfield. Meanwhile, Cliff Akurang was also back after a spell of compassionate leave and he lined-up in his usual striker’s role instead of Kezie Ibe.

 

The Clarets enjoyed a dream start to the game which began on 7 minutes with a huge forward pass from goalkeeper Stuart Searle. Thanks to Max Cornhill’s contribution the ball was worked to Akurang and his knock-down provided Modeste with the chance to finish. Then, just two minutes later, Modeste’s own hopeful cross was headed into his own net by defender Cole under no pressure at all.

 

A two-goal advantage inside 9 minutes would be ideal in almost every circumstance, but City were completely dominant and went in search of more. Modeste’s pace and trickery would prove them a constant menace and he slipped Akurang through on goal around the quarter-hour mark but a tackle from Matt Smart prevented him.

The 20th minute was crucial, however, as Modeste’s own long-range effort was pushed over the bar by Sports ‘keeper Rikki Banks for a corner. From that flag kick, the ball was delivered into the danger zone and centre-half Clark rose highest to bury a bullet header into the top corner, this time giving Banks no chance.

 

In an unexpectedly strong position, Pennyfather had to decide whether to settle the game down or seek further goals. He recalled: “Generally as a Manager you think you should always win from that position but we certainly weren’t sitting back on that and the fact we didn’t score more wasn’t for the want of trying!”

 

There was a hint of a fight-back two minutes later when some confusion in defence allowed Crabb to pick-up a bouncing loose ball and finish from close range for Borough. Yet this was against the run of play and Baker’s first booking followed on 28 minutes, the long-serving full-back proceeding to skate on thin ice as he got involved with Modeste again moments later for a potential City penalty appeal.

 

Rainford almost notched a fourth in the 37th minute, Aiden Palmer’s corner finding the Clarets’ skipper at the far post where he looped a header onto the crossbar. At the other end, there was time for a nodded effort from the hosts just before half time but Cole was unable to atone for his earlier indiscretion, colliding with team mate Sonny Cobbs. That was indicative of the kind of day their team was enduring.

 

If anyone was expecting a similar level of excitement beyond half time they were to be disappointed, though none of the Clarets’ players, officials or supporters minded. Glenn had the luxury of seeing few chances registered on goal in the second period as he rotated his side with select substitutions. Akurang fed one of those, Greg Morgan, who sent a dangerous delivery into the box on 70 minutes.

 

Modeste supplied Rainford acrobatically for the latter to see his cross almost creep in just afterwards though the conclusive incident arrived with twelve minutes left. Already carrying an earlier yellow card, Baker clattered into replacement winger Joe Benjamin and was dealt his second booking for an early dismissal.

 

In injury time some good football from Mark Haines worked a position for Rainford to shoot over while Cornhill also ran into the box and shot at Banks, though Chelmsford were already the claimants of the points. A win from their game in hand could see them jump to fourth, but Pennyfather takes little notice of the early standings.

 

He said: “Tables don’t generally take shape until after about a dozen games, then you get to see who’ll mostly be up the top challenging or struggling at the bottom. But there’s always a team who surges upwards and another who drops so it’s far too early to read anything into those yet. It’s a cliché, but we’ll take one game at a time.”

 

Pennyfather preferred to focus on his team’s four-game unbeaten run, adding: “Any opponents would have struggled to keep up with the tempo we performed at today. The players are learning how I want them to play and now we’re massively looking forward to the Dover Athletic game on Non-League Day this Saturday. They’ve assembled a big squad and, like ourselves, have aspirations for promotion.”

 

City:

 

1 Stuart Searle

2 Ben Nunn

3 Aiden Palmer

4 Mark Haines

5 Kenny Clark

6 David Rainford (C)

7 Warren Whitely

8 Jermaine Brown

9 Cliff Akurang

10 Max Cornhill

11 Ricky Modeste

 

12 Joe Benjamin (On for Modeste, 76)

14 Sam Corcoran

15 Kezie Ibe (On for Akurang, 82)

16 Greg Morgan (On for Whitely, 63)

19 Joe Woolley (GK)

 

Eastbourne Borough: Rikki Banks, Darren Baker, Sam Cole, Matt Smart, Ollie Rowe, Sonny Cobbs, Steve Brinkhurst, Simon Johnson (Ethan Strevett, 75), Ben Watson (Bailo Camara, 75), Carl Rook, Matt Crabb. Unused Substitutes: Ian Pulman, Billy Medlock, Mark Norris.

 

Bookings: City: Nunn (13, unsporting behaviour), Modeste (45+1, foul), Palmer (53, foul). Eastbourne: Baker (28, foul and 78, foul).

Sent Off: Eastbourne: Baker (78, second bookable offence).

 

Referee: Carl Fitch (Ipswich).

 

Assistant Referees: Neil Wallace (Crawley) and Ryan Ellis (Burgess Hill).

 

Attendance: 781.

 

City Man of the Match: Mark Haines.