Eastbourne Borough player racially abused in defeat at Dartford

With the Sports trailing 2-1 and passions already pretty high, the clock had just moved into an allotted three minutes of added time, when an obscene and offensive remark was audibly shouted from a standing area just above their technical area.

Eastbourne staff and players reacted with fury, and it briefly appeared that the game would not be restarted. Following conversations with the Borough team and with both managers, referee Dan Lamport did allow play to restart after a total delay of about five minutes. The home side held on to their slender 2-1 lead to claim the three points.

Officials of both clubs continued the conversations after the game, and within an hour the Dartford Football Club board had issued a statement (below).

A formal statement from the Sports is expected later, but sources close to the club indicated that both clubs are “entirely on the same page, and united in condemnation of abuse in all forms, particularly racist abuse.”

The game itself brought only frustration for Danny Bloor’s men. They had opened very strongly, with man of the match Leone Gravata giving them a deserved lead on 14 minutes. Dartford equalised with an opportunist strike by Samir Carruthers on the half hour.

Then on 68 minutes, during the Darts’ best spell of the match, Luke Allen fired in a back post-goal which was ultimately to divide the teams. The Sports pressed in the final stages without reward and were denied a strong penalty appeal by referee Lamport, whose performance drew criticism from Danny Bloor.

“We were denied a stone-wall penalty, which even Dartford manager Alan Dowson agreed should have been awarded. The standard of officiating at this level is just not good enough, and I was bitterly disappointed. The incident at the end of the game will be investigated, but I was proud of my players and the way they dealt with the situation.”