The Rebels were the winners in the reverse fixture just five days ago when goals from Joe Rye, Joe Felix and Ricky Aguiar secured a 3-0 win at the Sussex Transport Community Stadium.

Worthing found themselves two goals up at the break having edged a tightly contested first half. Rye’s opener was something of a collector’s item as he swivelled and fired into the bottom left corner for just his second goal for the club.

Felix soon joined Rye in bagging his second goal for the Rebels as he burst onto Ollie Pearce’s pass over the top of the Boro defence, before finishing cooly past the helpless Harrison Foulkes.

Into the second half, Aguiar’s early strike secured a comfortable and comprehensive 3-0 win on Derby Day.

The result meant that the Rebels head into 2024 in fourth place, as one of the four teams between 3rd and 6th place on 40 points this term.

The Opposition

Of course, Eastbourne suffered a disappointing defeat at Worthing last time out, meaning that they have now won just two of their last eleven matches.

The Sports are now five points adrift from safety, with the side on 23 points from 25 matches.

Form
26/12 – Worthing (A) – Lost 3-0
23/12 – Yeovil Town (H) – Lost 0-1
16/12 – Welling United (A) – Won 0-2
28/11 – Torquay United (H) – Lost 1-4
25/11 – Hemel Hempstead (A) – Lost 1-0
21/11 – Dover Athletic (A) – Drew 1-1

Familiar Faces

Two former Rebels, Jack Paxman and Callum Kealy made their return to Woodside Road on Boxing Day.

Born in Australia, Kealy was with Brighton & Hove Albion as a youngster but first joined the Rebels in July 2018 after spells with Met Police and Lewes before eventually departing for Sutton in 2020.  He re-joined the Reds in December 2021, initially on loan from Dorking Wanderers before making the move permanent last summer.

Kealy played over 130 times for the Rebels in all competitions, scoring 44 goals before departing for Havant & Waterlooville last term. He linked up with Eastbourne Borough earlier this season.

Jack Paxman played just eight times for the Rebels but made a huge impact with his composure on the ball and creativity from deep.

His introduction to the team coincided with winning 6 of the last 7 matches to finish fourth in the National League South.

Previous Meetings

The Rebels were the winners in the reverse fixture on Boxing Day and will be looking to make it three wins out of three against the Sports this season after beating them in the Emirates FA Cup earlier this season too.

In total, the sides have faced each other 11 times in competitive matches, with the Rebels winning four, losing six and drawing one.

Team News

Joan Luque will be back available for the Rebels after spending Christmas back at home with his family.

Nicky Wheeler, Kane Wills and Ollie Pearce are all nursing injuries and are all doubts heading into the fixture against Eastbourne Borough.

Supporter Information

Tickets are significantly cheaper when bought online, in advance and we would urge supporters to take advantage of this offer, both to save money and avoid the matchday queues.

Parking

Spectators are kindly requested to use the car parks provided and not to park on Priory Road, or the surrounding roads.

How to Follow

If you can’t make the game you can follow the game via the club’s official Twitter account, or through live commentary provided by rebelyell.live.

The match will also be streamed live on National League TV and you can purchase your match pass now for £9.50 at the link – https://www.nationalleaguetv.com/packages