A spirited display from a 10-man Worthing earned them a crucial point away to fellow title contenders Eastbourne Borough on Good Friday.

The Rebels were numerically disadvantaged for over 65 minutes at the ReachTV Stadium following Aaran Racine’s first-half dismissal, but showed courage and character in abundance to frustrate the hosts.

It was a frenetic start on the South Coast with the bumper crowd of 3,622 buoying both sides on. Yahaya Bamba burst into the area in the opening exchanges, but couldn’t pick out a teammate in the middle.

Jack Spong then tried his luck from all of 35 yards and goalkeeper Joe Wright scampered across his goalline to parry the free-kick clear of danger.

Both teams were keen to impose themselves on proceedings with a plethora of full-blooded challenges flying in left, right and centre. Sam Beard was robustly dealing with the threat of Bamba by any means necessary.

In the 20th minute, Mo Faal had a presentable opportunity to break the deadlock following neat and intricate build-up play from the Rebels.

The 27-year-old feinted to shoot, which allowed a combination of Camron Gbadebo and the goalkeeper to smother his eventual close-range effort.

Midway through the first period, the complexion of the contest completely changed as player-coach Racine was shown a straight red card. After a few moments of deliberation, referee Harry Jones deemed that the veteran defender had elbowed George Alexander. A nightmare return to the starting eleven for the former club captain.

However against the odds, Chris Agutter’s outfit took the lead in East Sussex. A swift counter-attack down the right-flank resulted in Glen Rea picking up possession on the edge of the box. The midfielder composed himself before slotting a finish past Joe Wright to send the away faithful into raptures. Worthing may have been numerically disadvantaged, but they held the advantage going into the break.

The hosts commenced the second period with a renewed sense of impetus. Both Agutter and Eastbourne manager Adam Murray decided to make two alterations apiece at the interval, with Alfie Pavey and Jayden Davis entering the fold for the hosts. Sam Packham and Odei Martin-Sorondo were introduced for the visitors with Agutter looking to solidify the disjointed defensive structure.

Despite playing with a man less, the Rebels continued to ask questions of the opposition backline. A neat interchange between Faal and Danny Cashman culminated with the former having a chance, although the 6’5 forward had little time to react and blazed over from inside the area.

Within 10 minutes of the second half, Eastbourne restored parity. Jack Clarke’s dangerous free-kick was met by the head of substitute Alfie Pavey. Lucas Covalan could only watch as the ball flew past him and into the back of the net.

The momentum swung firmly in the Sports’ favour and they continued to mount pressure on Worthing’s net.

Jayden Davis occupied acres of space and advanced on goal but his finish was tame and rolled straight into the goalkeeper’s hands.

It was end-to-end in East Sussex. The lively Cashman immediately went up the other end up and teed up Odei. The Spaniard’s side-footed attempt whistled just wide of the post, much to the despair of the away support.

Covolan then produced heroics to keep the scores level. Eastbourne’s goal scorer Pavey nodded goalward from a matter of yards out only for the Brazilian stopper to react smartly and deny the striker from point-blank range.

In the closing stages of the contest, Pavey spurned a glorious opportunity to claim the full complement of points. The striker inexplicably missed the target from a couple of yards out and the Worthing backline collectively blew a huge sigh of relief.

Before full-time, Tommy Willard managed to spin adroitly and fashion a shot towards goal but Wright gathered with ease.

Harry Jones blew his whistle for the final time to end a breath-taking affair. Torquay’s narrow win away to Truro City meant the Rebels climbed to the summit of the National League South with only two games left to play.

Chris Agutter and his players welcome Dorking Wanders to the Sussex Transport Community Stadium on Easter Monday for their final home match of the regular season.