Borough in play-offs

Borough clinched fifth place despite this emphatic defeat at Priory Lane because of the Rocks' extraordinary 7-2 win over Dorchester.

Dorchester would have pipped Borough to the final qualifying place had they won at Nyewood Lane.

Borough now face Thurrock away in a one-off game tomorrow for a place in the Conference south play-off final away against Cambridge City on Saturday.

The winner will go head-to-head with the successful team from the Conference north play-offs at Stoke's Britannia Stadium on May 15.

Wilson acknowledged the favour done by Jack Pearce's team and praised his own side for their achievements this season.

He said: "I owe Jack a drink. Bognor's win was excellent but those sort of results happen on the last day of the season. Dorchester have been battling to stay in touch and things finally caught up with them. The pressure was off Bognor so I wasn't surprised they won but I was surprised by the score.

"Looking back at our season, it is a great achievement to get in the play-offs.

"We look down and see some big clubs below us, like Welling, Weymouth and Havant, and it makes you realise just how well we have done."

Borough's celebrations were tainted by the manner of defeat against Carshalton.

Apart from a bright opening ten-minute spell, when Yemi Odubade and Scott Ramsay had shots saved by keeper Stuart Searle, the home side struggled to establish any momentum as their busy end-of-season schedule took its toll.

It was Eastbourne's third in five days after Tuesday's 1-1 draw against Bishop's Stortford and Thursday's hastily game rearranged 2-0 win against Weston-super-Mare at Basingstoke.

It did not help that they were up against a side playing for their lives on the hottest days of the year.

Carshalton needed a win to avoid relegation and the result never looked in doubt once they survived the early pressure and took the lead against the run of play on 17 minutes.

Matt York was released by a neat ball from Sam Saunders and rifled a superb 20-yard shot into the top left-hand corner.

Former Crawley striker Nic McDonnell then killed the game off with two goals either side of half-time.

The first came four minutes before the break when he found the same top corner as the first goal with a toe-poked effort from inside a crowded penalty box.

The tall forward then swivelled and fired past Lee Hook from just inside the box a minute into the second half.

By then it was already clear that the result was going to be immaterial for Borough because it was announced during the break that Bognor were winning 3-0.

Bradley Pritchard confirmed survival for the visitors on 62 minutes with a glancing header from a whipped free-kick by Saunders.

Ramsay scored the consolation for the home side seven minutes later from the penalty spot after he had been barged over by Peter Wood.

Wilson said: "We have never lost like that at home or looked so tired, jaded and out of shape.

"We put so much effort into the two previous games that I think the tiredness was a good enough excuse for the lethargic way we played. You couldn't even ask Premiership stars to play three games in a week and maybe we didn't realise how badly it was going to affect us."

Although Wilson was sympathetic towards his players, it did not stop him ripping into them afterwards.

He knows the performance and result is not the best way to prepare for tomorrow's vital clash but insists things will be a lot different against Thurrock.

The Essex club have only won nine home games this season, which is the second lowest in the top 13, and Borough hammered them 4-0 at Priory Lane in February.

Wilson added: "Play-offs are funny games because it is all about what you do on the night.

"We don't know how we are going to react to this but it could be the kick up the backside we need.

"I am pleased we are going away because we have become more tense at home as the season has gone on.

"When we go away we are relaxed and it suits us more because we don't have to force the play. We have never said we are going all out to win an away game before but this time we are going to. We are really going to go for it because we have nothing to lose."