Eastbourne Borough boss Garry Wilson is determined to leave the ifs and buts behind as he prepares for Tuesday night's replay at Stevenage.

Home fans were left dreaming of what might have been at Priory Lane after Borough let slip a two-goal lead in this fourth qualifying round tie.

A win would have given Borough their first victory against a Conference side, £10,000 and a place in the first round proper for the first time in their history.

But Wilson is having none of it and plots a repeat of the performance his side put on when they outplayed Stevenage for large periods.

He said: "I'm proud of all the lads with the way they approached the game and put Stevenage on the back foot.

"It was a great chance for us, but we are not going to dwell on what happened because we have got another match to think about.

"This year we've done better than we have ever done before. It is another step for us. We are going to take all the pluses out of the first game and go up their place and give it a real go."

The trip around the M25 didn't seem a consideration after the first 45 minutes.

Wilson got his tactics spot on against a Stevenage side who looked low on confidence after only one win from their previous seven games.

Borough were rampant with the speed of Matt Crabb, playing as a deep striker, complementing the muscle of Scott Ramsay up front.

It took just four minutes to pay dividends as Ramsay put the home side in front.

Matt Smart linked up with Danny Simmonds on the right flank before cutting the ball back for Ramsay who took a touch before neatly toe-poking the ball past goalkeeper Mark Westhead.

The expected backlash from the visitors never came and Borough piled on the pressure and should have added to their advantage earlier than they did.

Smart raced into the box to latch onto a neat flick by Ramsay and was unable to beat Westhead from close range.

Then Crabb beat a half-hearted offside trap to go clean through on the goalkeeper but his chip went wide.

Ramsay finally doubled the lead on 37 minutes with his fifth goal in four games.

He was left all alone to collect a long ball over the top of a static Stevenage defence and had time and space to line up a left-footed finish into the bottom corner.

Crabb admitted he did not think much of the Stevenage back four and believes Borough can exploit it in the replay.

He said: "They were a bit slow at the back and weren't very convincing in the first half. We proved we can score goals against them, so we don't have anything to fear in the replay. I don't see why we can't go and win."

Stevenage gave Borough a cruel reality check in first half injury-time when Dino Maamria pulled one back with a clever overhead kick following a cross from former Brighton midfielder Simon Wormull.

The goal came against the run of play and set up a contrasting second half.

Stevenage came out looking like the team of full-time professionals they are and had more of the ball in the first ten minutes than they had in virtually the entire first half.

The equaliser came on 69 minutes when Dino Maamria was allowed to cross from the right-hand touchline and Anthony Elding headed home from close range.

Wilson said: "The goal before half-time was the one that stung us. If we had gone in at half time 2-0 up then we would have won the game, there is no doubt about that.

"Two goals would have been a mountain to climb psychologically for them and it allows you to come out for the second half and defend knowing you can afford to lose one goal."

The second half did not go all the visitors' way. Former Crawley striker Danny Carroll, one of five players in the Stevenage squad that had played for Farnborough in an FA Trophy win over Borough last season, was sent off in injury time after lashing out at Simmonds.

There was more consolation for the home crowd after the game as they packed into the clubhouse to watch Borough drawn against Stockport County at home if they are successful in the replay.

Eastbourne: Hook, Baker, Tuck, Smart (Holmes 88), Playford, Austin, Crabb (Ducille 81), Pearce, Ramsay, Simmonds, Yates. Subs not used: Goodwin, Westcott, White.

Stevenage: Westhead (Perez 76), Flynn, Bunce, Laker, Wormull (Gould 83), Cook, Carroll, Maamria, Warner, Watson, Elding (Baptiste 89). Subs not used: Battersby, Costello.

Referee: P. W. Melin (Frimley).

Attendance: 1,305.

Man-of-the-match: Scott Ramsay.