Eastbourne Borough came from behind to win 2-1 at Fleet and take another giant step towards the eastermn division.

They now lead second-placed Dorchester by two points and have a game in hand.

The hard-fought victory was labelled "a big result" by manager Garry Wilson who was quick to praise the spirit and character of his side.

He said: "Fleet's workrate was superb. They have only lost one game in the last six and they made us battle for everything," said Wilson.

Borough, who were already without John Westcott, suffered another blow in the 18th minute when Stuart Tuck aggravated an ankle injury and was replaced by Mark Goodwin.

Both sides struggled to find any rhythm on the uneven, sloping pitch and it was Fleet who looked the most dangerous early on.

Five minutes after heading against the bar, Shea Saunders gave the home side a 35th minute lead.

Paul Stark looked slow to get down to Saunders' shot from outside the area but Wilson blamed bad all-round play for the goal.

"We backed off and backed off and gave him too much space," the manager lamented.

Five minutes later Borough were level with their first piece of creative play.

Scott Ramsay's low ball from the right went across the face of the goal and Matt Crabb pulled it back for Matt Smart to ram home.

Neither side looked like getting a second half winner until Borough got the break they desperately needed in the 64th minute.

Ramsay was heading for the by-line when he was needlessly brought down by Saunders and Daren Pearce made no mistake from the penalty spot.

There was no way back for Fleet after this and with promotion rivals Salisbury crashing at King's Lynn, Borough look certs to go up with the destiny of the eastern division title also in their own hands.