On a very heavy pitch at Shoreham on Saturday, Eastbourne United failed to take full advantage of a rocket Max Thompson penalty. The game had started well for United, with the majority of possession and all of the first half chances, but it was obvious that they were missing the injured Creese and Ingram, and suspended Barlow, Camara and Mapstone. Not that things were desperate - the returning Cormack was lively throughout and Brett Patton was not showing too many signs of an injury ravaged 18 months. Up front Max Thompson covered for Barlow, so the excuses were never wheeled out. Ultimately United failed to put away a myriad of chances, and the Shoreham keeper certainly earnt his pay, but it wasn’t until the second half that United put the really heavy pressure on, resulting in a penalty on the hour which Max Thompson slammed in with no hesitation whatsoever. United continued to prod, without any real success, and Broadbent was reduced to taking free kicks to stay in the game. With only 15 minutes left, a scramble in the United goalmouth was settled by the Shoreham striker managing to pull himself out of the mud quickest to slot home the equaliser. Huge celebrations followed, unsurprisingly as Shoreham knew that they had nicked one that they maybe hadn’t deserved. Points shared, United make the long trip to Bognor next Saturday to take on Pagham, at least they will have their three suspendees make and available. The travelling fans will be hoping for 3 points to set up a classic on Bank Holiday Tuesday against Town!