As the weather changed in fortunes, the Beavers were hoping their fortunes would change as well against 23rd-place Eastbourne Borough in their final match of February..
Bouncing back after a 2-0 defeat away at Tonbridge Angels in midweek and moving seven points clear of the drop was the aim for Dowson and his team.
Alas, it was not to be as HRBFC fell to a late 2-1 defeat to The Sports.
Eastbourne Borough started the match in the ascendancy. In-form striker George Alexander forced a pair of sharp saves from Marcus Dewhurst in the opening 10 minutes.
It wasn’t long before their pressure told.
Inside the 12th minute, Kai Corbett found himself in space down the left-hand side and had the presence of mind to square the ball past Dewhurst for Matthew Burgess to tap into an empty net.
Dented by conceding early, the Beavers grew into the match but failed to truly test Rohan Luthra in the Eastbourne Borough goal.
The first half petered out with neither team threatening; the ball often pinballing around the centre circle.
However, a trademark Dowson team talk was the catalyst to what had the markings of a Beavers comeback early in the second half
After 20 minutes of unrelenting pressure, Max Kretzschmar buried the equaliser with a glancing header from super sub, Brendan Kiernan’s, cross in a throwback to Dowson's first spell.
But the home side wasn’t done there.
The Beavers continued to carve out chances. Ronan Silva had a brace of golden opportunities to put his side ahead but squandered both, ballooning them over the bar.
In an attempt to change the game’s momentum, Robbie Blake turned to his bench. Kingsley Anokye and Harvey Skieters entered the fray and ultimately made the difference.
Against the run of play, Craig Eastmond found a pocket of space on the edge of the HRBFC box and poked it through to Anokye. The forward swivelled and fired past a helpless Dewhurst to send the away fans into raptures with only five minutes of normal time to play.
A sucker punch for the hosts, who had dominated vast portions of the second half.
The Beavers pushed to find an equaliser at the death. Aaron Lacey came closest with a backpost header but they were unable to find a way past Luthra.
Hampton & Richmond Borough are next at home Saturday March 7th where they will host Dover Athletic, secure you tickets for that one HERE!
By Paul Edwards