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Saturday 13 September 2003 - Langley Sports Club - kick off 3.00pm Dr Martens Premier Division 
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| half-time: 0-0 | result: D1-1 | attendance: 476 |
| team: | Bryant, Sykes, Coupe (c), Hendy, Howarth, Shore, Adams (Plummer 66), Counsell, Cleverley (Jefferies 80), Salter, Williams. subs not used: Kemp, Carter, Bridges. |
| man of the match: | Mark Bryant |
| scorers: | Salter (77) |
| bookings: | Howarth (71), Sykes (90), Hendy (90) |
| officials: | I Gosling (Canterbury), M Bloor, N Whitfield |
| league position: 14th | form: dLLDWD | next match: Satfford (H) |
City returned from their trip to the south coast seaside town of Eastbourne with a nice souvenir in the shape of another Dr Martens Premier Division point after an entertaining 1-1 draw. The star of the show for City was keeper Mark Bryant as he produced a string of excellent saves to deny Borough a victory their performance deserved. City made three changes, two enforced, from the side that beat Dover Athletic a week earlier. Mark Salter came in for top scorer and work absentee Steve Tweddle, loan signing Alex Sykes making his debut in place of Steve Bridges and Matt Coupe taking the captains armband and left-hand spot in the back-three from the suspended Mike Trought.
The opening ten minutes saw both keepers produce neat stops. Dan Cleverley’s fourth minute turn and shot forcing a low block from Hook and Bryant turning Crabb’s 25-yard effort behind for a corner moments later. A typically over-fussy refereeing performance from a Dr Martens official spoiled the flow of the game for the next 20 minutes or so before Salter missed a great chance to give City the lead. Sykes’ cross found him unmarked 12 yards out but he failed to direct his header on target. Coupe was suffering in particular from the referee’s pickiness and his harmless looking challenge saw the home side awarded a free-kick a minute later. The kick dropped to White via Tuck’s blocked shot and he beat Bryant only for Coupe to clear the effort off the line. Smart then stabbed the rebound wide. The preceded a spell of pressure for Borough that City were fortunate to escape from unscathed. The closest escape came on 33 minutes, Simmonds header from a Pearce corner clipping the top of the crossbar. The end of the half saw City fight back as Mitch Counsell fired over and Salter was denied a clear opening by Playford’s timely interception.
Five minutes into the second half Bryant was again frustrating the hosts, diving full length to push away White’s well-struck shot. Cleverley headed an Adams cross wide after 57 minutes but this was a rare foray forward from City. The 65th minute saw Bryant produce his best stop, diving bravely at Goodwin’s feet after the was left in acres of space. Dwayne Plummer replaced Adams shortly afterwards and a move involving him and Sykes saw Andy Williams fire wide. Eastbourne finally broke City’s resistance after 71 minutes. Simmonds burst into the area and was felled by Adam Howarth’s clumsy challenge. Bryant got a fingertip to Ramsay’s spot kick but couldn’t prevent it finding the net. Goodwin could have put the game beyond City three minutes later only for Bryant to again produce a great save and on 77 minutes City levelled. A quickly taken free-kick by Cleverley allowed Plummer to run at the Borough defence and after beating two defenders he put a great cross onto the head of Salter who made no mistake from close range. Both sides went looking for a late winner and it was the locals that came closest. Bryant was finally beaten by Yates’ curling shot four minutes later only for the angle of post and crossbar to come to his rescue. He then was then in action again saving at the feet of Goodwin after he had raced clear. Having had all these close escapes it was ironically City who almost grabbed a win in the closing minutes. Shore’s free-kick, after a foul on Plummer, picked out Scott Hendy. However, he couldn’t repeat his heroics of the Dover game, glancing a header narrowly wide.