Eastbourne Dynamos kicked off 2012 with the first of 2 fixtures against Eastbourne Albert. The first was an away League fixture at the Sports Park.

The Albert are currently doing well in the league, fighting for the title. The previous meeting this season ended with Albert edging a 1-0 victory.

Dynamos started off with Alex Speirs returning after missing a few games, partnering Lewis Colegate in midfield with Dean Pugh and Joe Lavender on either wing. Damien Mills and Ben Curwood started the in the full back rolls with forward Sean Corson in defence with Conor Clyne. Martin Bell was in goal with Neil Taylor and Mark Likeman in attack.

It took the home side less than a minute to penetrate the Dynamos defence. The visitors tried to hold a high line but a ball over the top managed to beat a static defence looking for an offside flag and the striker raced through to slot past Bell who had been left exposed by his team mates.

It was Dynamos who then had the better of the 20 minutes that followed, enjoying a large part of the possession in their hosts half, but the Albert defence stood firm. Dynamos came close when Taylor's corner was knocked down by the defender, Pugh tried to bundle it over the line but instead could only see it go wide.

Clyne and Likeman both had efforts go wide before Dynamos were level in comical circumstances. The Albert keeper's goalkick wasn't the best and was intercepted by Likeman. The Albert defender, facing his own goal, must have been tried to clear the ball, but instead fired it straight past his own keeper from the edge of the area.

The visitors then seemed to take their foot off the pedal as the Albert started to get more involved in the game. The Albert managed to get behind the Eastbourne defence a couple of times, but their poor finishing and one good save from Bell kept the scores level.

10 minutes before the break, the home side took the lead again. Dynamos had cleared for a corner, which was swung in and met at the near post by their striker who stooped to head past the keeper and the defender on the line.

The second half saw the Albert control most of the game without really causing Dynamos too much problem. Eastbourne were restricted to counter attacking, but these were limited.

With about 20 minutes left, Dynamos finally seemed to get a foothold in the game again and started to cause the home side a few more problems.

Dynamos were then level, when good work down the right saw Colegate try and set sub Mike Hutchinson through, but with Hutchinson looking unlikely to get to the ball, he instead made himself a nuisance and caused the keeper and defender to get in each other's way. The ball fell kindly for Pugh on the edge of the area who managed to fire past the only defender in his way to draw his side level.

With both teams wary of losing this game, things started to get a bit nervous towards the end. Colegate fired over from distance while Mills failed to clear the wall from a free kick.

The Albert had 2 great chances to win the game, but a tackle from Corson prevented the first, and the second the striker fired wide of the target with only the keeper to beat after Dynamos had pushed far too many people forward for a free kick.

In the end a 2-2 draw was probably fair, with most players probably suffering from a bit rustiness after the Christmas period.

Dynamos would have settled for a draw before the game, and will now look forward to the rematch in the Cup game next week.