Eastleigh FC

Wednesday 21st February - Eastleigh Res. 0-0 Basingstoke Res. LINE UP: Grant Porter, Craig Richards, Lee O'Connell, Martin Thomas, Rob Marshall (c), Scott Gilham, Liam Winzar, Andy Harris, Carl Wilson-Denis, Obi Nene, Liam Green. SUBS: Chris Hall (on for Thomas 59), Andy Jacobs, Joe Prince-Wright (on for Harris 68), Nathan Lynch, Ben Bosley (on for Nene 68) MATCH REPORT BY JAMIE MONTIGUE On the back of two straight wins, Eastleigh kept their unbeaten run going with a goalless draw at the hands of Basingstoke Reserves. Both sides gave run outs to first team players that have either not been in the side or are coming back from injury. Andy Harris was back in action for the first time since early November after a knee injury and operation, whilst Martin Thomas got through the best part of an hour appearing for the first time since the awful hand injury sustained incidentally at Basingstoke on Boxing Day. Meanwhile Carl Wilson-Denis has not seen too much action for the fir...

Tuesday 20th February - Sutton United 2 Eastleigh 2 Report by Ray Murphy Eastleigh failed to gain their second double of the season having beaten Sutton United 1-0 at home back in September, but did gain their third consecutive draw and earned a run of five games without a defeat. It was also only the fourth time this season that they managed to score more than once in a Nationwide South league fixture. The game was not inspiring; the ball spent a lot of time in the air with neither side producing much quality football. Steve Watts came back into the side following a one-match suspension with Jamie Brown being moved to a midfield role and Steve Forbes being the unfortunate one to miss out from Saturdays line up at Bognor Regis. Eastleigh started well and went a goal ahead on eleven minutes. A route one play saw Watts flick on a header right into the path of Andy Forbes for the striker to lob Sutton goalkeeper Gary Hogan who was way off his line and put the Spitfires ahead with ...

EASTLEIGH SAIL INTO SEMIS - 18/02/2007 Obi Nene scored his third goal in two games for the club to help the Spitfires reserves into the last four of the Suburban League Challenge Cup. Andy Jacob was the other scorer in a comfortable 2-0 victory over Middlesex outfit Ashford Town, with Martin Thomas, Rob Marshall and Stuart Douglas getting run outs. Eastleigh had also missed a penalty. This Wednesday, the second string are at the Silverlake Stadium where they will entertain Basingtoke Reserves - 7:45pm kick off. LINEUP: Grant Porter, Liam Winzar, Lee O'Connell, Martin Thomas (Sam Skinner 80), Rob Marshall, Scott Gilham (C), Andy Jacob, Chris Hall, Stuart Douglas (Ben Bosley 45), Obi Nene, Sayem Kabir (Andy Weston 75)

Saturday 18th February - Bognor Regis Town 0 Eastleigh 0 Report by Ray Murphy Eastleigh’s second successive scoreless Nationwide South draw but a run of matches that sees them with only one defeat from their last eight games and three consecutive clean sheets for James Pullen. When the sides last met back at the start of December, Bognor gave Eastleigh a lesson in finishing with a thumping 4-0 victory. On Saturday if Eastleigh had taken their early chances they could have won this match and secured three points. Steve Watts was still unavailable owing to suspension having been carried over from the midweek abandoned fixture. Eastleigh started on the ascendancy though an early piece of confusion in the Eastleigh defence saw goalkeeper James Pullen and centre back Karim El-Salahi have a heated exchange between them over the failure to clear a Bognor break. For the Spitfires in the opening ten minutes Danny Smith had a long-range effort just off target and an Andy Forbes header ...

Eastleigh v Braintree Match Report by Jamie Montigue With the pitch in an awful state from a heavy downpour , it was a wonder how the game even began, but once that decision was made surely it had to be seen through until the end. Just when both sides had got used to the conditions, with Andy Forbes scoring two minutes into the second half with an excellent finish and Braintree hitting back with an instant reply from former Spitfire, Bertie Brayley. Incredibly the referee, with sixty-four minutes played, the pitch in slightly better condition if anything with the work done with the fork at half time, brought both managers together and shocked all present by bringing the game to a premature end. Understandably several if not all players were livid at the decision having made a real go of it despite not being the best of circumstances. 5 mins - Oliver slipped on poor surface with Rob Martin capitalising putting in a good ball for Bertie Brayley whose shot was blocked superbly ...

Since Jason Dodd took over back in December, things have been going in the right direction as the club slowly edge away from the relegation with some great results since the former Dell legend took to the helm. Today www.eastleigh-fc.co.uk released a statement to say that the man responsible for keeping Saints in the Premier League for many years as a player, has been rewarded for his efforts so far as boss at the Silverlake Stadium with the club retaining his services and tieing him down until May 2008. Likewise, Dodd's excellent management team have been committed to the same length of contract, that is Paul Doswell as Director of Football, both Mark Dennis and David Hughes as Assistant Managers and Steve Beck as Chief Scout.

DODD SETTLES FOR A POINT Daily Echo Article - 07/02/2007 ... And the Echo also reported today (Wednesday 7th), that defender Karim El Salahi has signed a permanent two and a half year deal with the Spitfires after impressing hugely on his loan spell from Conference National side Woking. Fantastic news!

EASTLEIGH V LEWES TUESDAY 6th FEBRUARY 2007 Conference South After a comfortable 3-0 win at the Dripping Pan on Saturday, Eastleigh will be disappointed to have only picked up a point on their own turf in a somewhat closely fought, scrappy, goalless draw. Jason Dodd named an unchanged side from the eleven that came away victorious just a couple of days earlier, with tonights visitors, unsurprisingly making three changes. To begin with, the match started at a frantic pace and both sides looked eager to nick an early goal but were perhaps a little too keen as there were several players caught offside within a short space of time. Eastleigh’s first attack on goal came from a good ball from the captain, Danny Smith, which slipped underneath the foot of Lewis Hamilton allowing Andy Forbes a free run at goal. Unfortunately the scorer of two goals at the weekend, decided to come back on himself and by then the Lewes defence had recovered. Minutes later, Lewes had their first atte...

3rd February 2007 - Lewes 0 Eastleigh 3 Report by Ray Murphy Without hesitation, this was by far the best Eastleigh performance this season. With Franny Benali suspended and David Hughes suffering from a bout of sickness and Liam George injured, manager Jason Dodd was forced to make changes to his side. Ian Oliver returned to the left back position for his first Nationwide League start since October, Jamie Brown reverted to a central midfield role allowing Steve Forbes returning to the line up on the right hand side of midfield. Lewes unbeaten in their last four fixtures welcomed two new signings to their ranks also. Goalkeeper, the seventh they have used in that position this season, Steve Williams from Wycombe Wanderers and former Crystal Palace and Middlesborough defender Dean Gordon, once subject to a £900,000 move between the two clubs. The game was an excellent advert for Nationwide South football as both sides attacked from the opening whistle. Play switched from end to...

TEAM: Grant Porter, Lee O'Connell, Scott Gilham, Craig Cansdale, Liam Winzar, Chris Hall, Macs Sampays, Joe Prince-Wright, Toure Mamadouba, Ben Bosley, Obi Dene. SUBS: Sam Skinner (on for Bosley), Dan Smith (on for Mamadoba), Andy Jacobs (on for Sampays) MATCH REPORT BY RICHARD MONTIGUE 15th placed Eastleigh took on 17th placed Three Bridges in this Suburban Premier League basement battle. The Spitfires came out 3-1 victors putting nine points between the two teams in the process. Eastleigh started brightly, but had a couple of early scares from breakaways however Grant Porter was in good form between the sticks making two smart saves, to keep Eastleigh in it. They went behind though when giant Three Bridges centre forward Lee Thomson headed the visitors in front. Eastleigh got their equaliser when debutant powerhouse striker Obi Dene raced through with strength and pace crashing a shot past the Bridges keeper. Ten minutes before half time Obi Dene latched on to a th...