Brain-Three

EASTLEIGH V BRAINTREE
TUESDAY 17th APRIL 2007

Conference South



A highly disappointing result for Jason Dodd and his men against a side gunning for promotion in their first season in the Conference South.

All three goals came from set pieces to highlight the Spitfires weakness and to rub salt into their wounds, former Eastleigh forward, Bertie Brayley came back to haunt his old club with a goal.

Eastleigh were forced to make three changes to the side that drew with Dorchester at the weekend with Karim El-Salahi and David Hughes out with injury along with Steve Watts who was rested. In came Chris Collins and Rob Marshall who made up a back three with Steve West.

Liam Green was given a start to replace Hughes.

The formation changed slightly with 3-5-2 when going forward, Tarkan Mustafa and Ian Oliver the wingbacks, and 5-3-2 when defending. Andy Forbes started the match operating in his favoured position as a centre forward alongside Jamie Brown.

Inside the first minute of the game, the visitors had to make a very early substitution with Brayley, replacing the unfortunate Louis Riddle who was unable to continue before the contest had really begun.

Six minutes in, and the warning signs were there for Eastleigh. A free kick by the Braintree captain Bradley Quinton was only half cleared before James Hawes’ volley took a slight deflection to go behind for a corner. This was just the beginning of the problems from set play, as Eastleigh never looked comfortable defending in these situations.

Eighteen minutes in, and Eastleigh were behind. Quinton’s long throw from the left was never dealt with, and the unmarked JAMES BAKER was able to stab the ball past a helpless James Pullen from a matter of yards, timing his run to perfection.

Having gone a goal behind, the last thing the home side needed was to lose their captain. Just minutes later though, this became a reality as Danny Smith felt the full force of James Hawes’ elbow, leaving the former with a horrid wound, and being rushed off to hospital for treatment.

The referee saw no harm in the challenge, despite it being almost clear-cut that the Braintree player led with his arm.

Phil Cousins was introduced to the action a little earlier than expected as a result of the incident, this his first game back for Eastleigh since being recalled from a successful loan spell with neighbours Winchester City.

Oddly, the match official Dave Bushell was quick to get his cards out for a nothing tackle by Jamie Brown but not interested at all in a more cynical, violent challenge.

Eastleigh’s frustrating opening to the match continued as their first real move of the game led to no end product. Brown and Forbes combined before Cousins, the former Portsmouth youngster fed an excellent ball out to the left for Green. Just to reinforce that things weren’t going their way, Braintree were able to cut out the danger and still the Spitfires had not troubled the goalkeeper.

A little over thirty-one minutes were on the clock when Eastleigh’s best chance of the half came along. Andy Harris’ long throw was nodded back out to the former Weymouth midfielder, who had taken the armband following the blow to Danny Smith.

The ball was played back in to the far post where Andy Forbes appeared to have all the time in the world to pick his spot with the header. Every one in the stand believing an equaliser had come due to the angle; though their hopes were soon shattered when it was evident the Eastleigh striker had only found the side netting.

Where Braintree looked so dangerous and threatening consistently from dead ball situations, the same really could not be said for Eastleigh. The resulting corner from Forbes’ header demonstrating this as the ball was aimlessly hit into the middle, far too close to the keeper Nick Morgan, who was not going to miss a trick in the air anyway due to his huge frame of 6ft 5 or more.

A spell of brighter football from Eastleigh saw Andy Forbes fall short twice, being presented with two good opportunities. The first was created out of nothing from a mesmerising reverse ball from Cousins, deceiving everyone except Forbes, who latched on to the clever pass only to be denied by a good block by Morgan.

With time running down the next chance would have been the ideal time to register an equaliser. James Pullen’s long ball forward from a free kick saw Eastleigh’s leading scorer create an opportunity for himself with a good piece of skill. Letting the ball run, Forbes was able to lose his marker yet still get a decent hit as he turned the ball towards goal from a tight angle.

Russ Edwards was on hand to clear off the line whilst Phil Cousins could only fire wide from the follow up.

Had one of these chances gone in for the home side, there may have been a different story to tell. However it was Braintree who punished Eastleigh with a second goal, again from a set play. Liam Bailey forced a corner on the left hand side, which was played short, before being floated into the middle by Quinton once more.

BERTIE BRAYLEY made the most of some dreadful marking, as the ex-Spitfire had time to control the ball, switch feet and drill the ball low and hard past a host of players to beat Pullen with a neat and well-taken goal moments before the half time whistle.

The disorganisation became almost shambolic for Eastleigh who could have found themselves three goals down as Edwards nodded over deep into injury time.

HALF TIME – Eastleigh 0-2 Braintree

Unfortunately for the Eastleigh faithful there was to be no improvement in the second forty- five either after a very dismal first half.

Nine minutes had gone when the Spitfires fell further behind and by this point there was to be no coming back.

Brayley forced a corner as his shot from distance took a big deflection to go behind. This could only mean trouble and just to prove that the lesson had not been learned, a near carbon copy of Braintree’s second goal was conceded.

Again, it was a short corner taken quickly, this time Quinton sold Mustafa a dummy before turning and crossing from the left with ease. A haphazard, half hearted clearance in the six yard box led to JAMES BAKER making the most of the poor defending, helping himself to his second goal of the night to poke the ball home.

There were glimpses of a fight back, but in all honesty Eastleigh gave the ball away far too often and rarely looked like troubling.

The closest they came was a good move involving substitute Darren Wheeler and Andy Harris and Forbes, the Eastleigh striker neatly chesting down before squaring for his strike partner. Jamie Brown was at the far post but couldn’t make the most of the opportunity, squandering the chance with his header blocked by Edwards.

Reserve youngster, Nathan Lynch made his first appearance for the first team as he took to the field to replace Tarkan Mustafa. The latter chipping narrowly over the cross bar from a speculative effort from distance in his last action before the change.

Forbes reverted to right midfield, again to accommodate the substitution.

Braintree ran out comfortable winners in the end, as they looked to finish the game strongly. With nine minutes to go, the highly impressive Robbie Martin (full of running and energy), intercepted on the halfway line before turning defence into attack with one swift pass out to the left. Brayley took the ball a little too wide perhaps, but from a stupendous angle managed to cause problems for Pullen, who spilled the powerfully struck effort.

Baker, on a hattrick, then got the better of Chris Collins, but having done the hard work tried to get past Steve West as well, getting a shot in eventually but a weak one that was more than comfortable for Pullen, when really an earlier shot would have caused more problems.

Eastleigh’s misery came to an end at long last. Perhaps the scoreline flattered Braintree a little but it was a convincing defeat all the same proving that if you do not make the most of your possession and have a shot once in a while, then you are asking for trouble. The manner in which the goals went in, also highlighted a big area where there is room for improvement – that is of course set pieces.

That said, we should still be safe if we are to pick up results from our last couple of matches.

FULL TIME – Eastleigh 0-3 Braintree

JAMIE MONTIGUE