Safe at Last
EASTLEIGH V BISHOPS STORTFORD
TUESDAY 24th APRIL 2007
Conference South
Eastleigh tonight ensured Conference South survival with a point being enough against playoff chasing Bishops Stortford.
The match did not begin well though for the Spitfires, as a case of deja-vu was displayed with an early goal conceded, just like Weston Super-Mare had done just days earlier. Again it was a cross from the right and a headed goal, Roy Essandoh the scorer, to sink the hearts of the Eastleigh faithful.
Thankfully, Jason Dodd's men perked up in the second forty-five and were a lot more like their oldselves. Andy Forbes thumped home the equaliser as Darren Wheeler's introduction to the game, brought with it fruitful results.
A point was more than enough for Eastleigh who can now travel to Yeading on Saturday with no need to fear!
With so much at stake, the game was always going to bring excitement somewhere along the line and the old cliché, ‘a game of two halves’ was apparent with the visitors strolling the first before Eastleigh looked like a different side to finish the match on a high.
There was a tense moment for the Spitfires within two minutes when a free kick on the right by Alex Martin saw Jamie Pullen come to the edge of his area for a relatively easy catch, but perhaps taking his eye off the ball, let the ball through his grasp. The ball was then pinged towards goal with only some desperate defending from the home side enough to spare Pullen’s blushes.
Four minutes later, and Stortford had struck with ROY ESSANDOH's sixth minute header from full back Matt Jones’ delivery out on the right. It was a soft one to concede with some question-marks hanging over the Eastleigh marking, but at least Eastleigh could take heart from their come back from an almost carbon copy goal at the weekend.
Essandoh, the goalscorer, looked to extend Eastleigh’s misery as he latched on to Greg Pearson’s headed flick as he bore down on goal getting on the wrong side of Rob Marshall only to smash high and wide with an off-balance left footed effort.
Pressure on Pullen’s goal, didn’t appear to be coming to an end at any time soon as Stortford’s fourth chance inside the opening ten minutes flew narrowly over the cross bar. Tom Champion’s header, too close for comfort from a long ball into the box, which narrowly evaded the target.
At long last, Eastleigh managed to string a couple of passes together to create an opening. Liam Green and the captain, Danny Smith linked up nicely with a one-two with the latter’s deflected shot forcing Andrew Young in the visitors’ goal to be on his guard to keep his side in front.
At times the match became almost like tennis with The Bishops looking to break down at one end, and often less successful in their attacks, Eastleigh tried to find a way through at the other.
In their all yellow strip, The Bishops got forward once more with Roy Essandoh who muscled his way through to get on the end of Max Porter’s clever pass with the outside of his boot. Now in behind the defence, Essandoh failed to make the most of the chance with a heavy touch towards goal allowing Rob Marshall to get back and recover with a perfect sliding challenge.
Chris Collins jumped high at the far post from Eastleigh’s next goalmouth action, with a good leap but nodded Ian Oliver’s deep free kick comfortably wide of the mark.
The Eastleigh centre half came even closer moments later in unfamiliar territory in front of goal.
Andy Harris’ trademark long throw from the right saw the ball come loose to Liam Green on the edge, who shaped up to shoot but failed to get a good connection on the strike. Collins was there at the back post when the ball found its way into the box, to hook a left footed shot goalwards taking a slight deflection off Paul Goodacre and very unluckily coming back off the left upright before being cleared to safety.
Frustration became the key word to describe the next ten or so minutes for the home side. Andy Harris picked up a yellow card for a kick better suited to kung fu, as not for the first time in the match Bishops Stortford were able to take control as the half got to its latter stages.
A dangerous ball right across the face of goal from Tom Champion only required a touch to divert into the net from close range. Essandoh at full stretch, unfortunate not to apply the finishing touch, Eastleigh the opposite, very lucky not to have conceded a second with their defence in disarray.
Meanwhile, with the news that at the time, Thurrock were beating league leaders Histon by a goal to nil, Eastleigh made one last attempt at an equaliser with eight minutes to play before the break. Andy Harris pumped a hopeful, high ball into the box where Steve Watts chested the ball down into the path of Danny Smith whose volley in the end produced a comfortable save.
Back down the other end, substitute Ashley Fuller who had replaced an injured team mate earlier on, elegantly brought down Pearson’s header and neatly turned Smith on the edge of the area. Fuller then drove the ball with a low left foot hit, but Pullen was more than equal to it with a decent save.
The final chance fell Stortford’s way in the forty-fourth minute as Greg Pearson’s header from Matt Jones’ cross had to be stabbed away in desperation from Tarkan Mustafa with Pullen beaten.
HALF TIME – Eastleigh 0-1 Bishops Stortford
It proved to be a different story in the second forty-five, as Eastleigh, who were far from ‘at the races’ in the proceedings thus far, showed great character, fight and determination to turn the game around.
Steve Watts volleyed a clean strike towards the near post with Young getting across quickly but spilling the tricky effort, as the Spitfires began the half as they meant to go on, already looking five times as lively as they had been in the whole of the first half.
There was no let-up and the chances kept flowing for Eastleigh. A positive run from Andy Forbes forced a corner kick out of nothing almost, and from it, Liam Green’s delivery saw Jamie Brown denied by the woodwork, with Watts’ follow up comfortably clearing the cross bar. There was now a sense that Eastleigh had it within them to go one step further and net the equaliser.
In terms of the outcome, the next goal would clearly prove to be a crucial one. Had the Bishop’s netted next it would have taken an awful lot to turn two goals around, whereas if Eastleigh were to score, the home side would clearly be favourites to go on from there and finish strongly.
Thankfully, it was the latter scenario that unfolded, this largely to the immediate impression Darren Wheeler made on the match, coming on for Liam Green in the 57th minute.
Just one minute later and the former Weymouth winger with all of his pace, posed a real threat and in effect changed the game with such a sudden impact.
Wheeler’s first action was to create the equaliser with a brilliant cross to the far post. Watts won the header well, but the finish was phenomenal from ANDY FORBES. Finding the roof of the net with a rocket of a shot, Eastleigh’s top marksman provided the goal to keep the Spitfires in the division to end all fears of relegation amongst a mixture of great relief and excitement.
To make things that much sweeter, Thurrock were now 3-1 down to Histon elsewhere, meaning a point would be more than enough for Dodd’s side to survive.
Wasting little time, Eastleigh set out for a second goal amid the electric atmosphere, and extremely happy Spitfires’ supporters. Wheeler was involved once more with a great run; Watts then played the ball into Forbes whose first time effort, lacking in power was saved to bring a neat move to an end.
A little over an hour had been played and Eastleigh were still in command, with a firm grip on the encounter. Their next chance saw Watts head just too high from Mustafa’s perfect delivery from the right flank.
The pressure if anything only got stronger from Eastleigh. Stortford were completely rattled and were extremely fortunate to get away with a horrific blunder from their goalkeeper, Andrew Young. A simple back pass along the ground from Rob Gilman saw Young make a real mess under threat from Watts, by letting the ball straight underneath his foot and out for a needless corner. Two yards to the right, and Eastleigh would have been 2-1 up!
From the resulting corner, Watts came close again with a header from Smith’s delivery. This was to be the Eastleigh striker’s last action of the night as Carl Wilson-Denis was brought on to replace the former Fisher forward, with 19 minutes remaining.
As expected, there was an onslaught from the visitors in the closing stages but never at any point did Eastleigh look like conceding, only clearing the pressure and mopping up with real confidence.
In the final minute, Pullen and Marshall collided, with the Eastleigh centre half having to come off on a stretcher for his injuries. The injury time was seen out comfortably and at long last, survival was guaranteed much to the Spitfires’ relief.
A fantastic result considering most believed we would be in need of travelling to Yeading to get a result. Now we can concentrate on putting things right for next season, I think we may need a bit of a holiday to get over this one first though!
FULL TIME – Eastleigh 1-1 Bishops Stortford
JAMIE MONTIGUE
TUESDAY 24th APRIL 2007
Conference South
Eastleigh tonight ensured Conference South survival with a point being enough against playoff chasing Bishops Stortford.
The match did not begin well though for the Spitfires, as a case of deja-vu was displayed with an early goal conceded, just like Weston Super-Mare had done just days earlier. Again it was a cross from the right and a headed goal, Roy Essandoh the scorer, to sink the hearts of the Eastleigh faithful.
Thankfully, Jason Dodd's men perked up in the second forty-five and were a lot more like their oldselves. Andy Forbes thumped home the equaliser as Darren Wheeler's introduction to the game, brought with it fruitful results.
A point was more than enough for Eastleigh who can now travel to Yeading on Saturday with no need to fear!
With so much at stake, the game was always going to bring excitement somewhere along the line and the old cliché, ‘a game of two halves’ was apparent with the visitors strolling the first before Eastleigh looked like a different side to finish the match on a high.
There was a tense moment for the Spitfires within two minutes when a free kick on the right by Alex Martin saw Jamie Pullen come to the edge of his area for a relatively easy catch, but perhaps taking his eye off the ball, let the ball through his grasp. The ball was then pinged towards goal with only some desperate defending from the home side enough to spare Pullen’s blushes.
Four minutes later, and Stortford had struck with ROY ESSANDOH's sixth minute header from full back Matt Jones’ delivery out on the right. It was a soft one to concede with some question-marks hanging over the Eastleigh marking, but at least Eastleigh could take heart from their come back from an almost carbon copy goal at the weekend.
Essandoh, the goalscorer, looked to extend Eastleigh’s misery as he latched on to Greg Pearson’s headed flick as he bore down on goal getting on the wrong side of Rob Marshall only to smash high and wide with an off-balance left footed effort.
Pressure on Pullen’s goal, didn’t appear to be coming to an end at any time soon as Stortford’s fourth chance inside the opening ten minutes flew narrowly over the cross bar. Tom Champion’s header, too close for comfort from a long ball into the box, which narrowly evaded the target.
At long last, Eastleigh managed to string a couple of passes together to create an opening. Liam Green and the captain, Danny Smith linked up nicely with a one-two with the latter’s deflected shot forcing Andrew Young in the visitors’ goal to be on his guard to keep his side in front.
At times the match became almost like tennis with The Bishops looking to break down at one end, and often less successful in their attacks, Eastleigh tried to find a way through at the other.
In their all yellow strip, The Bishops got forward once more with Roy Essandoh who muscled his way through to get on the end of Max Porter’s clever pass with the outside of his boot. Now in behind the defence, Essandoh failed to make the most of the chance with a heavy touch towards goal allowing Rob Marshall to get back and recover with a perfect sliding challenge.
Chris Collins jumped high at the far post from Eastleigh’s next goalmouth action, with a good leap but nodded Ian Oliver’s deep free kick comfortably wide of the mark.
The Eastleigh centre half came even closer moments later in unfamiliar territory in front of goal.
Andy Harris’ trademark long throw from the right saw the ball come loose to Liam Green on the edge, who shaped up to shoot but failed to get a good connection on the strike. Collins was there at the back post when the ball found its way into the box, to hook a left footed shot goalwards taking a slight deflection off Paul Goodacre and very unluckily coming back off the left upright before being cleared to safety.
Frustration became the key word to describe the next ten or so minutes for the home side. Andy Harris picked up a yellow card for a kick better suited to kung fu, as not for the first time in the match Bishops Stortford were able to take control as the half got to its latter stages.
A dangerous ball right across the face of goal from Tom Champion only required a touch to divert into the net from close range. Essandoh at full stretch, unfortunate not to apply the finishing touch, Eastleigh the opposite, very lucky not to have conceded a second with their defence in disarray.
Meanwhile, with the news that at the time, Thurrock were beating league leaders Histon by a goal to nil, Eastleigh made one last attempt at an equaliser with eight minutes to play before the break. Andy Harris pumped a hopeful, high ball into the box where Steve Watts chested the ball down into the path of Danny Smith whose volley in the end produced a comfortable save.
Back down the other end, substitute Ashley Fuller who had replaced an injured team mate earlier on, elegantly brought down Pearson’s header and neatly turned Smith on the edge of the area. Fuller then drove the ball with a low left foot hit, but Pullen was more than equal to it with a decent save.
The final chance fell Stortford’s way in the forty-fourth minute as Greg Pearson’s header from Matt Jones’ cross had to be stabbed away in desperation from Tarkan Mustafa with Pullen beaten.
HALF TIME – Eastleigh 0-1 Bishops Stortford
It proved to be a different story in the second forty-five, as Eastleigh, who were far from ‘at the races’ in the proceedings thus far, showed great character, fight and determination to turn the game around.
Steve Watts volleyed a clean strike towards the near post with Young getting across quickly but spilling the tricky effort, as the Spitfires began the half as they meant to go on, already looking five times as lively as they had been in the whole of the first half.
There was no let-up and the chances kept flowing for Eastleigh. A positive run from Andy Forbes forced a corner kick out of nothing almost, and from it, Liam Green’s delivery saw Jamie Brown denied by the woodwork, with Watts’ follow up comfortably clearing the cross bar. There was now a sense that Eastleigh had it within them to go one step further and net the equaliser.
In terms of the outcome, the next goal would clearly prove to be a crucial one. Had the Bishop’s netted next it would have taken an awful lot to turn two goals around, whereas if Eastleigh were to score, the home side would clearly be favourites to go on from there and finish strongly.
Thankfully, it was the latter scenario that unfolded, this largely to the immediate impression Darren Wheeler made on the match, coming on for Liam Green in the 57th minute.
Just one minute later and the former Weymouth winger with all of his pace, posed a real threat and in effect changed the game with such a sudden impact.
Wheeler’s first action was to create the equaliser with a brilliant cross to the far post. Watts won the header well, but the finish was phenomenal from ANDY FORBES. Finding the roof of the net with a rocket of a shot, Eastleigh’s top marksman provided the goal to keep the Spitfires in the division to end all fears of relegation amongst a mixture of great relief and excitement.
To make things that much sweeter, Thurrock were now 3-1 down to Histon elsewhere, meaning a point would be more than enough for Dodd’s side to survive.
Wasting little time, Eastleigh set out for a second goal amid the electric atmosphere, and extremely happy Spitfires’ supporters. Wheeler was involved once more with a great run; Watts then played the ball into Forbes whose first time effort, lacking in power was saved to bring a neat move to an end.
A little over an hour had been played and Eastleigh were still in command, with a firm grip on the encounter. Their next chance saw Watts head just too high from Mustafa’s perfect delivery from the right flank.
The pressure if anything only got stronger from Eastleigh. Stortford were completely rattled and were extremely fortunate to get away with a horrific blunder from their goalkeeper, Andrew Young. A simple back pass along the ground from Rob Gilman saw Young make a real mess under threat from Watts, by letting the ball straight underneath his foot and out for a needless corner. Two yards to the right, and Eastleigh would have been 2-1 up!
From the resulting corner, Watts came close again with a header from Smith’s delivery. This was to be the Eastleigh striker’s last action of the night as Carl Wilson-Denis was brought on to replace the former Fisher forward, with 19 minutes remaining.
As expected, there was an onslaught from the visitors in the closing stages but never at any point did Eastleigh look like conceding, only clearing the pressure and mopping up with real confidence.
In the final minute, Pullen and Marshall collided, with the Eastleigh centre half having to come off on a stretcher for his injuries. The injury time was seen out comfortably and at long last, survival was guaranteed much to the Spitfires’ relief.
A fantastic result considering most believed we would be in need of travelling to Yeading to get a result. Now we can concentrate on putting things right for next season, I think we may need a bit of a holiday to get over this one first though!
FULL TIME – Eastleigh 1-1 Bishops Stortford
JAMIE MONTIGUE
Conference South -
Comments
Post a Comment