Eastleigh 1-0 Lewes

EASTLEIGH v LEWES



SATURDAY 14th NOVEMBER 2009
Blue Square South

Report by Jamie Montigue
With the adverse weather yesterday, overnight and this morning there was a distinct possibility that the game would be called off this afternoon due to a waterlogged pitch.

The fact that the game went ahead was a credit to Steve Brookwell and a number of valiant supporters who volunteered to spend several hours forking the pitch this morning and afternoon to help aid the referee's decision in passing a pitch inspection.

Sticking with the same starting eleven that beat Dorchester Town in midweek, Steve Arnold continued in goal to make his home debut for the club whilst Jason Matthews is still on the sidelines with a groin injury.

When play begun, what proved to be the decisive moment in the game occurred with just two minutes on the clock following an excellent run and cross by Anthony Riviere to the right of goal. It was an embarrassing moment for SCOTT MANNING which saw the Lewes defender turn the ball into his own net and hand the Spitfires the perfect start.

Eastleigh held on to this lead in extremely difficult playing conditions for the remainder of the game despite some late, second half pressure from the visitors.

Less than sixty seconds prior to the goal, an early free kick from Danny Smith saw the delivery from the left find centre half Aaron Cook. The former Newport County and Salisbury City skipper stole in at the far post only to fire his header narrowly off target when well-placed.

Initially it looked as though the hosts would go on to register a big win after opening the scoring so early in the game and looking quite at ease in the opening stages. However these thoughts quickly evaporated as the first ten minutes aside, there was very little goalmouth action produced from either side.

Richard Gillespie raced on to an overhead pass from Jamie Brown in the sixth minute and the in-form ex-Bashley striker beat the offside trap with a perfectly executed run to get in behind the Lewes defence. Advancing on the keeper, Gillespie’s left-footed effort from 8-yards out was well blocked by Rikki Banks to thwart an excellent chance to double the Spitfires’ lead.

Four minutes later, sublime football from the hosts saw Anthony Riviere spray the ball out to his right for Peter Adeniyi to send an expert cross from the flank into the danger zone. Gillespie went for an acrobatic bicycle kick to complete the flowing move with a great effort that was unfortunate to be off target.

Chances were few and far between from this point on in the half as the game hit a low.

A combination of the swirling wind, rain-sodden pitch and referee Anthony Coggins’ persistence in disrupting play with dubious yellow card decisions; together didn’t do too much to help the quality of football on display.

After both Jamie Brown and Warren Goodhind had gone into the referee’s notebook (which must have run out of pages by the end of the game), Steve Arnold did well to sweep up a Lewes through ball before Brett Poate tested Banks with a 27th minute free kick.

Hitting the set piece so sweetly, the bullet strike from Poate had to be beaten away by Banks.

A minute before the break, Scott Chamberlain skipped past Tony Taggart on the near side to send an inviting delivery into the penalty area. David Wheeler met the dangerous cross with a diving header which powered into the side-netting.

HALF TIME: Eastleigh 1-0 Lewes

After the break a Gillespie run and cross from the left was well cut out by Lewes only as far as Taggart who unleashed a powerful strike towards goal which ended up flying narrowly wide of the mark.

Five minutes into the second half, Danny Smith made a strong run from midfield evading several challenges to rip the Rooks’ back line wide open. The combative midfielder went for a killer pass in towards Riviere which had to be intercepted to force a corner kick.

Shaun McAuley was sent on in place of Taggart shortly before the hour mark and just minutes later Southampton loanee Jamie White, who is entering a second month at the Silverlake Stadium, replaced Richard Gillespie.

For the visitors, David Wheeler blazed over Arnold’s cross bar before Poate’s overlapping run for Eastleigh at the opposite end of the field led to a free kick so close to the corner flag on the far side; Smith’s delivery was then punched away by Banks.

Lewes were beginning to look fairly lively on the counter attack with plenty of legs going forward. On one occasion Eastleigh had to clear their lines before quickly starting an attack of their own switching from defence to attack in an instant as McAuley broke away before playing a great ball through to fellow substitute White. The youngster’s return cross from the left was just behind his target of McAuley in the centre.

In the 70th minute, an in-swinging free kick from the deadly left foot of Brett Poate picked out Jamie White to perfection. White, completely unmarked, rose high but just couldn’t quite keep his header down as a good chance went begging.

Tim Rivers came close in the 73rd minute as Lewes mounted pressure with two successive corners before the visitors came even closer still to an equalising goal in the 75th minute. Captain Christopher Breach lost his marker at the back post to crash a firm header against the Eastleigh cross bar as the hosts found themselves under strain at the back.

Joe Keehan was the next to be denied for Lewes as his shot from distance was well watched and held on to by Arnold, meanwhile McAuley was striving to make an impression for Eastleigh with a great knock from the right that needed an important header to clear.

Three minutes from time, Rivers turned Tom Jordan neatly to supply an excellent cross from the left which sat up nicely 20 yards from goal. Keehan picked the ball up first time on the volley though the midfielder’s effort was wayward.

As the final minutes arrived, still it was the visitors searching for an equaliser as Kane Louis threaded the ball through for Rivers who found himself clean through on goal. Just as the striker looked to get his shot away, Eastleigh skipper Jordan made a vital interception with a perfectly timed last-ditch tackle.

Four minutes of injury time came and passed and it was Eastleigh who held out for a single goal win.

The result meant a third successive league success as Ian Baird's side remain unbeaten in four Blue Square South games. The three points gained in extremely difficult playing conditions was always going to be far more important than that of the performance.

As a result, the victory has lifted Eastleigh to 9th in the table just three points outside the playoff places.

Both sides will meet again next Saturday at the Silverlake Stadium, this time the Rooks will be facing the Spitfires in an FA Trophy cup tie.

FULL TIME: Eastleigh 1-0 Lewes