Eastleigh FC

Eastleigh v Dorchester Town has been postponed due to a waterlogged pitch following a pitch inspection this evening.

Eastleigh will experiment with Friday night football tomorrow in a bid to boost their average attendances.  And in a bid to tempt even more fans to the Silverlake Stadium the club have halved admission prices for their Blue Square South clash against Dorchester Town.  Instead of £10, adult tickets will cost just £5 for the game against the Magpies who are now managed by former Spitfires defender Ashley Vickers.  Under-12s will be allowed in free.  The Spitfires have also handed out about 300 complimentary tickets to local clubs in a bid to further boost the attendance.  Explaining the switch, Eastleigh director of football Dave Malone said: “The game was originally moved to avoid another clash with Saints.  “They were supposed to be at home on Saturday.  “We had nine clashes with them this season, which never helps us, so we decided to move the game and Dorchester kindly agreed to change it to a Frid...

HAMPTON & RICHMOND BOROUGH v EASTLEIGH   SATURDAY 20th MARCH 2010 Blue Square South Report by Ray Murphy Hampton & Richmond Borough had only recorded one victory from their last seven home fixtures which was the previous Tuesday evening against Bath city, whilst Eastleigh arrived at The Beveree Stadium on the success of three away victories despite their own dreadful home form of late. In eight previous matches between the two clubs though Eastleigh had only scored one victory and that was on their own soil and Eastleigh have never recorded a victory at Hampton. Manager Ian Baird made some changes to the personnel that had lost their last game at home to Welling. Jason Matthews returned in goal after a three-match absence, Aaron Cook was at the centre of the defence with Warren Goodhind being ill. Sam Butler was recalled to the side, which started with an attacking three front-runners formation of Richard Gillespie, Butler and Tony Taggart. There was also the...

EASTLEIGH v WELLING UNITED   WEDNESDAY 17th MARCH 2010 Blue Square South Report by Jamie Montigue  Eastleigh’s third consecutive game at home saw the Spitfires up against Welling United this evening; where the hosts missed out on a good opportunity to return to a playoff position as their poor home form continued. After tonight’s result, Eastleigh still haven’t won at home since their 4-0 thrashing of lowly Weymouth back in early February. Player-manager Jamie Day’s Welling side came to Eastleigh on the back of two wins to make it three on the spin tonight and draw level on points with Eastleigh in the table with a game in hand. Ian Baird’s side had ended a run of three straight home defeats with a draw at home to Bath City on Saturday, but were looking to get back to winning ways on home turf this evening – it just didn’t happen and Welling thoroughly deserved their victory. The Spitfires had the better of the first half with Richard Gillespie coming close ...

Eastleigh are pleased to confirm the signing of another young player from the Glenn Hoddle Academy hot on the tails of signing keeper Billy Lumley from the same club. 20-year old midfield/striker Jay Folkes joins the Spitfires highly recommended by Graham Rix - one of the GHA coaching staff.  Jay is named in the starting line up for the game against Welling United tonight. Live commentary of the game can be heard here - http://www.radio-spitfire.talktalk.net/ and Twitter updates here - http://twitter.com/eastleighfc . More on Jay Folkes:         Date of birth: 12 January 1990 Height: 183cm Weight: 78kg Position: Right Midfield Former club: Queens Park Rangers

EASTLEIGH 1-1 BATH CITY SATURDAY 13th MARCH 2010 Blue Square South Report by Jamie Montigue Eastleigh ended a run of three straight home defeats by picking up a point at home to fellow promotion hopefuls Bath City this afternoon. The Spitfires have been highly productive on their travels recently where they are unbeaten in six, including their latest run of three consecutive victories on the road; but at home Ian Baird's side had been struggling for form of late. It was important to stop the rot and Ross Bottomley's second half equaliser ensured this was the case as the Spitfires ruled out City’s 29th minute penalty goal. Injury-plagued Eastleigh, who were without key players such as Tom Jordan, Anthony Riviere, Andy Forbes and Jamie Brown (the latter two who are thought to be ruled out for the rest of the season), adopted a 4-5-1 formation with Richard Gillespie leading the attack as a lone striker. The former Bashley man only just passed a late fitness test ahead of the ga...

By Wendy Gee - INJURY-hit Eastleigh have added a new name to their squad ahead of tomorrow’s home game against Bath. The Spitfires have swooped for 28-year-old midfielder Ashley Nicholls from BS South rivals Bishop’s Stortford. With Staforde Palmer, Jamie Brown and, now, Andy Forbes all lost to long-term injury, manager Ian Baird would ideally like to have signed a striker. But he said: “I’ve made 30 or 40 calls, but at this stage of the season no one is letting people out. “I’m still trying to see if we can do anything to get Jamie White back here from Southampton (following an earlier loan). If possible, I’d like to take him until the end of the season.” Nicholls, though, looks a decent acquistion. Born in Ipswich, he came through the Ipswich Town youth system and played briefly for Canvey Island on loan before joining Darlington in 2002. He was a Darlington first-team regular for two seasons, scoring on his debut against Cambridge United, who he later joined durin...

We are delighted to confirm that we have completed the signing of 28-year-old midfielder Ashley Nicholls from Newport County. Ashley will add much needed experience and depth to our very depleted squad. He will be available for the game on Saturday at home to Bath City. Born: 30th October 1981 in Ipswich A student at the University of East Anglia, Ashley is a midfield player who joined Newport County on a month’s loan from Blue Square South rivals Bishop’s Stortford in December 2009. Ashley is a product of the Ipswich Town youth system and played briefly for Canvey Island on loan before joining Darlington in 2002 scoring on his debut against Cambridge United who he was later to join. He was a first team regular for two seasons before his move to Cambridge, initially on loan, and he also commanded a first team spot for them in their Football League days. Nicholls had a spell on loan at Rushden & Diamonds before spending the 2006-07 season at Grays Athletic and the fol...

By Wendy Gee - INJURY-RAVAGED Eastleigh are concerned that the poor condition of their Silverlake Stadium pitch is undermining their push for the Blue Square South play-offs.  Not only did the Spitfires blame the stodgy, uneven playing surface for the 12th-minute goal that sealed Saturday's 1-0 defeat at home to St Albans City, there was also a suggestion that two of the three match-ending injuries they sustained were down to the pitch.  Striker Andy Forbes, who hobbled out of the ground on crutches with suspected medial ligament damage, claimed his boot had got stuck in the ground when he was hurt in a 50-50 tackle early in the second half.  And there was also a theory that the pitch was to blame for the knee injury picked up by Anthony Riviere - albeit that the midfielder was booked for a hefty challenge.  Even Billy Lumley, Eastleigh's newly-signed goalkeeper from the Glenn Hoddle Academy in Spain, felt the pitch was responsible ...

EASTLEIGH 0-1 ST ALBANS CITY SATURDAY 6th MARCH 2010 Blue Square South Report by Jamie Montigue After three fine away wins on the trot helped push Eastleigh back in contention for the playoffs, the Spitfires suffered a disappointing home defeat to St. Albans this afternoon. Drew Roberts scored the only goal of the game in the 12th minute in an otherwise poor game of football in which the match officials marred by failing to allow the game to flow. Ian Baird's side picked up three more injuries to make matters worse; losing key players in the form of commanding centre back and captain Tom Jordan who was stretchered off in the first half, followed by the equally crushing blow of both Andy Forbes and Anthony Riviere having to be withdrawn prematurely later in the game. Baird handed new goalkeeper, 20-year-old Billy Lumley a debut having only just signed for Eastleigh yesterday. There was also a welcome return to the Silverlake Stadium for popular defender Warren Goodhind...

Blue Square Announce “Manager of the Month” Awards for February Kidderminster Harriers boss Steve Burr has won the Blue Square Premier “Manager of the Month” award for February. It's safe to say that Burr, who joined Harriers from Stalybridge Celtic in January, has enjoyed a fantastic start to life at Aggborough, starting with a draw at Crawley and a thumping win over Grays in his first matches in charge. After steering the club through a local derby against Worcester City in the FA Trophy in February's first game, he picked up a draw at title-chasers Oxford United in the league. Harriers then downed Forest Green before returning to Oxford to knock them out of the FA Trophy as the club booked a spot in the last four of the competition. There was the perfect follow-up, a 3-0 League win at home to Histon last Saturday. "Steve has had a fantastic start at Kidderminster and was a runaway winner in the vote for February's manager of the month," said Alan Alg...

By Wendy Gee - EASTLEIGH have silenced their critics by powering into the Blue Square South play-off zone. Ridiculed for an 8-2 home thrashing by Thurrock less than two weeks ago, the Spitfires have responded with three successive away victories to go fifth in the table. Following success on the road at Basingstoke and Staines, Ian Baird’s troops showed true grit last night to grind out a 2-1 win at relegation-battling Lewes. With striker Richard Gillespie straining his calf in the warm-up, Shaun McAuley returned after injury. Ross Bottomley was moved up front and the former AFC Totton man headed the Spitfires in front on six minutes after Sam Butler’s corner had been flicked on. Jean-Michel Sigere pulled the Rooks level on the half-hour before fit-again Tony Taggart – on as a substitute for the injured Butler – sent in another corner for on-loan Portsmouth defender Luke Wilkinson to head in the 40th-minute winner. “It was majorly important we got a result tonight,”...

LEWES 1-2 EASTLEIGH WEDNESDAY 3rd MARCH 2010 Blue Square South Report by Ray Murphy Manager Ian Baird originally named the starting eleven that had won at Staines Town four days earlier, but a calf injury to Richard Gillespie in the warm up saw a late change to the Eastleigh team sheet. With only twenty minutes to go before kick off, Gillespie had to withdraw for Shaun McAuley to replace. This change forced a slight reshuffle to the starting line up with Ross Bottomley moving up to a striker’s role allowing McAuley his position on the right flank and Peter Adeniyi into the centre of midfield. There was also the welcome returns of Tony Taggart and Warren Goodhind to the bench along with Brett Poate who stepped in to replace McAuley in the pre-match shuffle. The game could not have started better for Eastleigh though looking to gain their third successive away victory following their last home mauling at the hands of Thurrock. Sam Butler’s right wing in-swinging c...