Saints edge scrappy encounter at injury-hit Eastleigh
EASTLEIGH 0-1 ST ALBANS CITY
SATURDAY 6th MARCH 2010
Blue Square South
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off in the first half, followed by the equally crushing blow of both Andy Forbes and Anthony Riviere having to be withdrawn prematurely later in the game.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 after his return from Spain, meanwhile wingers Shaun McAuley and Tony Taggart both started following their return from injuries ahead of schedule.
Young centre back Luke Wilkinson who is on loan from Portsmouth, made his home debut following his recent arrival at the club.
The hosts were the first to threaten once the game got underway as Shaun McAuley forced an early set piece on the near side. Brett Poate’s in-swinging corner was tipped on to the cross bar by veteran Saints keeper, Paul Bastock in the sixth minute.
Despite Eastleigh appearing to be on the front foot in the opening stages, it was the visitors who broke the deadlock with a 12th minute goal that proved to be decisive. A long ball forward from St. Albans saw Wilkinson head the ball back towards his keeper Lumley. The state of the pitch made the youngster’s attempted back pass look a lot worse that it was as the ball stopped dead instead of rolling safely through. DREW ROBERTS pounced on the loose ball which didn’t carry and promptly rounded the stranded Lumley before applying the finishing touch to the left of goal.
Danny Smith won a free kick just outside of the penalty area at the opposite end soon after the goal. Brett Poate stepped up but could only manage blazing the ball powerfully into the wall. The ball dropped seemingly kindly for Andy Forbes in front of goal, but the striker couldn’t capitalise on the opportunity.
Following a neat interchange between Forbes and Taggart on the far side, Eastleigh won a corner from which, Tom Jordan rose high to head comfortably over the bar.
At this midway stage in the game, it was one-way traffic in favour of Eastleigh. St. Albans despite their lead, failed to get out of their own half as the hosts dominated possession; albeit with little cutting edge or quality in front of goal.
Taggart was seeing a lot of the ball out on the left and had a cross cleared by Peter Smith before delivering from the same flank once more that saw Forbes dummy the ball in the middle only for the visitors to clear.
St. Albans’ defender Rob Magwood bravely prevented Anthony Riviere converting yet another dangerous ball in to the box by Taggart. Riviere charged forward to connect with the cross but saw his shot from six-yards blocked off for a corner kick.
Ross Bottomley showed promise in attack by winning a number of attacking headers and holding the ball up well. It was just unfortunate that Eastleigh couldn’t find a way through or get that little bit of luck that their pressure perhaps deserved.
The first of Eastleigh’s casualties in a disastrous afternoon of injuries for the Spitfires saw captain Tom Jordan caught by a poor, late tackle that unbelievably went unpunished by referee Anthony Coggins. The centre back was stretchered off the pitch and was in need of a trip to hospital. Baird was forced into making his first change, introducing Aaron Cook into the heart of the Eastleigh defence.
Play continued with the goal scorer Roberts testing Lumley from range with a low, driven snapshot from 25 yards. The Eastleigh stopper made a good save getting behind the shot and watching the ball all the way into his gloves.
It wasn’t until the 33rd minute that Eastleigh managed to force Paul Bastock into a save. The chance came from arguably the hosts’ best move of the game as the ball was spread from right to left with Ross Bottomley creating space by cutting in from the far side of the pitch. The versatile Eastleigh man might have had a shot himself as it opened up ahead of him but instead opted to tee up Danny Smith to his right. Smith’s well-struck and powerful effort saw Bastock make an equally impressive stop before smothering the ball.
Eight minutes before the break, Eastleigh thought they had drawn level when Tony Taggart’s close range header from a corner was stabbed home by Luke Wilkinson, just to make sure it had definitely crossed the line. With the ball nestled in the back of the net, Eastleigh’s celebrations of an ‘equaliser’ were short-lived as Coggins dubiously spotted a supposed infringement.
In the next attack, Shaun McAuley broke up the pitch at great speed and went for goal with a speculative effort that in the end was far too high to pose a problem.
With Eastleigh appearing to be up against twelve men due to the number of decisions going against them by the match officials, it was St. Albans who held a narrow lead at the end of a frustrating first half for Ian Baird’s side.
Barely a minute had passed since the restart when Eastleigh were dealt another cruel blow. Having lost 11-goal Richard Gillespie to a calf injury on Wednesday night, the last thing Eastleigh needed was to see fellow goal-scoring hero Andy Forbes leave the field on a stretcher following another bad challenge on a playing surface that may well have contributed to the problem as Andy lost his footing when tackled.
Lee Roache was sent on as an early second half substitute in replace of Forbes.
St. Albans may well have doubled their lead in the 52nd minute were it not for a superbly well-timed, last ditch challenge by Luke Wilkinson on James Lindie who otherwise was in the clear.
Three minutes later, McAuley left a couple of opposing defenders in his wake as he drifted in from the left and fired a decent shot towards goal.
On the hour mark, Eastleigh were awarded a free kick in a dangerous position which Brett Poate played deviously short to Anthony Riviere who blazed a long way off target.
After Billy Lumley displayed safe hands and fine composure to claim the ball well from a St. Albans corner, Eastleigh sustained a third injury when Riviere picked up a heavy knock.
With the exception of just one or two half chances falling to the visitors, the game lost it’s way and dragged for long periods of time.
In the closing stages of the game, even with five minutes of additional time added on for injuries, Eastleigh just didn’t come close to getting anything from the game and simply didn’t test the keeper anywhere near enough unfortunately.
In fact it was St. Albans who looked more like scoring with Chris Sullivan’s clean strike forcing Lumley into a 90th minute save.
Despite the loss, Eastleigh remain in fifth place thanks to other results going their way; at least for the time being having played two or three more games than the teams below them in sixth, seventh and eighth.
With two more games at the Silverlake Stadium to follow consecutively, Eastleigh will be hoping to transform their away form into the coming games on their own turf.
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 after his return from Spain, meanwhile wingers Shaun McAuley and Tony Taggart both started following their return from injuries ahead of schedule.
Young centre back Luke Wilkinson who is on loan from Portsmouth, made his home debut following his recent arrival at the club.
The hosts were the first to threaten once the game got underway as Shaun McAuley forced an early set piece on the near side. Brett Poate’s in-swinging corner was tipped on to the cross bar by veteran Saints keeper, Paul Bastock in the sixth minute.
Despite Eastleigh appearing to be on the front foot in the opening stages, it was the visitors who broke the deadlock with a 12th minute goal that proved to be decisive. A long ball forward from St. Albans saw Wilkinson head the ball back towards his keeper Lumley. The state of the pitch made the youngster’s attempted back pass look a lot worse that it was as the ball stopped dead instead of rolling safely through. DREW ROBERTS pounced on the loose ball which didn’t carry and promptly rounded the stranded Lumley before applying the finishing touch to the left of goal.
Danny Smith won a free kick just outside of the penalty area at the opposite end soon after the goal. Brett Poate stepped up but could only manage blazing the ball powerfully into the wall. The ball dropped seemingly kindly for Andy Forbes in front of goal, but the striker couldn’t capitalise on the opportunity.
Following a neat interchange between Forbes and Taggart on the far side, Eastleigh won a corner from which, Tom Jordan rose high to head comfortably over the bar.
At this midway stage in the game, it was one-way traffic in favour of Eastleigh. St. Albans despite their lead, failed to get out of their own half as the hosts dominated possession; albeit with little cutting edge or quality in front of goal.
Taggart was seeing a lot of the ball out on the left and had a cross cleared by Peter Smith before delivering from the same flank once more that saw Forbes dummy the ball in the middle only for the visitors to clear.
St. Albans’ defender Rob Magwood bravely prevented Anthony Riviere converting yet another dangerous ball in to the box by Taggart. Riviere charged forward to connect with the cross but saw his shot from six-yards blocked off for a corner kick.
Ross Bottomley showed promise in attack by winning a number of attacking headers and holding the ball up well. It was just unfortunate that Eastleigh couldn’t find a way through or get that little bit of luck that their pressure perhaps deserved.
The first of Eastleigh’s casualties in a disastrous afternoon of injuries for the Spitfires saw captain Tom Jordan caught by a poor, late tackle that unbelievably went unpunished by referee Anthony Coggins. The centre back was stretchered off the pitch and was in need of a trip to hospital. Baird was forced into making his first change, introducing Aaron Cook into the heart of the Eastleigh defence.
It wasn’t until the 33rd minute that Eastleigh managed to force Paul Bastock into a save. The chance came from arguably the hosts’ best move of the game as the ball was spread from right to left with Ross Bottomley creating space by cutting in from the far side of the pitch. The versatile Eastleigh man might have had a shot himself as it opened up ahead of him but instead opted to tee up Danny Smith to his right. Smith’s well-struck and powerful effort saw Bastock make an equally impressive stop before smothering the ball.
Eight minutes before the break, Eastleigh thought they had drawn level when Tony Taggart’s close range header from a corner was stabbed home by Luke Wilkinson, just to make sure it had definitely crossed the line. With the ball nestled in the back of the net, Eastleigh’s celebrations of an ‘equaliser’ were short-lived as Coggins dubiously spotted a supposed infringement.
In the next attack, Shaun McAuley broke up the pitch at great speed and went for goal with a speculative effort that in the end was far too high to pose a problem.
With Eastleigh appearing to be up against twelve men due to the number of decisions going against them by the match officials, it was St. Albans who held a narrow lead at the end of a frustrating first half for Ian Baird’s side.
HALF TIME: Eastleigh 0-1 St. Albans City
Barely a minute had passed since the restart when Eastleigh were dealt another cruel blow. Having lost 11-goal Richard Gillespie to a calf injury on Wednesday night, the last thing Eastleigh needed was to see fellow goal-scoring hero Andy Forbes leave the field on a stretcher following another bad challenge on a playing surface that may well have contributed to the problem as Andy lost his footing when tackled.
Lee Roache was sent on as an early second half substitute in replace of Forbes.
St. Albans may well have doubled their lead in the 52nd minute were it not for a superbly well-timed, last ditch challenge by Luke Wilkinson on James Lindie who otherwise was in the clear.
Three minutes later, McAuley left a couple of opposing defenders in his wake as he drifted in from the left and fired a decent shot towards goal.
On the hour mark, Eastleigh were awarded a free kick in a dangerous position which Brett Poate played deviously short to Anthony Riviere who blazed a long way off target.
After Billy Lumley displayed safe hands and fine composure to claim the ball well from a St. Albans corner, Eastleigh sustained a third injury when Riviere picked up a heavy knock.
With the exception of just one or two half chances falling to the visitors, the game lost it’s way and dragged for long periods of time.
In the closing stages of the game, even with five minutes of additional time added on for injuries, Eastleigh just didn’t come close to getting anything from the game and simply didn’t test the keeper anywhere near enough unfortunately.
In fact it was St. Albans who looked more like scoring with Chris Sullivan’s clean strike forcing Lumley into a 90th minute save.
Despite the loss, Eastleigh remain in fifth place thanks to other results going their way; at least for the time being having played two or three more games than the teams below them in sixth, seventh and eighth.
With two more games at the Silverlake Stadium to follow consecutively, Eastleigh will be hoping to transform their away form into the coming games on their own turf.
FULL TIME: Eastleigh 0-1 St. Albans City
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