Mason is King in Kong!

-
By Wendy Gee -


CHRIS Mason is on his way back to Eastleigh for pre-season training after scoring one of the goals of the tournament at the Hong Kong FC International Soccer Sevens.

The skilful midfielder, dual-signed at Southern Premier club Bashley last season, picked the ball up in his own half, ran on and let fly with a sizzling 35-yard strike to pull the Spitfires level in the final of the Plate competition.

That proved a turning point as Eastleigh went on to seal a 2-1 victory over the Yau Yee Select and bring the silverware back to Hampshire.

With Eastleigh boss Ian Baird looking to supplement his first-team squad with some promising youngsters next season, 19-year-old Mason will get his chance to shine when the players report back for pre-season training.

"Chris only went to Bashley on an informal loan and we fully expect him to be back with us in pre-season and he could well be part of the squad for next year," said Eastleigh's director of football David Malone.

"Chris was with Saints until the age of 15. He's a good lad and the year he's had at Bashley has done him the world of good."

As the only non-league side in Hong Kong, Eastleigh did themselves proud against such highbrow opponents as group rivals Aston Villa and Sunderland.

Villa, who went on to win the main tournament, included pedigree youngsters Nathan Delfouneso, Marc Albrighton and Ciaran Clark - all of whom boast first team experience with Martin O'Neill's Premiership side.

Having lost their opening two group games 2-0 to Sunderland and Villa, Eastleigh won the first of their meetings with Yau Yee 2-1.

Both teams went into the consolation Plate competition with Eastleigh beating Advance Double Flower 1-0 in the quarter-finals and Hong Kong FC Captain's Select 1-0 in the semi-final before encountering Yau Yee again.

And after Mason's long-distance heroics, it was striker Alex Easton, fresh from his Blue Square South debut for Eastleigh - who bagged the winner, earning himself an interview on Hong Kong TV.

Eastleigh's victorious squad included AFC Totton's former Silverlake pair Brett Williams and Michael Green, who had been to the tournament as Spitfires the previouse year.

"All the lads did well in Hong Kong. Brett Williams scored two good goals and I had at least two clubs asking about him," said Malone.

Eastleigh boss Baird was part of the Southampton Lloyds TSB All Stars competing in the masters section of the tournament.

They responded to a 1-0 opening day reverse against Hong Kong Veterans by beating Kowloon Cricket Club by the same scoreline.

But a 3-0 group defeat by Gallic All Stars sent them into the Plate quarter-final, which they lost 1-0 to Nottingham Forest Mobsters.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Deal sealed with Lawshield

-
Image
Eastleigh Football Club are delighted to unveil Lawshield as sponsors for the South Stand (opposite the clubhouse end) at the Silverlake Stadium for the 2012-2013 season. Lawshield have signed a deal with the club which sees the stand rebranded the Lawshield Stand and we hope the fans will embrace the newly named ‘Lawshield End'. Lawshield Managing Director Ken Specter commented:"It gives us great pleasure to continue our association with Eastleigh Football Club - we wish the whole team, both on the pitch and behind the scenes at the club all the best for the forthcoming season". Lawshield specialise in providing quality insurance products which are underwritten by leading insurers. Their products and services offer comprehensive cover and a seamless integrated service solution to Insurers, Brokers, Fleet Managers and Affinities. They provide a one stop shop offering outsourced claims assistance solutions for household insurance and personal/commercial motor insura
Read more

Richard Hill

-
Image
Eastleigh Football Club are delighted to announce Richard Hill as their new first team manager, with immediate effect. Richard will be introduced to the players and staff tomorrow evening and will take charge of his first match on Saturday against Maidenhead. Richard is vastly experienced having managed Stevenage Borough and assisted John Gregory at both Wycombe and QPR, Brian Little at Aston Villa and also fulfilled the same roles at Gillingham, Tranmere Rovers and Northampton Town. It is a new era for the football club and we feel that in appointing Richard we have made the right choice. We are confident that he has all the attributes necessary to ensure the football club continues to develop and move forward in the correct manner. Stewart Donald added ‘I am delighted that we have been able to appoint Richard so quickly. He is exactly the calibre of Manager I wanted. Like all managers that inherit a team, there will be a transitional period while he familiarises himself with
Read more

Eastleigh 3-1 Newport County

-
Image
EASTLEIGH V NEWPORT COUNTY MONDAY 12th MARCH 2007 Conference South So far so good, as Eastleigh pressed on with their busy schedule with a second comprehensive win in as many days. Yet another classy performance from the Spitfires saw them come out firing on all cylinders finding themselves two goals to the good in the blink of an eye, and just like they did in the Farnborough match at the weekend, they comfortably saw the game out. The only change from the winning side, saw Liam Green replace the injured David Hughes in the centre of midfield. Newport were panicking from the start with the excellent Steve Watts and Jamie Brown letting their presence be felt up the front, giving their opponents no time on the ball. The constant chasing down and pressure from the two Eastleigh forwards almost led to catastrophe in the third minute for Newport, as Stewart Edwards played across his own goal with his keeper missing the ball before it was eventually hacked away. Scorer of Eastl
Read more