Eastleigh FC

WELLING UNITED v EASTLEIGH TUESDAY 29th MARCH 2011 Blue Square Bet South Report by Ray Murphy For the second time in ten days Eastleigh faced a Welling United side that is flying high in the Conference South table despite having a five point deduction against them for a breach of league rules and Eastleigh in the same period also saw four goals conceded to the same side in both games. Jamie Slabber was missing through injury, which saw a first return to the starting line up for Jamie Brown leading the front line on his own. The side else remained the same that had beaten Woking the previous Saturday. Eastleigh took time to settle into the match and on six minutes were almost a goal behind when Luke Byles’ underhit back pass saw Lee Clarke in on goal, but Jason Matthews was quickly off his line to avert the danger. Matthews produced another fine stop on twelve minutes to deny Andy Pugh, the ball this time falling for Luis Chambers who only managed to fire over the bar. Anthony Ac...

Match Preview by Kieran James Ian Baird's Spitfires will travel away to Park View Road on Tuesday seeking revenge on The Wings, just ten days after the two teams met in the league. Third placed Welling United hammered the Spitfires nine days ago 4-1, but that result will be long forgotten as a new look Eastleigh were on the right end of a 4-1 demolition over in-form sixth-placed Woking on Saturday with two goals from Tony Taggart and one apiece from Jamie Slabber and Tom Jordan. The Wings' last game was away to fifth-placed Chelmsford City on Saturday and the match finished 0-2 to Welling United with Luis Cumbers scoring both goals for The Wings. Andrew Pugh will be the biggest threat to the Spitfires' back four, the striker has scored 16 in the league, level with Jamie Slabber, and the ex-Gillingham striker put two past Jason Matthews ten days ago. The Spitfires were in good form at Park View Road last season where Richard Gillespie and Ross Bottomley made sure Eas...

04 April Fixture List

EASTLEIGH v WOKING SATURDAY 26th MARCH 2011 Blue Square Bet South R eport by Jamie Montigue Eastleigh secured an emphatic victory over promotion rivals Woking to enhance the Spitfires' playoff credentials. It was a strong team performance from Eastleigh to beat a very in-form Woking team who had recorded eleven wins and a draw from their previous twelve league games. Ian Baird's side remain in eighth place but have played fewer games than all the teams above them and have narrowed the gap on the playoff positions to just two points with games in hand. This afternoon was the complete reverse of the heavy defeat to Welling last weekend, which Eastleigh put well and truly behind them; with a massive victory over Garry Hill's Woking. The Spitfires made four changes to the starting eleven from last Saturday. Ross Bottomley dropped out of the squad completely and was replaced by Warren Goodhind at right back. Danny Smith came back into the side following injury...

By Wendy Gee - EASTLEIGH will have one fewer danger man to worry about when they welcome play-off rivals Woking to the Silverlake Stadium tomorrow. Loan midfielder Kieran Murtagh, so instrumental in the Cards' terrific run under new boss Garry Hill, was yesterday recalled by his parent club Wycombe Wanderers. The 22-year-old, scorer of five goals in 13 appearances for Woking, was not due to return to Adams Park for another week. But the Antigua & Barbuda international is needed as cover for the injuries - much to the Spitfires' relief. "Garry Hill has made some very good signings for Woking and the most influential of them was Murtagh," said Eastleigh boss Ian Baird. "You can't take away from the fact that he'd been there for 12 league games and they'd won 11 of them." Baird and Hill have had run-ins in the past - not least when they were managers of Havant & Waterlooville and Weymouth respectively. Tony Taggart now an Eastleigh...

By Kieran James The Spitfires play the in-form Woking on Saturday at the Silverlake Stadium in the Blue Square Bet South. Coming in to this game Eastleigh have announced the signing of former Spitfire Jamie Brown. The powerful attacking midfielder/striker returned from Winchester City after being at the club only three months. Meanwhile Neil Sharp has been released by Eastleigh after just one appearance for the club, only two months after his return to the Spitfires. Woking have lost key player Kieran Murtagh as he has been recalled to Wycombe Wanderers to provide cover in midfield. The Cards have won ten of their last eleven league games and have drawn one. The Spitfires on the other hand have won five, lost four and have drawn twice out of their previous eleven league games. Woking have kept eleven clean sheets out of their last twenty games (five of which being away) and have failed to score three times (two of which being away). The Spitfires have kept six clean sheets out o...

By Wendy Gee -   JAMIE Brown is on his way back to Eastleigh just three months after parting company with the Blue Square Bet South play-off chasers following a breach of club discipline. The 29-year-old marksman was on the brink of rejoining another of his old clubs, Dorchester Town, on Monday having walked out on Sydenhams Wessex League leaders Winchester over the weekend after taking umbrage at criticism from City owner Paul McCarthy. Instead of playing for Winchester against Poole Town on Saturday, Brown was a spectator at the Silverlake Stadium for Eastleigh’s league defeat by Welling United. He spoke to Spitfires boss Ian Baird after the game and then rang him on Monday to say he was joining Dorchester. Brown, though, had intimated that he would prefer to re-join Eastleigh and, following discussions between Baird and director of football Dave Malone, they agreed to let bygones be bygones and welcome the braveheart targetman/midfielder back into the fold. “I was su...

Many of you will be surprised to learn that we are today expecting to complete the signing of Jamie Brown! Jamie left the Club earlier this season, and subsequently signed for Winchester City. However, the player agreed to move back to the Silverlake Stadium, in order to help us over the crucial remaining games of the season. We are certain that the 100% effort, commitment and desire that Browner always puts into every game, will be of considerable benefit to us in the coming weeks. Wecome back Jamie Brown!

Speaking to Radio Spitfire after this afternoon's 4-1 home defeat to Welling United, Eastleigh manager Ian Baird reflected on his disappointment: “Our first forty-five minutes performance was as bad as it has been since Staines last November. “The goals we conceded were horrendous by anybody’s stretch of the imagination. The manner we conceded the goals today, they were horrendous, horrendous." Baird added. “They (Welling) would have thought at half time they can’t believe it. That’s the most disappointing thing to me the goals we conceded. “We came out second half we had a bit of a go, they scored a good goal through Jamie Day, but when you concede three goals like that it is nigh impossible to get back in the game, its massively disappointing. “As I said to the players, the first half performance was disappointing, the score line 4-1 was disappointing and the manner of the first half performance was disappointing. “It’s disappointing to lose three points but we’ve got t...

EASTLEIGH v WELLING UNITED SATURDAY 19th MARCH 2011 Blue Square Bet South Report by Jamie Montigue Eastleigh’s play-off hopes suffered a set-back against promotion-seeking rivals Welling United at the Silverlake Stadium this afternoon. Spitfires manager Ian Baird described the goals that his side conceded as “horrendous” and that the first half performance from Eastleigh was “as bad as it has been since Staines (4-1 home defeat) last November”. The hosts only had themselves to blame in this top of the table clash with a rare poor defensive display, as Baird described: “The goals we conceded were horrendous by anybody’s stretch of the imagination.” This afternoon’s heavy defeat perhaps surprisingly came on the back of a rich vein of form from Eastleigh in recent weeks. Prior to this clash with Welling, Jason Matthews had kept three consecutive clean sheets in an unbeaten run of four games that included three successive wins over Chelmsford City, Bromley and Bishop’...

By Wendy Gee - IAN Baird admits that for the first time since leaving Havant & Waterlooville he was disappointed to see them lose on Monday night. The Eastleigh boss, who controversially swapped Havant's Westleigh Park for the Silverlake Stadium three-and-a-half years ago, was praying his old club would stop Blue Square Bet South leaders Braintree Town in their tracks. But although the Hawks led the Essex table toppers for almost 70 minutes after Jon McDonald had headed them one up early on, Braintree hit back with two goals in the last 20 minutes to nick a tight match 2-1. With ten games to go, it leaves The Iron seven points clear at the top, with the seven chasing teams - Ebbsfleet, Farnborough, Woking, Chelmsford, Welling, Eastleigh and Dover - seemingly battling it out for the four play-off spots. Baird, whose Spitfires side face another colossal home test against Welling tomorrow, said: "Speaking to Daishy (Liam Daish) at Ebbsfleet and knowing what Steve K...

Match preview by Kieran James Ian Baird's Spitfires play Welling United at the Silverlake Stadium on Saturday looking to add to their four match unbeaten run. After a 0-0 draw at Princes Park against Dartford on Tuesday, Eastleigh dropped to seventh place in the Blue Square Bet South but they will look to get back to winning ways and claim all three points against The Wings. Welling United sit in sixth place on level points with Eastleigh, however Welling United have a better goal difference. The Spitfires have an important game in hand on Welling United. The Wings have won four, drew one and have lost one out of their last six outings. They have kept two clean sheets and have not failed to score in any of those games. Eastleigh have won three, drew one and lost two out of their last six games. The Spitfires have kept three clean sheets in a row coming into this game, and have failed to score three times in their last six games. Eastleigh have kept seven clean sheet...

By Wendy Gee - Eastleigh have dropped a place to seventh in the Blue Square Bet South after drawing 0-0 at Dartford last night. The Spitfires went closest to nicking a tight game at Princes Park when skipper Tom Jordan headed against the crossbar. The 6ft 5in centre-back also forced a tip-over from the Darts keeper with another header. Eastleigh had travelled to Kent looking for their fourth straight league victory, but manager Ian Baird was reasonably happy with a draw that keeps them just a point outside the play-off zone. "It's a fourth game unbeaten and, in those, we've only conceded one goal which was a penalty," he said. "Any point away from home is decent, particularly against a Dartford side who have strengthened considerably and are on a run of one defeat in 12. "Every game is like a war of attrition at this stage of the season and we stood up to it well tonight. I'm pleased with our lads, they worked their socks off. "Ther...

DARTFORD v EASTLEIGH TUESDAY 15th MARCH Blue Square Bet South Report by Ray Murphy Eastleigh kept the same starting eleven that had secured all three points in their fixture at Bishop's Stortford three days earlier. Warren Goodhind returned to duties on the bench at the expense of Neil Sharp. Eastleigh were well worth their point taken and arguably edged to take all three as they slipped a place in the league table with fellow rivals Woking winning on the same evening. The first chance of note came on ten minutes for Eastleigh. Ian Herring's long throw into the area saw Tom Jordan help on but Jamie Slabber was unable to direct his header on goal. Both sides tried to create openings but often the approach work was not complemented by the end product. Slabber saw an effort beat the goalkeeper Andrew Young and rebound off the inside of the post but the striker was also adjudged to have been offside whilst the home side often relied on the left foot of right midfielder Ryan...

By Kieran James Eastleigh travel to Dartford on Tuesday night at Princes Park to try and continue their good run to get in to the Blue Square Bet South play-offs. The Darts in twelfth place, 16 points behind Eastleigh, have won three, drew two and have lost only one out of their last six games. Eastleigh on the other hand have won four and lost two out of their previous six games. The last time the two clubs met was in October at the Silverlake Stadium where the game finished 3-0 to The Spitfires. Goals from Richard Graham, Richard Gillespie and Anthony Riviere secured Eastleigh the three points on that occasion. Dartford have failed to score three times out of their last twenty previous games and have kept eight clean sheets (four of them being at home). Eastleigh have failed to score only two times out of their last twenty previous games and have kept six clean sheets (four of them being away). Eastleigh have scored 25 goals and have conceded only 16 goals this season a...

Mark Nwokeji's second goal in as many games helped Eastleigh to their third successive win on Saturday, as the Spitfires defeated Bishop's Stortford. The on-loan striker sealed the win with the only goal of the game following a glancing header in the 16th minute. Eastleigh manager Ian Baird reflected: "We should have been out of sight by half time." "We missed a hatful of chances which made the second half quite tentative, whereas if we'd got a second goal Stortford would have collapsed. "Conditions weren't easy on a windy day with a hard, bobbly pitch, but we played really well in the first half. "At this stage of the season, it doesn't matter how you win as long as you get the three points." Eastleigh are currently ten points behind leaders Braintree, having played fewer games than all those above them, but Baird will not be dragged into title talk. "It's an old adage, but we're just taking one game at a tim...

03 March Fixture List - Revision 2

BISHOP'S STORTFORD 0-1 EASTLEIGH SATURDAY 12th MARCH Blue Square Bet South Report by Ray Murphy For the second season running Eastleigh came away from Woodside Park with a single goal victory. This was not the most convincing of Eastleigh displays but at this stage of the season a win is vitally important more than the performance. It is the same circumstances for the home side as Stortford had only managed one victory in their last thirteen matches and have now failed to score at home in their last four matches. Disappointment for them seeing manager Mark Simpson removed from his position after the match. Eastleigh had to give late fitness tests to Ross Bottomley and Jamie Slabber who both came through them whilst Danny Smith and Warren Goodhind are close to returning to the squad from their hamstrings injuries. Anthony Riviere was also missing with a groin injury. This meant the first start for Eastleigh for Mark Nwokeji who again showed his lethal pace in the opening hal...

By Wendy Gee - IAN Baird admits it deeply disappoints him when his Eastleigh team are written off as a 'long ball side'. The Spitfires, away to Bishop's Stortford tomorrow, have everything to play for in the Blue Square Bet South, sitting just a point outside the play-off zone in sixth place. By Baird's own admission they didn't get the ball down and play the football they are capable of during Tuesday's 1-0 home win over Bromley. But the ex-Saint is sick and tired of people constantly knocking his side - including some of Eastleigh's own fans. "We've got (top scorer) Jamie Slabber 99 per cent out with a calf strain tomorrow, but luckily Richard Gillespie is fit again, and with Mark Nwokeji and Shaun McAuley, we've got plenty of options up front," said Baird. "But it doesn't matter which way we set up, we're always going to be criticised. "It disappoints me that people call us a long ball side, it really does. I us...

By Jamie Montigue Eastleigh Res v Team Solent: Gareth Barfoot, Jordan O'Donnell, Ben Wilson, Charlie Bailey, Joe Crook (c), Liam Hibberd, Toby Osman (Sam House 77), Chris Mason, Ben Chambers, Sam Wilson (Will Aimson 61), Liam Robinson (Justin Grandison 49). Southampton Senior Cup Semi-Final,  played at Sholing FC Eastleigh started the game well with good pressure as Chris Mason hit the post after two minutes, and then just three minutes later, the Spitfires forced another save out of the Team Solent goalkeeper when Liam Robinson's snap shot was on target. Ben Chambers was the next to come close for the Spitfires' youngsters closely followed by striker Sam Wilson, whose 25-yard stinging effort proved too hot to handle for the keeper. On the stroke of half time, first team goalkeeper Gareth Barfoot - who played this evening for match practice following a recent suspension -  made an important double save to keep Team Solent out. Team Solent had an early chance in th...

By Kieran James Ian Baird's Spitfires travel to Bishop's Stortford on Saturday at Woodside Park in the Blue Square Bet South.   The Bishops were formed in 1874 situated in Hertfordshire and sit in 16th place in the league with 31 points, 22 points behind Eastleigh. The last game between these two teams was at The SIlverlake Stadium where the match finished 1-2 to Bishop's Stortford back in August. Reading striker Brett Williams scored the only Eastleigh goal in The Spitfires' first game of the season.   The Spitfires have won seven out of fourteen away games in the league this season, three of them being losses whereas Bishop's Stortford have only won four at home this season out of sixteen - ten of them which have been defeats.   Bishop's Stortford have lost five out of there last six games and drew one, whereas Eastleigh have won four and have lost two.   This will be Eastleigh's first away game in one month after five straight home games in the league...

EASTLEIGH v BROMLEY TUESDAY 8th MARCH 2011 Blue Square Bet South Report by Jamie Montigue Eastleigh sealed back to back victories at the Silverlake Stadium by securing all three points against Bromley tonight. Ian Baird’s side have moved up to sixth in the Blue Square Bet South table as they edge ever closer to the play-off positions with games in hand. Mark Nwokeji scored his first goal for the club in the 66th minute, which proved to be decisive. Richard Gillespie had a golden opportunity to kill the game towards the end only to fire agonisingly wide of the post when clean through. It was a close run game but the Spitfires defended well to keep an excellent clean sheet against a pacy counter-attacking side, and most importantly added three more points to their league tally. Eastleigh named an unchanged starting eleven to the side that beat fellow promotion hopefuls Chelmsford by two goals to one on Saturday. With just a minute on the clock, Brett Poate fired an ambitious ...