Learning a hard lesson
By Wendy Gee - 
With the Spitfires ravaged by injury and suspension, Wilson was handed his first Blue Square Bet start against Bromley last Saturday.
He was the youngest of six teenagers in a youthful starting eleven which also included Jordace Holder-Spooner, Billy Tsovolos, Andrew White, Henrik Breimyr and Mark Cooper.
Leading the line is quite a responsibility for the former Wildern schoolboy, who spent a year at the Porstmouth academy and is one of the first batch of youngsters to venture into full-time football with Eastleigh's new player development scheme.
But Wilson, who turns 17 in October, is growing in confidence week by week and experienced team captain Jordan enjoys watching him and his fellow teens blossom.
He said: "The young ones are learning fast - and they need to.
"They're not just squad players, they're starters and regulars.
"The first few games of thes season were difficult, but you can already see progress with the young players. They all listen and want to learn.
"We've got to be patient with them. There are going to be a few ups and downs and I certainly didn't enjoy losing our first three games.
"But I enjoyed keeping our first clean sheet against Woking (a 0-0 draw) and the wins over Dorchester and Weston and I enjoy seeing the development of youngsters like Sam Wilson who's come into the side at 16."
Standing 6ft 5in tall, 30-year-old Jordan, an experienced former Bristol City, Southend, Tamworth and Havant & Waterlooville centre back, epitomises what the Blue Square Bet South is all about.
But for all his physical prowess, he says he would not have coped in such a tough environment at Wilson's tender age.
"When I was 16 I wouldn't have been mature enough to play at this level, but a lot of these lads are," he said.
"I played my first Football League game at 19 and started playing regularly for Tamworth at 20.
"Until then I was playing academy games for Bristol City and there wasn't the same pressure. I think this (Eastleigh) is a better environment for these lads to learn in.
"Just look at Aaron Martin (now of Southampton) and Brett Williams (now of Reading and on loan at Rotherham United) who have both done brilliantly.
"They came to Eastleigh, worked hard, learned their trade and are reaping the benefits.
"Hopefully we'll have another Aaron and another Brett in this group, depending on how quickly they learn.
"We've played seven games so far and you can tell they are now thinking about the team more rather than just thinking about themselves."
With their side top heavy with teenagers, it wasn't totally surprising that Eastleigh succumbed 2-0 to a physically superior Bromley side.
The first goal, a Harry Harding penalty, was conceded by Jordan and the second came when debut-making left-back Cooper was left exposed by a poor pass and gifted the ball to Danny Waldren. It was a bad goal to give away, but the skipper had some sympathy with former Bristol Rovers and Frome defender Cooper who had barely spoken to his teammates, let alone played with them.
"It was the first time I'd met Mark Cooper and that's a challenge in itself," said Jordan.
"We've only got a small squad and there are occasions when a new player will walk into the dressing room before a game, not know anyone and will be trying to find out people's names.
"Mark had a lot of pressure on him but he kept going and applied himself."
Another young left-back, Ben Wilson, had a torrid time of it against Basingstoke on the opening day - so much so that he was hauled off after 22 minutes and hasn't started since.
But the level-headed Itchen College student, who turned 17 in February, respected manager Ian Baird's decision to withdraw him from the heat of the battle.
"I was up against an absolute unit in Delano Sam-Yorke - he's massive," he said. "And if the manager sees a weak spot he's going to change it.
"We're a team and, for the good of the team, I will do what I'm told."
Wilson (no relation to West End neighbour Sam) is another on Eastleigh's full-time programme and is fitting his football around his studies.
A former Bitterne Park, school-boy, he joined Eastleigh two seasons ago, spent his first year playing for the under-16s and progressed to Darren Waterman's reserves last term.
"It's brilliant here," he smiled.
"The lads are top notch and it's a good environment to come to every day."
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