Baird praises Eastleigh's best half yet

By Wendy Gee - 

FAST-IMPROVING Eastleigh served up what manager Ian Baird labelled “our best 45 minutes of the season” on Saturday as they crushed Maidenhead United 4-1 – their fourth win from their last six Blue Square Bet South outings.

The Spitfires’ first-half wonder show made uncomfortable viewing for former Saints and Wimbledon goalkeeper Dave Beasant who watched on from the stands as his son Sam, the Magpies’ No1, was beaten by slick finishes from two-goal Jamie Slabber and Graeme Montgomery.

Daniel Brown threatened to spark a Maidenhead comeback with a cracking 52nd-minute strike, but the Spitfires rode the storm and struck again in stoppage time through debut-making loan signing Chris Flood from Dorchester.

The result hoisted Eastleigh into 14th place and, with a potentially winnable fixture at lowly Farnborough this Saturday, they will surely break into the top half soon if they can maintain this sort of form.

“The first half today was our best of the season,” said Baird. “The quality of the goals was outstanding.

“Chris Flood gave us energy and, from one to eleven, everyone played well.

“The finishes by Slabber and Montgomery would have graced any game and Slabber’s overall performance was superb.

“As the old adage goes, goals change games, and it makes such a difference when we finish our chances.

“In the second half we couldn’t dominate, but Maidenhead were 3-0 down and, if a team’s got anything about them, they are going to respond.

“We rode our luck a bit and were indebted to two great saves by (on-loan Saints keeper) Jack Dovey.

“Farnborough on Saturday is another important game and we can go there with confidence.

“When you consider all the criticism we had three weeks ago when we went out of the FA Cup to Oxford City, the reaction from the players has been superb, barring a poor 20 minutes at Chelmsford.”