Eastleigh 3-1 Hayes & Yeading

EASTLEIGH v HAYES & YEADING UNITED
Saturday 29th September 2012

Blue Square Bet South

By Jamie Montigue

Eastleigh's impressive start under Richard Hill continued as a hard-working performance from the Spitfires resulted in a third consecutive victory. The 3-1 score line was enough to see the club push up to 8th in the Blue Square Bet South having begun the afternoon in 13th.

Having seen off Maidenhead United by four goals to two the last time out in the league, Eastleigh today triumphed over Hayes & Yeading United at the Silverlake Stadium with two goals from Jai Reason and an excellent team goal and finish from captain Glen Southam.

The only change to the starting eleven from the side that moved into the next round of the FA Cup last weekend by beating Farnborough; saw former Barnet captain Mark Hughes make his first start for the club having returned from a pre-season injury. Moses Ademola was the player to make way as he begun on the substitutes bench.

With four minutes played, Damian Scannell attacked his marker with pace and strength and saw his dangerous low cross hacked clear by Dan Spence.

A minute later an Eastleigh free kick taken by left back Michael Green had to be turned around the post by the Hayes & Yeading United goalkeeper James Beasant, nephew of former Wimbledon and Southampton stopper Dave Beasant.

The hosts began the game brightly with some neat passages of passing play. Dale Binns and Damian Scannell looked to make a mark on the game with their attacking threat down the flanks. Whilst Jai Reason also saw a lot of the ball in the final third where he supported target man Craig McAllister.

A Manny Williams free kick for United on the edge of the Eastleigh penalty area was curled comfortably over the bar within the opening quarter of an hour.

The game went through an uneventful spell for ten minutes or so due to a couple of players in need of treatment to injuries.

JAI REASON brought the game to life as he opened the scoring to bag his first competitive goal for Eastleigh as the game approached half an hour of play. Reason, who joined the club from Braintree in the summer, was prolific in pre-season with five goals to his name. He broke the deadlock in today's game after McAllister's shot was parried by Beasant into Jai's path allowing him to fire into an empty net.

The visitors tried to apply some pressure having gone a goal down towards the end of the first half. Kudus Oyenuga made a strong run down the left and the Hayes & Yeading forward then weaved his way past a couple of Eastleigh defenders only for his shot to be blocked.

Eastleigh were forced to make their first change of the game as Osei Sankofa came off injured having sustained a facial injury with a brave bit of defending. Osei's replacement Mitchell Nelson slotted in at right back and picked up a yellow card within minutes of coming on to the pitch.

A skilful run by Oyenuga was then brought to a halt by a well-timed challenge from Andy Forbes as Hayes & Yeading did their best to find an equaliser.

A minute before the break, Luke Williams combined with Tobi Joseph to force a good save from the legs of Jack Dovey with an effort from 10 yards.

On the stroke of half time, Dale Binns was shown a yellow card for a late tackle.

At the break it was Jai Reason's first goal for the club that remained the difference between the two teams.

HALF TIME: Eastleigh 1-0 Hayes & Yeading United

Three minutes into the second half, a Michael Green free kick was deflected off the Hayes & Yeading wall and so nearly ended up in the back of the net with James Beasant already setting off in the opposite direction.

Tobi Joseph made a run down the right and fired a shot into the side netting for the visitors in the 49th minute and in the 54th, Oyenuga cut inside from the left to shoot - only for Eastleigh to scramble the ball clear of danger.

On the hour, positive play by Damian Scannell down the right saw the powerful winger pick out a pass for Mark Hughes. Hughes then teed up a shot for Binns whose effort was charged down well to prevent Beasant from having to make a save.

Eastleigh came close to a second goal when Jai Reason combined with Scannell to good effect, before the ball was played to Glen Southam. The captain’s left-foot effort curled agonisingly wide following excellent approach play and couldn't have been much closer to finding the back of the net.

Marvin Williams came on for Damian Scannell in the 67th minute as Richard Hill made his second substitution to introduce fresh legs.

GLEN SOUTHAM scored his second goal in as many league games to double Eastleigh's advantage two minutes later. It was a stunning team goal - extremely well worked and capped with the finish to match. Exquisite one-touch football from the Spitfires left Hayes & Yeading in a daze as hold-up play from McAllister and Reason combined with quick, intricate passing saw the ball fall for Southam who struck the ball sweetly to beat the keeper emphatically.

Shortly after going 2-0 ahead, Dale Binns shot from a tight angle out on the left and forced a save from Beasant to win a corner. From the resulting set piece, Binns was close to further extending Eastleigh's lead with a close range header that was somehow kept out on the line.

Jai Reason lifted the ball to the back post moments later where Dale Binns was again involved as he hit a first time volley narrowly off target.

Hayes & Yeading pulled a goal back seven minutes from time as TOBI JOSEPH punished a momentary lapse in concentration and positioning from the Eastleigh back line. Jerome Anderson provided the assist for Joseph to fire home low past Dovey.

Within seconds of the restart Daniel Wishart then fired into the side netting from Oyenuga’s through ball down the left which could have drawn the scores level late in the game.

Any doubt over which way the result would end up was answered with JAI REASON's second goal of the game to put the match beyond doubt and secure all three points for Eastleigh. Reason latched on to a precise pass to lift the ball delicately over the approaching goalkeeper to find the net in style.

In stoppage time Glen Southam had a goal ruled out for offside but it didn't matter as Eastleigh had already done the hard work to earn another three points with a productive display to get the job done.

Onwards and upwards!

FULL TIME: Eastleigh 3-1 Hayes & Yeading United
Eastleigh v Hayes & Yeading - 290912

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Deal sealed with Lawshield

Richard Hill

Eastleigh Res. 0-1 Tooting & Mitcham Utd Res.