Eastleigh 2-1 Hayes

EASTLEIGH V HAYES

TUESDAY 15TH AUGUST 2006
Conference South

The Spitfires maintained their unbeaten start to this season’s league campaign after coming back from a goal behind to take all three points. Eastleigh showed exactly the kind of spirit that was needed despite having so many players missing and amid the striker crisis, a treble substitution from Paul Doswell turned the game with a Matt Bound penalty and Steve Forbes header sealing the win in what was a solid performance.

Hayes had the opening chance of the game after only 4 minutes. A cross from the right went all the way to the back post where Liam Feeney’s miss kick fell perfectly for Kieran Knight but fortunately for Eastleigh the effort was a let off as the striker failed to trouble Paul Musselwhite with his header.

Despite David Hughes becoming the proud father of his new baby girl recently, he certainly did not show any signs of this affecting his game. The former Saints man showed exactly why he is such a hit at this level of football by displaying his excellent vision. Two other new signings that were making the home league debut were none other than Dell legends Jason Dodd and Francis Benali who are now reunited after over a decade of football together at Southampton. Both players were always one step ahead of everyone else as their vast amount of experience shone through for all to see.

In the 13th minute of the game, David Hughes created a quick moving Eastleigh attack with another superb pass finding Dave Town down the right flank. Town held the ball up winning the throw in and from it a Jason Dodd cross only just missed the outstretched leg of Brian Dutton.

After a brief scare on 16 minutes where Kieran Knight of Hayes had an effort pushed over the bar by Musselwhite, Eastleigh were again on the prowl. A clever one-two between Hughes and Dodd allowed the former Saints right back to whip in a looping cross from deep to pick out the captain Danny Smith whose header came agonisingly close to breaking the deadlock.

The home side began to get more and more into their rhythm as the game wore on with Darren Wheeler lighting up the game with his trickery and pace, whilst Hughes simply couldn’t keep out of the game. His pass to Brian Dutton led to the ball being played in behind the Hayes defence for Dave Town who hit Eastleigh’s first shot on target but really it lacked any power to cause danger to Kevin Davies, the Hayes keeper.

An excellent delivery from Dodd saw a Rob Marshall header fly over the bar as Eastleigh continued to threaten, look lively and press for the all important first goal.

Just when things looked to be going in favour of the new look Eastleigh, Hayes struck in the 38th minute through Shaun McAuley. Kieran Knight played the ball through to the Hayes midfielder who coolly chipped the ball past Musselwhite and into the net as the visitors took an unlikely lead against the run of play.

HALF TIME – Eastleigh 0-1 Hayes

At the start of the second half Eastleigh nearly found the equaliser although despite good build up play from Wheeler and Benali, new signing Lee Hall (a young striker that has joined from Fulham) failed to get his header on target.

David Hughes won a free kick shortly, 25 yards from goal, and from it Wheeler teed the ball up for Matt Bound only to see his left footed low driven strike deflected for a corner. The Spitfires continued to mount the pressure on their opponents with consecutive corners but at this point in the game it seemed unlikely that Eastleigh would score due to a distinct lack of strike power up front.

However, the turning point in the game came when an inspired tactical change and three new players turned the match on its head. Paul Doswell brought on Liam Green, Martin Thomas and Steve Forbes for Brian Dutton, Lee Hall and Dave Town, and it was Thomas that proved to be the biggest threat – as a striker!

The change resulted in good with an immediate effect. Only two minutes after the substitutions a Paul Musselwhite long kick was helped on its way by Steve Forbes to makeshift centre forward Martin Thomas who skilfully flicking the ball on further. The pass went straight to Danny Smith who burst through the Hayes defence from midfield and as he got into the area a clumsy and unfair challenge led to a penalty kick for Eastleigh, from which Matt Bound found the equaliser. Bound, who incidentally missed from 12 yards in a pre-season friendly against Bashley, made no mistake this time sending the keeper the wrong way, nestling the ball in the bottom left hand corner of the net.

With renewed confidence and hope, Eastleigh were all of a sudden looking increasingly dangerous coming forward and it was only a matter of time before they grabbed the winner. After a couple of half-chances that fell to Knight and Ashe of Hayes, Paul Doswell’s Eastleigh side completed the come back with yet another exquisite passing move. After playing a part in the equaliser, ‘Tommo’ played the role of the architect in Eastleigh’s second goal. Having kept the ball in play on the left hand side of goal, the usual hard man defender now uncanny centre forward, lofted the ball up for fellow second half sub Steve Forbes, who made the finish look easy with a great header wrapping up the win in a more than satisfactory style.

The result is very pleasing as it shows the strength, character and depth of the squad because despite all resources in the striker department being stretched to the extreme, somehow Eastleigh got the win that in the end they thoroughly deserved. Couple with this the comfort that with the 7 or 8 players returning things will only get better, we are in for a fantastic season. Keep up the support!

FULL TIME – Eastleigh 2-1 Hayes

JAMIE MONTIGUE