Maidenhead clear and deserved winners

EASTLEIGH v MAIDENHEAD UNITED



SATURDAY 17th OCTOBER 2009
Blue Square South

Report by Jamie Montigue

Maidenhead United came to the Silverlake Stadium this afternoon in fine form with 13 points from a possible 15 in their past five games. Johnson Hippolyte’s side were in no mood for niceties as they looked to continue their impressive run.

Eastleigh had appeared to turn a corner in recent weeks after a fairly average start to the campaign, by recording some good results and displaying excellent performances over the past month or so including a comprehensive 2-0 win over league rivals Basingstoke Town in the FA Cup last weekend.

The Spitfires manager Ian Baird called for continuity from his side in the build up to this game, and though his side showed early promise it turned out to be a game of misery and disappointment for the hosts who were comfortably beaten by a solid, hard-working Magpies side.

Amid all the speculation of a dream move to Southampton for highly rated Spitfires defender Aaron Martin; the talented youngster was not included in Ian Baird’s squad this afternoon following an injury sustained in midweek whilst playing for Southampton’s reserves. The 19-year-old is thought to have made a very positive impression to all of the coaching staff at the League One club especially manager Alan Pardew who is likely to step up his interest in Martin.

In Aaron’s absence, Eastleigh just didn’t look the same at the back and struggled to cope against a powerful front line. No disrespect to Warren Goodhind, who came in to fill the void left by Martin, but something was missing today in the heart of the defence whether that be a coincidence is down to personal opinion.

Tony Taggart made a particularly bright start to the game this afternoon as he helped the hosts get on the front foot from the off by running at Jamal Fyfield, the Maidenhead left back, with real purpose and skill. With just two minutes played the tricky winger, Eastleigh’s top goalscorer from the last campaign, turned his marker inside out showing excellent foot work only for his dangerous low cross from the flank to be cut out exceptionally well at the near post by goalkeeper Chris Tardif.

Eastleigh had a number of set pieces inside the opening ten minutes but nothing materialised despite some decent deliveries from Brett Poate. Poate came closest to a breakthrough with a dipping left foot effort from outside the box and to the right hand side following good play from Taggart and a typically strong challenge to win possession from the ever-reliable Danny Smith (who incidentally is making the right back slot his own).

With ten minutes on the clock, a cross from Peter Adeniyi saw Maidenhead struggle to deal with the ball in to the six-yard box as the clearance was missed at the near post. There were three white shirts on hand to stab the ball home from close range however Richard Gillespie was penalised for a foul on the keeper.

Five minutes later, a looping cross from Danny Smith saw target man James Taylor nod the ball back into the danger zone for Anthony Riviere to pull the trigger and fire narrowly wide of the post. Some sections of the Eastleigh faithful in the main stand were wrong to be celebrating a ‘goal’ as the ball brushing the side of the net appeared to be deceiving and play tricks on the eye.

Having had the better of the play and chances inside the first quarter of an hour, Eastleigh perhaps took the foot of the gas as Maidenhead started to get going by creating opportunities of their own; none more prominent than a glorious opening in the 18th minute when Kieron St Amie put the ball on a plate for the completely unmarked Staforde Palmer.

With the goal at his mercy, Palmer will have been disappointed not to have at very least tested the keeper or got his header on target when it looked harder to miss. It was certainly an excellent chance for the visitors to take the lead and at the same time a real wake up call for Eastleigh.

Jamie White on loan from the Saints and in his second game for the Spitfires forced a free kick on the left having beaten two opponents for pace but being unfairly held back. Nothing came of this, instead the Magpies were able to take charge going forward in this open, high tempo game.

The deadlock was broken in the 24th minute direct from a free kick and it was Maidenhead who found themselves in front. Conceding a free kick 25 yards out in a central position is never a great situation to be in, particularly when the opposition have a player of WILL HENDRY’s calibre who can hit them. The former Hayes & Yeading United playmaker who starred in their promotion campaign to the Blue Square Premier last season, let fly with the free kick and picked out the top corner to Jason Matthews’ right, much to the dismay of Eastleigh.

What was a high tempo, open game slowed down somewhat becoming a little scrappy in places.

Eastleigh were disappointing in the way their deliveries into the box were all too close to one-time Spitfires stopper Tardif on several occasions.

Jamie White had a cross scrambled away before Poate’s deep free kick presented James Taylor with a goal scoring chance ten minutes before the break. Stealing in ahead of his marker to attack the ball in to the box, Taylor’s diving header was just inches wide of the upright.

Suddenly on the ascendancy, Eastleigh went in search of an equaliser. Taylor held the ball up before laying off into the path of Taggart who unleashed a powerful driven effort that was blocked by Tardif to take the sting off the shot before being smothered safely at the second attempt.

On the stroke of half time, a Poate delivery from the left was headed home by James Taylor to find the back of the net. Immediately the flag went up from the referee’s assistant, though referee Lee Collins was unsure and had to discuss the incident with his assistant as to whether Taylor’s effort should stand. A moment or two later, the goal was ruled out denying what would have been the perfect end to a far from perfect opening 45 minutes for Eastleigh.

HALF TIME: Eastleigh 0-1 Maidenhead United

A minute into the second half, Eastleigh showed signs of nerves with Goodhind’s back pass narrowly evading danger as Matthews got to the ball ahead of Palmer to scramble away.

Baird made an early change shortly after the break with Andy Forbes replacing James Taylor in attack.

Jamie White perhaps didn’t see enough of the ball as he would have liked to, which is a shame as when both he and Taggart were in possession, they looked to create and put the Maidenhead defence under some strain. The pacy Southampton loanee ran through the middle of the park in the 49th minute leaving defenders behind him before drilling a low shot from 20 yards, which in the end proved to be a comfortable take for Tardif.

Richard Gillespie did his best in attack and played well but unfortunately just didn’t get the service today to build on his goal scoring exploits of late. The willing runner forced a free kick just yards outside the box though Poate’s set piece was cleared by Maidenhead.

White and Taggart then combined to great effect with the diminutive Saints forward lofting a pinpoint pass over the defence to find Taggart only for his cross from the right to run out of play.

This proved to be White’s last involvement in today’s game, as Baird sent on Shaun McAuley in the 55th minute. McAuley looked to make an immediate impression with a burst of pace and an excellent ball into the box shortly after his introduction. Sadly, it was the familiar theme of having no one there to make it count for Eastleigh.

At the opposite end, Sam Collins spotted Jason Matthews off his line and from an acute angle attempted to lob the keeper only to see his effort fly high and wide.

Soon after, Eastleigh had what looked a clear penalty turned down as Forbes headed on a long ball from Matthews. Anthony Riviere was clearly held back inside the area but the referee was uninterested. Had this been given with Maidenhead just one goal to the good at this point, the Spitfires may well have drawn level and could have gone on to securing a positive result – unfortunately for the home side neither happened.

Staforde Palmer continued to trouble Eastleigh’s defence and sprinted past Jordan to fire in a decent shot that was well held by Matthews.

Two minutes later, a monstrous long throw from St Amie saw confusion, panic and poor defending in front of the Eastleigh goal as two defenders went for the same ball and a haphazard clearance was duly punished as the Magpies doubled their advantage. STAFORDE PALMER executed the perfect volley from 8 yards leaving Matthews absolutely no chance and Eastleigh with an uphill struggle to turn their fortunes around.

Brett Williams came on for Gillespie, but with Maidenhead quite content with their two-goal cushion and sitting back to soak up any pressure that came their way, Williams didn’t get many opportunities for a strike at goal.

The Spitfires had a lot of set pieces in the final third but never really tested the keeper. With Baird’s side pushing forward there was a lot of space in the middle to be exploited as Maidenhead proved with a number of counter attacks.

Will Hendry bent a free kick around the wall and into the arms of Matthews in the 74th minute.

Peter Adeniyi did not enjoy the best of games today by his high standards as both he and Riviere struggled with the midfield battle and to offer much going forward like they are more than capable of.

The game was dead and buried with 14 minutes remaining as Maidenhead United more or less sealed the game with a third goal, one which was by far and away the pick of the bunch and probably a contender for Blue Square South goal of the month.

Catching Taggart in possession on the half way line, WILL HENDRY drove forward with a mesmerising run escaping tackle after tackle before playing a neat one-two with St Amie, getting the ball back and providing a sublime finish from 18 yards to put the ball beyond Matthews and round off an excellent solo effort.

McAuley offered the best bit of play in response for Eastleigh and saw his trickery open up some space just outside the area for a shot that came back off the foot of the post with the keeper left flat-footed and beaten.

Five minutes from time, Riviere played the ball in to McAuley who had a clean sight of goal and forced a fine stop from Tardif.

The last of the action saw Tom Jordan put Tardif under pressure from a high ball into the box. The Maidenhead keeper had come a long way off his line and spilled the ball as a result of Jordan’s aerial presence. Dropping to Andy Forbes, the ball was smashed back on the volley but was wayward and off target as Maidenhead ran out clear and deserved winners in a game that Eastleigh will want to put behind them at the earliest opportunity.

FULL TIME: Eastleigh 0-3 Maidenhead United

Match pictures by Jamie Montigue - Check out the gallery here: