Eastleigh FC

We regret that the proposed friendly with Portsmouth tonight (Monday) has been called off. A small section of the pitch has not thawed, and with temperatures set to plummet again this evening, we have reluctantly postponed the game. Guy Whittingham and Ian Woane came over at luch time, and along with Bairdy we all agreed that the risk of injury was not one any of us were prepared to take. We are also mindful that the really cold weather would detract from a decent possible attendance and perhaps endanger safety - thus the decision to put the game off. We have agreed with PFC to re-arrange the fixture as soon as a better spell of weather looks imminent (subject to a mutually convenient date).

Today's game at St. Albans has been called off due to a frozen Clarence Park pitch, following a pitch inspection this morning.

WOKING v EASTLEIGH TUESDAY 23rd NOVEMBER 2010 Blue Square Bet South Report by Ray Murphy Eastleigh returned to the scene of their disappointing FA Cup exit exactly a month earlier for this Blue Square Bet South fixture, with the hosts still in a buoyant mood from their later cup matches against Brighton & Hove Albion, the replay being just seven days earlier at the Kingfield Stadium. There was 4193 in attendance for the Brighton fixture, the draw of Eastleigh though for a league fixture was only 654. The Woking line up was the same that had won at Dover three days earlier in an FA Trophy fixture, whilst Eastleigh had Warren Goodhind replacing Ross Bottomley at full back and Peter Adeniyi coming into the side replacing Brett Williams leaving Gillespie as the only recognised striker in the side bringing a change of system to combat the fast raiding Woking wingers and strike force prevalent in the recent cup fixture. In a tentative start to the fixture Woking had the first cha

By Adrian Kajumba -   IAN BAIRD says the return of Paul Doswell will add a “large amount of spice” to Eastleigh’s FA Trophy first-round tie against Sutton United. The Spitfires were paired with the Ryman Premier Division leaders in yesterday's draw, setting up an emotional return to the Silverlake Stadium for Us manager Doswell. Doswell made his managerial name with Eastleigh, leading the club on their meteoric rise from the Wessex League to the Conference South. He won’t be the only member of the Sutton squad returning to Eastleigh. Ex-Silverlake favourite, striker Andy Forbes, is currently on loan at Sutton from Woking, while another popular ex-Spitfire, goalkeeper Wayne Shaw, is a coach at the Londoners. Karim El-Salahi, Steve Watts and Karl Murray are three other Sutton players who will come up against their former employers. Spitfires boss Baird said: “Obviously there is a lot of history between Eastleigh and Paul Doswell and that will add a large amount of spice

We are delighted to confirm that today we were contacted by Portsmouth FC - who have asked that we play a friendly against them on Monday of next week - 29th November - (ko 7.45pm). Portsmouth will be fielding a strong team including many 1st team squad players. Normal entry prices will apply - and (of course) we look forward to a large crowd at the game.

By Wendy Gee - Eastleigh have been paired with Sutton United in today's FA Trophy first round draw - setting up a return to the Silverlake Stadium for former Spitfires manager Paul Doswell. Doswell, who led Eastleigh on their fairytale march from the Wessex to the Conference South, will bring his Ryman League table-toppers to the Silverlake on Saturday December 11. Ian Baird's Eastleigh reached the first round after seeing off another Ryman Premier side, Folkestone Invicta, 2-1 on Saturday. Doswell is not the only one in the Sutton camp with Eastleigh links. Andy Forbes, Karl Murray, Karim El Sahali, Steve Watts and U's player-coach Wayne Shaw are all ex-Spitfires currently on Sutton's books. Havant & Waterlooville host Basingstoke tonight in a third qualifying round replay after their first clash at The Camrose on Saturday ended 2-2. The winners will face Salisbury City at home in another mouth-watering first round clash. All first round winners wi

EASTLEIGH v FOLKESTONE INVICTA SATURDAY 20th NOVEMBER 2010 FA Trophy 3rd Qualifying Round Report by Jamie Montigue Eastleigh are through to the 1st Round of the FA Trophy for the first time since the 2007/2008 campaign. That year the Spitfires went on to the second round where they were defeated by Conference Premier side Crawley Town. Having been eliminated at the first hurdle in five of the last six seasons in this competition, Ian Baird’s side had the task of navigating a potential banana-skin in the form of facing Ryman Premier strugglers Folkestone Invicta. Following last weekend’s 4-1 drubbing at home; where Staines Town came to the Silverlake Stadium to defeat Eastleigh comfortably, Baird made a number of changes to his starting eleven for this afternoon’s cup clash. Danny Smith returned to action having missed the previous two fixtures with a bout of flu and then suffering from shingles. Gareth Barfoot was preferred to Jason Matthews between the sticks after the experienced

EASTLEIGH v STAINES TOWN SATURDAY 13th NOVEMBER 2010 Blue Square Bet South Report by Jamie Montigue  Eastleigh were by far and away second best this afternoon as their unbeaten run of three league games came to an abrupt halt at the hands of Staines Town. The Spitfires named an unchanged starting eleven from the side who were minutes away from winning at Hampton & Richmond on Tuesday night, but were disappointingly well beaten by the Swans today. The first of the action saw the visitors force an early corner following good work down the left flank. Eastleigh only half-cleared with the ball dropping to the feet of Andre Scarlett, but the midfielder failed to capitalise on the opportunity and shot harmlessly over. Two minutes later Tony Taggart was close to picking out Richard Gillespie’s run with a neat through ball. Louis Wells was alert to the threat and raced off his line to cut out the danger at the edge of his area. Chris Holland came close in the eighth minute when

By Wendy Gee - 'We've taken seven points out of nine... two a game tends to get you promoted' - IAN BAIRD Eastleigh head into today's game against Staines Town on a pleasing run of three games unbeaten in the Blue Square Bet South. If there was any justice in the world, it would have been three straight wins, but the final whistle didn't come soon enough at Hampton & Richmond Borough on Tuesday night as they conceded at the death for a 2-2 draw. The Spitfires had come from behind to take a 2-1 lead with goals from Richard Graham and Ross Bottomley to cancel out David Steven's header for the hosts. Eastleigh looked like taking all three points when in the fourth minute of injury time, Hampton's Lawrence Yaku outpaced the Eastleigh defence before lobbing Jason Matthews from the edge of the box and celebrating with his trademark somersault. Eastleigh boss Ian Baird didn't feel much in the mood for somersaults afterwards but, on reflection, he cons

HAMPTON & RICHMOND BOROUGH  v EASTLEIGH TUESDAY 9th NOVEMBER 2010 Blue Square Bet South Report by Ray Murphy A goal in the fourth minute of stoppage time prevented Eastleigh from claiming their first ever victory at Hampton & Richmond Borough at the fifth time of asking. It was a sickening blow for the Eastleigh side that had deserved their victory. Danny Smith was missing from the line up with a bout of flu whilst Jamie Brown was also unavailable owing to injury. Ross Bottomley got the call to replace Smith with a midfield role alongside Anthony Riviere from which Bottomley produced a man of the match performance. The game started well and Eastleigh should have been ahead inside twenty seconds. Bottomley’s pass into the path of Tony Taggart saw the winger have his shot saved by 19-year-old goalkeeper Joe Talbot, who was making his home debut. It was Eastleigh who kept the ascendancy for the majority of the first half. On thirteen minutes Richard Graham cut inside his

By Wendy Gee - IAN Baird is convinced Eastleigh can turn a negative into a massive positive by reaching this season's Blue Square Bet South play-offs. In fact the ex-Saint is so upbeat about the Spitfires' promotion prospects that he even believes they have a chance of landing the title. Unlike in previous years when the likes of Grays Athletic, Weymouth and Newport County have dwarfed their rivals with their vast playing and financial resources, Baird reckons there is no stand-out title favourite this term. Baird predicts it will remain a closely-fought battle and that no one will be running away with the title as Dean Holdsworth's Newport did last year when they romped home by 28 points from runners-up Dover. "The league has never been as open as it is this year," said Baird. "There's not a Newport County who are going to run away with it, there's not a Grays to romp it and there's not a Weymouth or a Wimbledon to win with a massive b

JUSTIN’S DIAMONDS IN SPARKLING FORM Justin Edinburgh from Rushden & Diamonds has been named the Blue Square Bet Premier ‘manager of the month’ for October . The former Tottenham defender took his side into the play-off places in the division with an unbeaten month ending in a stunning 5-0 win over Barrow. Rushden also beat fellow promotion hopefuls Mansfield Town and Darlington as well as taking all three points from a trip to Tamworth. Edinburgh’s side also overcame local rivals Kettering Town in the FA Cup to reach the First Round Proper for the second successive season. The Blue Square Bet North ‘manager of the month’ for October is Steve Kittrick from Guiseley . September’s winner Kittrick repeats the achievement with another fantastic month. The Lions recorded five wins from five matches including three league wins that took them to third spot in the division. Guiseley only conceded one goal in the period as they also progressed to the First Round Proper

Eastleigh launch into this year’s FA Trophy campaign with the ideal combination of a home tie against lower league opposition. Ian Baird’s Spitfires will face either Folkestone Invicta or Thamesmead Town in the third qualifying round on Saturday, November 20. Kent-based Folkestone, currently 20th in the Ryman Premier Division, were held 0-0 at home on Saturday by underdogs Thamesmead Town, who sit fourth in the Ryman Division One North. The pair are due to replay tomorrow night (Tuesday) at Thamesmead’s Bayliss Avenue home in south London. FA TROPHY Third qualifying round (Southern section):  Dover Athletic v Woking, Braintree Town v Farnborough, Lewes v Salisbury City, Maidenhead Utd v Arlesey Town or Uxbridge, Weston-super-Mare v Dorchester Town, Basingstoke Town v Havant & Waterlooville, Eastleigh v Folkestone Invicta or Thamesmead Town , Cirencester Town v Grays Athletic, Sutton Utd v Billericay Town, Ebbsfleet Utd v Bromley, Thurrock v Dartford, Boreham Wood v Romford, We