Eastbourne 1-0 Eastleigh
EASTBOURNE BOROUGH 1-0 EASTLEIGH
Saturday 27th October 2012
Blue Square Bet South
Match Report by Paul McNamara
The frustrating stop-start nature of
Eastleigh’s season continued on a bitterly cold afternoon in East
Sussex as they lost by a single goal to an unexceptional Eastbourne
Borough side.
This display bore far closer
resemblance to that at Gloucester in the F.A. Cup than the much
improved showing at Chelmsford in the Spitfires last league match two
weeks ago.
There was no clue to the eventual
outcome early in the game as the visitors started by far the livelier
of the two teams.
After only 7 minutes Damian Scannell -
who was Eastleigh’s most potent threat throughout the 90 minutes –
retrieved a deep cross wide on the right and crossed for Craig
McAllister to head powerfully home.
As the players and their outstanding
travelling support were celebrating what appeared a vital early
breakthrough the referee was disallowing the goal for an infringement
that he must have been one of very few people in the ground to have
spotted.
Undeterred, within 2 minutes the
Spitfires were attacking again. McAllister – as he did all
afternoon – won a long ball forward, flicking it intelligently for
Jai Reason on the left. Reason delivered a fine cross to the
onrushing Scannell but the former Southend player could only strike
high over the bar.
As is happening every time Reason takes
the pitch, Eastbourne swamped the talented attacker immediately as he
found possession. Opponents are wise to the damage the former
Ipswich trainee can cause them if afforded the merest chance. How to
ensure his Number 10 can dictate play in the manner of which he is
capable is a conundrum Richard Hill will want to solve swiftly.
The hosts caused little early anguish
for the Spitfires. Their frontmen were strong and clever but lacking
in mobility and pace. Of small concern was the deep Eastleigh
defensive line. This enabled Gary Hart – who spent 13 years at
Brighton & Hove Albion – to pose problems by winning the ball
high up the pitch and consequently pin the visitors back for brief
periods.
Hart’s keen endeavour was evident in
the early exchanges when he robbed Michael Green of possession deep
on Eastleigh’s left. The Spitfires saw out that attack with the
only harm suffered being a knock incurred by the defender in trying
to regain possession.
One of two changes to the visitors’
starting eleven from that which earned a point at Chelmsford saw
goalkeeper Ross Flitney begin his month-long loan from Gillingham in
place of the unlucky Jack Dovey – the other alteration being the
surprise replacement of Moses Ademola by Dale Binns.
The ex-Barnet ‘keeper passed his
first examination 20 minutes into his debut when he saved excellently
from point-blank range after Oliver Rowe met a corner from the right
with a fierce header.
Eastleigh were glad to see the back of
the menacing Hart when he had to leave the field with what appeared a
hamstring injury just short of half-an-hour in.
Soon after, Scannell had another
gilt-edged opportunity to score. McAllister adroitly chested a ball
first time to Reason who quickly released the winger on the right.
Unfortunately the finish didn’t match the quality of the move as a
weak effort was comfortably smothered by Joe Day in the Sports goal.
In the latter stages of the half,
Scannell took up a narrower position with Reason moving wider,
possibly with the dual intention of utilising the former’s pace and
directness in more dangerous central areas, and generating more space
for the latter to exude his influence.
Any tinkering didn’t have the desired
effect, however, as Eastleigh weren’t getting men forward in the
same numbers as early in the game and therefore the majority of
possession they enjoyed was in deeper areas.
Eastbourne’s only further glimpse of
goal before the break was the result of a mix up between Leigh Mills
– who was otherwise solid and calm on a difficult afternoon to
defend, with the wind swirling and opponents feeding balls high into
the area – and Mark Hughes. David Knight couldn’t punish the
initial confusion as Flitney saved.
Three minutes were added, largely due
to a stoppage early on when Hughes took a blow to the face which left
blood streaming from his lip. The tenacious ex-Barnet player is
making an unfortunate habit of such incidents after two similar blows
during the home victory against Staines.
The extra time played offered one more
chance for the Spitfires when Reason was bundled over 25 yards from
goal. Green struck a low free-kick which deflected gently through to
Day.
Eastleigh began the second period
purposefully and within 60 seconds an Osei Sankofa cross caused
confusion in the hosts area. It was Scannell, again, who ultimately
had a shooting chance but his attempt was kept out by the imposing
Day.
Within a minute the Spitfires were
behind and for the second consecutive match it was a former player
who dealt the sucker-punch.
For Chelmsford it had been the prolific
Jamie Slabber who found the net. At the Langley Sports Arena,
Frankie Raymond, hitherto completely anonymous – and whose brief
loan spell at the Silverlake last season was notable only for his
reckless sending-off at Tonbridge Angels – was the beneficiary of
some sloppy Eastleigh defending.
The ball was allowed across the area
from the right with little challenge and Raymond was free to finish
at the back post.
Rather than respond by upping their
tempo and placing Eastbourne under any sustained pressure,
Eastleigh’s attacks became more sporadic and McAllister was
increasingly isolated.
The target man’s hold up play was
terrific – as ever – and the honesty and commitment of his
performance was admirable. Too often he had minimal genuine options
when in possession or seeking to lay the ball off.
When McAllister links with Reason the
potential value of his ability to bring team-mates into play is
obvious. Away from home, however, Hughes and Glen Southam are
reluctant to move beyond their striker. At the Silverlake,
Eastleigh’s midfielders – Southam in particular- are a genuine
attacking threat with their intelligent and well-timed runs.
Until the final 25 minutes the only
glimmer of an equaliser came with a penalty appeal that was turned
away by the referee after Reason was subject to some heavy-handed
treatment in Borough’s box.
It was a Reason corner that resulted in
the Spitfires coming as close to scoring as at any stage when Day –
who had handled a succession of first-half corners expertly –
punched weakly. There was a frenetic scramble when it seemed as if
the ball must find its way over the line. It wasn’t to be as
Scannell’s final stab goalwards was hacked away.
That near miss spurred the visitors and
they were quickly encamped in the final third. Worryingly, despite a
strong territorial advantage during the latter stages, Day was never
greatly extended.
Reason hit one fantastic cross from the
right which just evaded McAllister, the sole Eastleigh body in the
area.
Soon after, Tom Jordan fractionally
avoided making contact with a Reason corner and as the ball broke
loose Mills fired well over.
As the game entered the final 15
minutes, Scannell really came to the fore. Operating on the left –
with Moses Ademola, on for Binns, playing from the right - he gave a
wonderful demonstration of wing play, repeatedly showcasing his
ability to run with the ball as he evaded defenders and supplied a
string of teasing crosses into the box.
Agonisingly, the Spitfires couldn’t
apply a decisive foot or head to any of these balls. McAllister
headed just wide, Day collected at his near post and most painfully
of all, as the clock ticked down and the visitors finally committed a
number of men into the box, a fizzing delivery flashed low across the
area without a yellow shirt able to make contact.
Once more, Eastleigh had little luck
with refereeing decisions. On 82 minutes, after an Ademola cross,
Hughes was clearly pulled down for what should have been a penalty.
Mr Fitch missed what had seemed obvious and dismissed vigorous
Eastleigh appeals. A minute later, after Eastbourne cleared the
subsequent corner, insult was added to injury when Hughes was booked
for an innocuous tackle.
As the final minutes disappeared it was
the hosts who came closest to a second goal in the game. Knight
skipped past Hughes on the left and provided a perfect cross which
substitute, Darren Lok, glanced weakly wide.
As at Whaddon Road in the F.A. Cup
three weeks previously, Eastleigh’s push for a levelling strike had
come too late. The lack of fluency as they chased a point was best
summed up in injury time as Reason battled for a ball by his own left
corner flag and cleared up-field to Scannell who didn’t have a
team-mate within 20 yards of him.
It won’t have escaped Richard Hill’s
attention that when he turned to his bench there was just one forward
thinking replacement available to him, a change from more recent
times when the Spitfires squad has contained an abundance of
attacking riches.
The most positive aspect of the day was
Scannell’s continued re-emergence as a key figure in the Eastleigh
side. All Spitfires fingers should be crossed that he can maintain
fitness and keep producing to a similar level as the season evolves.
With two home
games in the next week Hill’s side have a chance to gain six vital
points and quickly shake off the disappointment of drawing another
blank away from fortress Silverlake.
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