Eastleigh end 2010 with away win
WESTON-SUPER-MARE v EASTLEIGH
TUESDAY 28th DECEMBER 2010
Report by Ray Murphy
Before the Christmas break this match was in severe doubt of being a victim of the big freeze. In fact twenty-four hours previous, the Woodspring Stadium pitch was under 75mm of snow. The rain throughout the night though assisted with the sudden upturn in temperature saw this fixture get an early morning approval.
For Eastleigh it was their first league outing since an away trip to Woking back on 23rd November though two FA Trophy encounters with Sutton United were staged some fourteen days earlier. Weston themselves must have been cursing the cancellation of fixtures having just recorded a highest ever victory for themselves at this level having scored seven times without reply against second placed Bromley back on 11th December.
Eastleigh were still without the services of striker Richard Gillespie with his broken hand whilst fellow strike partner and current leading scorer Jamie Slabber was also missing with flu. There was a welcome return albeit only on the bench for Brett Poate and also sat alongside him was Jamie White returning to the Club in an attempt to regain match fitness.
Both sides started somewhat cautiously though on seven minutes, Weston midfielder Kane Ingram saw an effort blocked. Pacy Weston striker Sahr Kabba was cautioned two minutes later following a rash challenge on Gareth Barfoot that saw both players require treatment.
On thirteen minutes Weston’s left back Martin Slocombe floated a free kick from the right hand flank just wide of the target before Eastleigh created two openings within a minute of each other. Tom Jordan’s header from Tony Taggart's teasing cross brought an excellent stop from Lloyd Irish in the Weston goal on nineteen minutes then a minute later Brett Williams' header saw Irish scrambling across his goal to ensure the ball was just the right side of the upright for his liking.
Nat Pepperell headed a Slocombe cross just wide on twenty four minutes before Eastleigh took the lead on the half hour. Taggart's cross was pushed away by Irish but Richard Graham managed to readjust himself inside the six yard area to turn the ball home.
Taggart was close to increasing the Eastleigh lead on forty minutes with his cross-cum-shot being deflected for a corner. A second goal did arrive though right on the stroke of the interval. A Taggart corner from the right was half cleared by the Weston defence, Taggart collected the ball again and delivered an expert cross into the box where Ross Bottomley powered home a header.
The second half produced a competent Eastleigh display with the home side never looking like breaching the Eastleigh rearguard. Jordan almost increased the Eastleigh tally on fifty one minutes with a header from a Graham corner being cleared off the line by Simon Gilbert.
Another Slocombe free kick on sixty three minutes was collected by Barfoot, the Eastleigh keeper also being alert a couple of times to smother low driven crosses into the six yard box. Graham had another drive from some thirty yards, which was just off target but the game ebbed away into a somewhat comfortable afternoon for Eastleigh.
For Eastleigh it was their first league outing since an away trip to Woking back on 23rd November though two FA Trophy encounters with Sutton United were staged some fourteen days earlier. Weston themselves must have been cursing the cancellation of fixtures having just recorded a highest ever victory for themselves at this level having scored seven times without reply against second placed Bromley back on 11th December.
Eastleigh were still without the services of striker Richard Gillespie with his broken hand whilst fellow strike partner and current leading scorer Jamie Slabber was also missing with flu. There was a welcome return albeit only on the bench for Brett Poate and also sat alongside him was Jamie White returning to the Club in an attempt to regain match fitness.
Both sides started somewhat cautiously though on seven minutes, Weston midfielder Kane Ingram saw an effort blocked. Pacy Weston striker Sahr Kabba was cautioned two minutes later following a rash challenge on Gareth Barfoot that saw both players require treatment.
On thirteen minutes Weston’s left back Martin Slocombe floated a free kick from the right hand flank just wide of the target before Eastleigh created two openings within a minute of each other. Tom Jordan’s header from Tony Taggart's teasing cross brought an excellent stop from Lloyd Irish in the Weston goal on nineteen minutes then a minute later Brett Williams' header saw Irish scrambling across his goal to ensure the ball was just the right side of the upright for his liking.
Nat Pepperell headed a Slocombe cross just wide on twenty four minutes before Eastleigh took the lead on the half hour. Taggart's cross was pushed away by Irish but Richard Graham managed to readjust himself inside the six yard area to turn the ball home.
Taggart was close to increasing the Eastleigh lead on forty minutes with his cross-cum-shot being deflected for a corner. A second goal did arrive though right on the stroke of the interval. A Taggart corner from the right was half cleared by the Weston defence, Taggart collected the ball again and delivered an expert cross into the box where Ross Bottomley powered home a header.
The second half produced a competent Eastleigh display with the home side never looking like breaching the Eastleigh rearguard. Jordan almost increased the Eastleigh tally on fifty one minutes with a header from a Graham corner being cleared off the line by Simon Gilbert.
Another Slocombe free kick on sixty three minutes was collected by Barfoot, the Eastleigh keeper also being alert a couple of times to smother low driven crosses into the six yard box. Graham had another drive from some thirty yards, which was just off target but the game ebbed away into a somewhat comfortable afternoon for Eastleigh.
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