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Eastleigh
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1 - 2
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| Oliver 80 |
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Montague 36
Montague 67 |
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1st September 2007
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Blue Square South
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640
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1
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Phil Wilson
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2
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Asher Hudson
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3
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Darius Charles
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80 Pestle |
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4
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John Scarborough
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5
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Lewis Gonsalves
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70 Bray |
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6
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Paul Honey
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7
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Nicky Greene
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8
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Malik Buari |
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72 Henry |
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9
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Warren McBean
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10
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Ross Montague
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11
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Craig Tanner
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12
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Jason Henry
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14
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Liame Pestle |
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15
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Alan Bray
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16
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Liam Wright
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17
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Gareth Williams
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When Eastleigh almost broke through after 5 seconds it looked as though the Weston experience might be repeated, a feeling not relieved by the next ten minutes in which U's defended with no hint of organisation and gave the ball away with a series of aimless balls forwards. Nevertheless, defenders were getting tackles in at important moments and when Eastleigh did get a shot away, a fizzing drive from the inside right channel, Wilson was alert and acrobatically tipped the ball over the bar. The first hint of United settling down came with a promising attack ended ten yards outside the box by a foul, but Green curled his free-kick well over the bar. The game, which had never really come to life, sank into a period of fairly meaningless midfield exchanges but it served a purpose for the U's, who killed off any passion for the game in the home side and gradually got on top. Tanner worked space for himself to shoot from 25 yards and his shot just curled a foot or so wide of the post. Then, out of nowhere, U's were ahead. A misudenrstanding in the home defence under a long punt forward saw Montague nip in as the ball fell short of keeper Pullen and after emerging past the keeper with the ball he was faced with the simplest of tap-ins.
It took almost quarter of an hour for anyone to mount a threatening attack in the second period, although the game was being played out mainly in the Eastleigh half. A cross from the left was met 10 yards out by a powerful header and the home fans were in mid-celebration when Wilson swivelled in the air to fling his right arm behing arm and deny a certain goal, turning the ball over the top. It was a match-winning moment, because the next important action came at the other end when McBean cut inside and despit a tug on his shirt got to the dead-ball line and crossed invitingly for Montague to volley home from 8 yards. Controversy reigned 2 minutes later when Hudson ran onto Buari's well-judged pass to beat the onrushing Pullen to the ball. As the ball went under the keeper it struck his arm and the referee gave a free-kick for handball. Despite cries for a red card from the Sutton contingent, the referee only cautioned the keeper, probably correctly, as Hudson still had a lot of work to do get a shot in and the centre-half was getting back onto the line.Greene then curled the free-kick over the bar (a bit closer this time) and Charles side-footed wide from the edge of the box. U's looked to be strolling but with Hudson on the sidelines for treatment Eastleigh pulled a goal back with a good first time strike by Oliver, ironically the player who had caused the defender's injury. Smith was lucky not to see red after a late scythe on Tanner as the livewire midfielder skipped along the penalty box, the referee somehow forgetting the incident after playing an advantage. U's played out the last five minutes by the Eastleigh corner flag, although quite where all of the 7 minutes of added time came from is a bit of a mystery. U's moved out of the bottom three and Eastleigh missed out on the chance to go top.
Eastleigh: Pullen, Piper, Byles, Riviere (Oliver), Harris, El Salahi, Smith, Forbes, Sales (Bennett), Green (Hughes), Scannell
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