Match Report

A run of six consecutive defeats at the Silverlake Stadium came to an end as Sutton withstood increasing Eastleigh pressure inside the last ten minutes to pick up a worthy point. For three quarters of an entertaining game there was little between the sides and it was difficult to decide who was the most likely to grab a winner, but the home side stepped up the pressure late on and it took some fine defending, and one brilliant save from Jamie Butler, to ensure that U’s at last came away from the ground with something to show for their efforts. 

The threat that Eastleigh would pose was soon evident, with wing-backs Jack Partington and Michael Green at times lining up alongside the forwards when the ball was coming out from the back, and it took just eleven minutes for a goal to come through those avenues as Partington was hauled back by Rob Milsom, who collected a booking for his troubles, and Jack Payne’s free kick was glanced on by Scott Rendell and eventually fell for centre back Rob Atkinson to score from close range. Straight from the restart, though, a hand was clearly used in an aerial challenge between Omar Bugiel and Green, and referee Michael Woods decided it was the Eastleigh player who had handled. Milsom’s free kick took a flick off a defender and Jamie Collins lunged in to divert the ball past the wrongfooted Max Stryjek, who was already committed to diving to his right and could only watch the ball trickle past his boots in to the net. 

Butler made one good stop to deny Ben Williamson after a neat Eastleigh move on the right, and there was a blow for U’s seven minutes before half time when Will Randall fell awkwardly under a challenge from Partington and had to be stretchered off with an ankle injury. Replacement David Ajiboye looked lively from the moment he came on to the pitch, his first involvement being a cross from the left which was cut out well by Stryjek, and just before the interval Alex Wynter was quite happy to take a yellow card for blocking Ajiboye’s run inside the Sutton half with a lot of space behind him. 

Eastleigh also had to make a change before the start of the second half, losing goalscorer Atkinson which forced Partington in to the back three and saw Sam Smart come on in the right wing back role, and despite picking up several other knocks, which led to Dan Matsuzaka more than once appearing to be on the verge of coming on, it was U’s who looked the likelier side early in the second half. A darting run by Ajiboye was ended on the edge of the penalty area by Andrew Boyce, who was booked, but although Milsom’s free kick beat the wall Stryjek was well placed to save.  

Bugiel flashed a shot just wide from the edge of the penalty area soon afterwards, but that was as close as U’s were to come as they found themselves forced increasingly on the defensive. The back four, helped by those in front of them, stood firm, however, and both Dale Bennett and Ben Goodliffe threw themselves in the way of shots on the edge of the penalty area, although another partial block from Goodliffe came close to being costly as it deflected Green’s powerful low shot closer to the post than it would otherwise have been. With Smart replicating Partington’s threat in the first half Eastleigh turned up the pressure, and substitute Tyrone Barnett sent a shot just too high from twenty yards before he was left holding his head as Butler saved his close range header from Payne’s free kick quite brilliantly, Boyce sending the rebound high over the bar. Butler also turned aside a Danny Hollands header, but Eastleigh’s desperation was reflected in a booking for Jack McKnight, who tried to divert the ball past Butler with his hand, and their last effort was a speculative shot from Partington that looped harmlessly wide as U’s refused to be denied a hard earned point.  

Eastleigh: M Styjek, J Partington, M Green, R Atkinson(sub S Smart H-T), A Wynter, A Boyce, C Miley(sub J McKnight 80), J Payne, S Rendell(Sub T Barnett 74), B Williamson, D Hollands. Subs n/u R Flitney, T Bearwish. Booked: Wynter, Boyce, McKnight.