BEAVERS RETURN FROM THE LAND OF THE GIANTS WITH POINT by Stefan Rance

It’s worth noting this from the start, Eastleigh are big, not big as in size of support or a big history, but on the field they are big....and I mean BIG. With the exception of maybe 2 players every single one of them stands well over 6 feet tall, and winger Peter Adenyi towers over massive centre back Tom Jordan, who himself was taller than Hampton’s John Scarborough.

Eastleigh also came in to the game on a high having progressed to the 1st round of the FA Cup at Dover’s expense on Saturday, and also named amongst their subs ex Beaver Shaun McAuley. The Beavers were looking to bounce back from Saturday’s disappointing defeat against Sutton at Beveree and Alan Devonshire made 4 changes from the side that started at the weekend. In came Graham Harper, replacing the still injured Dean Wells and slotting in at right back Lawrence Yaku started ahead of Michael Lee Charles up front, whilst Nathan Collier replaced Ashley Smith and Jon McDonald started instead of Barrie Matthews. McDonald reverted to left back whilst Craig Tanner moved to the left side of midfield, with Marcello Fernandes shifting right to accommodate Collier in the centre.

The game was played at a frenetic pace throughout and no quarter was given by either side in their quest for the three points and credit must go to the referee Mr Robinson for letting the game flow as much as possible and showing a firm hand when it was required. The Beavers had the better of the first half chances, and could have been one or two ahead within the first 20 minutes. On 3 minutes Lawrence Yaku was put through one on one with keeper Matthews, who made a smart stop to deny the Hampton number 10.  In the 5th minute Yaku again tested Matthews with a chip from 18 yards which saw the keeper back peddling to make the catch., and three minutes later Matthews made it a hat trick of saves from the veteran forward with a low save by the far post.

Eastleigh were also creating chances, and their height advantage was giving the Beavers back line plenty to think about, with both Peter Adenyi and Tony Taggart swinging in testing crosses, with Tom Jordan just heading over from one of several corners. Hampton continued to create chances with Marcello Fernandes firing just over from a free kick, Orlando Jeffrey flicking the ball in to the side netting and Matthews making a point blank save to deny Craig Dundas. At the other end Jeffrey deflected a Taggert shot narrowly over the bar, whilst towards the end of the half Richard Gillespie went close with an overhead kick that just went over the bar. On the stroke of half time Dundas went on one of his trademark powerful runs which took him in to the box, and he saw his powerful drive cannon off the side of the post.

The pace of the game never relented and at the start of the second half it took a last ditch tackle from Cook to prevent Dundas bursting through, however Eastleigh soon took more control over the game in the second half and put concerted pressure on the Hampton defence. Matt Lovett needed to be alert to get to the ball before Andy Forbes and then Hampton got a break when Brown totally miss-kicked the ball when in front of goal six yards out, this gave Scarborough and Jeffrey the chance to close down the striker and he hit his follow up effort high over the bar.

Hampton looked more and more to hit on the break and from one of Matt Lovett’s kicks the ball cleared the home defence allowing Lawrence Yaku the chance to a volley from 20 yards out, unfortunately his effort sailed high and wide. Matthews again came to Eastleigh’s rescue when he made a good save low down to his left after Yaku had burst through the Eastleigh defence, in what proved to be the front man’s last contribution to the game as Ian Hodges was brought on to replace Yaku and Michael Lee Charles came on for Dundas. Eastleigh should have taken the lead with 5 to go as Jamie Brown got on the end from Anthony Riviere’s cross, however from 3 yards out and under pressure from Graham Harper the midfielder headed over. There was still time for Ian Hodges to force an error out of Jordan and Adeneyi, however his cross was just to high for Michael Charles to get his head on and the game finished scoreless.

Although viably tiring towards the end of the game Hampton can be pleased with their performance, plenty of chances were created and Matthews was the busier of the two keepers, although Eastleigh can point to some wayward finishing on their part. The midfield worked hard through the game, with Tanner and Fernandes particularly impressing with their support of the full backs and getting forward to join the attack, whilst the defence overall looked solid, although there is still room for improvement in all areas of the team.

The Beavers are now 6 unbeaten in the league and will look to continue the run on Saturday against Maidenhead United at Beveree, where they will come up against one of their chief tormentors in last years play off final Will Hendry who has hit 5 goals in his short time with the Magpies.