Words John Edwards | Picture Jonathan Moore

Eastleigh 2 Altrincham 1

Altrincham suffered another defeat on the road, and it was a frustrating one, at that, after they deservedly went ahead in the early stages only to be undone by two goals in three minutes in the second half.

The Robins had much the better of the opening half and were good value for a 20th-minute lead given them by James Gale.

But they paid the price for not landing a knock-out blow when Eastleigh appeared to be on the ropes, as the home side hit back with two sucker-punch goals in the 48th and 51st minutes and saw the game out to leave Alty empty-handed.

Alty went in front in the 20th minute after looking comfortable at the back and increasingly purposeful going forward.

The goal stemmed from a slick move on the left, as Isaac Marriott picked out Sam Reed and the full-back whipped in a cross that the Eastleigh defence struggled to cope with.

When the ball fell for Kahrel Reddin, he teed up Marriott for a crisply-struck low drive that Nick Townsend did well to get a hand to, diving instinctively to his right.

The Eastleigh keeper could only parry it, though, and Gale was alive to the possibilities as he darted in to lash the loose ball into the roof of the net.

It may not have been the most eventful of first halves, but the conditions - breezy and wet - didn't help, and, as the away side, Alty had done everything they needed to, in terms of dictating much of the play.

Indeed, they could easily have gone in at the interval two goals to the good after a frenzied spell of pressure in and around the Eastleigh area in the 42nd minute.

Keaton Ward turned a close marker in midfield and fed Tom Crawford, and when the ball was then played forward to Lewis Banks, the Alty skipper unleashed a drive that was well saved by the flying Townsend.

Again, the Spitfires keeper was unable to hang on, and his side could count themselves fortunate that a follow-up effort from Reddin was somehow blocked inside a congested six-yard box.

Still, the Robins hadn't finished with their first-half endeavours, as Ward had a goalbound header deflected wide, Dan Sassi side-footed a close-range effort into the side-netting following a corner and Crawford saw an audacious quickly-taken free-kick land on the roof of the net, with a backpedalling Townsend struggling to get a hand to it.

Another swiftly-taken Alty free-kick almost caught out the home side in the 47th minute.

Ward nudged the ball forward to Knowles when everyone seemed to expect a delivery into the box, and when the Alty striker drilled a low cross into a crowded six-yard area, Eastleigh had three or four goes at hacking it clear before finally succeeding.

Out of nowhere, Eastleigh rocked Alty with two goals in three minutes.

First, substitute Harvey Saunders aimed a left-wing cross towards the far post where Kieron Evans met it with a finish that made it 1-1.

Three minutes later, the Robins were caught out again in similar fashion, as another left-wing cross, this time by Aaron Blair, was headed home by Saunders from the edge of the six-yard area.

Alty must have wondered what had hit them after appearing to be in complete control, and to make matters worse, they couldn't find a way back into it and failed to trouble Townsend until added time, when Reed latched on to a sliderule pass from Elliot Osborne and hammered an angle drive that was well turned away by the home keeper.

Eastleigh Townsend; Brindley, Eweka (Davis, 38'), Evans, Blair, Massiah-Edwards (Saunders, 46'), Pierre, Waruih (Taylor, 70'), Holzman, Cousins (c), Harris. Subs not used: McNamara, Stone, Underhill, Ingram.

Altrincham Hutchinson; Banks (c), Reed, Marriott (Osborne, 71'), Gale (Kirk, 66'), Ward (Weaver, 77'), Knowles, Reddin, Crawford, Barnes, Sassi. Subs not used: Baines, Kosylo, Raymond, Fallon.

HT 0-1

Goals Evans 48', Saunders 51' | Gale 20'

Yellows Blair 81' | Gale 45', Hutchinson 45'+2, Sassi 68'

Reds None | None

Referee Ross Martin

Assistants Leigh Crowhurst & Thomas Holden

Fourth official Tom Ellsmore

Attendance 2,450 (71 away)

Next Up

Another long Enterprise National League away trip - Wednesday evening at Gateshead (7:45pm). Tickets for the game can be found here OR join us in The John King Lounge for a Watch Party - FREE tickets right here.