Moment of Dought denies Eastleigh a famous win
EASTLEIGH 1 SWINDONMandron 64 TOWN 1 Doughty (pen) 68
EASTLEIGH came mighty close to causing an FA Cup upset on an eventful night in front of the BBC cameras, eventually settling for a replay with League One outfit Swindon Town.
Mickael Mandron had sent the 3,312-strong Silverlake crowd into raptures with his second-half opener before Michael Doughty’s penalty four minutes later levelled things up.
And despite some late Eastleigh chances – including Ayo Obileye’s volley which was blocked on the line amid a hectic finale – the sides were forced to settle for a replay at the County Ground.
Spitfires boss Ronnie Moore revealed the draw felt like a defeat in a downbeat dressing room afterwards but the former Rotherham, Tranmere and Hartlepool boss admitted he was proud of the efforts of his National League highflyers.
“The game’s won really once we score, I couldn't see them scoring,” Moore said.
“We’re in there now as if we’ve lost the game which is great for us, it shows you how hurt they are and I think they’ll go away thinking this was a game for us to win today.
“They’re a decent team, alright they’re struggling a little bit at League One level but they’ve got good players.
“This was a great opportunity for us to say ‘we are Eastleigh, this is what we’re about’. We’re a National League team and they can be proud, I’m proud of every single one of them.
“The plan we had worked but if somebody makes a ridiculous mistake in the game you can’t do anything about that.”
Unfortunately for the Spitfires, that ‘ridiculous mistake’ Moore spoke of came from goalkeeper Ryan Clarke, who charged off his line to upend Doughty in the box, conceding a penalty of which the QPR loanee duly despatched just minutes after Eastleigh had taken the lead.
It would be unfair, however, to lay any blame at Clarke’s feet, especially given the keeper’s superb save to claw away Will Norris’ first half effort. Although there was much debate as to whether the ball had in fact crossed the line, Clarke’s intervention saved Eastleigh a mountain to climb at the break.
Norris’ effort was the best moment of a fairly quiet opening period but the game livened up after the restart.
Yaser Kasim had a decent opportunity for Swindon before the home side stole the lead on 64 minutes – Mandron deftly nodding in Jake Howells’ free-kick.
But four minutes later, the home fans were silenced when 34-year-old Clarke upended Doughty in the box and the winger dusted himself off to score from the penalty spot.
Eastleigh, however, then went for broke and momentarily thought they had broken through again when James Constable latched onto Michael Green’s excellent cross, only to fire straight at keeper Lawrence Vigouroux.
And deep into stoppage time, Obileye’s volley was blocked superbly on the line by Bradon Ormonde-Ottewill.
Swindon head coach Luke Williams was relieved to fight another day, adding: “The opposition were excellent and probably had more attempts than us and created more than us.
“To some extent we rode our luck but we did have a legitimate goal ruled out which probably would have changed the game in our favour.”