JACK ADDS TO CARDS’ PAYNE!
JACK PAYNE might have seemed an unlikely candidate to end Eastleigh’s goal drought – but the midfielder’s exquisite volley set up their first league win in seven games.
The Spitfires had endured more than five hours without a goal as they slid dangerously close to the bottom four, but ended their winless streak with an early double against Woking.
Although his most recent goal had come three years ago for Blackpool, it was Payne who broke the deadlock before providing the assist for Tyrone Barnett to make it 2-0 inside 20 minutes.
“It’s been too long, really!” said the 28-year-old. “We needed a win today, so that’s more important but it’s always nice to get a goal yourself.
“That’s the best we’ve played for a little while. To get that start and go 2-0 up, the second half was always going to be about making sure we didn’t concede. You get that mentality of not letting them score and we got through it in the second half. I thought we defended well and we’ve gone on and got the three points.”
The home side looked hungry from the start as they pummelled a shaky Woking defence and made the breakthrough in the tenth minute.
The Cards half-cleared a corner and the impressive Udoka Godwin-Malife swung a deep ball to the far post, where Payne met it with a right-foot volley that whistled beyond Craig Ross.
Danny Hollands appeared to have doubled the lead, bursting through to lob Ross, but he was adjudged to have fouled Immanuel Parry. However, the Spitfires were 2-0 up soon afterwards as Payne whipped in a nearpost corner for Barnett to direct his header into the far corner.
Woking’s best opportunities to halve the deficit fell to centre-back Parry, with one attempt blocked by Max Stryjek before a close-range header sailed over the bar.
Eastleigh might have stretched their advantage on the stroke of half-time, with Ross back-pedalling to claw away a deflected freekick, as well as denying Barnett a second.
But the visitors were vastly improved after the break, with wide men Jamar Loza and Josh Neufville repeatedly asking questions of the Eastleigh defence.
Loza forced his way through, only to fire wide, while another weaving run teed up Neufville, who sidefooted at Stryjek.
Woking sub Dave Tarpey also squandered chances to set up a tense finish, heading Neufville’s cross over and then blazing wide.
“If we’re going to defend like that, we’ve got no chance,” admitted Cards boss Alan Dowson, whose side have now lost six in a row on the road.