SUPER SUB BEN STUNS WOOD WITH LATE WINNER
A STOPPAGE-TIME winner from substitute Dan Smith handed Eastleigh all three points in a smash-and-grab raid at Meadow Park.
Smith slotted home right at the death – following unselfish work from strike partner Ben House – as complete a successful week for Ben Strevens’ men.
Tuesday night’s 3-0 win over Dagenham ended a woeful run of form and now the Spitfires are well clear of relegation danger and up to 11th in the table, leapfrogging their hosts who were made to pay for a number of missed chances.
Wood got off to a dominant start in terms of possession with some nice interplay between Kane Smith, Matt Rhead and Junior Morias showed early intention.
Indeed, on 12 minutes, the home side took the lead when Smith let fly a fantastic shot from the edge of the area across Joe McDonnell in the Eastleigh goal.
It was a goal the Wood’s right-wing back’s first half performance deserved as he was a constant menace to the Eastleigh defence.
Wood continued their dominance for the rest of the first half but came up against a resilient Eastleigh defence who limited the home side to a couple of half chances.
Rhead could have doubled Wood’s lead, but his volley sailed on the Eastleigh bar. In the build up to half-time, the Spitfires started to show their worth and forced three corners, but they didn’t amount to anything.
The match really livened up after half-time when Wood has numerous opportunities to double their lead but came up against the outstanding McDonnell.
He saved well from Rhead’s point-blank header and palmed away Corey Whitely’s follow up. A few minutes later a sloppy Femi Ilesamni backpass nearly gifted the away side an equaliser but Barnett’s shot went just wide of Ashmore’s goal.
Wood’s Junior Morias then headed wide when well-placed following a Francis-Angol cross. On 58 minutes Rhead was denied again for Wood, this time by a last ditch tackle from Joe Partington. Then, Wood’s Krystian Pearce headed just over the bar following a Whitely corner.
At this point, Eastleigh started growing into the game and on 72 minutes they equalised when an excellent cross from Danny Hollands was met by a towing header from Barnett which beat Ashmore at the near post.
Wood were shell-shocked but not done just yet as they piled forward in search of a winner.
But just when it looked as though they were the ones on the ascendancy, they were hit by a classic counter attck.
House weaved his way up field with a fantastic run and played an unselfish ball to Smith, who finished well to seal a fine victory for the Hampshire side.