Magpies shoot
Maidenhead United FC: Acquah and Smith on target as United
Maidenhead United 2, Eastleigh 1
Maidenhead United have moved up to 12th in the table, and three points off the play-off places after Reece Smith's second half strike earned them a deserved three points against Eastleigh at York Road.
The visitors might have shaded the game in terms of possession and clear-cut chances, but they were generally held at arm’s length by the Magpies after Smith picked out the bottom corner to make it 2-1 in the 56th minute.
United's defence only wobbled once, in second half stoppage time, when former Magpie Danny Whitehall crashed a leftfooted shot off the post and the host's captain, Alan Massey, somehow managed to scramble an incredible clearance off the goal line.
The two sides traded chances in an entertaining opening 45 minutes and came in level at 1-1 at the break.
Emile Acquah had fired the Magpies ahead in the 25th minute, volleying home Charlee Adams' ball over the top after watching it drop over his shoulder.
But the Magpies weren't ahead for very long as Ryan Hill combined brilliantly with Charlie Carter on the right edge of the United area and the latter swept home an equaliser past Dan Gyollai at the near post.
With Adams in excellent form throughout the game, prompting and probing from midfield, United were always a threat and they should really have taken a third minute lead when Cole Kpekawa whipped in a dangerous cross from the left and Will De Havilland's close-range header was scrambled behind by Joe McDonnell and his Eastleigh defenders.
The visitors also had their moments as play swung from one end of the field to the other. Carter saw a 10th minute shot from the edge of the box blocked by Massey, while the linesman's flag prevented Ousseynou Cisse from giving the Spitfires the lead as he headed home from a 13th minute corner.
Acquah's brilliant opener was cancelled out by an equally brilliant team goal, finished off by Carter in the 32nd minute, while both sides continued to go at each other
hammer and tong in the closing stages of the half. Carter was crowded out as he looked to give the Spitfires the lead, having run onto a clever backheel by Whitehall, while Maidenhead also went close with a drive from Adams that skimmed the bar.
Smith served warning of what he was capable of in the 49th minute, as he shot just over the angle of post and bar having turned well in the box.
Before Whitehall missed a glorious chance to give Eastleigh the lead in the 51st minute, running onto a ball from Hill only to be denied by Gyollai's sprawling save.
Maidenhead then seized the moment, with Smith rolling the ball beyond McDonnell and into the bottom right-hand corner in the 56th minute to make it 2-1.
You sensed that might not be the end of the scoring and Eastleigh pushed hard for a leveller in the closing stages without really troubling the Magpies goal. Cisse fired over on the volley after Maidenhead only partially cleared a cross on the hour mark, and there were strong appeals for a penalty when Alfie Lloyd went down in the box under Zico Asare's challenge in the 74th minute but Aaron Bannister was unimpressed.
The Magpies saw out the final 15 minutes well, making a string of substitutions to eat away at the seconds, while one of those, Sam Barratt, came within inches of connecting with Adams' corner in the 84th minute.
Four additional minutes were displayed at the end of the 90, and in the first of those, Eastleigh were presented with a golden chance to snatch a point from the game. United failed to clear their lines and Whitehall fired the ball onto the inside of the post, only for Massey to scramble the ball clear when it seemed certain to bounce over the line.
United survived and they celebrated another precious victory, one that should give this improving team great confidence for the remainder of the season.
They move onto 27 points from 20 games ahead of next Saturday’s trip to placed Maidstone United.