Match statistics favour the Spitfires but Magpies find a way to win again
In terms of possession. territory and chances, Eastleigh shaded Saturday’s game against Maidenhead United at York Road, however, more often than not in recent weeks, the Magpies have found a way to come out on the winning side.
Eastleigh boss Lee Bradbury pointed to the statistics in the aftermath of Saturday’s 2-1 defeat for the Spitfires to emphasise how positive the visitors had been, but in a generally very even game they came away with nothing to show for their efforts.
They might have nicked a point at the death, when Danny Whitehall’s late shot was scrambled to safety by Alan Massey after striking the post, but the Magpies just about deserved their win, for the heart and endeavour they displayed to hold onto their lead in the closing stages if nothing else.
Bradbury even admitted afterwards that his side had been ‘beaten up’ a little by the Magpies: “I disagree (that the game was even).
“We’ve had 13 shots and they’ve had six. Not only that, but we’ve had the better chances in the game. We’ve hit the post. We’ve had another one which you'd expect us to score. But we’ve come away today and been beaten up a little bit.
They’re a big, manful team. We’ve tried to be positive in a 4-4-2 and we’ve tried to play high up the pitch. I didn’t think they troubled us really, apart from at set pieces.
“We’ve tried to win the game, but at the same time we’ve got to stay in the game. We switched off a couple of times and they’ve scored. Our goal was very good, and it was a good reaction from the players after going 1-0 down.
“I think we’ve had a couple of chances after 75 minutes to at least draw the game, and, at this moment in time, we’d have been happy with that. At the moment we’re trying to win games but we’re losing them.
“We’re killing ourselves and shooting ourselves in the foot and giving the opposition a bit of a leg up at times.”