U’S JUMP UP TO SECOND AHEAD OF SHOWDOWN
SUTTON moved to second place in the National League in advance of a trip to leaders Torquay on Tuesday after an ultimately comfortable victory that extended Eastleigh’s winless run in the league to seven games.
The game turned on the dismissal of Spitfires’ midfielder Cav Miley ten minutes before half time for a challenge on Craig Eastmond, as not only did Eastleigh go down to ten men but Rob Milsom also converted the resulting free kick and from then U’s were in control, adding two superb, if very different, goals from
David Ajiboye and Eastmond.
Until Miley’s red card Eastleigh had shaded proceedings, with Sam Smart lively on the right, and manager Ben Strevens felt that the decision was the crucial moment. He said: “I thought it was very evenly matched and we were in their half more than they were in ours, but the game changed on a refereeing decision. I don’t want to say too much without seeing it back, but I know my players and I know Cav, and it wouldn’t have been malicious.’’
The pivotal moment came when Miley lunged in to a challenge on Eastmond just outside the penalty area, and referee Andrew Miller decided it was worth the ultimate sanction.
Milsom meted out further punishment with a curling free kick. It set U’s on the path to a victory that became clearer five minutes later when Ajiboye collected a quick free kick just inside his own half, sliced his way through the defence and slipped the ball past Joe McDonnell for a superb individual goal.
The winger should have had another soon after half time, shooting wide from Milsom’s cross, and as U’s dominated the second period Harry Beautyman had a diving header blocked by Alex Wynter’s face.
Sutton’s Tobi Sho-Silva and Ben Goodliffe were both off target from headers, with Goodliffe also sending a powerful free kick straight at McDonnell. Twenty minutes from time, though, the Eastleigh keeper came out of his area almost to the touchline to clear ahead of Sho-Silva but succeeded only in finding Eastmond, who returned the ball first time in to the empty net from just inside the Eastleigh half. Joe Tomlinson was even further out when he spotted Dean Bouzanis off his line in injury time, but the keeper recovered to claw the ball away, while Ajiboye missed a late chance at the other end when he shot just over from Beautyman’s pass.
U’s manager Matt Gray agreed Miley’s red card was crucial. “Until the sending off, which I didn’t have a great view of, it was a very competitive game even if it lacked a bit of quality,” he said. “We took advantage and I thought were very professional in the second half and could have won by more.’’