Attractive contest brings solid point (22.10.05)

AN ENTERPRISING and enjoyable contest saw the honours deservedly shared on Saturday between a team which has not won at home and one which has not won away.
However, it took a late goal for the Magpies to salvage a point from a match that, at half-time, they looked better placed to win.
The first 45 minutes saw the hosts have the lion’s share of possession, which they used quickly and efficiently.
Midfield maestro Matt Glynn stroked the ball around well and Lee Newman shone down the right flank, with only the finishing touch missing from a professional period of play.
For their part, Eastleigh posed fewer threats but hounded the man with the ball and were well organised. Their biggest asset was compact striker Neville Roach who held the ball up well on the edge of the box and was always looking to turn and shoot in an instant.
After the Spitfires’ Steve Forbes drove wide from close range, the Magpies engineered their first chance when Newman had a chance to shoot. But he took one touch too many, a problem the Magpies seem to have at present, and despite an appeal for a penalty, the moment was lost.
Newman then enjoyed the Magpies’ clearest opening when a goal kick was flicked on by Stephen Hughes into the path of the No.11, but his effort was well saved by Lee Webber in the Eastleigh goal.
Webber was soon to go off injured as was Ryan Ashford, adding to Eastleigh’s lack of cohesion.
Yet it was the visitors who should have gone in at the break one-up, but Roach’s effort from 12 yards struck the inside of the post and then hit defender Ryan Johnson in the face on the goalline before being cleared.
Eastleigh were certainly more determined after the interval, and following a period of staccato play, they took the lead. Roach was given the ball on the edge of the 18-yard area, he turned his marker and successfully fired in a low shot.
It was a fine finish which was matched on 70 minutes when a quickly taken thrown-in by Brendan Gallen found Newman who, after a couple of turns, blasted into the roof of the net from close range for 1-1.
The match opened up in the final 20 minutes, with both sides failing to make the most of well-executed moves, before Eastleigh regained the lead on 84 minutes.
Roach again held the ball well, fed Barry Mason who drifted a cross to the left flank from where Adam Wilde produced a thunderous goalbound strike.
However, the hosts continued to play the ball around neatly although with more urgency.
Eventually, on 87 minutes, after a bout of head tennis in the Eastleigh box following a corner, Abdul Saeed Osman volleyed the ball through the pack and into the back of the net.
It was a suitable finish to a watchable match which brought the Magpies a well earned, and much needed, point on home soil.

KEY MAN: The Magpies’ Lee Newman produced an eye-catching performance on Saturday against Eastleigh. Ref:90522/8