Maidenhead United deservedly beat Eastleigh to finally get back to winning ways

Maidenhead United celebrate. Photo: Darren Woolley

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Maidenhead United 3, Eastleigh 2

A dominant first half performance helped Maidenhead United beat Eastleigh 3-2 at York Road this afternoon to secure their first league win since August 19.

United produced one of their best first half performances of the season as they tore into the Spitfires from the off. They scored twice, through Remy Clerima’s header and Ashley Nathaniel-George’s penalty, but could easily have had five as the visitors wilted under the home side’s pressure.

The second half was more even, with Eastleigh pulling a goal back in the 55th minute through Scott Quigley’s close-range header. But Reece Smith ensured the Magpies’ 14-match run without a win would come to an end as he fired home from inside the area in the 82nd minute. There was still time for some late jitters, when Quigley swept home his second of the game deep into stoppage-time, but United held on for a well-deserved three points.

The result lifts them 21st in the National League table, level on points with AFC Fylde above them.

The Magpies might have fallen bottom of the table following Tuesday’s 4-2 defeat at Aldershot, but they produced a first half performance befitting a side battling for promotion.

They made Eastleigh look like the relegation strugglers as they carved out chance after chance in a one-sided opening 45 minutes. They should really have been ahead before Clerima’s calm, side-footed finish in the 10th minute made it 1-0. The French defender had already headed wide from a corner while Smith hooked a left-footed shot from the edge of the area wide in the fifth minute.

The breakthrough arrived shortly afterwards when Chanka Zimba’s shot in the box was deflected into the path of Clerima who wrong-footed Joe McDonnell in the Eastleigh goal with his side-footed finish.

Clerima近帮助自己第二个四分钟utes later when his flick from a left-wing cross came back off the near post, but a minute or so later, the industrious Casey Pettit was brought down in the area and Nathaniel-George rolled home the penalty to McDonnell’s right.

Maidenhead could and should have put the game to bed before the interval with Smith slamming a shot narrowly wide and Zimba – who was a real thorn in Eastleigh’s side – seeing his goal bound shot on the half-hour blocked.

The visitors brought on Nigel Atangana and Aiden Barlow as Jayden Harris and Corey Panter were hooked before half-time, but United continued to control the game. The best the Spitfires could muster was an attempt from distance by Atangana that Craig Ross pushed behind.

Eastleigh came out with more purpose after the interval, having presumably been given the hair-dryer treatment from manager Richard Hill. Alan Devonshire’s Magpies were compact in defence until they were caught out by a cross from the left in the 55th minute that Quigley headed home from inside the six-yard box.

Zimba then missed two golden opportunities to restore Maidenhead’s lead in the 68th and 69th minutes. The second saw him played clean-through on goal, but Joe McDonnell saved well with his legs.

Those misses could have proved costly had Smith not added a third with eight minutes to play. The midfielder-controlled a cross at the back post, carried it past his man before firing a shot at goal that proved too hot for McDonnell to handle.

That gave the Magpies much-needed breathing space for the final few minutes. And they needed it as well, with Quigley’s second in the 96th minute fraying some nerves deep into stoppage-time. But the scoreline flattered the visitors in truth.

After the game, Magpies assistant boss Ryan Peters said: “We’re overjoyed, but we’ve been threatening to do that for a few games. We attacked well in the first half, got ourselves a bit of a buffer and deserved the three points. We go through spells like this, but the gaffer knows how to turn it around. We’re trying to find that balance between attacking, and we’re looking good going forward, and stopping the goals going in at the other end.”

Eastleigh manager Richard Hill added: “I’m really embarrassed by that performance. It’s okay playing when you’re 2-0 down but that wasn’t good enough. It’s not acceptable. You can’t come away from home and start a game like that. Some of those performances, in fact all those performances, are not acceptable.”