Truro City paid the price for not converting their chances as two goals in five first half minutes saw Eastleigh to a 2-0 win at The TCS, writes Tom Howe.
The Tinners, who stuck five past Morecambe without reply two days prior, were on song early on and could well have found themselves with a healthy advantage.
A mix of inspired goalkeeping, desperate defending and narrowly wayward shooting saw Will Dean, Luke Jephcott and Dom Johnson-Fisher each denied, when on another day City would have been three to the good and cruising.
Eastleigh exacted the match winning blows in the build up to half time however, with Temi Eweka and Aaron Blair scoring against the run of play and securing three points for the drive back to Hampshire.
An unchanged Tinners side, buoyed by Saturday’s emphatic 5-0 triumph over the Shrimps, raced out of the blocks and came close to continuing their fine goalscoring form inside just two minutes.
Zac Bell’s long throw was delivered right into the corridor of uncertainty, where Jephcott unselfishly left the ball for Dean, whose effort flashed narrowly wide of the mark.
Archie Harris, a former City loanee, inexplicably shot wide for the visitors before the Tinners began turning the screw once more. Jephcott forced Nick Townsend into a fine save at his near post, before the subsequent corner was almost turned into his own net by Lloyd Humphries.
Possession fell to Johnson-Fisher, who saw an effort blocked which allowed the visitors a chance to break, only for them to meet Dan Rooney, who was in the right place at the right time to break things up.
Bell soon capitalised on a slip at the back and delivered a delightful first time cross into the box that triggered a series of events that saw Johnson-Fisher, Jephcott and Dean each denied by some last gasp defending.
Shortly before the half hour and with the Tinners very much in the ascendancy, Dean spotted the run of Johnson-Fisher who rounded Townsend. The visiting custodian recovered well however, stealing the ball away and allowing the Spitfires to hook clear.
Connor Riley-Lowe almost caught him out with a set piece that the goalkeeper touched over for a corner. The Spitfires got to it first and were able to break but Bell was there to bring an end to their attack.
At the other end, Aidan Stone was untested as Eweka headed past his post from a corner. It proved a sighter for the midfielder, who didn’t miss next time around. His opener, five minutes before the break, was added to in additional time by Blair to leave Eastleigh two to the good at the break – very much against the run of play.
The energy shown in the first half wasn’t matched in the second, as a professional Spitfires side kept the Tinners at arms length, that despite the introduction of Harry Kite and Christian Oxlade-Chamberlain in place of the yellow carded pair, Shaun Donnellan and Sanders.
Controversy wasn’t far away however, as two decisions went against a frustrated City in quick succession. First a seeming shirt pull went unnoticed before, moments later, vociferous penalty appeals were waived away after Johnson-Fisher’s advances resulted in what appeared to be a handball by Jake Taylor inside the box.
Tinners boss John Askey reacted to City’s growing influence in the half by sending on Aiden Marsh, in place of Johnson-Fisher, in the hope he could build on the goalscoring debut he made off the bench against Morecambe.
Neither goalkeeper was seriously tested for the remainder though, despite Eastleigh having 11 players behind the ball on multiple occasions as City sent in wave after wave of attack in an attempt to carve an avenue back into the tie.
Marsh showed flashes of the skill that prompted Askey to offer him a short-term deal and swept a shot wide of Townsend’s goal from the edge of the 18-yard-box, while Bell thought he had set up a grandstand finish with a strike that ruffled the net.
It wasn’t meant to be though. City switch focus towards a trip to Woking on Saturday and the dangled carrot of a maiden win on the road at Step One.
Match Facts
Tinners: Stone, Bell, Riley-Lowe (capt), Dean, Sanders (Kite HT), Rooney, Johnson-Fisher (Marsh, 68), Hasani, Jephcott, Law, Donnellan (Oxlade-Chamberlain HT); Subs Not Used: Lavercombe, Sanogo, Kinsey, Adelsbury
Eastleigh: Townsend, Vokins, Humphries (Evans 74), Fernandez, Eweka, Taylor (capt), Blair, Saunders, Waruih, Davis, Harris; Subs Not Used: McNamara, Thomas, Messiah-Edwards, Lundstrum, Holzman, Underhill, Ingram
Referee: Andrew Humphries
Attendance: 1,993 (54 away)
