The Spitfires are beaten by Southend United at the Silverlake Stadium.

Goals at either end of the first-half from the visitors put them into a strong position going into the second-half. Tyrese Shade would pull a goal back, and the Spitfires would continue to fight for a leveller from there, but they were not rewarded for their efforts.

Going into it, Jake Taylor returned to the starting lineup, and Corey Panter was handed his first start since September.

The visitors took the lead of the game within the first minute of play. James Morton swung a corner into the box, which after bouncing around for a moment, was pounced on by Tom Hopper, who put the ball into the back of the net.

Following the fast start, there wasn’t much to shout about for the next 25 minutes or so. That was until Hopper had a go on goal again. He got up high to pick out the ball, before heading it just over the hands of Joe McDonnell. The ball would go just wide of the target, meaning Southend’s advantage would remain a slim one.

Just before the break, Southend doubled their lead. Gus Scott-Morriss headed in a cross to give his side a two goal lead going into the interval.

In the 55th minute, Eastleigh pulled a goal back. Scott Quigley made an impressive run down the right flank, before finding Tyrese Shade with a low-driven cross. Shade would make no mistake with his finish, and found the bottom left corner of the goal to put Eastleigh right back into it.

Macauley Bonne went up the other end a few minutes later, and looked set to score. The ball bounced into his path in the box, but he would see McDonnell close down his shot well to deny him.

The busy period of play continued when Ludwig Francillette called Nick Hayes into action, back down the other end. His shot from the edge of the six-yard box was impressively saved by the Southend ‘keeper, and then cleared away from danger.

Scott-Morriss had a go with a fancy flick in the 67th minute, but his audacious attempt would not even come close to finding the target.

Bonne had a huge chance to double Southend’s lead in the 72nd minute. The ball fell to him right in front of goal, and with no defenders in his way, he looked set to score. Instead, he blasted the ball high over the crossbar.

Chris Maguire came millimetres away from getting a wonder goal in the 76th minute. He had a go on the volley from long range, but his shot would not quite dip enough to find it’s way into the top right corner.

Shade came painfully close to getting a leveller in the 86th minute. He had a deflected shot bounce back off the post, meaning, despite a second-half fight back, the Spitfires would go on to be beaten by Southend.

Eastleigh: McDonnell (GK), Brindley (Semenyo, 83′), Fernandez, Francillette, Taylor (C), McCallum (Quigley, 46′), Shade, Waruih (Maguire, 46′), Panter, Boutin, Close (Hudson, 90+1′)

Unused subs: Scott (GK), Ryan, Underhill

Goals: Shade (55′)

Yellow cards: Panter (70′), Francillette (72′)

Southend United: Hayes (GK), Scott-Morriss, Husin, Bonne (Walker, 79′), Gubbins, Taylor (C), Golding, Parillon (Miley, 63′), Hopper, Appiah-Forson (Bridge, 63′), Morton (Goodliffe, 90+1′)

Unused subs: Jaakkola (GK), Walker, Kendall, Coker

Goals: Hopper (1′), Scott-Morriss (45+1′)

Referee: Oliver Mackey

Attendance: 3,148 (792 away)

Report by Matthew Gibbs