Eastleigh fell to a 1-0 defeat on the road to Forest Green Rovers after a late winner came from a free-kick at The New Lawn Stadium.
In a game that was so close to ending with points shared between the two sides, Eastleigh battled hard to withstand heavy Forest Green pressure after the break. Nick Townsend pulled off a string of superb saves and Holzman made vital blocks, but Knowles’ 25-yard strike was enough to separate the sides and hand the hosts all three points.
Kelvin Davis made two changes to the team that beat Boston United 2-0 at the weekend. The captain Jake Taylor made his first start of the season replacing Josh Lundstram in midfield. The boss also opted for more bodies in midfield as Kieron Evans came in for Zavier Messiah-Edwards, who was not in the match day squad due to injury against Forest Green Rovers away at The New Lawn Stadium.
The first real effort of the game arrived in the 10th minute, as both sides looked to settle into the contest. A Forest Green corner was cleared only as far as Jayden Clarke on the edge of the box, but his shot was comfortably dealt with by Nick Townsend in the Eastleigh goal.
Moments later, Eastleigh threatened themselves from a corner, but the hosts quickly turned defence into attack, breaking forward at pace. Fortunately for the Spitfires, Angel Waruih showed brilliant recovery work to win the ball back and halt what looked a dangerous counter.
In the 19th minute, Eastleigh carved out a golden opportunity to take the lead. Archie Harris found space down the left and fired a low cross into the path of Kieron Evans. With his back to goal, Evans spun sharply and got his shot away, only to see it saved easily by Luke McNicholls.
Forest Green responded with chances of their own. On 25 minutes, Clarke whipped in a dangerous free-kick to the back post that just evaded Kairo Mitchell but almost sneaked inside the far corner. A minute later, the hosts were gifted another opportunity when a mix-up between Richard Brindley and Townsend handed them an indirect free-kick inside the area. It was laid to Nick Haughton who struck it well, but Temi Eweka produced a vital block on the line to keep the scores level.
The Green came inches from breaking the deadlock right before half-time. A floated delivery from Neil Kengni found Kyle McAllister at the back post, who met it with an acrobatic side-foot volley that looked destined for the top corner, but it flew narrowly wide.
Both teams came out at half time with new players on the pitch, Luis Fernandez made way for Louie Holzman for a like for like sub.
Forest Green made two changes Yahya Bamba for Nick Haughton and Harry Whitwell for Jayden Clark.
Forest Green came out strongly after the restart, immediately putting Eastleigh under pressure. Substitute Holzman made a crucial block to deny a header from a corner that looked destined for goal, though the loose ball fell to Kengis, who could only blaze his effort well over the bar.
The hosts continued to press, with substitute Bamba injecting pace and energy into their attacks. Picking the ball up inside his own half, he surged past several challenges before Archie Harris stepped in with a perfectly timed interception to snuff out the danger.
Bamba remained a constant threat, this time bursting past Aaron Pierre down the left flank before drilling a low ball across goal. Once again, Holzman was in the right place to cut it out before it reached Mitchell.
Forest Green’s persistence forced Eastleigh onto the back foot, but the Spitfires matched their intensity with determined defending. Tre Pemberton’s cross was met by Whitwell inside the box, and his effort took a deflection that wrong-footed Townsend, but the Eastleigh goalkeeper reacted superbly, getting a fingertip to push it around the post.
The pressure showed no sign of easing as Bamba went close once more, cutting inside and unleashing a strike bound for the top-left corner. Townsend, however, stood firm yet again, producing another outstanding save to preserve his clean sheet.
The Rovers pressure eventually led to the opener when Tom Knowles free-kick found the back of the net from 25 yards out in the 94th minute. This was also the last action of the game ending the scoring as 1-0 to Forest Green Rovers.
Eastleigh: Townsend (GK), Brindley, Eweka, Pierre, Fernandez (Holzman 45′), Harris, Cousins, Taylor (C) (Underhill 73′), Evans( Lundstram 54′ Davis 84′) Waruih, Blair (Ingram 85′)
Unused Substitutes: McNamara,
Yellow Cards: K. Davis 16′, Pierre 37′, Brindley 75′, Butterfield 90+8′
Forest Green Rovers: Mcnicholas (GK), Kengi (Cardwell 72′), Mendy, Mcallister, Haughton (Bamba 45′), Clarke (Whitwell 45′), Moore-Taylor (C), Moore (Knowles 54′), Pemberton, Mitchell, Kanu
Unused Substitutes: Pagel, Bunker
Yellow Cards: Kanu 37′, Pemberton 45+1
Goals: Knowles 90+4
