A thoroughly professional performance from the Spitfires saw them comfortably overcome Hampton & Richmond Borough and book their place in the First Round of the FA Cup. A sublime strike from Jake Vokins and a Harvey Saunders header fired the Spitfires to a 2-0 win in South-West London which further extends Scott Bartlett’s side’s unbeaten streak.

Manager Scott Bartlett made three changes from last weekend’s 1-1 draw with Solihull Moors at the Silverlake. Both Aaron Pierre and Archie Harris were away on international duty with Grenada and Wales U21s respectively with Temi Eweka and Jake Vokins returning to the starting XI as replacements. Aaron Blair also misses out through injury after he was forced to come off last weekend against Solihull Moors, with Luis Fernandez coming in as a replacement.

The game started with neither side able to exert their authority and get a foothold in the opening exchanges of the match before Sonnie Davis’ audacious lob which nearly caught the Hampton & Richmond Borough goalkeeper James Holden off his line.

The first real opportunity of the game fell to the home side following a quick flowing move through the middle of the park which saw dangerman Soul Kader striking the foot of the right post. The ball then fell to Harry Gardner on the edge of the area who drilled an effort towards goal which forced Spitfires goalkeeper Nick Townsend into making a full stretched save to tip the ball over the crossbar to keep the game goalless.

The home side were definitely in the ascendancy after a cagey opening few minutes and were looking the more likely side to open the scoring. However, it was the visitors who had the better of the opportunities as the game progressed towards the 20th minute. The Spitfires forced a succession of corners through excellent attacking play down the left from Harvey Saunders whose cross fell to Lloyd Humphries who saw his effort deflected wide of the post.

The Spitfires skipper Jake Taylor then found himself with some space on the edge of the area and managed to unleash a low curling effort towards the bottom right-hand corner which forced the Beavers goalkeeper James Holden into making a fine diving stop.

The Beavers then had a chance of their own on the counter-attack through dangerman Soul Kader once again as he gathered the ball on the left and cut inside before unleashing a curling effort towards goal. An outstretched Luis Fernandez managed to get his body in the way and block the shot before the ball was cleared down field and away from danger.

The opening goal of the game went to the away side following a stunning strike from Jake Vokins. The ball bounced into the path of the full-back who unleashed a looping half-volley into the top left corner of the goal with goalkeeper James Holden getting no-where near it to give the Spitfires the lead.

Hampton & Richmond Borough responded to falling behind with two golden opportunities of their own through full-back Jude Mason who found some space on the left and drove into the box before playing a delightful ball across the face of the goal. However, unfortunately for the Beavers, no-one managed to get on the end of the cross and the opportunity was squandered as the Eastleigh defenders managed to clear the ball away from danger.

The Spitfires doubled their advantage in the 35th minute through superstar Harvey Saunders, thanks to the brilliance of Sonnie Davis down the right. The full-back drove with the ball down the right before crossing the ball to the far post. The cross was met by Harvey Saunders who headed the ball into the bottom-corner to put the visitors 2-0 up.

The visitors kept piling on the pressure as the game progressed towards half-time with Lloyd Humphries battling excellently in midfield to win the ball back before playing in Josh Lundstram. The midfielder then drove towards goal before unleashing a powerful effort which stung the hands of James Holden in the Hampton & and Richmond goal. This was the last opportunity of note before the referee drew the first half to a close.

The second-half started in a similar manner to the first with neither side able to take a hold of the game and create any real opportunities. The home side started to control the possession but struggled to make any real inwards towards the Eastleigh goal. The Spitfires defence then managed to force a mistake out of the home side and regained possession before driving forward themselves but nothing came of it.

The fast-paced nature of the game then died down with neither side creating any meaningful opportunities as the game entered the final 30 minutes. The Spitfires then had a sustained amount of possession which ended in Harvey Saunders driving towards the Hampton & Richmond penalty area before tripping over his own feet and handing possession back to the home side.

As the game entered the closing stages the Spitfires started to slow things up and take the sting out of the game; stopping the home side from creating any chances to find a way back into the game. Following a corner for the home-side and a lighting counter-attack from the Spitfires, a succession of offsides slowed the game down once again to the delight of the visitors.

The Spitfires had a golden opportunity to kill the game off in added time as Keiron Evans was played through on goal but he couldn’t quite lift the ball over the on-rushing goalkeeper before the scrambling Hampton & Richmond defenders managed to clear the ball down-field.

This opportunity for the Spitfires proved to be the last chance of the encounter and the game finished 2-0 to the Spitfires. The thoroughly professional performance booked Eastleigh’s place in the FA Cup First Round and extends Scott Bartlett’s side’s unbeaten run.

Hampton & Richmond Borough: Holden (GK), Field, Mason, Deadfield (Rodari 46′ (Allsopp 59′)), Fasanmade, Tuck (McGreevy 81′), Thomas, Kader, Sayers, Massey (C), Gardner

Unused Substitutes: Ince, Ziger, Parkinson, O’Keefe

Yellow Cards: Fasanmade 43′, Sayers 90+3′, Gardner 90+5′

Eastleigh:  Townsend (GK), Vokins, Humphries (Evans 77′), Fernandez, Eweka, Taylor (C), McGuckin (Stone 90+5′), Saunders (Underhill 90+3′), Lundstram (Waruih 84′), Davis, Cousins

Unused Substitutes: McNamara, Holzman, Ingram

Goals: Vokins 27′, Saunders 35′

Attendance: 1354