Eastleigh welcome National League South opposition Braintree Town to the Silverlake Stadium in the Fourth Round of the Isuzu FA Trophy on Saturday 14th January with a 3pm kick-off.
Eastleigh:
Eastleigh’s only game at the Silverlake Stadium this year ended with an emphatic 4-0 victory over Dorking Wanderers on New Year’s Day.
However, last time out away from home the Spitfires fell to a 3-1 defeat at Wealdstone and will be looking to bounce back with a victory that would take Eastleigh to within three matches of a trip to Wembley.
Despite the current away form, the Spitfires did manage to defeat Woking 2-0 on the road to progress into the fourth round of this competition.
While the only two defeats at home this season have come at the hands of Notts County and Wrexham, the two top teams in the Vanarama National League.
Lloyd is fast closing in on Eastleigh’s top scorer this season, Danny Whitehall, who currently has nine goals in this campaign, one of which came from the penalty spot in the last round.
Braintree Town:
Braintree Town currently occupy ninth in the Vanarama National League South having recently dropped out of the play-off positions due to a run that has seen the Iron go six matches without a win in the league.
The visitors progressed to the last 32 of the competition despite being pegged back twice in the last ten minutes of their third-round tie against Farnborough before eventually winning the tie 5-4 on penalties.
Braintree have only won four of their 13 matches away from home in the league which places them 14th in the National League South away form table.
The Irons’ top goalscorer in the league so far this season is Levi Amantchi who had scored six goals before departing the club in November 2022 to join Brackley, the team that Braintree defeated in the second round of this competition.
Aaron Blair, Lamar Reynolds Alfie Matthews, and Kyran Clements all have scored just one less than Amantchi in the National League South, however, Clements did score the opener against Farnborough in the previous round of the FA Trophy.
Fixture History:
These teams have crossed paths 12 times in their history, with Braintree Town having a slight edge over Eastleigh.
The Iron have won six of the meetings, while the Spitfires have won four and the remaining two ending in 1-1 draws.
However, in the most recent matches between the two clubs, Eastleigh managed a league double over Braintree in the 2018/19 season in which the Iron ended up getting relegated, finishing second from bottom.
Head-to-head (Last five):
16/02/19: Eastleigh 2-1 Braintree Town
06/10/18: Braintree Town 0-2 Eastleigh
14/02/17: Eastleigh 0-2 Braintree Town
09/08/16: Braintree Town 1-1 Eastleigh
05/03/16: Braintree Town 2-0 Eastleigh
By Sajidur Rahman
