It was late heartbreak for the Spitfires on their trip to the J Davidson Stadium, with the home side netting a 90th minute winner.

The Spitfires’ Isuzu FA Trophy journey would come to an end following a tightly contested game in Altrincham.

Regan Linney came up with the goods for Altrincham with just moments remaining in the game.

The first-half of the game was a close one, with both teams not being able to find many opportunities to get a look on goal.

Most of the half was played out in the middle of the park. Both sides were able to break into each others boxes, but were not able to get many proper shots off.

With just over five minutes left of the half, Altrincham had a couple of quick fire shots from inside the box blocked by the Spitfires, and cleared away from danger.

The home side then almost put the ball into the back of their own net. A back pass was misplaced, leaving Ethan Ross having to scramble across goal to get a toe to it to push it away from his goal.

The busy end to the first-half of play continued, when Chris Maguire blazed a shot over the crossbar from range, in what would be the last bit of action before the break.

After the break, Ludwig Francillette came painfully close to scoring an absolute wonder goal. He spun the ball round his man, before wrapping a shot towards goal. Ross got down low to deny his effort.

In the 54th minute, Justin Amaluzor was baring down on Joe McDonnell’s goal, and was denied by the Eastleigh ‘keeper who made a smart stop to keep the score level.

Not too long after, the Altrincham man had another go on goal. The ball was laid into his path following a set piece, before he unleashed an effort on goal. McDonnell initially spilled the shot, before gobbling it straight back up before an Altrincham attacker could get there.

With the hope of opening the scoring, Richard Brindley blasted a shot towards goal in the 64th minute. He was unable to find the target with his venomous effort, and saw it fly wide of the goal.

Tyler Golden looked set to score in the 79th minute. He hit a shot from outside the box towards goal, which took a nick off of the Eastleigh defence to put it just wide of the target. The resulting corner would come to nothing.

Noa Boutin would go up the other end less than five minutes later, and come close to scoring as well. His shot was unable to find the target, as it flashed marginally wide.

In the 89th minute, Regan Linney directed a header towards goal, after getting up high to connect with a cross. McDonnell would be there to hold his effort well.

The next time Altrincham’s striker had a look on goal would be just a minute later, and this time, he would make no mistake. His shot from an awkward angle managed to find it’s way into the back of the net, meaning it would be defeat for Eastleigh on their travels.

Altrincham: Ross (GK), Banks, Baines (C), Osborne, Linney, Newby, Amaluzor, Crawford, Golden, Nuttall (Bickerstaff, 69′), Olson

Unused subs: Randle (GK), Cooper, Taylor, Kosylo, Reddin, Pasiek

Goals: Linney (90′)

Yellow cards: Bickerstaff (72′)

Eastleigh: McDonnell (GK), Brindley, Fernandez, Francillette, Maguire (C), Waruih, Boutin, Close (Humphries, 80′), Pyke, Underhill (Semenyo, 90+1′), Maher

Unused subs: Scott (GK), Hodson, Rogers, Fox

Yellow cards: Close (40′), Maher (72′), McDonnell (82′)

Referee: James Oldham

Attendance: 1,464 (47 away)

Report by Matthew Gibbs