Eastleigh’s blistering first-half performance at The Shay Stadium promised victory, but a spirited Halifax comeback left the Spitfires frustrated.

The Spitfires’ impressive first-half display, which saw them race into a two-goal lead inside 30 minutes at The Shay Stadium, was undone by a frustrating second-half showing.

Kelvin Davis, made three changes to the team that lost at Tamworth last weekend as Luis Fernandez, Aaron Blair, and Zavier Massiah-Edwards returned to the starting XI. As a result, Paul McCallum, Angel Waruih, and Louie Holzman were dropped to the bench. Jake Vokins also made a long awaited return to the bench for the first time since picking up an injury in our pre-season clash against Southampton back in July.

The first real action of the evening came from the hosts, who worked the ball neatly down the left-hand side. Temi Eweka stepped in to clear the danger before David Kawa was able to latch onto it, but his clearance rebounded off the attacker and spun towards Nick Townsend’s goal. The ball threatened to loop over the Spitfires’ keeper, but he reacted well to parry it over for the first corner of the game.

In the 15th minute, completely against the run of play, Eastleigh struck the opener. Some excellent build-up play from the back allowed Sonnie Davis time and space on the right-hand side. He slipped the ball into Zavier Massiah-Edwards, who drove forward with purpose. With no Halifax players stepping out to close him down, the Watford loanee unleashed a precise strike from just outside the box that nestled into the bottom-right corner to give the Spitfires the lead.

The game briefly flared up in the 26th minute when both Pierre and Josh Hmami were shown yellow cards following an off-the-ball incident. Just moments later, Harvey Saunders drove at the Halifax defence and was bundled over by Cody Johnson, who picked up the third caution of the evening.

From the resulting free-kick, Eastleigh doubled their advantage. Taylor delivered another teasing ball into the box towards the back post, where Luis Fernandez connected perfectly, guiding his effort into the top-left corner to double the Spitfires’ lead.

The hosts offered little in response for the remainder of the half, and Townsend remained largely untested as Eastleigh carried their two-goal lead into the break.

The Shaymen were relentless after the restart and pressed forward. Owen Bray picked out Angelo Capello at the back post, who was left unmarked. The winger’s effort looked destined for goal, but Davis threw himself in the way to produce a fantastic, goal-saving block to preserve the lead.

Halifax’s substitute continued to cause problems since coming on at half-time. Rather than crossing from the right on his next attack, he unleashed a powerful strike from distance, only to see it crash against the underside of the crossbar — much to the relief of the Spitfires.

In the 54th minute, Bray once again came close to breaking the deadlock. Cutting in from the right-hand side, he struck a dangerous effort, but once again Townsend stretched out brilliantly to tip the ball away.

The hosts refused to give up three points without a fight. Cody Johnson found space before he drove towards the Spitfires’ goal and came agonisingly close, but his effort whistled just wide of the post.

After soaking up waves of pressure, Davis’ men managed to carve out a chance of their own in the 72nd minute. A quick counter-attack saw Paul McCallum slide the ball through for Davis, who broke into the box and unleashed a powerful strike, only for Sam Johnson to get down smartly to make the save.

With just under ten minutes to play, the hosts’ relentless pressure finally told. Owen Davenport finished from close range after a ball from the right-hand side to give Halifax hope.

And Halifax Town weren’t done there. Substitute Thierry Latty-Fairweather managed to retrieve a ball into the box before any Eastleigh defender and squeeze his shot underneath Townsend to level the scoring at 2-2 with just two minutes of normal time remaining.

The Shaymen kept pushing deep into stoppage time and almost stole it at the death, as Capello struck the woodwork after a low-driven ball from the right made its way all the way to the back post. Ultimately, this was the last chance of the game as the points were shared after a 2-2 draw.

Eastleigh: Townsend, Davis, Eweka, Fernandez, Pierre, Brindley (Vokins 79′), Cousins, Taylor (Humphries 79′), Massiah-Edwards (56′ McCallum), Saunders, Blair (Waruih 68′)

Unused Substitutes: McNamara, Holzman, Underhill

Yellow Cards: Pierre 26′, Saunders 32′, Taylor 57′

Goals: Massiah-Edwards 15′, Fernandez 30′

Halifax Town: Johnson, Crowe (Latty-Fairweather 80′), Hobson, Mills, Cappello, Johnson, Hugill (Bray 45′), Turner-Cooke, Hmami (Cooke 80′), Kawa (Harris 68′), Devonport

Unused Substitutes: Ford, Griffin, Tarima

Yellow Cards: Hmami 26′, Johnson 28′, Turner-Cooke 49′

Goals: Devonport 83′, Patty-Fairweather 88′

Attendance: 1352 (36)