Eastleigh 1 Braintree 2

[ozbrit]

Fabulous start to the season! 3 points away at one of the fancied teams ;D

[4whatitsworth]

Fantastico!!!! Well done Robbie and the boys. Can't wait till Tuesday

[Stuart R]

Nearly 6 hours to get their and missed the first half, but it was worth it because it was a very good second half. Didn't see the first goal or red card, but with our second goal it was a very good cross in and Sean headed it in. Nicky made a very good save at the beginning of injury time. ;D

The players certainly put alot of effort in today. ;D

At last we have won the first match of the season for the first time in conference south. ;D

[1672]

Eastleigh's report:

eastleighfc.blogspot.com/2009/08/opening-day-misery-taggs-sees-red-and.html

[securityrob]

Great 2nd half performance. As iron4ever i didnt see 1st half either.
M25 and M3 was a nightmare. If only id hired a plane from stansted.
Still free entry and a very good welcome from some eastleigh fans for making the journey was fantastic.
Back to the match well i've not seen as much effort put in by a braintree team for a very long time which made the difference from winning the game and losing.
With only 1 match gone i feel we're in for a good season.

I need to do some more training on my voice though as my voice was gone with 15 mins to go. Not good as only there for 2nd half.

Well done robbie and the lads.

Bring on lewes

[castIRONgooner]

Purcell's goal superb, well taken keeper didn't stand a chance. Red card fully deserved taggart broke through and as ryan cleared the ball into touch he jumped in two footed crushing down onto ryans ankle! Early indication from steve grace is that it isn't broken as all the bones seem in one place but ligaments are most certainly gone. Wish ryan a speedy recovery as him and bruce were looking solid pre season, but bailey dennis covered well. Sean scored a well placed header from a Matt game cross.

Ironman of the match the whole 14 who played but i pick out game, mingle, purcell, marks and morgan.

[chino12345]

Team:

1. Nick Morgan
2. Ryan Peters
3. Adam Bailey-Dennis
4. Joe Bruce
5. Ryan Moran
6. Brad Quinton
7. Jacob Mingle
8. Matt Game
9. George Purcell
10. Sean Marks
11. Tommy Tejan-Sie

Subs

Leon Antoine
Andrew Howells
Phil Starkey
Lynvall Duncan
Nathan McDonald (GK)

Have Nathan McDonald, Phil Starkey and Leon Antoine been signed? Where was Mark Jones? Is Leon Antoine a Striker?

Good result, glad to see us get off to a winning start, bring on tuesday.

[stevea]

over the moon despite the worst journey of my life by far.
Mark Jones is suspended.
Phil Starkey has signed according to media.

Allowed 1 & half hour leeway for journey. M25 was nightmare of nightmares with roadworks everywhere plus holiday traffic. Got off the M25 to M3 at 3.00pm & though may well see 2nd half but after joining another jam, gave up at Fleet services when we new we would not even see the start of the second half. Could be last time I go west on the M25 this season. Why did the electronic board on the A12 mention problems on the south M25 but not the north route? We should sue Gordon Brown & the highways agency for making us miss the mighty Irons first win of the season.
At least the result cheered us up.
A waring to Lewes fans that the A120 turn off to Cressing Road is screwed in the evenings at the moment.

[gunner]

What a great start to the season
Marks and Purcell done well with there goals gamo run his bits of and the team overall played well was really pleased to witness the day
WELL DONE BOYS KEEP IT UP

[littleali]

Excellent stuff, keep it up boys

[btfc08]

Mark Jones is suspended i believe, will be back after the Lewes game
Leon Antoine is a striker

McDonald, Antoine and Starkey wouldve had to have signed to have been part of the squad yesterday. Whether they are contracted or on non-contract terms i dont know

[Iron Fans Chief]

Great game, brilliant result and a few Iron faithful managed at least half a game!!

It was a tense opening to a game that set the Iron faithful pulses racing when GP opened the score with a superb rocket into the stranded Eastleigh keepers net. The lads stuck to the game plan and at half time, 1 - 0 up we were all talking about a draw with the defence looking alittle tight with the departure of Moran through injury. Then the rest of the support arrived!!
Eastliegh came out the second half with all guns blazing but failed to break down a good defence with the new additions performing well with stalwart Joe Bruce mopping up. Eastligh then scored when the defence got a bit ragged. Robbie made some substitutions with Phil Starkey coming on to play on the right and BQ going off, he had run his socks off in midfield. PS should have started in my opinion as he made all the difference down the right, this stopped the constant high lobs down the middle which the "great wall of China" back four of Eastliegh easily defending, in fact the more we played on the ground the better we got and service to the SM and GP improved from both flanks which led to the winning goal from Sean. A great header. The nerves started as the board went up indicating 4 minutes of extra time. expecting the worse, the lads resolutely stuck it out, Nick making a couple of great saves to deny Eastliegh of a draw and we almost had a third.

A pain of a journey for many, well done to all those that got there
lets hope future trips are not marred by such problems.

Lets hope for a good crowd Tuesday night when we entertain Lewes.

Well done to RG, his staff and the team.