MATCH REPORT: EASTLEIGH (A)

Eastleigh 2-1 Boreham Wood
Tuesday 21st November 2023, 7.45pm
Silverlake Stadium, Vanarama National League

Boreham Wood lost their second Vanarama National League match in a row due to two excellent goals from Paul McCallum which gave Eastleigh a well-deserved 2-1 victory at Silverlake Stadium. Luke Garrard made one change from Saturday’s defeat at Dorking Wanderers with Tom Whelan coming in for Matt Robinson in midfield.

Boreham Wood came out of the traps quickly and had a good chance on two minutes when Lee Ndlovu played the ball to Charles Clayden, but he scuffed his shot. Eastleigh took the lead on fifteen minutes with their first shot on goal and it was their top scorer Paul McCallum who got the goal with a deadly finish following a cut back from Enzio Boledewijn. It was the sixth match running that Boreham Wood have conceded the first goal.

Four minutes later Boreham Wood equalised with a deadly finish from Tyrone Marsh which crashed in on the underside of the bar. On twenty-seven minutes Scott Quigley nearly caught Nathan Ashmore out at his near post but the Wood keeper just about managed to deal with it. Four minutes later, Chris Bush just failed to get his head on the end of a Erico Sousa corner. On forty- two minutes McCallum failed to connect properly from a Bailey Clements cross.

HALF TIME: EASTLEIGH 1-1 BOREHAM WOOD

Boreham Wood gave as good as they got in the first half against a good Eastleigh side. However, their good work was undone three minutes after the restart when McCallum buried his shot beyond Nathan Ashmore in the Wood goal. It was the big striker’s fifteenth league goal of the season. Soon afterwards, Scott Quigley hit the Boreham Wood post for the hosts.

Boreham Wood offered very little after Eastleigh retook the lead and had to wait unto the seventy-seventh minutes to force former Boreham Wood loanee Joe McDonnell into a save. Femi Ilesamni’s shot from distance was well handled by the Eastleigh keeper. Eight minutes later Bush also tried his luck from distance but this time, it sailed over the crossbar.

It was another disappointing result on the road for Luke Garrard’s men who now sit perilously close to the drop zone with only one point separating them and Oxford City who sit in the bottom four. Luke Garrard will want his team’s luck to change against an equally out of form Woking at home on Saturday.

FULL TIME: EASTLEIGH 2-1 BOREHAM WOOD

By Brett Lewis

Boreham Wood: Ashmore, Sousa, Clayden (Stephens 81), Ilesamni, Bush, Sass-Davies, Payne, Whelan (Abraham 81), Balanta (Robinson 63), Marsh, Ndlovu

Subs not used: Abayomi, O’Neil,

Eastleigh: McDonnell, Atangana, Francillette, Taylor, McCallum, Barlow (Harris 67), Boldewijn, Lamgston, Hodson, Clements, Quigley
Subs not used: Scott, Nwabuokei, Panter, Rutherford,

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