PAUL Doswell believes Eastleigh's Eastern Division title hopes are dead and buried after Saturday's 2-1 reverse at Fisher Athletic.

Their eighth league defeat of the season leaves them 13 points adrift of leaders Tonbridge Angels with 14 games to play - and Doswell sees no prospect of them making the ground up after succumbing to two Leroy Huggins goals in London's Docklands.

It's not so much Tonbridge he is tipping for the top as the second and third-placed teams, King's Lynn and Histon, who both won by handsome margins.

Fourth-placed Salisbury also fell short of expectations, going down 2-0 at Stamford, and Doswell conceded: "Salisbury and ourselves have handed it to the others on a plate.

"We were very poor at Fisher. From time to time we turn up at places and don't appear overly interested. This was one of those cases. We looked stale, tired and leggy against a Fisher side who appear to have found themselves a very rich chairman. They'd signed six new players on top of the four they brought in the week before and it looks as if they're going to be a useful side."

Fisher were playing their first game under the caretaker charge of former Blackburn, Grimsby and Peterborough midfielder Wayne Burnett following the sacking of Gary Abbott.

They opened the scoring on the half hour when Huggins pounced on the rebound after Colin Matthews had parried Raymone Powell's shot.

Eastleigh had their chances to equalise, but Taffy Richardson's overhead kick struck the woodwork and then the league's top scorer, Paul Sales, had a penalty saved.

Ex-Tonbridge man Huggins made it four goals in three games for his new club on 75 minutes and Sales partially atoned for his earlier miss with a late trademark header from Tyronne Bowers' free kick.

"We haven't got a chance of winning the league now," said Doswell. "We'll do well to finish third."