It may have ended in heartbreak, but Eastleigh’s first season in the Vanarama Conference has been nothing short of remarkable – and the club will rightly be celebrating it.

The Spitfires’ 3-0 play-off semi-final second leg defeat at Blundell Park was just their second defeat away from home in 2015 – both of them coming against the Mariners.

That alone is an outstanding achievement for a club that was promoted last season.

To put it in perspective Grimsby Town – a club that was playing in what is now the Championship little more than 11 years ago – were invading the pitch and celebrating a 5-1 aggregate victory over Eastleigh – the same Eastleigh that won the Wessex League just 12 seasons ago.

The very fact that these two teams are meeting on the same pitch, in the same division even, is something that only dreams are made of.

Everyone at Eastleigh will rightly hurt after Grimsby ended their Football League dream – at least for this season.

But everyone will have a sense of pride that will help heal the wounds of being so close to a Wembley play-off final, but falling at the last hurdle.

Fast forward 12 months and we could be talking about Eastleigh winning the league – that is undoubtedly what they want to do.

It was all about competing this term – getting in the play-offs was a huge bonus and the result of manager Richard Hill putting together a team that looked better and better as the season wore on.

The remit was to build a competitive team and begin to plot another famous promotion. That is definitely a box they can now tick.

It’s been a season where the club have beaten their record attendance on three occasions, with more than 4,000 fans watching the Spitfires in two games.

Who knows what the future may hold.

The achievements of the last 12 months and the togetherness of the club really shone after full-time at Blundell Park.

The 197 travelling fans were singing louder than the Grimsby fans, who will going to Wembley later this month, and in front of them on the pitch were the players all roundly clapping their supporters.

It was a touching moment that really sent home that season is far from a disappointment.