EASTLEIGH have come a long way since the dark, depressing days of February.

When the SOS call went out to Richard Hill to come back and rescue a side in freefall, it was hard to see where the next National League point was coming from.

Yet just six weeks later, they are reflecting on a desperately unlucky 1-0 home defeat at the hands of Danny Cowley’s mighty leaders Lincoln City - an Imps side who, lest we forget, beat Premier League Burnley to become the first non-League club in 103 years to reach the FA Cup quarter-finals.

While Cowley himself hailed "a perfect away performance” from his Sincil Bank boys, they could so easily have come unstuck on an afternoon when title rivals Tranmere were busy steamrolling Solihull Moors 9-0.

Scott Wilson alone might have hit a Spitfires hat-trick but he and his 72nd-minute replacement Matt Tubbs were thwarted by outstanding second-half saves from visiting 'keeper Paul Farman.

Eastleigh No1 Graham Stack, who by his own admission was not at his best in the previous week’s 4-0 defeat at Dagenham & Redbridge, had been equally effective in snuffing out the first-half threat of Lincoln’s Nathan Arnold.

A pity then that he was denied a clean sheet on 77 minutes when Sean Raggett, who had almost lost his front tooth in a first-half collision, bravely headed in Lincoln’s winner from sub Billy Knott’s free kick.

Rightly proud of his team’s efforts against a wily, no-frills Lincoln side, Hill said: “I can’t fault the lads today. For long periods we were the better team.

“It’s in games like that that you have to take your chances, but I was pleased with the performance from start to finish. It was much improved from last week - it needed to be.

“How Lincoln play, they do it very well, but we didn’t deserve to lose.

“The build-up to the goal was disappointing. There was a foul on Craig McAllister not given and ten seconds later a very similar foul’s been given on one of their players. Instead of us putting the ball in their box, they’ve put it into ours and it was the only time in the game that we didn’t defend well.”

Farman’s stunning reflex save that kept out Tubbs’ header from Michael Green’s cross had been another key turning point and came just ten minutes after he had smartly spread himself to deny Wilson one-on-one.

Stack, too, was in sharp form, earning the Spitfires’ man-of-the-match award.

The former Barnet man reflected: “We created good chances and were really unlucky.

"From an individual perspective, I was disappointed with how I played last week, but today’s performance was exactly what we needed. The only thing missing was the result.

“Their keeper’s made two fantastic saves second half and I've made a couple of good saves first half. I needed that after Dagenham.”

Eastleigh: Graham Stack, Michael Green, Sam Togwell, Paul Reid, Adam Dugdale, Gavin Hoyte, Sam Matthews (Ayo Obileye, 72), Ben Close (James Constable, 84), Scott Wilson (Matt Tubbs, 72), Craig McAllister, Hakeem Odoffin. Subs (not used): Chinua Cole, James Constable, Ben Strevens.

Referee: Adam Bromley.

Attendance: 2,738 (659 from Lincoln)