An unfortunate own goal from James Jones kept Eastleigh in the play-off race, as an early quickfire double made the difference in a 3-2 win over Altrincham.

The defender’s pass was misplaced six minutes into the game, and goalkeeper Oliver Byrne could only watch it nestle into the corner.

Kairo Mitchell put Eastleigh two up in ten minutes with his first goal of the season, as he hammered in a Charlie Carter cross with a composed close-range finish.

Altrincham captain Jordan Hulme pulled one back in the first half, but Christian Maghoma seemingly sealed the game with a close-range header from a Michael Kelly corner - only for Eddy Jones to worry the home fans with a 93rd minute goal.

Eastleigh have the third best home record in the league, winning 42 of their 60 points at the Silverlake Stadium, and they quickly proved why.

James Jones tried to play out of pressure by rolling back to his keeper, but the pass curved and as Byrne slid in to kick the ball out, it curled around him and into the bottom right-hand corner.

He was jeered by the home fans when he got the ball after and had no time to regain his composure as Eastleigh doubled the lead four minutes later.

Carter got down the left wing, squaring the ball across the floor to Mitchell who steadied himself and smashed it underneath the goalkeeper’s point-blank dive for his first goal of the season.

But Altrincham threw a spanner into Eastleigh’s play-off chasing works in the 29th minute, as Joe McDonnell parried directly towards Jordan Hulme - the ball ricocheted off the Altrincham skipper and he headed in the rebound with ease.

An end-to-end first half ended with a close-range free kick for Eastleigh, where Michael Kelly fired it way over towards the rainbow hanging over the Silverlake stand.

Floodlights came on for the second half, and Eastleigh’s afternoon almost turned dark when Hulme had it in the net again, but the linesman spared their blushes by ruling it offside.

Fan favourite Ryan Hill was substituted on for Carter in the 65th minute, making his first home appearance to a roar from the crowd after missing 14 league games with a knee injury he picked up in training.

Danny Whitehall did brilliantly on the byline to win a corner ten minutes later, and Kelly whipped it into the six yard box, where Maghoma headed it into the net just inches away from the goal line.

It was cagey until Altrincham surged forward deep into the five minutes of stoppage time, and substitute Regan Linney had an effort which fell to Eddy Jones, and he simply tapped the ball into an empty net.

Linney went on to fizzle a ball across the six yard line, but nobody was there to convert, and after another shot was blocked to a massive handball appeal for Altrincham, Eastleigh managed to cling on as the final whistle went.

Eastleigh: McDonnell; Martin, Maghoma, Langston, Kelly; Rutherford (Camp, 76), Carter (Hill, 65), McKiernan, Cisse; Whitehall (McDonagh, 80), Mitchell 

Unused subs: Harper, Scrimshaw

Booked: Camp

Altrincham: Byrne; E Jones, Marriott, Ferguson, Baines; Lundstram, Hulme, Osbourne (Pringle, 54), J Jones; Oyedele (Bennett, 78), Hugill (Linney, 63)

Booked: Marriott, J Jones

Unused subs: Perritt, Sinclair
Referee: Sam Mulhall