JAMIE Slabber came back to haunt his old club Eastleigh with a late equaliser for Chelmsford City at the Melbourne Stadium on Saturday.

But, despite the disappointment of losing out on a deserved three-point haul, Spitfires boss Richard Hill found plenty to applaud in his side’s performance.

Eastleigh took the lead nine minutes into the second half when Michael Green’s free kick proved too hot for Clarets keeper Stuart Searle to handle and Moses Ademola followed up to score.

Spitfires goalkeeper Jack Dovey made a couple of crucial second-half saves to ward off a Chelmsford fightback, but was finally beaten on 82 minutes when Dave Rainford’s free-kick hit the bar and Ishmael Welsh struck the rebound goalwards for Slabber to guide over the line.

Speaking after the 1-1 draw, which puts Eastleigh seventh in the Blue Square Bet South, just a point of play-off pace, Hill said: “I thought we were the better team, most certainly in the first half and also for good spells of the second half – and I don’t say things like that lightly.

“We had a couple of little half chances and were unlucky not to be 2-0 up at half-time.”

See rest of report in today's comprehensive football review