THE relief was palpable at the Silverlake Stadium tonight as Eastleigh ended a miserable eight-match winless streak in the Vanarama National League at the expense of leaders Cheltenham Town.

A Cameron Burgess own goal settled the issue 1-0, breathing new life into the Spitfires’ flagging play-off push and putting an end to the Robins’ imperious 22-match unbeaten run.

It was only the third reverse of the season for the Gloucestershire outfit and, although the winning goal came from a dreadful mistake, delighted Eastleigh manager Chris Todd felt it was the sheer hard work of his side that forced the breakthrough.

“We’ve worked so hard tonight and put a shift in. In this game you earn your luck,” he smiled.

“I never had any doubt in my players, I really didn’t, and we’ve done a lot of work on the training ground to make things better.

“It’s our first win of 2016 and it’s the turning point of the season.”

After 13 uneventful minutes, the game burst to life in the most unexpected way when the league leaders – with just 22 league goals against all season - conceded a comical own goal.

Matt Tubbs cropped up on the left and slipped the ball inside to Luke Coulson. The Eastleigh man couldn’t get it under control, but a terrible mix-up between Cameron Burgess and on-loan Charlton keeper Dillon Phillips resulted in the defender’s back pass rolling into the net right under the noses of the stunned visiting fans in the Mackoy Community Stand.

With the Spitfires strong and well organised at the back, the table-topping Robins were surprisingly unproductive in the opening half-hour despite having the lion’s share of possession on a heavily sanded pitch.

Looking a tad unsettled by the earlier disaster, they were reduced to a failed penalty appeal against Joe Partington and Asa Hall’s off-target header.

Once again Partington looked a class act for Eastleigh, rescuing his side with a perfectly executed tackle on Hall and then rampaging forward and delivering a wicked cross to the back stick which Jamie Turley was unable to convert.

The pattern of the game remained much the same after the break and when Cheltenham did step things up on 54 minutes, the Spitfires flung bodies in the way of shots from Hall and sub Billy Waters.

It was Eastleigh who had the first clear opening of the half with top scorer James Constable racing onto a long ball through the right channel but firing into the side netting.

Sensing a degree of uncertainty in the Robins defence, the Spitfires kept probing and, having hassled Burgess into conceding a needless corner, under-pressure keeper Phillips was spared by the ref’s whistle as Lee Cook’s dangerous delivery came in.

Spitfires keeper Ross Flitney had little to do until the 66th minute when he pulled off an outstanding, point-blank save from Holman’s volley from Jack Barthram’s right-wing cross.

Both sides made enforced substitutions with hamstring victim Constable making way for Yemi Odubade and Robins keeper Phillips limping off with medial ligament damage and replaced by Calum Kitscha.

With Cheltenham growing increasingly desperate, so Eastleigh looked increasingly menacing on the break. Kitscha, on his league debut, was relieved to see Coulson’s long-range effort skid wide before he comfortably gathered Cook’s low strike.

And it was Eastleigh who came closest to scoring during five tense minutes of added time, but sub Jack Midson blasted over.

Eastleigh – up to eighth – expect to sign young midfielder Tom Holland on loan from Todd’s old club Swansea City tomorrow.

Eastleigh: Ross Flitney, Joe Partington, Dan Harding, Andy Drury, Jamie Turley, Paul Reid, Luke Coulson, Jai Reason, James Constable (Yemi Odubade, 72), Matt Tubbs, Lee Cook (Jack Midson, 88). Subs (not used): Michael Poke, Will Evans, Josh Payne.

Cheltenham: Dillon Phillips (Calum Kitscha, 76), Jack Barthram, George McLennan, Kyle Storer, Daniel Parslow, Danny Wright, Asa Hall, Cameron Burgess, James Rowe, James Dayton (Billy Waters, 18), Dan Holman. Subs (not used): Jack Munns, Jordan Cranston, Amari Morgan-Smith.

Referee: Wayne Barratt

Attendance: 1,982