MANAGER Chris Todd had a heart-to-heart with his Eastleigh players this week and asked them: “Are we all in this together?”

Tonight he got his answer as Will Evans headed a dramatic stoppage-time winner to keep the ninth-placed Spitfires in the National League play-off hunt with a dramatic 2-1 home victory over Woking.

The game had barely got going when there was a six-minute stoppage to repair the Woking net in front of the Mackoy Community Stand.

The Spitfires settled the quicker and Cards’ keeper Jake Cole made his first big save from Joe Partington’s downward header.

But, yet again, Eastleigh’s discipline let them down and, for the third time in the last four games, they went down to ten men.

Skipper Paul Reid was shown a straight red for kicking out at Woking striker Daniel Carr in retaliation with just 15 minutes on the clock.

Despite that mammoth setback, Cole had to rescue Woking with another fine save to deny James Constable from Partington’s low cross.

But the absence of Reid and his suspended central defensive sidekick Jamie Turley told as Eastleigh fell behind from a 25th-minute Giuseppe Sole corner, headed home by Joey Jones.

Even though he had named himself on the bench, Todd, himself a central defender, chose to orchestrate from the sidelines – and the ten-man Spitfires were not without their chances.

Cole palmed away Reason’s long-range strike and, as ten minutes’ added time drew to a close, the Cards keeper dealt with Lee Cook’s strike as it reared off the mashed-up surface.

Todd is nothing if not positive and, within 15 minutes of the second half, the mood of the game had totally changed.

Evans clattered the woodwork with a header from Reason’s free-kick and, as the Spitfires turned the screw, Kieran Murtagh – already booked, felled Reason from behind and was duly shown a second yellow to even things up 10 v 10.

Suddenly Eastleigh were full of it and, come the 68th minute they had levelled thanks to a touch of magic by Reason. The excellent Cook delivered from the left and, before Cole could react, Reason had cleverly turned and hooked it home for 1-1.

With Woking rocking, Eastleigh ran their visitors ragged for the next 15 minutes but to no avail.

But just as the Cards were starting to respond, Constable missed a golden 88th-minute chance, blazing the ball over after sub Jack Midson had headed it into his path, and Eastleigh's luckless No9 was then denied by an outrageously good save by Cole in stoppage time.

But the Spitfires stubbornly refused to give up and they got their reward with just seconds to go when Cook’s corner was joyously headed home at the back post by Evans.

 

Eastleigh: Ross Flitney, Joe Partington, Dan Harding (Michael Green, 65), Josh Payne, Will Evans, Paul Reid, Lee Cook, Luke Coulson, Jai Reason, James Constable, Yemi Odubade (Jack Midson, 86). Subs (not used): Michael Poke, Chris Todd, Tom Holland.

Woking: Jake Cole, Mark Ricketts, Joe Jones, Kieran Murtagh, Giuseppe Sole (Jake Caprice, 62), John Goddard, Geoffrey Poku, Daniel Carr (Joe Quigley, 51), Cameron Norman, Joe Robinson, Matt Butcher. Subs (not used): Nick Hamann, Alex Smith, Andrew Mills.

Referee: John Busby

Attendance: 1,630.