TOP-DRAWER goals by Jai Reason and Luke Coulson saw off relegation haunted Altrincham 2-0 at the Silverlake Stadium this afternoon as Eastleigh extended their unbeaten Vanarama National League run to eight games.

With Tranmere losing and Braintree winning, the revised table sees Chris Todd’s men up to sixth in the play-off race, a point behind the fifth-placed Iron ahead of Tuesday’s game in hand at FC Halifax Town.

Eastleigh’s top scorer James Constable was a surprise absentee to face Altrincham, having been taken into hospital with an abdominal problem last night (Friday).

The game was only five minutes old when Altrincham’s goalkeeper Tim Deasy sat down in his goalmouth, seemingly with a groin problem, but he was able to continue somewhat gingerly after treatment.

With that early interruption, things took time to settle down, but the Spitfires were knocking the ball around with some confidence probing for a way through.

Luke Coulson unleashed the first Eastleigh shot of note after Michael Green had pushed on down the left, but his ambitious effort was well off-range.

Ryan Crowther responded with a positive surge forward for Altrincham, but his soft shot proved no problem for Ross Flitney in the Spitfires goal.

Josh Ginnelly, a livewire up front for the visitors, then had a couple of pops at goal – one blocked and one wide – before the game was held up again for a head injury to Altrincham’s Damien Reeves.

The stop-start nature of the contest seemed to unsettle Eastleigh and on 20 minutes a misplaced Ben Strevens pass was quickly pounced by the Robins and Flitney had to get down sharpish to deal with Reeves’ low, drilled strike.

Once again Coulson was a bright spark for the Spitfires and, after Jai Reason had scampered cross field, having to round referee Nigel Lugg en route, Eastleigh’s talented No31 unleashed a 20-yard curler which wasn’t too far wide.

Time and time again there were groans of frustration from an expectant Silverlake crowd as Eastleigh moved purposely forward only for a wayward final pass to let them down.

And with third-to-bottom Altrincham showing all the urgency of a team fighting for their lives, this wasn’t the walk in the park for Eastleigh that the teams’ respective league positions suggested it might be.

With 35 minutes gone, however, Altrincham’s goal finally came under siege when first Yemi Odubade almost got a head to Joe Partington’s cross from the right and then, as the ball came in from the other flank, Jamie Turley made aerial contact but couldn’t keep header down.

Still the Spitfires hadn’t tested the Robins’ clearly injured goalkeeper Deasy but, as they wound up the pressure, there were successive gasps of disbelief from the home faithful as first Odubade blasted a close-range volley wide from Coulson’s knockdown and then Partington fizzed in a superb ball from deep right which missed Matt Tubbs by centimetres inside the six-yard box.

The last of the three minutes of first-half stoppage time brought action at both ends with Turley’s block from Reeves launching Eastleigh on a quick counter attack.

The pacy Odubade bundled his way past defender Gianluca Havern before laying the ball back for skipper Andy Drury who steered yet another Spitfires shot off target.

Half-time: Eastleigh 0 Altrincham 0 The Spitfires struggled to pick up the tempo at the start of the second half and some lax play involving Flitney, Will Evans and Green handed the Robins a throw-in from which the burly figure of Michael Rankine could only aim a limp shot straight at Flitney at his near post.

But, slowly but surely, the Spitfires upped the ante and twice they threatened in the space of four high-octane minutes.

Partington did brilliantly to win a challenge inside the visitors’ box and play in Matt Tubbs who lashed his effort into the side netting.

Then, with Altrincham’s defence struggling to cope, Deasy kept out Will Evans’ goalbound strike with his legs after good work by Jai Reason and Drury.

There was only so long the Spitfires could keep hammering on the door without breaking it down and, sure enough, Altrincham finally caved in on 58 minutes.

Tubbs got the crucial assist, doing brilliantly to chase the ball to the right by-line and pull it back for Reason who met it with a full-blooded blast into the top corner that gave Deasy no chance.

Suddenly the Spitfires were rampant and they could easily have doubled or trebled their lead through Green, Reason or Tubbs as an increasingly one-sided contest ticked past the hour mark.

But, when it came, their 70th-minute second goal proved well worth the wait with a truly magnificent strike from exciting 22-year-old prospect Coulson.

Cutting in from the left, the former Oxford City wideman looked up and thundered an absolute screamer into the far netting from fully 25 yards for his second goal in as many games. Small wonder there are Football League scouts watching him!

Altrincham, to their credit, applied some pressure towards the end – Flitney denying Reeves with his feet in the depths of stoppage time.

Eastleigh: Ross Flitney, Joe Partington, Michael Green, Ben Strevens (Matty Fanimo, 84), Will Evans, Jamie Turley, Andy Drury, Jai Reason, Yemi Odubade (Jack Midson, 71) , Matt Tubbs (Lee Cook, 84), Luke Coulson. Subs: Michael Poke, Paul Reid.

Altrincham: Tim Deasy, Adam Griffin, Jake Moult, Gianluca Havern, Scott Leather, James Lawrie, Michael Rankine, Damien Reeves, Sam Heathcote (Adam Saville, 71), Josh Ginnelly, Ryan Crowther (Jordan Sinnott, 60). Subs: Callum Williams, Josh O’Keefe, Rhain Davis.

Referee: Nigel Lugg

Attendance: 2,034.