EASTLEIGH recovered from a poor first-half performance to book their place in the FA Trophy second round with a 1-0 win at ten-man Aldershot Town.

The 80th-minute sending-off of Shots’ Omar Beckles proved a turning point with Eastleigh substitute Ross Lafayette striking three minutes later to send the Spitfires through, writes WENDY GEE.

Incredibly it was Eastleigh’s ninth victory out of ten away games under Chris Todd’s charge. And the one game they didn’t win was a 1-1 draw at National League leaders Cheltenham!

The Spitfires made a couple of changes after Tuesday’s excellent 2-1 league win at Macclesfield with Yemi Odubade and Ben Strevens coming into the starting 11, while Jai Reason was named on the bench and Jack Midson dropped out of the 16. Ex-Saint Dan Harding returned as a sub after injury.

Unexpectedly for Harding he was called into action with just seven minutes gone as Paul Reid landed awkwardly after going in for a 50-50 challenge with Danny Carr and immediately indicated that he needed to come off.

Harding slotted into his customary left-back role with Michael Green partnering Joe Partington at centre-half.

Aldershot, reeling after five straight Vanarama National League defeats, had made the brighter start with the lively Carr forcing Ross Flitney to save at his near post before Charlie Walker sent an acrobatic effort wide.

With the Spitfires’ reshuffled defence taking time to settle and their energetic opponents passing the ball at pace, the Shots swarmed all over their in-form visitors and it needed a remarkable point-blank save by Flitney to deny Carr after Luke Oliver had won a far post header from Sean McGinty’s deep free kick.

Little was seen from Eastleigh as an attacking force until the 22nd minute when Lee Cook delivered a dangerous cross from the left which was just too far in front of Strevens at the back stick.

They did their best to pass the ball around and suck the life out of Aldershot’s whirlwind start, but the Shots still proved a handful with Damon Lathrope twice firing wide from distance and Partington doing well to clear ex-Spitfire Dan Walker’s inswinging corner.

Another good turn and cross by Cook offered the visitors hope, but Aldershot were soon bombing forward again with Eastleigh’s on-loan right-back Wes Atkinson needing all his pace to deal with Walker’s speedy break down the Shots’ left.

On 43 minutes Eastleigh’s top scorer James Constable nipped in ahead of Omar Beckles and passed inside to Odubade who steered a rising shot over from 20 yards.

But the visitors were soon under the cosh again with Charlie Walker left holding his head in his hands after sticking a boot out to reach his namesake Dan’s free-kick and poking a clear chance wide.

Half time: Aldershot 0 Eastleigh 0 Buoyed by a halt-time team talk and with a brisk breeze now behind them, Eastleigh showed more purpose after the break and there were signs of normal service being resumed when Shots keeper Phil Smith had to dive full stretch to turn away Constable’s dangerous delivery from the left.

But Aldershot responded with a spate of corners and there was an anxious moment for the Spitfires when, in trying to stop Rhys Browne’s cross finding teammate Carr, Green sliced his clearance over the bar.

Eastleigh’s injury problems mounted on the hour when Harding went down, requiring treatment, and the sub himself had to be substituted. With no other defenders on the bench, midfielder Jai Reason went on and Strevens dropped into the back four. Josh Payne’s speculative 30-yarder was just about dealt with by Smith as Eastleigh rallied and then Constable lashed a decent effort wide.

Aldershot had the ball in the back of net on 68 minutes but it was correctly called back for offside against Carr.

Charlie Walker then fired a decent effort wide for Shots after bundling Strevens off the ball – his last contribution before being replaced by Richard Brodie., It was then that a hitherto tame cup tie began to boil over with Reason booked for Eastleigh and the Shots fans baying for blood when Brodie was brought down on the edge of the box.

Lathrope fired the ball into the wall and, as Eastleigh broke, the Aldershot natives grew even more restless when Beckles was shown a straight red for wrestling the pacy Odubade to ground just outside the Shots area.

Payne curled the subsequent free kick narrowly off target but, with the Spitfires now breaking at will against the ten men, it was no surprise when they seized the lead with 83 minutes gone.

Again it was Odabade’s fleet of foot that caused the Shots’ problems as he raced onto Payne’s through ball and lifted the ball over the advancing Smith.

The ball was drifting wide, though, before sub Ross Lafayette - who had not long been on the pitch for another injury victim, Andry Drury - tapped it into the net.

Odubade was soon creating havoc again, but this time Cheye Alexander managed to thrash the ball clear.

In the fourth minute of stoppage time it looked as if a Tuesday night replay was heading for the Silverlake when Jim Stevenson was flicked clean through on Eastleigh’s goal, but his touch was heavy and Spitfires stopper Flitney safely gathered.

Full-time: Aldershot 0 Eastleigh 1