EASTLEIGH signed off their season with a pulsating draw in front of a bumper crowd at the Silverlake stadium, with Lee Bradbury’s side sharing the spoils with Grimsby in a eight-goal thriller.

First-half goals from Jordan Maguire-Drew and Mani Dieseruvwe sent the away side into the break with a comfortable lead, before a quick double from substitutes Danny Whitehall and Sam Smart brought the game back to level terms shortly after the break.

Diesruvwe popped up again to restore his side’s advantage, before former Saint Jake Hesketh found another equaliser for the hosts.

In the closing minutes Dieseruvwe completed his hat-trick after chaos in the box, but Spitfires rallied again, with Tyrone Barnett equalising with a last-minute penalty.

Spitfires boss Lee Bradbury made three changes from the side that recorded a late victory away at Woking, with youngsters Seung-Woo Yang and Lyle Simpson handed their full debuts.

Prior to kick-off, Eastleigh had confirmed that the pair had been awarded professional deals after coming through the academy set-up.

With Spitfires safe and Grimsby already having a play-off spot confirmed there was the potential of a dead rubber, especially as the away side made nine changes.

However, any fears of a damp squib in the showering rain were proven incorrect by the final scoreline.

Jordan Maguire-Drew opened the scores on the half-hour mark, calmly slotting the ball beyond a static Ross Flitney after receiving the ball inside the box.

Stand-in ‘keeper Flitney then brought down Dieseruvwe inside the area, allowing the attacker to dust himself down and fire home shorly before the break.

Less than 10 minutes in the second-period half-time substitute Whitehall clawed a goal back, firing past Ollie Battersby in the Grimsby goal.

Moments later parity was restored, when Whitehall squared across for fellow sub Smart to place the ball home.

Eastleigh’s joy was short-lived, as Dieseruvwe put the Mariners back in front on the hour-mark.

The scoring didn’t end there, with Eastleigh again coming from behind to equalise.

Camp provided another assist, with the AFC Bournemouth youngster pick-pocketing the ball before switching play out-wide to Hesketh.

Cutting in from the right, Hesketh overpowered Battersby at the near post to make the score 3-3.

As the game neared its conclusion there were still more goals to be had, with Dieseruvwe prodding home what seemed to be the winner with five to go.

However, there was another twist in the tale, when Eastleigh were awarded a 90th minute penalty for handball.

Barnett stepped up to convert the spot-kick, capping off a crazy game of football.

Eastleigh: Flitney, Camp, Bragg (Smart, h-t), Boyce, Willson, Harper, Hollands, Yang, Hesketh (Hill, 85), Barnett, Simpson (Whitehall, h-t)

Unused subs: Smith, Pitman

Booked: Flitney, Yang

Grimsby: Battersby, Cropper, Pearson, Bramwell, Crookes, Jones, Burgess, Coke (Raikhy, h-t), Wright (Tomlinson, 87), Maguire-Drew (Abrahams, 63), Dieseruvwe.

Unused subs: Braithwaite, Khouri

Booked: Pearson

Attendance: 3,499