MANAGER Richard Hill said Eastleigh's second half performance against Hartlepool was "unacceptable" after they fell to a 3-1 defeat on Saturday. 

The defeat ended Eastleigh's two-game winning streak since appointing Hill as their permanent manager. 

The home side went ahead after just eight minutes, with Tom Crawford driving into the bottom left corner after being set clear by Luke Hendrie.

Their lead lasted just 13 minutes before former Scotland international Chris Maguire smashed in a 25-yard free-kick to pull the Spitfires level.

However, Hartlepool regained the lead early in the second half when Emmanuel Dieseruvwe pounced on a cross by Hendrie before turning the ball home.

Dieseruvwe made sure of the points in the 66th minute with Hendrie once again playing a key role, providing the pass for Joe Grey, who in turn laid off the ball to his fellow forward to fire in from close range.

Speaking to Eastleigh's media team, Hill said: "The second half wasn't good enough, I told the lads that just then.

"The second half wasn't an acceptable performance. We were playing on the edge in the first half - but not quite how we have been.

"The second half though was unacceptable. We've conceded goals again that we shouldn't be conceding.

"They were without a doubt better than us in that 15-20 minute spell in the second half. It's easy to play when you are two goals behind - I could have gone on and done that.

"You have to play when it's still level and you have to come away (with points) from these places if you want to be anything. You have to be hard to beat. In the second half, we were too easy."