Eastleigh's admission free' experiment brought a positive response last night with a crowd of 958 flocking in for their Blue Square South showdown against Thurrock.

What a pity then that the Spitfires failed to inspire on a bitterly cold evening in Stoneham Lane, battling out a turgid 0-0 draw.

Director/assistant manager Paul Doswell summed up: "The crowd was good, but it wasn't the result we wanted.

"The attendance last year against Thurrock was about 300, which means we've trebled it by letting people in free, so it was definitely worth doing.

"It was a cold night and Liverpool were on TV in the Champions League, so to get nearly 1,000 through the gate when Thurrock only brought about three with them was a good effort.

"There will have been treble the number of people buying burgers, coffees and so on, so it'll be interesting to find out what the secondary income adds up to.

"It's a pity the game was a bit dull. We looked very flat and Thurrock had two or three opportunities to win it."

Full story and the rest of last night's non league football: see today's Daily Echo.