Boreham Wood had to make do with a share of the points following an entertaining encounter against a determined Eastleigh side. Wood went behind earlier on when Aaron Blair opened the scoring, but goals from Zak Brunt and Lewis Richardson sent Wood before the break 2-1 up, until Jake Tabor equalised in the second half for the hosts. 

Luke Garrard made one change from Tuesday’s win against Yeovil Town with Regan Booty returning from suspension in place of Marley Marshall-Miranda who dropped to the bench.

Boreham Wood had a lot of early possession, but it was the Spitfires who had the ball in the net first when Harvey Saunders headed the ball in on six minutes. However, it was correctly ruled out for offside. Two minutes later a lovely Wood move involving Cameron Coxe and Lewis Richardson finished with Zak Brunt forcing Eastleigh keeper Nick Townsend into a good save. The host took the lead on ten minutes when a Townsend free kick fell into the path of Aaron Blair who finished superbly past Nathan Ashmore in the Wood goal. Four minutes later Richardson tried his luck from distance, but it went straight into the arms of Townsend.

On 20 minutes, Wood got back on level terms when after an excellent one two between Richardson and Matt Rush led to the ex-Burnley man being brought down in the area. Brunt’s penalty was saved by Townsend, but he was there to tap in the rebound. Five minutes later Wood took the lead when an excellent pass from Brunt picked out Lewis Richardson, who cut inside and finished well past Townsend. On 38 minutes a lovely move involving Richardson and Abdul Abdulmalik ended with the former shooting from a tight angle, but Townsend was equal to it. Two minutes later, Blair went on a good run before crossing the ball to Saunders whose little flick was saved by Ashmore. On 44 minutes, an excellent pass from Regan Botty picked out Rush who was one on one with Townsend, but he forced the Spitfires keeper into a good save. Just before the interval, Brunt played in Rush who shot straight at Townsend.

HT: Eastleigh 1-2 Boreham Wood

The hosts nearly equalised two minutes after the restart but Sam Pearson sliced his volley wide. Wood then went up the other end and a good corner routine involving Booty, Brunt and Abdulmalik ended with the later forcing Townsend into a good save at his near post. From the resulting corner, the ball fell to Richardson who headed in but the linesman ruled it out for offside. On 52 minutes Saunders headed straight at Ashmore. Four minutes later, Eastleigh got their equaliser when Saunders went on a good run down the left before crossing the ball in for Jake Tabor and the Swindon Town loanee made no mistake from close range.

The hosts started to threaten and on 62 minutes Kieron Evans fired over from distance. Two minutes later Femi Ilesamni did well to find Richardson who scooped his effort just wide of the Eastleigh goal. On 73 minutes, a Brunt free kick is nodded just over the bar from Rush. On the 92^nd minutes Aaron Henry had a go with another free kick and this time only managed to find the arms of keeper Townsend, albeit from a much more difficult angle. In the final minute of eight added on Brunt beat the keeper with a shot and just when it looked like it was going in, Jake Vokins somehow got his head to it.

FT: Eastleigh 2-2 Boreham Wood

It seems like two points lost for Luke Garrard’s men in a game that they largely dominated. Wood played some excellent football and were undone by defensive errors and a determined Eastleigh side.

Eastleigh: Townsend, Eweka, Harris, Humphries, Maher (Pierre 81), Evans, Cousins (Vokins 81), Pearson, Blair, Saunders (Waite 69), Tabor (Stone 90+3).

Subs not used: McNamara, Vokins, Pierre, Waruih.

Boreham Wood: Ashmore, Coxe, Ilesamni (Newton 81), Kensdale (Henry 81), Bush, O’Connell, Brunt, Booty, Abdulmalik, Richardson (Ayinde 68), Rush.

Subs not used: Curd, Norris, Miranda, Robinson.

Man of the Match: Zak Brunt.

Match report written by Brett Lewis.