2 weeks Ago
MANAGER Kelvin Davis admitted he was "super proud" with how Eastleigh "dug in" to rescue a late point against Boston United. Chris Maguire’s injury-time penalty salvaged a point for 10-man Eastleigh in a 1-1 draw with Boston at the Silverlake Stadium. The struggling visitors looked set for their first win in nine National League games after Samuel Osborne rolled home a 10th-minute opener after good work from Kieran Coates.
Eastleigh’s task got harder after Scott Quigley was dismissed in the 54th minute following an apparent off-the-ball incident. Osborne was denied a second in the dying stages by a timely block from Eastleigh's Angel Waruih, and moments later Maguire held his nerve from the spot to rescue a precious draw for the hosts. Speaking to Eastleigh's media team, Davis said: "I'm super proud of how the lads dug in and kept playing.
"We didn't play particularly well or fluid football . We didn't get going and they got an early goal. We gave them something to hang onto and they deserved it.
It was a good goal. "It was up to us to dig in and try and fight our way back into the game. We went down to 10 men and that fits the scenario.
"You're playing a lowly team in the league and you've gone down to 10 men after conceding an early goal. It was against us but the lads stayed with it. "We end up getting a late equaliser with 10 men.
I'm proud of the mentality and the commitment to not stop. "We were resilient and that's something that we can take away from this performance. To keep it at 1-0 was massively important.
"We probably had our best spells when we were down to 10 men. That's not a new story, it can happen. It spurred us on a little bit.
"The question is always 'why can't we have that level of commitment when we have a full 11 players on the pitch?' "We found that fight and aggression. I was really pleased with that in the second half." On Quigley's red card, Davis added: "I didn't see it at the time but I've now seen it back.
There was a coming together. "Quigs is always on the line because he's an aggressive guy who always wants to win. The lad got across him and put his body into him first.
"He had a little niggle. Did it warrant a red card? I'm not sure. But you put yourself in that position - we are going to miss him now.
"The squad isn't massive and we understood that from the start of the season. We won't be the only club this season with players suspended. "We will roll with it, roll up our sleeves and look to improve on what we can improve.
It was obvious for us to keep Maguire up top after the red card. "Ultimately, it paid off. It was Mags who won the penalty and dispatched it in a calm manner.
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