Eastleigh'S Alex Haddow can head into tomorrow's Ryman Premier play-off clincher at Northwood with new-found confidence after scoring his first goal for the club on Wednesday night.

For manager Paul Doswell, Haddow's brilliantly taken volley was perhaps the most pleasing aspect of the 3-1 Russell Cotes Cup final win over Gosport Borough.

Since signing from Slough Town in February, Haddow has looked a pale shadow of the player who gunned Eastleigh down with a hat-trick for The Rebels.

But Doswell reckons his man-of-the-match performance against Gosport was just the boost the left-sided midfielder needed.

"It was nice to see Alex score that goal and have such a good game," he said. "To be honest, he's not been feeling that great since he joined us. First he had a chest infection, then he got flu and then a knee problem. He's looking fit again and I think we'll start seeing the best of him."

Three points tomorrow would guarantee Eastleigh a place in the end-of-season play-offs and their last two games - Heybridge Swifts (home, April 23) and Dover Athletic (away, April 30) - would be all about jockeying for home advantage in the May 3/4 semi-finals.