Eastleigh player/coach Nicky Banger admitted he felt sorry for Heybridge Swifts after they had two players sent off at Scraley Road.

Although the ex-Saints striker was delighted with a 2-1 win that kept Eastleigh second in the table, he couldn't believe the standard of the refereeing.

He said: "It's not often I'll moan about officials, but this one got booed off by their fans and ours.

"Heybridge's first player (Dwayne Edwards) got sent off for kicking Ryan Ashford, but I honestly don't know what happened with the second one (James Robinson).

"There was only about 30 seconds to go, so why the ref didn't just talk to him, I'll never know. I must admit I felt a bit sorry for Heybridge."

Having hit the woodwork twice - once through Paul Sales and once through Andy Forbes - Eastleigh finally took the lead through an Ashford free kick midway through the second half. Sales doubled the advantage, getting his head to Christer Warren's whipped-in ball.

Swifts replied with a 90th-minute Carl Griffiths penalty after a foul by Adam James. "We dominated the game early on and just couldn't score," said Banger. "But we kept professional and came away with the right result."