There were feelings of frustration for Eastleigh manager Paul Doswell, who admitted after a 2-1 home defeat by Ashford: "It's hard to say where it all went wrong. Too many of the side didn't play to their full potential."
Only four days had elapsed since Eastleigh's near-perfect performance slayed Salisbury 4-0 in Wiltshire, and yet on Saturday they looked like a different side.
They were 2-0 down inside 32 minutes to goals by Adrian Stone and Lee McRobert before Nicky Banger was fouled for a penalty which he got up and converted himself in the 39th minute.
Shortly before half-time Ashford had Martin Anderson sent off for a second bookable offence but, despite hitting the woodwork through ex-Saints Banger and Kevin Gibbens after the break, Eastleigh never looked convincing against the ten men.
While admitting it was "a bad day at the office", Doswell was not overly harsh on his newly-promoted side. He said: "To be fair, the lads put together five wins on the bounce for me and they were going to slip up somewhere.
"We've got to look at the bigger picture and say we'd have settled for the start we've had. We've got 16 points and if we can finish in the top-six and go up, then I'll be over the moon."
Doswell's player/assistant manager David Hughes was still feeling sore after Salisbury and could only contribute as a substitute against Ashford. Doswell confessed: "When David doesn't play, we're lacking something. We were also missing Lee Bright, Rob Marshall and Robbie Matthews, which all adds up. That's a big quartet to be without."
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