CHUFFED chairman Roger Sherwood hailed Eastleigh's 4-0 slaying of Salisbury last night: "Without doubt our best performance of the season."

After watching former Whites favourite Paul Sales torment his old club in front of a bumper 554 crowd at the Raymond McEnhill Stadium, Sherwood said: "We were outstanding.

"Salisbury's pitch was superb, which suited us because we were able to play football.

"There wasn't a player in our side who didn't have a good game. The boys are buzzing and team spirit is brilliant."

With the top three of Histon, Tonbridge and King's Lynn all winning, it was vital that Eastleigh kept the pressure on in fourth place.

They did so spurred on by a sublime 19th-minute opener, which saw Sales loop the ball over the top of Salisbury's defence and David Hughes meet it with a belter of a volley across keeper Kevin Sawyer.

A loose pass by Gary Funnell invited Nicky Banger to run on for a well-taken second in the 38th minute and it was another ex-Salisbury player, Tyronne Bowers, who cracked in Eastleigh's 84th-minute third after going on as a substitute.

Michael Cooper's late foul on Martin Beck summed up Salisbury's frustration and Sales cashed in by converting the 90th-minute penalty.

Holidaying Eastleigh manager Paul Doswell missed the game and Sherwood joked: "Dozzy's been on the phone from Spain. I told him to stay out there for another month!"

Newport burst Bashley's bubble 2-0 at the Recreation Ground thanks to an outstanding performance by Forest 'reject' Simon Arthur, who switched to the Islanders last week.

The former English Colleges keeper held strong under a barrage of Bashley pressure at the start of each half and even Bash assistant manager Ricky Haysom admitted: "That lad had a point to prove.

"The early save he made from an Andy Culliford volley was fit for television. We all stood up thinking it was a goal, but somehow Simon turned it round."

Having soaked up Bashley's early pressure, the Islanders took the lead through Lee Chudy's first goal for the club.

According to Island boss Steve Tate, Arthur spent much of the second half calmly collecting hopeful long balls into the box before Gareth Keeping smashed home Newport's second from a corner.

The result was just what the doctor ordered for Tate after a disappointing 4-0 surrender at King's Lynn on Saturday.

He said: "I asked the players whether they had the guts to respond and they gave me a tremendous performance. It was easy."

Haysom, who is keeping the Bash seat warm for new boss John Robson, said: "We didn't deserve to lose that game, but if you can't score, you can't win.

"Tatey said to me that they had weathered a storm before getting their second goal, but it was more like a hurricane."