Eastleigh assistant manager David Hughes fired a match-winning brace after Matthew Le Tissier put pen to paper. And then he revealed that his pal is not the only Saint prepared to help out at Ten Acres this season.
Hughes has been out for the last few weeks with rib damage but he returned to the Eastleigh side for the first round clash against Kent outfit Deal, who won the FA Vase just two years ago.
That was after Le Tissier's signing delayed the kick off for five minutes
And after putting his side on the way to a comfortable win with two goals in the space of three minutes just before the break, Hughes revealed that another loyal Saints servant will be giving up his time at Stoneham Lane this week
Hughes, who was at the Dell for a decade, said: "Jason Dodd has agreed to come along and help coach the back four tomorrow. He's coming up to training here this week and obviously Le Tiss has done some training with us as well. We'll be trying to use our connections as much as we can
"Doddsy has a very informal role, we spoke to him before the season and he said he'd come up and put into practice a few things that they do in Saints training, especially on the fitness side of things.
"He's been to a few games already this season and last week I asked him if he could work on the back four. It's great for everyone to have a player like Jason passing on some of his wisdom."
Le Tissier watched from the touchline as Hughes opened the scoring on 41 minutes, slamming home a rebound after Sam Carter, another former Saint, had had a shot parried.
The 29-year-old beat the offside trap before slipping home his and Eastleigh's second a minute before the break.
Then, in the second half, centre back Warren Kenna, the brother of ex Saints right-back Jeff, added a third from the penalty spot after Kevin Reacord had been upended.
Martin Beck, another sub, completed the scoring from a tight angle to ensure Eastleigh's place in the hat for today's second round draw.
But it was the signing of Le Tissier that was the talk of a 400-plus crowd that included Saints coaching duo Dennis Rofe and Gary Pendrey at Stoneham Lane.
And Hughes promised: "It's not going to be a like a circus act. We're trying to do things on and off the pitch and someone like Matt does both.
"A lot of people today turned up for him and the thing about Matt is that he's a winner and that will be the case when he plays for us.
"People have come down and paid their money and shown their support and, if we can get him down here for a few games, we'll be doing well on and off the pitch, I'm sure.
"I'm good mates with a few of the Saints players, particularly Franny Benali and Doddsy, and we'll be tapping them up when they finish their professional careers, you can be sure of that!
"A lot of their games clash at the moment and they lead busy lives which makes it difficult for them to get down here but they give their support when they can."
Now Jewson Wessex League Eastleigh are looking forward to Le Tissier's debut, which may be on Saturday in the top of the table clash against AFC Newbury at Stoneham Lane.
Hughes added: "Having the ambassadorial role at Saints might mean that that clashes but Matt was up here training on Thursday and he wants to get a few games under his belt. Maybe he'll play next week, I don't know - the ball's in his court."
On today's FA Vase second round draw, manager Paul Doswell said: "We fancy anyone at Ten Acres."
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