CONFERENCE SOUTH outfit Eastleigh have concluded their summer signings by capturing prolific striker Justin Bennett from Andover for an undisclosed fee.

Bennett, who rifled in 62 goals for the north Hampshire club last term, is one of five close-season arrivals at the re-named Silverlake Stadium along with ex-Saints and Weymouth defender Matthew Bound, former Scunthorpe United goalkeeper Paul Musselwhite, plus central midfielder Brian Dutton and winger Darren Wheeler, both from Weymouth.

Although Andover have been promoted from the Wessex to the Southern League Division 1 South & West, 23-year-old Bennett - a former Salisbury City reserve team player - was keen to play at the highest level the area has to offer.

He becomes one of four first-team strikers at Eastleigh, along with Stuart Douglas, Dave Town and fellow ex-Andover man Andy Forbes, who also served his apprenticeship in the Wessex League.

Lions fans will be devastated to lose a player who has netted 200 goals in four sensational seasons at the Portway Stadium, but manager Ady Burford said: "Justin's gone and I'm happy for the lad.

"He wanted to go higher and I hope he'll be a big success for Eastleigh.

"I've told him to learn from Forbesy and if he does that he could be a Football League player.

"We could have got more money for him. Eastleigh got him for a bargain price, but then Justin's unproven at that level and he's got three quality strikers to overcome to get into the Eastleigh team."

As part of the deal, Andover have secured a home friendly against Eastleigh on July 29 and may yet get young Eastleigh striker Barry Mason in part-exchange for Bennett.

Dave Malone, Eastleigh's new director of football, knows Bennett well as a player from his time with Winchester City and Spitfires' boss Paul Doswell explained: "Dave and I both felt it was time for Justin to move to the next level. Ultimately he could be our next Andy Forbes.

"Justin's still young and has time to develop, but we're not necessarily viewing him as 'one for the future.'

"He's signed a three-year contract and, if he does well, he'll be playing. He's got enough in his locker to be starting games and putting pressure on the other three strikers.

"He's got loads of pace and, like Forbesy, he's a natural goalscorer."

Malone, who had been chasing Bennett for nearly six weeks, added: "Justin, Forbesy, Douglas and Town are not the average hunting pack at this level where you get a lot of big galoots. All four are footballing footballers. Justin's very quick and he's a lot stronger than he was a few years ago."

According to Bennett, he will be stronger still once he has shrugged off the knee injury that ruled him out of the last month of the season at Andover.

He said: "I'm seeing a physio today and I'm confident I'll be ready when training starts (June 29). I'm going work hard in pre-season to get myself stronger - although I may be injured when we play the friendly with Andover because I've always said I'd never play against Glen Damen!

"I can't expect to score as many goals for Eastleigh as I have for Andover, but it would be nice if I did.

"I'm going to be up against better defenders but, then again, I will get better service from the people around me."