Ex-Saint Lee Barnard denies Eastleigh a second win as Braintree hit back for a 1-1 draw

The Spitfires, 2-1 home winners over Guiseley on Saturday, set themselves up for a second victory when James Constable’s shot took a heavy deflection off the Iron’s Ian Gayle with 64 minutes gone.

But back came Braintree seven minutes later when 32-year-old former Tottenham, Southend and Saints striker Barnard – a summer arrival from Crawley Town – sneaked a dipping 25-yard effort under Eastleigh keeper Ross Flitney.

Clearly disappointed with the nature of the equaliser, manager Chris Todd summed up: “It’s a bit of a mixed reaction tonight.

“I believed we deserved to win three points, but all of a sudden there’s a long-range shot and you know what happened after that.

“It was nice for James Constable to get off the mark, but it was definitely two points lost because I don’t think they deserved a goal against us second half.

“But that’s football. You can be cruising, in control of the game, and then something like that can happen and you get a kick in the teeth.

“I’m disappointed for the lads. They’ve worked extremely hard and taken everything on board I asked them to do at half-time. They’ve done that and the outcome’s not been what it probably should have been.”

Worryingly for Eastleigh, they lost skipper Joe Partington early in the second half. Todd was unclear on the root of the problem, but the ex-AFC Bournemouth defender appeared to be holding his ankle when he signalled to the bench that he needed to come off.

“It’s not looking good,” said Todd. “Joe would only come off if he was really struggling.”