National League match-day 29 roundup for the south: Eastleigh, Weymouth and Aldershot all winless

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Weymouth and Eastleigh both picked up points at the weekend, while Aldershot suffered a 3-1 defeat at the hands of play-off chasing Grimsby Town.

Weymouth 1-1 Chesterfield

Weymouth left it late to snatch an impressive point against promotion hopefuls, Chesterfield, on Saturday as they drew 1-1. 

Following the confirmation of his Spireites reunion in midweek, manager Paul Cook would have been delighted to see Alex Whittle open the scoring 20 minutes from time.

The midfielder eased his way into the Terras box before firing a powerful low drive that squeezed between goalkeeper Ross Fitzsimons and the near post.

However, that was as good as it got for Cook upon his return as soon after, star man Kabongo Tshimanga was left in a heap after a 50/50 challenge with Portsmouth loanee Haji Mnoga in the middle of the park. The league’s top goalscorer was forced off on a stretcher and looks set for a lengthy spell on the sidelines.

To add insult to injury, the hosts stole a point deep into second-half stoppage time courtesy of Ahkeem Rose. After two bites of the cherry inside the Chesterfield box, the forward found the corner to send the home faithful delirious. 

A huge encounter awaits on Tuesday evening for David Oldfield’s side as they host formless Eastleigh at the Bob Lucas Stadium.

Yeovil 0-0 Eastleigh

Two teams in similar winless form couldn’t break the deadlock at the Silverlake as the contest ended in a 0-0 stalemate.

Chances were there for both teams inside the 90 minutes. Yeovil caused chaos inside the Eastleigh box following a corner early in the second-half, but the resulting effort on goal could only clip the top of the crossbar and go behind.

Jason Bristow’s team almost grabbed the three points in second-half additional time, but substitute Tyrone Barnett couldn’t direct his effort on target after the ball fell to him invitingly inside the Yeovil penalty area.

Eastleigh, who have bolstered their attacking ranks in recent weeks with the signings of Brett Pitman and Tjay De Barr, will be disappointed they failed to find the back of the net. It represents the 14th time this campaign the Spitfires have failed to do so.

Yeovil can relate, having scored just 26 goals in 27 league games this year. However, it is clear that the Glovers have a considerably better defensive record shipping just 27, averaging a goal a game.

Grimsby Town 3-1 Aldershot Town

The Shots were condemned to a successive 3-1 defeat on Saturday against Grimsby Town.

Erico Sousa scored the opener early on whilst James McAtee notched a brace, finding the net on either side of the break to put the hosts firmly in control.

It wasn’t a pleasant afternoon for Aldershot goalkeeper Dillon Barnes with all three Mariners goals being reasonably preventable.

Ryan Glover did pull one back for Aldershot in the last minute of normal time following good play down the right by Christian Oxlade-Chamberlain, but it would turn out to be only a consolation for the visiting team.

Mark Molesley’s side remain comfortably above the drop zone, although a few victories in the near future will calm any nerves beginning to creep in.

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