King's Lynn Town are spot-on as Eastleigh are beaten in the National League
Eastleigh 0 King's Lynn Town 1
King's Lynn Town put their weekend penalty woes behind them as an Adam Marriott spot-kick handed them their first National League victory for almost two months.
Marriott netted the only goal of the game at the Silverlakes Stadium after Alex Kiwomya was fouled in the box six minutes before the interval.
It sealed the club's third win on their travels this season and clinched their first victory in the top flight since defeating Dover Athletic at The Walks at the back end of November.
Once again, Linnets manager Ian Culverhouse ran the changes for Lynn's latest National League outing.
Only three players who started Saturday's surprise FA Trophy exit at Hornchurch were named in Lynn's starting XI against the Spitfires.
Archie Mair, Kyle Callan McFadden and Ryan Jarvis were the only survivors from the weekend while Michael Gyasi was named on the bench for the first time since his December arrival from St Ives Town.
There were no places in the Lynn squad for the quartet of Alex Brown, Rory McAuley, Michael Clunan and Sam Kelly.
Recalled midfielder Jordan Richards was making his 100th appearance for The Walks outfit.
An early free-kick for the hosts was cleared off the line by the visitors after four minutes, but opportunities were few and far between in the opening quarter of the match.
Home skipper Jack Payne was the first player to go into the referee's notebook for a forceful tackle on Adam Marriott on the halfway line.
The majority of Lynn's play was in-front of Eastleigh rather than in-behind them, although Michael Gash glanced a header wide and also saw a free-kick blocked by the home defensive wall.
In the 29th minute, former Linnet Andrew Boyce made a superb last-ditch block to divert Ross Barrows' venomous strike away from goal.
A huge kick by goalkeeper Archie Mair was tipped on to the bar by his counterpart Joe McDonnell at the other end.
The first time Lynn managed to get in behind the home defence came six minutes before the interval after Alex Kiwomya was brought down in the box and Marriott stepped up to tuck home the resulting spot-kick.
A minute before the interval a probing run by the returning Aaron Jones ended with Marriott's strike from the edge of the box being saved by McDonnell.
Eastleigh's Tom Blair and Lynn's Jones both received yellow cards in the opening minutes of the second period.
The Spitfires were just inches away from equalising in the 63rd minute when Smith whipped in a great ball across the face of the goal but Barrows did just enough to stop Sam Smart from converting.
Midway through the half Marriott found himself one-on-one with Eastleigh goalkeeper McDonnell who comfortably smothered the striker's shot.
The hosts had a lucky escape as the clock ticked down when Payne was on hand to clear a Kyle Callan-McFadden header off the line from a Kiwomya corner.
Ben House tried his luck from distance but was wide with his effort while a quick counter-attack at the other end saw McDonnell thwart Lynn substitute Sonny Carey.
Eastleigh: McDonnell, Blair (Smart 61), Boyce, Wynter, Tomlinson, Green (Barnett 75), Payne, Miley, Hill, House, Smith. Subs not used: Bird, Bearwish, Hollands.
King's Lynn Town: Mair, Jones, Callan-McFadden, Smith, Richards, Gash, Marriott (Southwell 77), Jarvis, King (Carey 61), Barrows, Kiwomya (Mitchell 83). Subs not used: Gyasi, Fleming.
Scorer: Marriott 39.
Match stats
Shots on target: Eastleigh 1; Lynn 2.
Shots off target: Eastleigh 6; Lynn 2.
Corners: Eastleigh 7; Lynn 9.
