MANAGER Kelvin Davis praised his side's defensive performance as Eastleigh maintained their 100 per cent record in the Vanarama National League with a 1-0 victory at Altrincham.

Chris Maguire’s confident penalty on 72 minutes settled the contest after Scott Quigley had been brought down by Max Haygarth.

Altrincham were denied the opening goal when Lewis Banks met Justin Amaluzor’s cross and Eastleigh goalkeeper Joe McDonnell produced an outstanding save.

Quigley and Jake Vokins went close for Eastleigh before Maguire’s second goal of the season extended the Spitfires’ winning start to four games.

Speaking to Eastleigh's media team, Davis said: "To put in a performance at that level is fantastic. I wasn't aware that we've never one here before - we will keep moving on.

"Mags is an experienced player, he's got quality and he's a fit lad. We know that he is capable of important moments for us. Today was no different.

"He stepped up in an important moment. He stepped up, took the penalty and put it into the back of the net. We are lucky to have him.

"We've said from the moment we came in that Mags is going to have a huge influence on us.

"He wants to play every minute which isn't going to happen for him. But that's what we want from everyone in the dressing room."

Eastleigh have now kept a clean sheet in six consecutive away games having previously managed one in the 20 games prior to this run.

"We wanted to build a strong foundation," Davis continued. "It's something we focused on from the early stages of us being in. We have progressed and matured a little since then.

"We are looking to be solid at the back and more expansive with the ball. We need to take opportunities further up the pitch. Any team in the country would be happy with an away 1-0 win.

"I thought our performance without the ball today was as good as it gets. I felt we forced them to do things they didn't want to do. We put that down to having a good structure."