EASTLEIGH manager Kelvin Davis insisted he is "proud" of his players despite their 11-match unbeaten run coming to an end at the weekend.
Tom Crawford scored a second-half winner as Altrincham overcame the 10-man Spitfires 2-1 in the National League on Saturday afternoon.
Crawford fired into the bottom corner after 71 minutes at the Silverlake as Altrincham made their numerical advantage count following the 24th-minute sending off of Tyrese Shade.
Shade’s dismissal had come after Alex Newby had pounced on an error by Eastleigh goalkeeper Joe McDonnell to open the scoring after just six minutes.
Despite Shade’s absence, Ludwig Francillette levelled after 27 minutes but Eastleigh could not hold on with Crawford settling it after McDonnell had earlier denied Regan Linney.
Speaking after the match, Davis said: "I think the team were really together. We gave them a head start, which isn't like us. Overplayed a little bit and got punished.
"Then Tyreese makes a mistake, putting himself in a position that he shouldn't allow himself to be in and we find ourselves down to 10 men and 1-0 down.
"I'm proud of the team's attitude to what was going on in the game and I think in the circumstances, the lads played the game very, very well.
"We've not got the numbers we want at the moment because of injuries and now we're probably going to lose with a suspension as well.
"It's tough. We've got ourselves in a really, really strong position and the feeling's good. We're at home, obviously a little bit disappointed with things within the game.
"It's the end of an unbeaten run but we've enjoyed it and we've worked hard for it. We've just got to dust ourselves off and start again.
"We just need to keep the level of performance. The results normally are on the back of a level of performance and they've been fantastic for weeks.
"I spoke to the team before the game about what our basics are, what our principles are and our behaviours that are what's got us to success.
"I think at the beginning of the game, we kind of went away from that and I think we got punished for that in that moment."
Davis was asked about Shade's red card and responded: "I'm being totally honest. I didn't actually see it. I haven't watched it back.
"I assume just the way that the action of it all, there was some kind of confrontation, but I don't know exactly what happened."
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