Eastleigh opened up a gap to the Enterprise National League’s bottom four with a 3-1 win over struggling Gateshead.
The Spitfires began the day only four points ahead of their opponents down in 23rd but extended that to seven, with Gateshead not helped by Fenton John’s dismissal early in the second half.
Josh Lundstram was involved in both early goals for Eastleigh, first crossing for Harvey Saunders to tap in in the 13th minute and then setting up Aaron Blair 10 minutes later.
Frank Nouble pulled one back in the 31st minute, heading in after Max Melbourne’s free-kick had hit the crossbar, but John was shown a second yellow card for diving eight minutes after the break and Paul McCallum made sure of the victory with Eastleigh’s third in the 90th minute.
