Eastleigh 2-1 Reading: Paul McCallum double sends National League side into FA Cup third round

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FA Cup second round highlights: Eastleigh into third round with late goal against Reading

Paul McCallum's last-gasp winner sent Eastleigh into the FA Cup third round and dumped League One strugglers Reading out of the competition.

McCallum put the Spitfires in front, sliding home Scott Quigley's low cross.

It looked as though Femi Azeez had salvaged a replay for the Royals with his left-foot strike to equalise with four minutes left.

But McCallum, the National League's top scorer, stabbed in his second to settle the tie in added time.

Reading's fans staged a protest against owner Dai Yongge in the 16th minute, holding up the game with a fusillade of tennis balls and fake money on to the Silverlake Stadium pitch.

Prior to the demonstration, the contest had been largely an even one - but Eastleigh were quicker to regain momentum and Enzio Boldewijn's ball down the right released Quigley to set up McCallum for the opener.

The Spitfires striker had a header ruled out for shoving Amadou Mbengue in the build-up and Quigley could also have increased his side's lead, galloping on to a through ball from Boldewijn but Reading goalkeeper Joel Pereira denied him with a one-on-one save.

At the other end, Reading failed to test Joe McDonnell, although Charlie Savage and Ben Elliott might have done better with attempts from distance that flew off target.

Pereira thwarted McCallum from close range at the start of the second half, but the visitors - who had made eight changes to their starting line-up - brought on a raft of experienced players and began to dominate.

The influential Lewis Wing forced McDonnell into action with a volley, while Sam Smith's header flew over from close range.

However, the Royals finally achieved parity when Eastleigh could only half-clear Wing's ball to the edge of the box and Azeez drilled it into the far corner.

Yet McCallum snatched victory in the fourth of six added minutes, finishing off at the second attempt when a corner fell to him inside the box to set up a third-round trip to Newport or Barnet for Richard Hill's side.

Eastleigh manager Richard Hill told BBC Radio Solent:

"This is up there with the best days at this football club for me. It's given us a bit of exposure, we've conducted ourselves professionally and shown people what we're about.

"I don't get emotional. People call me dour, people are telling me to smile - but that was big for this club.

"I thought we'd win. I was pleased to see the team Reading picked to start with and I purposely went with experience, knowing I'd have to change it at some point.

"When they've got (Lewis) Wing and (Sam) Smith on and they're absolutely peppering you, it's in the lap of the gods, but the lads were brilliant. They deserve all the credit."

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