


In what was anticipated to be a fairly easy victory for Leyton Orient, it was Liam Knowles' Eastleigh side that crushed the Londoners on their own turf.
After running out 2-0 winners against Poole Town in the Fourth Qualifying Round, the First Round draw meant that The Spitfires were the 3/1 underdogs for a victory at Brisbane Road.
Pundits commented that Leyton Orient simply had to be professional about the challenge that Knowles' side had set them in the F.A. Cup tie to see Orient progress in the competition.
Eastleigh went into the match without three first-teamers, with Sam Togwell (abdominal strain), Devarn Green (hernia) and Tom Rosenthal (back strain) all missing out on the First Round tie through injury.
Jason Taylor made his Eastleigh debut in the absence of Sam Togwell, making an impact on the game with an assist.
It didn't take long for Eastleigh to ease into the game, with veteran striker Darius Henderson bagging the opener on the 13 minute mark with Jason Taylor slicing a neat ball over the top of the defence to which Henderson gleefully put the ball powering past the Orient keeper.
It wasn't until the start of the second half when Eastleigh marked down their second goal of the game, with Luca De La Torre - on loan from Fulham and filling in for the injured Rosenthal - doubled Eastleigh's lead. After Cisak's goal-kick went horribly wrong, landing at the feet of Jake Pickard, the young striker laid it off for DeLa Torre who smashed it past the goalkeeper at fault for giving away possession.
With a two-goal lead, fans were expecting the National League side to sit back and defend their lead, Jake Pickard had other ideas. The in-form striker latched onto a Jason Taylor slide tackle in the Leyton Orient final third to slot it past Cisak to make it three for Eastleigh.
A N'Nomo handball inside the penalty area as Ben Close whipped in a free-kick gave Darius Henderson a chance to make the score 4-0 with ten minutes of normal time left on the clock. Henderson took his chance, scoring his fourth penalty goal of the season as he put it beyond Cisak's reach into the far left corner.
There was still time for a consolation goal, however, as former Wimbledon midfielder Robbie Weir volleyed home a Liam Kelly free-kick from the left side of the field.
With the statistics fairly equal, Eastleigh showed great finishing prowess by scoring four of their sixteen shots on goal, in contrast to Orient's one goal in fifteen efforts.
With the score finishing 4-1, it means that Eastleigh can head into the Second Round with confidence off the back of the Brisbane Road victory.
The draw for the F.A. Cup Second Round will be made on 7th November. With teams like Sheffield United and Peterborough winning in the First Round, it can only get tougher for Liam Knowles' men to progress in this competition.