Jack Midson and James Constable were on target as Eastleigh settled for a hard fought 2-2 draw with Forest Green Rovers at the Silverlake Stadium after coming from behind to take the lead in the Vanarama Conference.

The two sides remain neck and neck in the Conference table after playing out an intense draw that saw James Norwood fire the away side into the lead after half an hour before the Spitfires battled back to take a 2-1 lead.

Beefy Rovers frontman Jon Parkin, who caused havoc all night, nailed home a 86th minute free kick to equalise in front of a bumper 2108 crowd.

Eastleigh manager Richard Hill said: “I’m pleased with the performance.

“It was disappointing in respect of winning the game, not seeing it through after taking the lead.

“You’ve seen two good teams out there and Forest Green are a very good side, very organised, they don’t come out of their shape much.

“They play the percentages up to the big forward. They didn’t really open us up apart from the balls into the forwards.

“We played some decent football at times.

“I have to have a position outlook. Our tactics mean we try and win. I’ll always try and win the game and I’ll continue to try and do that.

“My team’s been exceptional in the last three games.”

Much of the first half Eastleigh action was spent trying to contain beastly targetman Parkin. The experienced forward was Forest Green’s focal point. He regularly received balls from deep that Will Evans and Paul Reid in the Eastleigh centre defence had to try and contain.

Alongside quick wingers Marcus Kelly and Norwood either side of Parkin, as well as the hard working Clovis Kamdjo, the Spitfires backline had their work cut out.

They dealt with most things well. Spence did a good job ushering away Kamdjo early on and Evans was alert to see away a searching Parkin cross.

Richard Hill’s side had a couple of chances that saw Jai Reason hit the side netting and Constable rasp a solidly hit volley just wide. Jamie Collins also skied one from outside the box and headed into the hands of Rovers stopper Sam Russell.

But on 30 minutes Parkin, constantly physical, was able to hold the ball up and turn to slice open the home side’s defence. Norwood was waiting for it and the England C international controlled and slotted past the helpless Flitney, who had scarcely been in action, from inside the box.

The Silverlake crowd were looking for their side to come out and demonstrate the attacking prowess that they have demonstrated this season so far.

And they did just that as Craig McAllister fired over from the edge of the box. They were at it again as Midson and Constable linked well, with the former chipping over from a narrow angle.

It wasn’t long before Eastleigh’s chances came to fruition. On 56 minutes Reason knocked up from deep, Constable flicked a header on to Midson. His first shot was spilled by keeper Russell and the follow up saw him stab home to level.

Hill was pacing his technical area, and looked to becoming increasingly frustrated. But, with 18 minutes left, his frustrations were allayed when Constable was fouled by Pipe on the left.

Reason’s free kick found the powerful striker, who leaped highest to flick a skimming header over the Forest Green defence and into top right of the net.

With just six minutes left, Parkin, Eastleigh’s tormentor for the evening, drilled a free kick from the edge straight through the wall and into the bottom left of the net, sparking away celebrations.

Att: 2108

Eastleigh: Ross Flitney, Dan Spence, Michael Green, Jamie Collins, James Constable, Jai Reason, Craig McAllister (Stuart Fleetwood 69), Jack Midson, Ben Strevens, Will Evans, Paul Reid (c). Unused subs: Chris Todd, Yemi Odubade, Craig Stanley, Josh Helm.

Forest Green Rovers: Sam Russell, Dave Pipe (c), Chris Stokes, Luke Oliver, James Norwood, Sam Wedgbury, Marcus Kelly (Elliott Frear 78, Clovis Kamdjo (Kurtis Guthrie 78), Rob Sinclair, Jon Parkin, Danny Coles). Unused subs: Eddie Oshodi, Aiden Baldwin, Steve Arnold.