EASTLEIGH boss Richard Hill refused to lay the blame at the feet of his pedigree squad in the wake of Saturday’s shock FA Cup fourth qualifying round humbling at the hands of lower league Hereford.

After back-to-back league defeats at Boreham Wood and Wrexham and all the adverse publicity surrounding their Silverlake pitch, here was a golden opportunity for the Spitfires to put those troubles behind them and bask in the soothing glow of the Cup.

Instead they must pick their chins up off the floor once again after being unceremoniously dumped out 2-1 by the Evo-Stik South Premier underdogs and having Andrew Boyce and Gavin Hoyte sent off into the bargain.

The Bulls were 1-0 up through Mike McGrath’s wickedly deflected free kick before former Grimsby defender Boyce was shown a straight red for taking down Mike Symons as last man.

Garyn Preen doubled the visitors’ lead shortly before half-time and, after a 78th-minute Callum Howe header had set up a frantic finale, Hoyte’s stoppage-time dismissal compounded Eastleigh’s misery.

That, though, only told half the story, according to Hill.

Although the Eastleigh boss was careful not to slate referee Carl Brook for fear of getting into trouble, he clearly felt the Sussex official had let his side down.

“Our players are going to feel hurt after this – and I feel hurt – but I cannot fault them for their effort today,” he said. "We played an hour with ten men.

“We went a goal down to a horrible, deflected free-kick and it’s questionable whether it was a free-kick in the first place.

“And was Boyce’s red card a sending off? You’ll see a similar scenario in another game and it’ll only be a yellow.”

While Hoyte’s late dismissal had no bearing on the outcome, his over-zealous challenge was born out of frustration over an earlier tackle which, through no fault of the Eastleigh right-back, had resulted in Preen being stretchered off the pitch after lengthy treatment.

Preen was reportedly convulsing after getting a mouthful of grass as he hit the deck and Hereford’s boisterous band of fans were quick to take out their frustrations on the former Barnet defender.

An irked Hill claimed: “Gavin Hoyte had stuff thrown at him and came in for some awful treatment over that side of the pitch. And has the ref protected him? No, not at all.

“But credit to Hereford, they’ve done great, and credit to their fans. They must have brought about 1,000 supporters and they’ve had a big influence on the outcome today.”

With Eastleigh having reached the third round proper for the last two seasons, crashing out so early is a bitter pill to swallow.

“This club has had a lot of joy in the FA Cup - to the point where it’s become expected,” said Hill.

“I’d imagine it will be rife, calling for Richard Hill’s head, and I get that. But I’m not going to walk away.

“What can we do? We either sulk or we get back to work and find a way to win a game of football.”

For Hereford this was an 11th straight league and cup victory and, while not in the same league as the old Hereford United’s epic 1972 win over Newcastle, it was still a notable giant-killing.

“If you had asked anyone, hand on heart, if we could get a positive result here, about 95 per cent would say no,” said manager Peter Beadle.

“But they stuck with us and we’ve rewarded them with a first round draw.

"We've got good footballers with good brains and they play the game with heart.

"Yes, it was backs to the wall at times in the second half, but we stood firm and saw it through."

Eastleigh: Ross Flitney, Gavin Hoyte, Michael Green, Sam Togwell (James Constable, 46), Sam Wood, Mark Yeates, Ben Strevens, Craig McAllister (Paul McCallum, 74), Andrew Boyce, Ben Williamson (Gary McSheffrey 74), Callum Howe. Subs (not used): Ryan Cresswell, Chris Zebroski, Ayo Obileye, Cavaghn Miley.

Referee: Carl Brook.

Attendance: 1,345.