Eastleigh surrendered a two-goal lead over Aldershot and, in the process, had central defender Ludwig Francillette sent off as they tumbled out of out of the FA Trophy in a dramatic third round penalty shoot-out.

Despite being reduced to ten men, Spitfires appeared set for victory when Paul McCallum added to Jayden Harris's early strike with his 19th goal of the season to make it 2-0, writes Mike Vimpany.

But the former Crawley Town player's red changed the entire complex of the game, with Shots scoring twice in 11 mid-second half minutes to level matters at 2-2 at the final whistle. They went on to win 5-4 on penalties and bag a fourth round trip to Bishops Stortford.

Spitfires boss Richard Hill described the defeat as "deeply disappointing", added: "We played without a real cutting edge and could have been two of three goals up had we taken our chances.

"Going down to ten men was a game changer and once they scored we were living on the seat of our pants.  It was difficult to defend when Aldershot threw everything into attack."

Eastleigh made the best possible start when a blunder by Shots' Dutch goalkeeper Jordi van Stappershoef gifted Jayden Harris an eighth minute opener. 

With manager Tommy Widdrington serving a touchline ban, Aldershot were all at sea early on and ought to have fallen further behind when Enzio Boldewijn somehow didn’t convert Chris Maguire's free kick from close range.

The tie took a bizarre twist when Shots' assistant manager Richard Dryden (who played Premier League soccer for Saints in the late nineties) received a straight red card from referee David McNamara and was forced to join Widdrington in the stands for the rest of the game.

The west Lancashire based official wasn't finished with his red card. Six minutes into the second half he sent Francilette off for bringing down Joe Haigh just outside the box. He was the 'last defender' in soccer speak and was shown a straight red card.

But within four minutes Eastleigh were 2-0 up. Attacking wing back Haji Mnoga, on loan from Portsmouth, made arguably his only slip in an otherwise outstanding performance when he slipped trying to trap the ball and rolled it into the path of a delighted Paul McCallum.

Spitfires top scorer ought to have sealed it with a third goal soon after but van Stappershoef denied him with a fine save.

The introduction of former Maidstone United predator Jack Barham midway through the second period proved critical.

He made an instant impact, scoring with his first touches, just seconds after coming on, latching onto a long ball out of defence, catching Eastleigh square and finishing past debutant gloveman Tommy Scott.

The goal rejuvenated the Shots who began to pile the pressure on both flanks, with Lorent Tolaj and Ryan Glover going close.

Aldershot's deserved equaliser came in the 74th minute. Ollie Harfield raced down the left and delivered a low-cross and after a bit of penalty area pinball, Haji Mnoga blasted the Shots level 2-2.
Eastleigh somehow hung on during a frantic finale to take the tie to a penalty shoot out.

Aldershot won it 5-4 with Scott Quigley, Chris Maguire, Aiden Barlow and Enzo Boldewijn scoring for the Spitfires, who twice missed from the spot.

Eastleigh travel to play Aldershot again on Saturday in the National League.