We were made to pay for a host of missed opportunities as Eastleigh scored twice after the break to earn victory at the Silverlake Stadium.
It had been one-way traffic in the first half, with Joe McDonnell in inspired form and Luke Steele considerably quieter at the other end.
After pushing Lewis Knight's 13th-minute left-footed effort wide at the near post, our former keeper made an outstanding double save when Kyle Wootton met Jake Reeves' excellent cross with a powerful header before Regan Griffiths nodded goalwards on the follow-up.
But we struggled to impart the same level of dominance after the break and, after Andrew Boyce had headed the ball home with the Spitfires' first effort on target, subsitute Joe Tomlinson capitalised on a defensive error to produce an outstanding finish and put the game beyond our reach.
STARTING XI: Steele; Ellis, Turner, Rawlinson; Chicksen, Kelly-Evans; Doyle, Reeves, Griffiths; Wootton, Knight
SUBS: Barnett, Brindley, Boldewijn, Rodrigues, Knowles