WINCHESTER City will head into Tuesday's Hampshire FA Senior Cup final against Havant & Waterlooville at St Mary’s (7.45pm) on the back of a strong second-half performance at Bishop’s Cleeve.

But manager Paul Masters, who spent his early playing days at Southampton, was hugely disappointed with the opening 45 minutes of the 1-1 draw at Kayte Lane in the Southern One South & West.

Jordan Bryan fired Cleeve ahead after nine minutes, bursting from the halfway line and jinking his way to the edge of the area before firing home.

Winchester’s Jamie Barron came close to replying when he hit the top of the crossbar with a header from a corner. And it was midfielder Barron who supplied the cross for City’s 78th-minute leveller, Craig Feeney nodding the ball back across for Andy Forbes to head in his first goal since returning to the club.

With three league games to go, fifth-placed Winchester are nicely positioned for the play-offs. But three successive draws have slowed their progress, with Evesham United – now on 75 points to City’s 80 - steaming up like an express train behind.

“It’s another point ticked off, but we need to try and win our next game,” said Masters, whose side host Larkhall Athletic next Saturday.

“It was a very poor first-half performance today, but in the second half we battered them and we had chances to win it towards the end.

“We had a couple of penalty appeals turned down. One was for handball, which I didn’t think was a penalty, but the other, when someone went into the back of Forbesy, I did.

“Forbesy was very good today and had the chance to win it with a late header.

“We finished the game well, I’m just disappointed we weren’t at the races first half.”

Looking forward to the distraction of Tuesday’s showpiece county final, Masters added: “It'll be a welcome break from the league. The lads can play on a nice pitch with no pressure.

“They’ve achieved more than expected this season and they deserve this cup final.

“We're six games unbeaten in the league and I’m confident we’ll get the points to get us into the play-offs.”

Havant & Waterlooville, hovering precariously close to the Vanarama National League South drop zone, had no game today. Their scheduled home fixture against Truro City was postponed when their Westleigh Park pitch failed a 1.30pm inspection.

*Fans are reminded that Tuesday's Hampshire FA Senior Cup final is all-ticket with no cash admission on the night.

For information on purchasing tickets contact Gary Pratt on 01256 853003 or at Gary.Pratt@HampshireFA.com