WINCHESTER City head for Barnstaple Town in the Evo-Stik South West on Saturday buoyed by their best half of football of the season so far.

Managers just love it when a plan comes together and City boss Craig Davis saw all the hard work come to fruition in 45 glorious minutes at Didcot on Tuesday, crowned by goals from Oli Bailey (2), Rob Carr and Simba Mlambo.

Didcot rallied with a deflected free-kick and a penalty after the break, but Winchester then showed the solid side of their game to safely see out a 4-2 win.

Reflecting on a majestic half of football, Davis said: “One of our supporters said it’s the best 45 minutes they’d seen Winchester play for a long time and it’s nice to hear that.

“Our front four were unbelievable. They’re so fast and lively and we had Dan Williamson bombing on down the right.

“All four goals came from that right-hand side and it was so impressive that we didn’t want the half to end.

“It was a perfect example of how we want to play, with pace and nice football.

“A lot of work’s gone in to get us where we are now and it all came together in that 45 minutes.

“We’ve set the bar for what we want to do.”

Winchester, who sit four points off top spot in seventh, have looked good on the road, winning three of their four league away games.

They have no injury worries for the trip to fourth-to-bottom Barnstaple, but promising centre-back Josh Harfield, a marine electrical engineer, is working away in France.

“Josh rushed back to play for us last Saturday, but he can’t do it this time,” said Davis.

“It’s not ideal, but these lads have sacrificed an awful lot and I understand that work and family come first.”

Davis is chuffed that Harfield and in-form frontman Bailey have been selected for an FA XI, managed by England C boss Paul Fairclough, due to play in the Western League's 125th anniversary match on October 11.

"I'm so pleased for Oli. He's still quite raw, but we've really pinned our hopes on him," said the boss.

"As for Josh, I first saw him (as Fleet manager) playing for Stockbridge and we eventually picked him up from Whitchurch. It's been a meteoric rise. He's a very good player and a good lad."