HAVING been rooted in 17th spot since November 22, Sholing’s Southern One South & West campaign has, quite literally, been going nowhere.

But the same cannot be said about their season, with Wednesday’s 1-0 win over AFC Bournemouth’s development squad ensuring they have a tasty Hampshire FA Senior Cup final against Gosport Borough to look forward to at Fratton Park in May.

With ex-Boatmen Mike Carter and Lee Wort now on Borough’s books, it’s a game no Sholing player will want to miss.

And the competition for cup final places should give the squad an extra lift in their eight remaining league fixtures – beginning at home to Bridgwater Town tomorrow.

But although manager Dave Diaper wants his side to have good momentum going into the Fratton showpiece, he intends using the tail-end of the campaign to take an in-depth look at his playing personnel – reserves included – with a view to planning for next season.

“I need to see to see the depth we’ve got at this level and the only way I can do it is to put players in,” he said. “If we lose games, it will be for a reason.

“It’s important for the growth of the club that I have a good look at what we’ve got.

“At the same time, I know we need to keep momentum going into the cup final, but I will gradually introduce players that I feel might be able to cut it.

“Getting into the Hampshire Senior Cup final is good because it keeps the season alive. Otherwise, we might as well start pre-season tomorrow.” League-wise the 2014/15 campaign has easily been Sholing’s worst as a South & West club but, following the break-up of last season’s FA Vase/Syden-hams Premier double-winning side, it was always likely to be.

“Irrespective of who the manager was, including when Marshy and Feary (Mick Marsh and Dave Fear) were in charge, this was always going to be a difficult season,” said Diaper.

“But the key thing is that players work hard and we had that work ethic and discipline against Bournemouth.

“I made a big play in the dressing room beforehand about the importance of substitutes.

“We saw it in the FA Vase semi-final at Eastbourne last season when Wattsy (Nick Watts) went on when we were hanging on a bit at 3-2 and he banged in the fourth goal that got us to Wembley. We need that whole team effort.

“We came of age against Bournemouth.

“I asked the boys to concentrate a bit more and we were more disciplined.”