Match Preview

The FA Cup rolls back into town today as Winchester City visit the Victory Stadium in the Preliminary Round.

Winchester City are entering the tournament in this round and come into the tie after an up and down start to the season. The visitors, with a new manager in place and the challenges that brings, are still winless on the road in the Southern League South West and have notched only one win in 4, an impressive win over newly promoted Salisbury.
They have been conceding more goals than you would expect to see from past season's at the club, which will give the US players some confidence that should they be able to keep the impressive attacking force of Winchester out, they may be able to a chance on goal themselves.

US come into the game looking to bounce back from a disappointing week, they too shipped 4 goals on Tuesday night at Hythe & Dibden. Despite having a host of chances in the 2 away league games in the last week, US picked up just 1 point from a possible 6 and rued missed opportunities before slumping to a disappointing defeat after the draw at Ringwood Town.
However, to get to this stage in the FA Cup, US beat an impressive Melksham Town, who boast a Wiltshire Senior Cup win last season, 2-1 at AFC Portchester 2 weeks ago. A well struck finish from Brandon Bowman was enough to see off the 10 men of the Western League side and set up this tie.

The winner's off today's tie at what looks to be a blustery and wet Victory Stadium will have the pleasure of hosting either Street or Larkhall Athletic on September 3rd. The weather conditions may play havoc with today's fixture and it may be a case of the team who deals with the conditions better comes out on top. Should their be a draw, the replay will be played at Winchester's City Ground on Tuesday night and will postpone US Portsmouth's cup tie against Cowes Sports until a later date.

Should US Portsmouth win and face Street or Larkhall, it will postpone the league match at home to Weymouth Reserves, but the club's fundraising Race Night event afterwards on the 3rd September will go ahead as planned. Tickets for that event are still available, information is available here.

Either way, it promises to be a fascinating encounter and one both clubs are looking forward to.

If you are visiting today, please ensure you leave enough time to find a parking space, which can often be troublesome in the local area, and should you arrive early, enjoy a drink at The Sportsman's Arms.

Admission details for the match are as follows:

Adults £4, Concessions £2, Children Under 12 are free with a paying adult. Programmes will be on sale before the match at £1 each.