Romsey Town have had a reprieve after it appeared they had made a shock exit from the Southampton Senior Cup by a first-half goal at the hands of Lymington Town Reserves. The floodlit game at The AEC Protection Ground saw Lymington’s ‘keeper by far the busier but despite dominating possession, Romsey could not break down their visitors’ stubborn defensive rearguard. In a flurry of action, Town hit the bar, saw an effort cleared of the line and drew point-blank saves before Josh Bowerman was denied by the ‘keeper’s outstretched boot when one-on-one, as Town failed to convert any of the chances they created.

However, it transpires Lymington fielded an ineligible player and the Competition Committee of the Southampton Divisional FA has removed them from the Senior Cup and given Romsey a Home Walkover. With the draw for the quarter-finals already made, Town finds themselves with a home draw against the lowest-ranked team in the competition. They will face Broughton, who despite playing two divisions below Romsey in the Hampshire Premier League Division One pulled off a major Cup upset when they were 1-0 victors at Hythe & Dibden in the last round. Hythe are in the top flight of the Wessex League but struggled to assert their superiority over the current unbeaten leaders of HPL Division One. On hearing the new opponents his side will play, Boughton’s manager Jamie Bowditch said, “...that’s the draw we all wanted all along.”, and it sets up another intriguing Test Valley Cup tie. 

With Romsey League season about to reach the halfway stage, manager Andy Samuels has been reflecting on the campaign,  “It's been a frustrating few months, with us being really inconsistent on the pitch, but I'm hoping we are now starting to turn a corner and we can pick up a morale-boosting win that'll really see us get the belief that we can beat anyone on our day. Maybe setting the target of playoffs was a little ambitious for a young squad, but as we've seen before at this level anything really is doable and until it's impossible to reach our target, I'll keep pushing the players and working hard to make that happen.” 

Meanwhile, Samuels has been busy strengthening his squad,  “We've added a few new players to the squad with Oscar McCulloch and Thomas Woodward joining us from Winchester City, Henry Yates from Havant & Waterlooville and Max Biddleston from Millbrook. Despite their young ages, all the players come with high praise from their clubs, and I hope we can see the potential they have and help them gain valuable experience at this level.”

Romsey travels to Ringwood Town tomorrow (kick off 3pm) as they seek to improve on their mid-table position.