A BRACE from Jamie Mansell and a goal from Ryan Lambert were enough to give Whitchurch a 3-1 victory over Stockbridge and secure their spot in the North Hants Senior Cup semi-final.

Despite a two division gap between the sides, underdogs Stockbridge gave a good account of themselves at Longmeadow on Wednesday night with Jazz Beavis keeping Whitchurch on their toes all game.

However it was striker Mansell who deservedly took the plaudits after he twice put the home side in front with his first goal opening the scoring after 20 minutes. It was a short-lived lead, with Beavis turning his man in midfield before cleverly reversing the ball to Dave Cotter who curled it past Nigel Green to bring Stockbridge back to 1-1 going into half-time.

After the break, Whitchurch came out firing and Mansell, pictured below, scored again after a minute with a delightful half-volley over Dan Kempson.

Beavis continued to harass Whitchurch's defenders but just past the hour a mistake at the other end gave Lambert an easy chance to give his side a comfortable 3-1 lead.

Stockbridge's night then went from bad to worse when Tommy Burton saw red for a second bookable offence after tugging back Danny Phillips on the edge of his box. The away side then thought they were unlucky not to be given a penalty after Sam Pike looked to have been felled in the box but the referee quickly waved play on.

After the match Stockbridge manager Dean Hutchins said: “It was always going to be a difficult to come here and get a result but I’m really proud of the boys. I thought we did well, we are a growing team and I think we showed the progress we are making tonight.”

Whitchurch manager Carl Bennett also praised Stockbridge, saying “I was really impressed with them, they were hungry for the ball, worked hard for it and hunted in packs but I just think we edged them with that little bit of quality we have.”

The Jam Boys’ title push suffered a jolt on Saturday when they went down to a 3-0 home defeat to Brockenhurst. The Foresters were indebted to a second half hat-trick from Mark Barber.

Bennett said of Saturday’s game: “I felt in the first half it was an even game. We had a penalty appeal turned down which most referees would have given but he waved it away.”

“In the second half we were just going through the motions and they just took full advantage.”