Rix lauds Royals as Cup dream lives on

The Royals were good value for their win as goals from Joe Noakes and Nathan Kirby fired them into the next round.

Portchester manager Graham Rix was delighted with the way his players approached the tie.

‘It was brilliant with all the lads putting in a great effort and sticking to our game plan,’ said the boss.

‘We produced a disciplined display and could easily have won by a bigger margin.

‘From the start we showed we were up for it and there were a lot of great individual performances out there.’

Noakes gave the home side a first-half lead with a well-struck volley.

The turning point in the tie arrived 10 minutes from the end, though.

Portchester goalkeeper Cameron Scott preserved his side’s lead with two point-blank saves in quick succession.

From the second, the Royals broke up field for Kirby to smash an unstoppable 20-yard shot into the top corner of the net.

A trip to either Bideford or Bodmin awaits the Royals in the next round of the famous old competition.

Fareham Town will host Verwood Town in a replay at Cams Alders tomorrow night after fighting out a 2-2 draw in the New Forest.

Reds boss Steve Stone was disappointed to see his side throw away a two-goal lead in the last 20 minutes of the encounter.

‘We were 2-0 up and looking in charge until an error wide out allowed them back into the tie,’ he said.

‘Suddenly we looked tired, panicked and lost our shape.

‘They equalised with a shot through a crowd of players and we could have lost it at the end.’

Liam Kimber had given the Reds a first-half lead and substitute Simon Woods grabbed the second after the break.

But at the death it took a goal-line clearance to keep Fareham in the Cup.

Goals from Jake Raine, Lewis Fennemore and Ashley Jarvis fired Moneyfields to a comfortable 3-0 win at Whitchurch United.

‘We played well and were never in any trouble,’ said Moneys manager Dave Carter.

The Dover Road outfit will now travel to Southern League premier division leaders Chippenham Town in the next round.

Winchester City dumped United Services out of the Cup with a 3-0 win at Burnaby Road.