‘Nothing but good vibes’ – Hayling boss delighted with display as holders Moneyfields avoid Portsmouth Senior Cup banana skin

Dec Seiden scored twice as the Wessex League Premier side romped to a 7-1 home win against two tiers lower Hayling United.

But it wasn’t always as comfortable as the scoreline might suggest.

The Hampshire Premier League visitors had a number of chances in the first half and Moneys only led at the break courtesy of two goals in the closing stages.

Eventually, superior fitness and quality told as Moneys booked a home semi-final tie against Hayling’s HPL Senior Division rivals Locks Heath. Gosport Borough take on Petersfield Town in the other last four tie.

Rob Evans and Joe Briggs settled Moneys’ nerves towards the end of the first half.

Seiden - who had scored twice for Moneys’ reserves in a 3-2 HPL win against Hayling in December - repeated the feat while James Franklyn, Danny Burroughs and Mig Dark were also on target.

The Humbugs missed a late penalty when Dan Goodsell blasted his effort so far over the bar it went over the safety netting and, according to Turnbull, ‘literally hit one of the houses - I don’t think I could kick a ball that far!’

Hayling did bag a very late consolation, in front of a good crowd of 137 paying spectators. Both Adrian Gacek and George Rough were claiming it.

‘Nine out of ten for the result, six out of 10 for the performance - a B plus,’ declared Turnbull.

‘It was a good confidence boost to score seven goals.

‘We had four or five chances before we scored, but so did they - Callum McGeorge had a good game in goal.’

Hayling boss Dan Bishop was delighted with his side’s display, despite the margin of defeat.

‘I was really proud of the lads,’ he remarked. ‘We always knew we would take on, it was just a case of how long our legs lasted.

‘In the first half there were a lot of positives. Our pressing was intelligent, with high energy. We definitely caused them problems.

‘I was really pleased Moneyfields respected us enough to really go for it. I would have been disappointed if they’d sat back and taken it easy.

‘I have nothing but good vibes from the game.’

At the back, Hayling fielded Luke Wheatcroft at centre half, his first game for two seasons. He was alongside Ben Johnson, who was making only his third start of the campaign.

‘Luke was excellent in the first half,’ said Bishop, ‘but he started to stiffen up around the hour mark. Ben was also immense.’

Bishop was also pleased with the performance of Cameron Tomkins. ‘He caused a lot of problems down the right in the first half.

‘He had one cleared off the line (at 0-0) and the keeper made a terrific save in the second half.

‘Cameron did well, but they all did. There was no shame in losing the way we did.’

Moneys now have two cup semi-finals to look forward to, as they travel to Brockenhurst later this month aiming to reach the Russell Cotes Cup final.