The Hawks made 10 changes from the visit of Dorchester Town to Westleigh Park on Saturday including a number of Academy and Under 18 players in the squad while also handing debuts to Erik Tolentino and Damian Palancean.

The first chance of the tie fell the way of the Hawks, Reuben Swann pushed forward down the left hand side before driving infield. He got a strike away which was saved by Mowthorpe but not held. On the rebound, the chance fell to Yates under pressure. He eventually got the strike away but a sliding block on the line prevented an early goal.

As the two sides battled away in the centre of the park, Mitch Aston inadvertently had a go from the halfway line. A loose bouncing ball was met with a defensive clearance turned strike at goal as it flew goalwards but eventually wide of the mark.

The ascendancy of the Hawks continued with another chance falling the way of Swann. A bursting run forward from Seokjae Lee ended with him pulling a ball into the path of Swann who saw the ball pop up in his path allowing him to strike. Mowthorpe was once again on hand to make the stop.

Early pressure was rewarded with 20 minutes on the clock as Henry Yates broke the deadlock for Havant & Waterlooville. He shifted away from his man off the right and swept an effort at goal, finding the bottom corner to net his first senior Goal for the Club.

The Royals weren’t going to take going behind without a fight, creating a few chances but were generally wasteful in possession. The Hawks defence stood strong dealing with what was thrown their way.

Heading towards the interval, another excellent chance to double the advantage fell to Swann. Reuben was the target of a ball forwards and having got the beating of his man he had the keeper out of his area to beat. He took it around Mowthorpe but under pressure from a couple of recovering defenders, he was unable to get his strike away.

HALF TIME AFC PORTCHESTER 0-1 HAVANT & WATERLOOVILLE

Portchy would find the ball in the back of the net just 5 minutes after the restart as they looked to get back into the tie. Connor Duffin would get to a ball through first as he rounded Bonney to finish. The offside flag raised on the far side denied the equaliser.

A chance would fall the way of Brad Gale just 10 minutes after his introduction, a slipped ball through the lines from Henry Yates would find the run of Gale into the area. As he shaped to get the strike away, he was denied by a last-ditch recovery tackle as AFC Portchester would clear their lines.

As the game ticked on, Skipper for the night Harvey Laidlaw would create a fantastic chance from a dead ball. He stepped up and struck a freekick goalwards. With Mowthorpe unmoved, the ball bent just wide of the mark.

The hosts would equalise as the game ticked into the final 5 minutes; a set-piece not dealt with by the Hawks headed home by Ash Howes to level proceedings heading into the final exchanges.

The comeback would be complete in the space of a couple of minutes as Ryan Pennery latched onto a spinning ball. Squirming through into space he slotted past Bonney to put the Royals ahead for the first time in the tie.

The experienced home side would manage the remainder of the game until the final whistle, securing the victory which would see them into the Semi-Final stage of the competition. From the Hawks perspective, a youth dominant side put on a positive performance against a strong side from an outfit chasing promotion at the top of the Wessex Premier Division!

FULL TIME AFC PORTCHESTER 2-1 HAVANT & WATERLOOVILLE

AFC Portchester: Mowthorpe (GK), Clack, Williamson, Horncastle (Howes 58’), Willcox, Searle, Cowan (C) (Brook 82’), Ridge (Wilkins 70’), Duffin (Davies 58’), Pennery, Brook

Unused Subs: Willis-Chambers

Goals: Howes 85’, Pennery 87’

Cautions: Duffin 58’

Havant & Waterlooville: Bonney (GK), Lee, Laidlaw (C), Aston, Jallow, Goddard (Carmichael 77’), Tolentino, Palancean, Swann (Gale 56′), Yates, Tshaka

Unused Subs: Walker-Harris (GK), Mengoum, Humphray

Goals: Yates 20’

Attendance: 238

Report By: Josh Verroken