In his post-match interview manager Tim Sills said: “Today we were miles off it.” And that was an honest summary of Wimborne’s performance. Winchester took full advantage, scoring twice in each half to fully deserve all three points. Will Fletcher brought some respectability to the scoreline with a brace in time added-on.

Manager Sills made two changes to his starting line-up bringing in Sam Roberts and Toby Holmes.

With the gusting wind behind them, Wimborne made a decent start. Josh Carmichael’s through ball for Toby Holmes led to an early corner; Matty Burrows run and cross from the left led to a spell of pressure; Jez Bedford’s pull-back from the right by-line led to a first attempt on goal which Will Fletcher pulled wide; and another Burrows’ cross led to Bedford’s volley which Holmes headed over the bar. Winchester looked lively as they broke quickly: first Adam Biss had to sprint back to divert a through ball to his keeper; then Harvey Wright stopped another attack with a well-timed sliding block.

With 17 minutes on the clock, the visiting Citizens took the lead. Slick inter-play, all along the ground, across the midfield ended with Mlambo racing on to a through ball to round Ross Flitney and calmly slot into the beckoning net. Two minutes later another set of passes sent Caborn into the danger area where he was illegally up-ended – referee Wright had no hesitation in pointing to the spot. Winchester’s in-form Hill had no hesitation in grabbing the ball. Wimborne’s shot-stopper had no hesitation in diving to his right to parry the low penalty only for the ball to rebound to Hill who slammed it into the net.

Wimborne tried to get back in the game. Burrows shot wide; Carmichael’s long ball fell to Holmes but his weak finish was an easy save for Cairney; Fletcher headed Bedford’s cross wide; and, after Bedford’s cross was blocked, Carmichael’s 20-yard shot was a comfortable save for the keeper. But the nearest either side came to another goal came just before the break when Winchester’s Hill retrieved Wright’s wild shot wide on the left, jinked his way inside and forced a terrific sprawling stop from Flitney.

There was a lively start to the second-half too. First Holmes laid the ball to Fletcher whose shot was saved; then Billy Walker cleared with an acrobatic header after Barron’s shot was half-blocked. But on 50 minutes, the visitors scored again. When a Wimborne attack broke down, Winchester countered at speed to play Caborn through the inside-right channel to finish with aplomb. It was nearly four or five minutes later when Hill’s trickery took him along the left by-line only to be thwarted by another terrific Flitney save at his near post. But a fourth goal did come, just after the hour mark. And it was another penalty, this time for a trip by the right by-line. Hill once more placed the ball on the spot and this time fired it straight into the corner of the net.

Credit to the Magpies who didn’t throw in the towel. Flitney made another super save when Hill was played through, and skipper Sam Jackson urged his team-mates on. They took the game to the visitors who retreated into defiant defence. Then, as the game moved into five minutes of time added-on, Wimborne had some success. First Cam Munn’s low shot from the edge of the area squirted through a forest of legs to Fletcher who poked home. Then, from Wimborne’s eighth corner, Walker’s header at the back post was clawed away by Cairney only for Fletcher to head the loose ball into the net.

In the strong and gusty conditions, Winchester’s success came from keeping the ball on the ground as they out-thought and out-fought Wimborne, and as a result they leap-frog over us in the table. It was a bad day at the office for Tim’s team with so many players out of sorts. Starting on Boxing Day, the boys have three games in seven days to show that this was a one-off disappointing performance. Things can only get better!

Wimborne: Flitney, Biss (Walker 46), Roberts (Scorey 65), Wright, Jackson, Carmichael, Neale (Morgan 54), Burrows, Bedford (Munn 54), Holmes (Lovell 65), Fletcher 

Attendance: 723

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