WITH top gun Warren Bentley getting back to his brilliant best, no one could rule out a shock at Privett Park tonight when Winchester City square up to Gosport Borough in the quarter-finals of the Hampshire FA Senior Cup.

But, realistically, City boss Paul Masters knows his Sydenhams Wessex title chasers will have their work cut out against a Gosport side who, despite a recent hiccup, sit just four points outside the Conference South play-off zone.

As a former Saints reserves and Havant & Waterlooville player, Masters is well versed in what it takes to cut the mustard at the higher level and fully respects what his opposite number Alex Pike has built at Gosport on a bed-rock of local talent.

“What Pikey has achieved there has been brilliant,” he said. “Sometimes having local lads and a good squad spirit really does help.

“We had that at Havant, but then you bring in three or four players from London and you start to lose the close-knit group you’ve had. “When you’re just meeting up for games on Saturdays it’s not the same and that’s where Alex has done really well working with local players.

“It’s going to be especially tough for us tonight because we’ve got Gareth Barfoot, Danilo Cadete, Jamie Thoroughgood, Charlie Smeeton and Daryll Phillips all cup-tied and Scott Sampson suspended.”

While Gosport were ending a three-match losing streak with a 1-1 league draw at Basingstoke on Saturday, Winchester were clinging to the tails of the Sydenhams Premier top-two with a 4-0 home win over Lymington Town.

Thoroughgood, their new defensive signing from Christchurch, got his City career off to a perfect start by heading home Micky Hubbard’s corner.

Bentley got the next following good work by Smeeton but, unusually for him, he missed a second-half penalty after Lymo ’keeper Stuart Williamson had brought him down.

Williamson was sent off and outfielder Luke Ansell immediately covered himself in glory by denying Bentley from the spot.

Bentley, though, did score a second from sub Geoff Dunn’s assist and the last word went to his strike partner Zach Glasspool with a cracking left-foot strike from 20 yards.

The win put City up to third, six points adrift of Moneyfields and Petersfield with two and one game(s) in hand respectively.

“Lymington are a decent side and, to be fair to their replacement goalkeeper, he made a decent save from the penalty and one or two more after that,” said Masters.

“But it was good for Warren to get a couple of goals, he’s getting his sharpness back. It’s taken him a couple games to find his feet after a spell out injured and one thing he does do is put himself in areas to score.

“For the penalty, the ’keeper guessed the right way, but I’d rather Warren missed in a game like that when we were already leading (than when the result depends on it).

“Jamie Thoroughgood’s come in and done really well. We’ve got a good squad and a good tight group, but we just needed another defender.”

On the debit side, wideman Mike McEnery has left the club by mutual consent. “I would have liked him to stay for the rest of the season, but Mike’s of an age now where he wants to be playing football,” Masters explained. “He’s got exams to concentrate on at the moment, but Blackfield have put in a seven-dayer so he might go there.”