Christchurch and Bashley both book spots in next round of cup

CHRISTCHURCH will face Downton in the next round of the Bournemouth Senior Cup after they cruised to a 6-0 victory over Bournemouth Hayward Premier side Queen’s Park Athletic.

In wet and windy conditions, Christchurch got off to a strong start, applying pressure on their lower-league opponents. Ron Frost came close with a powerful header from a corner, but his effort hit the side netting.

However, moments later Christchurch took the lead through Josh Kirkham as his low, skidding shot beat the outstretched Queen’s Park keeper Harry Shaw to make it 1-0 after 20 minutes.

Christchurch were on top and doubled their lead 10 minutes later through striker Chris Long. On the stroke of half-time, midfielder James King put the hosts 3-0 ahead to give Christchurch breathing room going into the break.

In the second half, it was one-way traffic with Christchurch on the front foot. Max Wilcock got on the scoresheet within minutes of the restart to make it 4-0. With the rain continuing to pour, Queen’s Park struggled to deal with the conditions and the home side’s attacking force.

Long rounded off the scoring with two goals in the final 20 minutes of the game to give him his well-deserved hat-trick and put Christchurch comfortably into the next round.

Bashley FC also took care of business against lower-league opposition in the Senior Cup with a 5-0 win over Milford at Bashley Road.

Lewis Ross fired the hosts in front on 25 minutes with a top-corner strike. Harry Bunce made it 2-0 when he turned and let fly from the edge of the box, giving Milford keeper Ryan Lewis no chance.

Bunce grabbed his brace shortly after the break with a cool finish to give Bashley a three-goal advantage. In the heavy rain, Ross claimed his second of the game with a neat piece of footwork to evade a couple of defenders and smash home.

Jamie Webber completed the scoring four minutes from time when he found the back of the net from outside the box.