FA VASE holders Winchester City will begin their defence of the trophy in familiar territory - away from home.

Last season Winchester played four of their six Vase ties away from Abbots Barton on the way to the final at St Andrews and have travelled to play all of their seven FA Cup ties.

Now they are set to play at Sussex outfit Oakwood or Wessex League rivals Alton Town in the second round proper on November 20.

Director of football David Malone said: "We must have played 15 cup ties away from home in the last few seasons which must be some sort of record!

"It's become a standing joke but we're not displeased with playing either Oakwood or Alton. It's only a coach journey but we haven't dropped a point at home all season and we know what we need to do."

Alton travel back to Oakwood tonight after Saturday's match was postponed because of a waterlogged pitch.

And boss Hughie Doyle has revealed that he will cancel a holiday to France if his side win beat the Sussex County League division two strugglers in Crawley tonight.

Doyle, who used to be former Winchester City manager John Robson's assistant at Alton Towm, said: "I'm supposed to be on holiday when the second round is played but I'll cancel that if we beat Oakwood.

"It's an absolutely fantastic draw, who wouldn't want to play the holders at home? We're not taking Oakwood for granted, we've got to get past them first, but at this level it doesn't get any bigger than Winchester City at home.

"I know Neil Hards and Steve Moss very well. It was Mossy that rang me with the news about the draw so I'll be even more disappointed if we don't beat Oakwood."

Winchester play their first game in ten days against BAT tonight with manager Neil Hards still fuming about the decision to postpone their game against Hamworthy United on Saturday, just 15 minutes before kick off.

Hards said: "If we have another good FA Vase run we're going to face a fixture backlog anyway. Last season we had a fixture pile up that professional clubs wouldn't have to put up with, never mind clubs whose players have jobs to go to, so we can do without games being postponed when the pitches are playable."

AFC Newbury play against second-placed Gosport Borough in the Wessex League tonight and their reward for winning 7-0 at AFC Wallingford in the FA Vase is a home tie against North Leigh.

Gosport Borough take on Wick or VCD Athletic in the FA Vase and Lymington & New Milton will travel to local rivals Bournemouth Poppies. But their FA Cup clash is uppermost in their thoughts against Woking on Saturday as they prepare to play at Bemerton in the Wessex League tonight.

FA VASE DRAW(local games): Oakwood or Alton Town v Winchester City, Brockenhurst or Thamesmead Town v Maidstone United, AFC Newbury v North Leigh, Gosport Borough v Wick or VCD Athletic, Lymington Town v Abingdon Town, Bournemouth Poppies v Lymington & New Milton, Backwell United v Wimborne Town.