Andover 4 Basingstoke 2

THEY'LL be talking about this one down at the Portway for a long time to come.

It wasn't just that Andover dumped Basingstoke out of the Hampshire Senior Cup on Tuesday night; Howard Goddard's young heroes outplayed, out-thought and out-fought their rivals from the Ryman Premier to earn their place in the semis.

Justin Bennett fired his fourth consecutive hat-trick in the competition to take the Lions through, but even with his magical striking display, it was a true team performance to delight near-on 400 spectators at the Portway - who will now be dreaming of a final date at St Mary's come May.

Ernie Howe's Basingstoke, the pacier of the two sides, were clear favourites, and Alex Ewin missed an early chance for the visitors. But Goddard had his team fired up to cause a cup shock, and they nearly scored themselves when Bennett's header drifted inches over the bar.

Andover contained the Blues' attack in the first half, but were fortunate not to concede on 19 minutes, when Sean Gorman put in a fine cross and Paul George scrambled the ball clear. After that, the Lions settled, and Bennett could have scored when he rounded keeper Scott Tarr, only to slip his effort just wide.

The second half saw the tie erupt into life as both sides went all-out for victory. Basingstoke went ahead on 52 minutes when Gorman's header looped over Kieron Drake, but Andover didn't let their heads drop.

And they were level six minutes later when Bennett latched on to a fine through-ball from Vince Rusher and sent a glorious chip over Tarr and into the top corner. Danny Sullivan nearly scored an identical goal on 64 minutes when his effort just bounced wide.

Lions went ahead soon after, when Rusher's corner from the right bounced straight past Tarr into the net and the referee overruled the linesman's flag to give the goal. Basingstoke, though, weren't finished, and Ewin put in a superb cross for Gorman to head home a minute later.

Again, Andover showed real character to keep pressing forward. Bennett found space in the box on 75 minutes and chested down a free-kick to blast home his second, flinging himself into the Lions fans behind the goal in jubilation. But still the Lions drove forward, and Basingstoke were so fearful of the sucker punch they couldn't commit men in attack. When they did, on 90 minutes, Bennett was there on the counter, sprinting into the box and winning a penalty as Tarr brought him down.

The big keeper made a super save from Glen Damen's spot-kick, but from the resulting corner it was that man Bennett who sealed the win, nodding home Sullivan's header to send the Andover faithful into cup dreamland. What a night it was to be a fan of the Lions!

The draw for the two-legged semi-final takes place on Monday. Andover will face Aldershot, Bashley or Havant & Waterlooville.