The sun was shining in the sky for United’s first ever visit to Winchester City but unfortunately the sun didn’t shine in the performance and Paul Hughes’s side were well beaten by the Hampshire hosts. With an even tougher end to the season approaching, the gaffer made some changes to the side to protect knocks and niggles while also giving extra game time to others. On a bumpy pitch, it was the hosts who took charge early on when in just the fifth minute a long aimed clearance from Winchester ‘keeper Charlie Philpott found an unmarked Oliver Balmer in the middle of the park, he turned and slotted a perfect pass between the United centre-backs to Warren Bentley and the experienced striker coolly slotted home past the dive of Simon Grant. Buoyed by the goal, the home side started to control possession and went looking for another while United were struggling to find any sort of forwards motion at all. A corner from the right was headed skywards before Robert Jamison rose highest to head over the United goal and 10 minutes later Bentley advanced from halfway but under challenge from Luke Warner-Eley his shot was weak and easy for Grant to grab. United’s first real look at goal came on 28 minutes when Jean-Baptiste Fischer tried his luck from 25 yards but his free-kick was inches wide of the target, this was virtually Fischer’s last action in the game as two minutes later he went into the notebook of referee Harris following a tackle on Patrick Nolan and this being his second caution he was shown the obligatory red card and United’s job was made so much harder with ten men. With Grant struggling with an injury, he was agile enough on 34 minutes to deny Jack Torniainen, the United stopper tipping the Winchester midfielders shot around the post. Still the hosts looked to take advantage of the extra man before the break to push further ahead. Firstly, a cross-cum-shot from the corner of the box went over off the angle of Grants post and bar and then five minutes from the break Balmer crossed to Simba Mlambo who got a toe to the ball but could only divert it into Grants grasp. Shortly after the hosts rattled the United woodwork again as Bentley was played in, he fired past Grant only for his effort to come back off the foot of the post before being scrambled out by the United defence, the resultant corner was headed well over by Jamison. United’s best move of the half came on 45 minutes when Hassan Jalloh played the ball to Moses Emmanuel, the strikers smart back-heel sending the ball back to Jalloh who struck for goal first time only to be denied by a fine Philpott save as the United man’s goalbound shot was pushed wide by the diving stopper. There was still time enough for Grant to be called into action twice more before the break, firstly he did extremely well to push away a Bentley volley from close range before holding a Balmer free-kick that had curled around the United wall and the half closed with the hosts only a goal to the good when for United it could have been far worse. United made a change at the break with Danny Green coming into the action for Adam Liddle and it was he who forced a save from Philpott on 56 minutes when he collected a sharp pass into the box and looked to equalise only for his shot to be palmed away at close range by the home ‘keeper. As we passed the hour mark still only a goal adrift it seemed that all was still there to fight for despite the numerical disadvantage. Grant got down well to block away another Bentley effort after he had been played through one-on-one and then the killer blow came on 72 minutes when a long Danny King throw dropped nicely inside the United box to IK Hill and he fired past Grant to double Winchester’s lead. United had chances in the final ten minutes, not sure whether we stepped it up or the hosts relaxed a little having gone two ahead but chances they were. Emmanuel found Cole Brown on the corner of the hosts area, his shot across goal going just wide of the post however soon after the woodwork came to United’s rescue for the third time when Jamie Barron sent Balmer through, his shot flying past Grant only to come back off the upright before being cleared. Two minutes from time United were to hit the post and have a "goal" disallowed. Substitute Roger James picked out Emmanuel in the centre but his shot despite beating Philpott came back off the post and seconds later as Philpott released the ball to kick he hadn’t noticed how close Sanmi Odelusi was and the United man appeared to nick the ball in mid-air before tapping home, Philpott went down in a crumpled heap and the referee decided from a distance it must have been a foul and awarded the hosts a free-kick. In stoppage time the home side put a final seal on the result when Barron fired the ball into the United area and after a number of ricochet’s Bentley poked the ball home for his second of the game to seal a very much deserved victory for Winchester on what for United was a bad day at the office courtesy of a very indifferent performance however I feel sure we will pick ourselves up, dust ourselves down and go again at the SKYex on Monday. Report by Kevin Watts.