NEW Inn beat a stubborn Welly Old Boys side 3-2 to progress to the semi-finals of the North Hants Intermediate Cup on Saturday.

The game, between the current top two in the Basingstoke and District Saturday League Premier Division, was always likely to be a close affair – and so it proved.

Matt Bennett gave New Inn the lead on 19 minutes but James McIntosh’s curling shot levelled the scores just three minutes later.

A penalty, awarded for handball against Brian Cenci and converted by Bennett, had New Inn ahead at half-time, but Welly pulled level for a second time 10 minutes after the break, Jamie Ballantyne heading home a Sam Nicholls free-kick.

The winning goal was scored on 82 minutes, Richard Kalwarczyk finding the net with an excellent shot from 35 yards to earn New Inn a trip to Andover Lions in the semi-finals.

Sherborne St John are out of the competition after losing 2-1 at Winchester Castle Reserves. Neil Maidment gave them a 30th-minute lead from Steve Price’s corner but it was backs to the wall stuff after this.

The hosts levelled on the hour and got the winner 10 minutes later, with late efforts from Alex Roberts and Ibrahim Waheed just missing the target.

Winchester Castle will meet the winners of the last quarter-final between Overton United Reserves and Crusaders, which was postponed and will now be played at Overton this Saturday.