IAN Saunders knows he has a lot of hard work to do to restore Winchester City as a force to be reckoned with in the Southern One South & West.

But today's 2-2 Bank Holiday draw at Wimborne Town was a step in the right direction.

Having been hit by Luke Holmes’ 35-yard bolt from the blue with less than four minutes gone, Saunders must have feared the worst following Saturday’s catastrophic 4-0 home collapse against Tiverton.

But the “soft underbelly” was nowhere to be seen at Cuthbury as City hit back not once, but twice, to take a share of the spoils against a Magpies side who had started the day in second spot.

Midfielder Stuart Green clipped the ball over the 'keeper to make it 1-1 at half-time and, although Toby Holmes restored Wimborne’s lead, Howard Neighbour - who had earlier had a goal disallowed for offside - wiped it out with a sublime 25-yarder.

City could even have gone on and won it, but sub Jason Silver’s header bounced twice before being saved on the line.

“I’m not celebrating a point, but I’m relatively content to get a draw on the road. It gives us something to work on ahead of our big (home) FA Cup tie against Street on Saturday,” said Saunders.

“It was a weird game. Their guy picked the ball up in central midfield and found the top corner from 35 yards with three minutes gone. It was just the start we didn’t want.

“But, to be fair, the reaction was top-drawer and we managed to regroup and put in a decent performance.”