WINCHESTER City will head to Mangotsfield United in high spirits on Saturday after rescuing a late point at Kidlington last night.

Having lost to the Oxfordshire outfit in the league and FA Trophy this season, City looked to be waving goodbye to another three Evo-Stik South West points with the final whistle approaching.

But as the game ticked into stoppage time, Pat Cox weighed in with his 20th goal of the season to rescue a 1-1 draw.

Kidlington had taken a 43rd-minute lead when Liam Gilbert was penalised for a trip inside the area. City goalkeeper Ryan Pryce kept out Duran Martin’s initial kick, but was beaten from the rebound.

Winchester laid siege to the home goal after the break and finally got their reward when Cox found the top corner following a flag kick.

“It was fully deserved,” said City boss Craig Davis. “We battered the door as much as we could and had ten shots second half, seven of them on target.

“We battled hard without ever really getting our game going and, in the end, sheer endeavour got us the equaliser.

“We kept going and I’m proud of the players for that.”

Unfortunately City did not come through unscathed. Defender Josh Harfield suffered a bad cut to his shin which will almost certainly rule him out of the Mangotsfield trip and Gilbert is a doubt having played on with a foot injury.

On the plus side, skipper Jamie Barron should be fit enough to rejoin the squad, Andy Jenkinson will be back after work commitments and Danny King was magnificent at Kidlington on his return from a six-week injury lay-off.

Winchester are fourth, just a point adrift of third spot, while tomorrow’s hosts Mangotsfield sit third-to-bottom.

The Mangos, though, have undergone a change of manager with player/coach Ollie Price now at the helm and new in is former Winchester, Salisbury and Weymouth midfielder Adam Kelly.

In light of the clash with the Kidlington game, Winchester were disappointed that their reserve team's John Stimpson Memorial Shield quarter-final at Gosport Borough was rearranged for last night.

"We had to go with a skeleton squad and lost 3-0," said Davis. "We asked for any day but Wednesday, but they wouldn't change it."