MANAGER Graham Kemp felt Hamworthy United had been “a little unfortunate” not to claim all three points against his former club Winchester City.

Kemp returned to the Denplan for the first time since leaving in October and saw Russell Cook’s 20th-minute goal cancel out Sam Wilson’s early opener as the teams drew 1-1.

According to Kemp, Hammers had the better of the second half, with Stefan Penny hitting the post on two occasions and Paddy Hester being denied by the crossbar.

Kemp told the Daily Echo: “We didn’t play particularly well in the first half and gave away a soft goal after five minutes. I was pleased to come in at 1-1 at half-time because I didn’t think we had really expressed ourselves. But we were outstanding in the second half and had a number of chances to have won it.”

Previewing his return in Friday’s Daily Echo, Kemp is understood to have ruffled a few feathers at Winchester by claiming the Hampshire club had been “no better off” since his departure.

Asked how he had been received, Kemp said: “There is clearly some ill feeling between both parties but I am keen not to detract from our second-half performance. They are a top-five team and we were equally as good as them. Hopefully, this can be a turning point for us because we have been trying to instill the belief that we can compete with these teams. For me personally, it wasn’t the nicest day but the result and team performance were excellent.”

Hammers: Ackerman, Walker, Legg, Brian, Haysom, Corby, Hester, Hubbard, Cook (Osborne, 65), Martin, Penny. Unused subs: Miles, Sturgess, Thomas (g/k).

  • Jamie Barron’s hat-trick, Ryan Long’s double and a late Alex Easton effort earned Folland Sports a 6-0 win at Bournemouth Poppies.

Jack Lovell’s penalty was all Verwood Town had to show from a 3-1 home defeat at the hands of Fareham Town, while Christchurch were beaten 5-1 by Bemerton Heath.

Poppies: Vaughan, Costello, Jack-son, Burgis, Jacobs, Owens, Row-ley (Bassiriki, 62), Ward (Shovel-ton, 83), Ingram, Pekun, Phillips (Hales, 83). Unused sub: Pearce.

Potters: Lynch, Evans, Murray, Molyneaux, Gajic, Foster (M Speechley-Price, 75), Dyer, Joy (Rutten, 79), Lovell, L Speechley-Price (Guthrie, 77), Hill. Unused subs: Kimber, Stroud.

  • In Wessex One, New Milton were edged out 3-2 by Tadley Calleva at Fawcett’s Field, while Ringwood Town were condemned to a 5-1 defeat by bottom-placed Hayling United.