CHRISTCHURCH boss Graham Kemp was pleased with his side's character after they twice battled back to earn an FA Vase replay against Cove.

The Wessex League outfit left themselves with a mountain to climb after going into the interval 2-0 adrift.

Having fought back strongly to level matters after the break, a late penalty looked to have sent Kemp's side out, only for substitute Lewis Till to equalise and take the tie to a replay on Tuesday night.

"It was quite eventful," explained Kemp.

"We had a very poor first half and were 2-0 down at half time, so there were some harsh words."

Goals from Kevin Collins, immediately after the restart, and Dave Midgeley 10 minutes later got the visitors back into the game.

Kemp thought his side were on their way out when Cove converted a penalty with five minutes remaining, only for substitute Till to fire a last-gasp leveller.

"I think a draw was probably a fair result," said Kemp.

"We showed good character to come back from 2-0 down.

"We had a couple of people missing so I'd hope to get the right result on Tuesday and I think we will if we have the right attitude."

Kemp praised the performance of young right-back Adam Costello.

"He has a great future in the game," said Kemp.

"He's only 17 and one of the few to come out with credit for the full 90 minutes. He kept going until the end for us."

The teams meet again tomorrow for the chance to play Amesbury at home in the next round.

Christchurch: Walker-Harris, Costello, Green (Till 85), Hughes, Peirson, Jenvey, Collins, Midgeley, Woolner, Burrows, Rideout (Manning 30).