PAUL Harding is hoping that Saturday’s walkover in the Dorset & Wilts Intermediate Cup will turn out to be a positive in more ways than one.

Supermarine’s decision not to travel down for the quarter-final tie has not only handed the Seasiders a place in the last four, where they will face either Corsham or Oakmeadians, but it has also given the squad a chance to regroup following the heavy Southern Counties South defeat at Sherborne on October 6.

Harding, whose side are scheduled to entertain Supermarine again this Saturday, told Echosport: “A walkover was not the way we wanted to go through.

“They said they didn’t have sufficient enough front-row cover but I had a feeling it was on the cards anyway.

“It is a long way for them to come and the fact they have to do the trip again this Saturday has probably caused them to prioritise the league over the cup.”

Harding went on to add: “Instead of playing, we ended up having a really good training session where everyone was there and we could really take our time to work on a few things.

“It also gave a few of the lads a bit more time to recover from their injuries so hopefully what was clearly a negative will turn out to be a positive in the weeks ahead.”