A personal view by Mike Turner

MY first day as Journal sports editor was Saturday, November 14, 1998. I remember it well.

It was something of a baptism of fire. It was the day Salisbury City hosted Hull City in the First Round of the FA Cup.

Five years on - almost to the day - and the Whites were back in the proper stages of the best club cup competition in the world.

Much has happened at the Raymond McEnhill Stadium since then.

Sunday's tie at Hillsborough - as famous an FA Cup venue as they come - demonstrated that the good times are back for the Old Sarum outfit.

The arrival last year of Nick Holmes, backed to the hilt by the likes of Nev Beal and Stuart McGlashan, has lifted the gloom that had hung over the Partridge Way club for so long.

From often appearing a Mickey Mouse outfit, plunging from one crisis to another - only their own administration blunder saved them from the league accepting their withdrawal - City have slowly, but surely, climbed out of the gutter to reach the dizzy heights of a trip to Sheffield Wednesday.

The Whites' weekend schedule was the envy of the vast majority of those in the non-league game. That the players competed so well on such a stage in front of so many travelling supporters speaks volumes yet merely hints at what this club can now go on to achieve.

They might be out of the FA Cup for another season, but if the kind of support and interest shown in recent weeks can be sustained throughout their league campaign, Whites' future is indeed bright.

It was a privilege to witness at first hand the way such a relatively young and inexperienced squad of players handled themselves on what for most of them, was the biggest weekend of their sporting careers.

Whether relaxing in the hotel, or en route to training, stuck in a horrendous motorway jam, or reading about themselves over breakfast in the weekend's papers, 'the lads' were a credit to the club and to themselves.

Of course the jokes flew thick and fast. The craic, as they say, was good. The spirit was strong and the banter was sometimes cruel, but always funny.

However, seeing them on the steps of the hotel sheepish in their new suits and running out on to the pitch at Hillsborough just an hour or so later, was a joy to behold and a perfect example of the magic that is the FA Cup.