BOSS Callum Brooks praised his well-oiled Hamworthy United defence after they had earned an FA Cup replay following a 0-0 draw at Sholing.

Hammers headed to the Universal Stadium without leading goalscorer Dan Cann and Sam Bayston and were forced to dig deep for the stalemate.

The Sydenhams Wessex Premier rivals will resume battle for a place in the second qualifying round at the Specsavers County Ground on Tuesday (7.45pm).

Brooks told the Daily Echo: “I thought we defended outstandingly. We knew they would have threats and we didn’t want to make it an open game. We also knew we were missing two of our front four. We wanted to be hard to beat and it turned out that way.

“I don’t think they had many clear-cut chances. Some might have called it nervy in the sense that we had to clear a few balls from our box but that’s the least you would expect going to a place like Sholing.”

Hammers went closest through River Smith in the first half, but there were few other chances of note at either end.

Previewing the replay, Brooks said: “We will look to get on the front foot a bit more at home. That will happen because we are used to playing on our 3G pitch. Credit to my team because they hadn’t played on grass for more than a month.

"While we defended magnificently, we still have to do better with the ball. We weren’t great with the ball but, without it, we are fantastic at the moment and that gives you a platform to work from. We are in the hat for the draw. Had we not defended well, we would be out of the cup.

“It gives us the opportunity to bring back teams to our place where we have a slight advantage. We can bring in players and freshen up the side.

"We will play a quicker game on our pitch. While there are things we can do better, we now have the time to improve that but you don’t get that opportunity unless you defend your goal properly.

“We have had three clean sheets on the bounce so we must be doing something right.

"Sholing are a top side. I watched them and it is very hard to exploit a weakness. They are such an efficient unit and don’t really have a weakness.

"They are a good, well-oiled team and we competed with them. We are at a different end of the spectrum. We are up and coming and are trying to form a tough unit and build a team that is capable of doing the things Sholing have done.”

Hammers: Rees, Peprah-Annan, Randall, Wright, Walker, Senior, Filkins, Gleeson, R Smith (Hodge, 67), Batista (Davis, 88), Watkins. Unused subs: Costello, Rowe, Patrick, P Smith, Tregaskas (g/k).