HAMWORTHY United quickly banished the hurt of defeat in the FA Vase semi-final by securing promotion to the Southern League.

It will be the first time the Hammers will play in England’s eighth tier, with their 3-1 victory over Christchurch on Tuesday evening enough to earn a top-two finish in the Wessex Premier Division.

Steve Devlin’s set-pieces were influential, with a first-half corner from the midfield dynamo being converted by Harvey Wright.

Church’s Harry Cooper threatened to spoil the party with his second-half equaliser, but Hammers rallied again when Devlin struck from the spot to make it 2-1.

The result – and promotion – was secured when Max Wilcock smashed home late on.

Thanks to their superior points per game record, if Hamworthy finish second, they will be promoted automatically as one of the 10 sides with the highest points per game across the ninth tier.

Hammers are the ninth side to secure their promotion from the ninth tier, with Tim Sills' side also hoping to become the sixth team across the 16 divisions to become champions of their league.

Of course, they are on track to win the Wessex Premier, which would also equate to automatic promotion. They require just three points from their remaining three games.

Second-place Bashley are also currently on track to automatically earn promotion.

Bash are currently picking up points at a rate of 2.243 per game, ranking them eighth out of the 16 second-placed sides across the ninth tier.

The top 10 teams will be automatically promoted, whilst the six sides finishing second with the lowest points per game record will play an inter-division playoff against sides from the eighth tier.