HAMWORTHY United boss Brendon King watched Steve Smith miss a crucial penalty in Saturday’s 1-1 Sydenhams Premier draw with Andover Town and joked: “My mum is nearly 80 and I think she would have saved it!”

The Hammers were handed a golden chance to snatch victory when former Blackfield & Langley man Edgar Zanin was felled in the box by Ross Gregory with a quarter of an hour remaining, only for Smith’s tame spot kick to be saved by Andover goalkeeper Lloyd Thomas.

Smith had earlier excelled with a superb lofted effort over the advancing Thomas, cancelling out Reece Rusher’s 36th-minute opener for Town.

Reflecting on a mixed afternoon for his ex-Poole Town striker: King said: "Smithy's goal was a great finish. He has been fantastic for me since I've been here.

"He has scored goals and led the line really well. He works really hard and is a good example for the young lads as he has been there and done it at a decent level.

"But it was a poor penalty, he knows that. My mum was there watching and she's nearly 80 and I think she would have saved it! Next time, he'll bang it in."

The Hammers' 3G pitch meant the fixture survived the freezing weather which wiped out much of the Sydenhams Wessex programme.

King continued: "Before the game I would have taken a point. I'd had a couple of reports on Andover and had been told they weren't a bad side.

"But having witnessed the match, I was a bit disappointed we didn't get three points. We had enough chances to win.

"We didn't play as well as we've played in the past three weeks, especially in the first half when we weren't quite at it. In fact we were lucky to go in at 1-1 as we didn't hurt them enough for my liking.

"But we started the second half really well and had a couple of good chances and some others as well, although missing the penalty didn't help. But I thought we were the better side over the 90 minutes.

"We didn't lose, which is good as it gives the boys more confidence and we will need that going into the game against Sholing (at home on Saturday)."