Hawks avoid FA Cup banana skin as Mo Faal continues fine start to life at Westleigh Park

The striker netted his fifth goal of the season as the National League South high-fliers defeated two tiers lower AFC Totton 1-0 in a second qualifying round tie.

It was an seventh successive victory for Hawks, who have reeled off six league wins in a row for the first time since 2016.

On the same day, Hawks’ league rivals Dartford, Tonbridge Angels and Concord Rangers were all dumped out by lower division clubs - just three of 11 such upsets across the second qualifying round.

And Welling, who host Hawks next weekend, were held 0-0 by three tiers lower Fisher.

‘It’s a strange phenomenon,’ said Hawks boss Paul Doswell. ‘You play teams from a lower league and it’s rarely a convincing win.

‘There’s plenty of teams who have gone out (against lower division sides) but we’re not one of them, and that’s good news.

‘We created the better chances - Jake McCarthy hit the post in the second minute - but Totton were a credit to themselves.

‘They came at us late on, they could have equalised - that wasn’t out of the question.

‘I think they’ll win their league without any question, so really they’re only one division below us.’

Doswell added: ‘Last year we took almost 1,000 supporters to Charlton in the first round, but in the early rounds you only get around 450.

‘You don’t get the same atmosphere, it’s a case of getting through these early (qualifying) rounds as best you can. Sometimes those can be the hardest games.’

Faal, a late addition in pre-season following Tommy Wright’s meniscus op, followed up his four league goals with the only goal in the first half.

‘That’s the most encouraging thing,’ Doswell added. ‘All our new signings are making a contribution.

‘We’re being rewarded for keeping faith in the players - I think 14 of them were here last season.

‘We were getting criticised - both the players and us (the management) - when we had that three-month spell mid-season.

‘But we sat down at the end of the season, myself, Ian Baird, Jamie Collins, Stuart (Munro, CEO) and Derek (Pope, chairman) and we were all singing from the same hymn sheet.

‘We knew we’d had horrendous injuries, we had confidence in most of the squad, we just needed to improve up front.

‘Mo, Danny Wright, Jason Prior have all come in and made a difference, and James Roberts is the player we signed last year - he’s been our best player so far.

‘The only disappointment has been Tommy Wright’s injury, if Tommy was fit we would be a threat for anyone - I still think he’s our best player.’

Hawks bid for an eighth successive league and cup win at home to Fleet Town in the second round of the Hampshire Senior Cup on Tuesday.