ANDOVER New Street picked up a point in John Smith’s first match in charge, as they recorded a 1-1 draw with Hythe and Dibden.

Danny Houseman scored the equaliser for the Wessex League Division One strugglers, who are hoping to claw their way off the foot of the table under the stewardship of new boss Smith.

The former Lions boss only took over the hot seat last week, following the club’s decision to sack previous manager Dean Hutchins.

But Smith still managed to make a number of changes to his line-up prior to Saturday’s crunch tie with Hythe and Dibden, bringing in four new signings.

Former Stockbridge winger Jazz Beavis and Lee Cogan were amongst the signings, both of whom had played under Smith during his managerial spell in the Andover Sunday league.

Neither side could gain the upper hand in the first half, although both produced good chances on the break.

The sides went into half-time level, but it was the 18th placed visitors who dominated after the restart.

Hythe dominated the first 15 minutes of the second half and finally found the breakthrough shortly after the hour mark.

Laptas Marcel’s long range effort was powered towards goalkeeper Dave Tasker, who did well to get his hand to the ball, but could not keep it out of his net.

New Street responded quickly and equalised after five minutes.

Houseman produced a tremendous solo run down the left flank before cutting inside and firing the ball across goal and into the bottom corner.

The fine solo effort put New Street in the driving seat.

And the hosts thought they had clinched a winner with ten minutes remaining, when Jacob Marsh tapped home a rebound after Beavis shot had been saved.

However the linesman deemed Marsh was in an offside position, meaning New Street had to settle for just a point.

The draw means New Street remain at the bottom of Division One ahead of a tough game against midtable Christchurch on Saturday.

Talking to the Advertiser for the first time as New Street, Smith said: “I think a 1-1 draw was fair.

“We had a goal disallowed late on which was disappointing because it would have been nice to start with a three points.

“But I think a point was a fair result.

“Christchurch will be a tough game, they are in the top half of the table and although they’ve been a little up and down they are a good side.

“I’ve looked at our fixture list and picked a few games that we must win and this isn’t one of them.

“Anything other than a loss would be a good result down there.”

Smith also spoke for the first time about his decision to take the New Street job, just weeks after quitting his Andover Lions role in order to “take a break” from football.

He said: “I wouldn’t have taken the job if it wasn’t New Street.

“I played for the club for 12 years so I’ve got a long history with the club.

“They were scared about going down and they want to stay in the Wessex League, and I was one of the players that put them there.

“I’ve never been in this position as a manager before, I’ve always been challenging for titles, so I’m looking forward to it.”

Alongside Beavis and Cogan, Smith has also brought in the likes of Jamie Coleman, Liam Wilkins and Christian Booth.

Smith says he is hoping to bring in more faces in the coming weeks.