Brabrook happy with point

Under-17 boss Peter Brabrook was reasonably happy with the point his side earned against high-flyers Southampton yesterday.

However he cited the atrocious weather conditions as a major factor in the outcome of the game, which ended 2-2.

"I thought that we played quite well," said Brabrook. " I thought that we were the better side; the wind was a little bit of a factor, obviously the team kicking with it had a bit of an advantage.

"They had it in the first half and I thought that we played really well," he added. "I thought that we created one or two chances that we could have scored with; Billy [Memhet] had a chance, James [Allen] had a chance, but we didn’t take them and they broke and scored, so we were one down at half time. But I felt that we came out in the second half and got two good goals."

And the Hammers could have taken all three points had it not been for a disallowed 'third goal'.

"I think we were a bit unfortunate not to get the winning goal," said Brabrook. "I thought that it was a decent goal which the referee disallowed, but there you go. You win some and lose some.”

Despite earning a point with an equaliser in the final minute, Peter still felt that the Hammers had done enough to take all three against the league leaders.

"They were a good side so it was a good performance," he conceded. "They are top of the league, but I think that we should have won.

"I thought that we were the better side and I think that we had a little bit better movement than they did," Brabrook added. "I thought maybe they were stronger than us. Maybe a little bit physically stronger, and they kept a decent shape, but I thought that we did well.”

And there was also special praise for Darryl McMahon's 90th minute equalising goal.

"Darryl finished with a magnificent second goal," beamed Brabrook. "Great vision to chip the keeper from maybe thirty or forty yards."

Peter was also happy about the FA youth cup draw, which sees the Hammers pitted against either Cambridge or Southend, who play on Tuesday night.

"Tony [Carr] and I will be at Roots Hall to have a look, and to take a few notes on whoever wins," he said. "We are drawn at home which is nice.

"To draw a lower division side is even better but you’ve still got to get on and do the business. There are a lot of good sides drawn together, so there are a lot of good sides that are going to go out if you look at the draw. There are a load of Premier League sides that have drawn one another so a few decent sides are going to disappear early.”

* The under-19's fixture on Satuday was cancelled due to a waterlogged pitch.