ALRESFORD Town are plotting one of the shocks of the FA Cup preliminary round at Arlebury Park on Wednesday (7.45pm).

Richard Luffman’s Magpies have earned themselves a replay after holding Southern One South & West high-fliers Wimborne Town to a 1-1 draw at Cuthbury on Saturday.

Wimborne paid for failing to add to Toby Holmes’s finely-taken 13th-minute strike as Alresford hit back to equalise late through Babs Bojang.

And Wimborne boss Matty Holmes was honest enough to admit that the Sydenhams Premier underdogs had been worthy of a draw in the Battle of the Magpies.

“It was frustrating,” said Holmes. “The conditions were a real thorn in our side and we couldn’t play how we had wanted to due to the wind.

“But both teams had to get on with it.

“We created a lot of chances in the first half, but didn’t see off the game.

“At 1-0 it was one of those situations where we knew that if we didn’t get a second goal, we could be in trouble.

“They had great spirit, as we knew they would. They battled harder than we did and got a deserved equaliser.”

Proud Alresford boss Luffman agreed with those sentiments and was doubly pleased with the outcome given the number of injuries his side are battling.

“We only had one defender in our back four, our main striker Tom Sands was away and Aaron Blaxall started but had to come off injured,” he said.

“How we rose to the challenge, I don’t know, it was impressive. It’s the weakest we’ve been all season in terms of how we lined up.”

Bojang’s equaliser was a scrappy one but, like they say, they all count.

“We signed Babs from QK Southampton last year,” said Luffman. “We had three attempts to put it away and he scored with the fourth one.

“It came in the 86th minute and we deserved it. We were the better side in the second half, we properly got stuck into them.

“If we play as well as that, we’ve got every chance in the replay.

“I think Wimborne took us a bit lightly.

"We stopped them playing their passing game from the back and frustrated them into playing a bit more long-ball.

"I'm sure they'll have a little plan for us on Wednesday and we'll have one for them."

Captain Chris Mason misses out as he launches into a three-match suspension, so Callum Drake will come in.

And Alresford will be looking for another big performance from teenage debutant Sam Burt who switched from left-back to centre-half and emerged as man-of-the-match.

“Sam’s another one from the Sparsholt Academy,” said Luffman. “He’s only 19, but he played like a man of 35.”