○Romsey Town5–0Andover Town

This Hampshire Senior Cup tie was not as one sided as the final scoreline would suggest.Andover were much the better side for most of the first half but against the run of play two quick goals conceded just before half time began to swing the match Romsey’s way.

With Dave Tasker handed his Andover Town debut the visitors started well and twice inside the opening five minutes they had good chances to take the lead. Brendon Holmes provided the opportunity for Josh Bertie and then Jake Watson and both attempts will have given the goalkeeper food for thought. Bertie again went close before Andover’s best chance of the game arrived with almost twenty minutes gone. Nickoy Pinnock arrived in the six yard box in time to get onto the end of Berties immaculate cross but the ball flew up against the bar only to drop onto the line before being scrambled away. Over half an hour elapsed before Romsey created their first real opportunity when Zac Mouland broke well clear but his final effort was smothered by Tasker. This was a warning for Andover and so it proved as six minutes before the break Luke Benali,son of Francis, converted a long range volley and three minutes later Andover failed to adequately defend a free kick and Kieran Hancock scored to put Romsey in the driving seat.

Hallf time - Romsey Town 2-0 Andover Town

Despite the two goal deficit the small band of Andover faithful present felt that given their first half performance a fight back was possible. However this optimism proved to be a false dawn as Jack Odam’s free header just before the hour mark gave Romsey an unassailable lead. Three minutes later Odam scored again but to their immense credit Andover never gave up the chase. Their were several chances for Andover to grab a consolation the best of which was Bertie’s effort was saved ,not without some difficulty by the goalkeeper, but it was Romsey who completed the scoring when Mouland netted the fifth three minutes into added time. This match was the first of four between the clubs this season and when the Town return to the bypass ground in October for another cup tie the evidence of this match suggests that that encounter will be a tighter affair.