○Folland Sports2–3Andover Town

Andover Town played a creative game this afternoon to give them 6 points from their last two league games. They teased their fans with a half time advantage which was lost early in the second half. But then they produced their most imaginative play to date which allowed defender Owen Trapnell to score his first for the club and Brendan Holmes to bury a last minute winner into the home teams net.

The game started quietly with Folland missing a couple of half chances including one which resulted in a hand ball decision against them. However Andover looked the most organised with Lewis Wakeford out running the home team defenders without difficulty and Liam Callaghan (on loan from Blackfield and Langley) nearly putting the away team in the lead within the first minute when a deflected cross from Trapnell hit him in the chest just too hard for him to control and strike. Then in the fourteenth minute Waledin Ahmed beat a number of Folland defenders to open space and pass back to Dean Smith in a prime position to cross the ball to Shaquille Gwengwe. Gwengwe looked across and saw his best chance was to aim at the far post giving Folland goalkeeper Declan McCarthy no chance of a save. Although Folland managed a quick retaliation, with a wide shot saved by Dave Tasker, Andover remained the better team and only a few minutes later Gwengwe nearly scored his second. Callaghan had been sent chasing a ball from defence which resulted in a weak save by McCarthy but Gwengwe was well placed and was only a split second away from getting to the ball before it was more securely in the keepers hands. Only a few minutes later Gwengwe launched a ball into the side netting which looked like a goal from the side lines. The Andover attack continued with Nickoy Pinnock, looking very comfortable in his position today, making a fantastic pass through to Callaghan which resulted in two attempts on goal. The first was saved but the ball came straight back out to his feet. Unfortunately he was on the ground and was unable to regain an upright position or sufficient force to put the ball in the net. In previous games it is fair to say Andover have lacked the ability to create viable scoring opportunities, however, as the game progressed it was clear this is an area where a lot of work had been undertaken. This match saw strikers and defenders alike, not only making opportunities, but also prepared to take a shot if presented to them. An example of this is when Smith ran from back in defence to force a corner from his sprint extending for more than half the pitch. With only a minute to go of normal time Trapnell was fouled just outside the penalty area and Ahmed took the kick. Although it landed in the arms of McCarthy it had cleared the wall and the incoming defenders and with just a bit more force would probably have beaten the keeper.

Half Time - Folland Sports 0-1 Andover Town

The start of the second half was in stark contrast to the end of the first. Folland came out with a renewed vigour and had scored twice in the first seven minutes. Their first was from an exceptionally well orchestrated piece of set play. A free kick awarded to them on the outside corner of the penalty area allowed their captain Breon Graham to place an almost perfect ball into the waiting forwards. Anyone of them could have scored from this inch perfect cross. The second came from Tom Hawkins when the Andover defenders where unable to challenge his speed and it resulted in a shot which was launched over Taskers head but dipped frustratingly, for Andover, just inside the cross bar. It wasn’t until at least 10 minutes later that Andover started to turn the game around, and then the game was all about the defenders. Not traditionally for the goals they prevented, but for the ones they scored. A free kick taken by Smith gave Trapnell his first attempt which started his onslaught on the Folland goal. Only minutes later Holmes passed to Owen Trapnell who seemed to initially struggle with control but then found the sweet spot and made no mistake with either the direction or the force of his strike. Folland should have retaken the lead in the 70th minute when a header from Sanchez McLean should have gone in unchallenged, but he sent it over the cross bar into the trees behind. Trapnell wasn’t finished with his stint up front and in a matter of only a couple of minutes had two more chances to get his name on the score sheet. The Andover fans are used to seeing a strong defensive show from Trapnell every week but were delighted with the diversity of his play today. Substitute Ben Emans nearly scored a winner with an on target shot in the 89th minute which was saved and deflected out where he ran hard to try and get another attempt. As the game was drew to a close it seemed that Andover would have to settle for only one point even though they had been far the stronger team for the majority of the play. However Holmes was having none of it and in the last minute of the game Wakeford shook off his defenders to pass to Holmes in a similar position to the Trapnell goal. Brendan Holmes took the shot with all the confidence of a seasoned professional to claim all three points. This win was exhilarating and imaginative. Players were moving away from their set positions and finding it worked. This can only happen with individuals who are comfortable with their team members and have trust in each other’s abilities. The next few games promise to be ones to watch !