Andover Town1–2○Laverstock & Ford

Reporter’s ‘Man of the Match’ Jordan Ragguette

The last few minutes of the game today stole all the points and Christmas cheer from the Andover Town team. This was one of their grittiest and certainly most dominating matches so far this season. Laverstock & Ford were down to ten men early in the game, with no clear keeper as an alternative, giving Town the ideal opportunity to take advantage of the weakness. The chances came thick and fast for the home side throughout both halves but they were beaten by two penalties.

Andover have suffered in the past with a lack of concentration early in the game. Today was completely the opposite, as within the first fifteen seconds Shaquille Gwengwe had challenged Rob Crossley when he found himself with the ball directly from the kick-off. The Laverstock & Ford bench could be heard to say it was ‘too easy’ and they were right as only a minute later Ben Emans was narrowly beaten by an offside flag when he made his first attack on the opponents goal. The onslaught continued as a poor clearance by Crossley could have been an Andover goal but Josh Bertie was just unable to control his first touch and the moment was lost. Gwengwe played with extreme focus today. A throw in from, not a particularly dangerous position, saw him bring the ball down and attempt to curl it around Crossley. He didnt get the radius quite right and the shot went wide but it probably looked too close for comfort from the keepers perspective. Almost immediately afterwards a Bertie free kick came to Powell Uka who executed a nifty back flick, but the penalty area was too full of yellow shirted defenders for anyone to get close enough to shoot. Laverstock & Ford joined the party after about ten minutes when Archie Lovegrove ran at Kieran McHardy. The best he could could manage was an attempt to remove the Andover Town supporters flag positioned just to the side of goal as his shot flew wide. The next ten minutes saw Emans have a couple more shots, one orchestrated by Gwengwe and the other as the result of his own run end-to-end, only to be defeated by a Laverstock defender putting the ball out for a corner. Ragguette caused the Laverstock defenders constant problems and it was one of his attacks down the far side which forced Crossley to bring him down just outside the penalty area. The official deemed the foul resembled what the fans call ‘last man standing’ and as such attracts a red card. Crossley was off and Lovegrove was required to take his place. The sending off aggravated the numerous away fans but brought hope to the home crowd so desperate for league points to end the year with. The remainder of the half continued with a constraint stream of Andover attacks on the replacement keeper. Lovegrove stood up well to the challenge but it was clearly only a matter of time until the weakness would be exploited,

Half time - Andover Town 0-0 Laverstock & Ford

Shaquille Gwengwe didnt have to wait long after the restart to get his reward for play in the first half. Uka passed the ball to the waiting centre forward in what looked like an impossible position due to the tightness of the angle. But his accuracy was incredible and the clean shot sailed over the head of Lovegrove in the visitors goal. Laverstock and Ford were quick of the blocks immediate after the goal and a momentary lapse by the Andover defence saw the ball go into the back of their net. Fortunately it was off-side. As the game approached the hour mark the Andover fans, although pleased with the score, were getting frustrated as it could have easily been three or four for their team. Even though Laverstock were a player down Ragguette always managed to attract two defenders every time he received the ball. However this didnt stop him and he found himself part of many of the scoring opportunities. One of his long passes found Emans who flicked the ball with the bottom of his foot and found Gwengwe. This looked like it was going to be the forwards second, but this time it went just too high. Gwengwe began to get the measure of the Laverstock keeper. He managed to draw him off his line at one point and beat him to have a free pass across the goal with no defenders anywhere to be seen. Unfortunately there were also no forwards and the ball glided slowly across an open goal. George Higgins made his debut for Andover coming on for Emans and taking his position on the far wing. Shortly after coming on he made his mark with a long solitary run at the end of which he was beaten by a defender who was only able to put the ball out for a corner. Then, against the run of play, Laverstock found themselves with a string of messy attempts on the Andover goal all of which were only partly cleared. the final clearance attracted a foul and a penalty was given to the visitors. The Laverstock Captain Adam Bourner placed the shot to McHardy’s lefthand side whilst sending the keeper the other way. At this point Andover made their final two substitutions. Waledin Ahmed came on to replace Gwengwe, which moved Higgins across to take up centre forward and Ahmed to take the wing where Emans had started. Lunness came on for Mark Keogh for a defensive swap. Laverstock seemed to be rejuvenated by the equalising goal and it wasn’t long before Lunness was tested as he had to chase back to prevent McHardy being put into a one-to-one situation. Only a few minutes later he was directing a header at Lovegrove following a corner. Lovegrove once again coped admirably. Then, with only added time left, all the points slipped away. Another front of goal scramble ended with Pinnock being red carded for hand ball, and a penalty was given to the away side. Once again the penalty was well taken and the away team bench celebrated enthusiastically. There proved to be just too little time for a reply. The only real chance came to Higgins, but his apparent good position was too good and deemed to be off-side. Andover were by far the better side today. They created more chances, defended more robustly and played exciting football. Let’s hope the new year brings the rewards the squad deserve.

May I take this opportunity to wish all the readers of these reports a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.... Jo