○East Cowes Victoria2–1Andover Town

Andover Town were very unfortunate to return from the Isle of Wight without at least a point.For long periods during the game they were by far the better side but a failure to snap up their chances proved to be their undoing. In recent games

Andover have made hard work for themselves when conceding early goals and this match was no exception. Only five minutes had elapsed when a shot by Joe Butcher was not gathered cleanly by Dave Tasker and then ricocheted off the inside of a post and over the line despite Owen Trapnell’s desperate effort to clear. Two minutes later Andover had a great chance to get back on terms.George Higgins latched onto Josh Bertie’s through ball leaving him with only the goalkeeper Carl Sherborne to beat. However he chose the wrong option ,tried to round the keeper who recovered well to deny the opportunity. The islanders response was a cross into the area that if it had reached it’s target could well have resulted in their second goal but Dean Smith made the vital interception and alleviate the danger. Play continued from end to end and chances fell to Ben Emans, Brendon Holmes and Higgins before Gary Thorne’s volley from the edge of the area was a foot over the bar. Just after the half hour mark Andover had to adjust their formation when Harvey Willis suffered a a leg or knee injury and was replaced by Jordon Ragguette. Andover quickly recovered from this setback and with half time approaching continued to ask all the questions,one came from Bertie who carved his way into the area but Sherborne was easily able to make the interception.

Half time - East Cowes Vics 1-0 Andover Town

East Cowes started the second half as well as they did the first and their best player Ellis Ahmed was on target but Mark Keogh was on hand to clear the danger. Just before the hour mark Andover were handed a lifeline when George Higgins was tripped inside the area and then he stepped up to take and convert the Penalty. However the home side’s response was positive.Andover were defending high and a long ball caught them out leaving Carl Drew plenty of time and space to score and restore the Vics advantage. Despite this setback Andover were still in the game but Bertie will be the first to admit that his effort from six yards out should have gone in instead of over the bar. During the games closing stages Andover were in the ascendancy with Ben Emans, twice, Bertie and Ragguette all in with a shout. During this period the Town had a appeal for a stone cold penalty turned down by the inconsistent referee who also shared a plethora of yellow cards to both teams the majority of which were for the most innocuous of offences.