Andover Town2–1○Folland Sports

There was an expectation at the start of this match that Andover Town could win as they had defeated their opponents earlier in the season in the away fixture. By winning this game, as expected, they have stepped up a level, not only in the appreciation of the fans, but also in the league table where they no longer hold the bottom slot. The win was due to a solid performance in all departments. Even though the second goal was produced by one of the best build ups and finishes seen this season credit should not be detracted from the defence who played with cohesion and solidity.

The beginning of the game was somewhat disjointed as within two minutes the referee was calling for the Folland bench to attend to one of their players. It wasn’t immediately apparent why, however as Brad Stone approached the side line is was clear a clashing of heads had resulted in an open injury which required attention and his shirt changing. George Murge made his first start for Andover in the number seven shirt normally worn by Jordan Ragguette. Murge had made his debut appearance, albeit for about 10 minutes, at the last game played at Downton, where his speed had impressed those in the stand. Andover’s first attack on goal was in the fifth minute when Shaquille Gwengwe passed back to Ben Emans who was unable to turn in time to shoot before being closed down by the Folland defence. In an attempt to keep the move alive he tried to find Murge however the ball had been taken to far and the moment was lost. Only minutes later Folland won a free kick half way between the penalty are and halfway line. The ball was deflected over Kieran McHardy’s goal for the first corner of the game. The Folland number seven Breon Graham probably caused the most problems for Andover. If it hadn’t been for the close attention Owen Trapnell paid to his every move Graham could have been instrumental in the final result being very different. A Graham shot in the tenth minute sailed passed the Andover defence and only just missed the goal post. Even at full stretch it wasn’t clear if McHardy would have reached if the ball had been just a few inches to the right. Andover’s next opportunity was from a free kick taken by Josh Bertie. The ball entered the penalty area where defender Nathan Lunness found himself in the best place for a shot. Unfortunately in holding back to prevent being offside he found himself with just to much ground to make up he missed the ball and it went behind for a goal kick. The first test of Folland keeper George Samson came from an attempt by Emans. It wasn’t the best of shots however it was saved very tentatively suggesting that if there had been just a bit more force it could have been the first goal of the game. The first half continued with both sides having their share of the play. A run by Sanchez McLean tested McHardy but the ever reliant Brendan Holmes was their to cover his back and to provide assistance if required. Graham found another chance to make the home fans hold their breath when his cross passed straight across McHardy’s goal face. Fortunately none of the other forwards were in a position to do anything with it. On the far wing Murge was finding every time he received the ball he attracted more than his fair share of defenders. However it didnt stop him as most of the time he could out-run them. On one occasion he passed the ball into Bertie who executed a clever dummy to turn and shoot. However the Folland defence had a managed to place a defender in the way and it was deflected out. Andover’s first corner didnt come until the twenty sixth minute of the game. Lunness once again found himself in the best position for a shot, but the whistle was blown, presumably for high kicking.

Half Time - Andover Town 0 - 0 Folland Sports

Folland came out after the break clearly intent on causing problems and taking a win. However the Andover defence and McHardy in goal had a different agenda. The brief onslaught was dealt with without fuss. As the game approached an hour old Andover had already combatted the Folland initial attack and were beginning to build up momentum of their own. A clever flick by George Higgins had provided Gwengwe with a chance pushed out for a corner and the subsequent kick had resulted in the ball skimming over the heads of all the expectant goal scorers before going out for a goal kick. Then in the sixty first minute Gwengwe was through with only one defender and the keeper to beat. He went down in the penalty area and a spot kick was awarded. It wasn’t immediately apparent who had committed the final offence however the crowd didnt care as Shaqille Gwengwe lined the ball up on the spot. On the whistle he planted it into the back of the net. Only a minute after the game was restarted a Folland forward was deemed fouled in the penalty area. As Callum Oliver stepped up to take the kick the fans hoped McHardy could pull off one of his miracles, as he is no stranger to saving penalties. However the shot was well taken as it was aimed high and wide where any keeper would find difficult to cover. These two goals had set the rest of the match up for an exciting conclusion. Both teams had good chances to take the three points. Higgins forced Samson to make a fantastic save one end whilst Bertie cleared a ball of the line the other and McHardy needed to cover a shot which hit his crossbar. Then with only a few minutes left Emans created space and passed to new signing Matt Devereux who found the feet of Gwengwe. From the stand it looked like he had taken too long but Shaquille Gwengwe was clearly just lining up his shot and the goal was well taken as Samson appeared to have had the angles covered. The level of excitement in the crowd was high for the remainder of the game as it looked like Andover were going to take another three points. However the score could have even been higher as Bertie hit the goal post in the ninety fourth minute from a free kick. By delivering on expectations this relatively new side have now shown they are competing and it wont be long before this type of result will be achieved against the highest teams in the league. A result much deserved.