Andover Town3–1○Colden Common

Andover Town went into this match with their last chance of silverware as they entertained Colden Common from the Hampshire Premier League, in the quarter final of the Andover Open Cup.

The game started very brightly, with good clean passing football being played by both sides. The first chance fell to Colden Common in the third minute when an attempted headed clearance by Powell on the edge of the Andover box went initially up in the air, only for him to have a second chance to head his own ball clear, however, this time he did so by knocking the ball down to the unmarked visitors No 10, who was able to get a clear opportunity on goal, only for him to bend his shoot wide of the left hand side post. The match continued at a good tempo, with Colden Common pressing every time Andover had the ball at their feet. The middle of the park was going to be key to whichever team was going to win this match. The first strike on target for Town did not come until the 20th minute when Ben Emans received the ball on the right wing and having skipped past three defenders, he managed to create an opening on the edge of the box for himself, unfortunately his fine strike only found the arms of the rooted keeper. The game continued at a game pace and with very little between the two teams. Then on the half hour, a very good through ball from the visitors midfield found their Luke Watts, to open up the Andover Defence (who up until then had been working the line very well), to get clean through on goal and slot the shot into the bottom right hand corner. Four minutes later, Andover replied, with Dean Smith having been fouled about ten metres outside the opposition box. Josh Bertie, lined up to take the resultant free kick, with the strike heading for the bottom right hand corner the keeper dived down to stop the shot, with the defenders stood watching Ben Emans was able to move the fastest and smash the loose ball into the back of the net. Just before half time both side had a further opportunities to score, but neither could put it beyond the oppositions keeper.

Half Time - Andover Town 1-1 Colden Common

From the off it looked as Andover were truly up for the second half of this cup tie and they always appeared to be a yard faster than their opponents. Eleven minutes into the second half, after the awarding of free kick in a very similar position to that in the first half, Josh Bertie stepped up to take the free kick again, however, on this occasion his shot went direct beyond the wall and straight past the keeper and into the back of the net for a very well placed free kick. From there on in it only appeared that their would be one winner, as the hustle and bustle the visitors had shown in the first half had appeared to have vanished. The game was wrapped up on the fifteen minutes left when Shaquille Gwengwe, who had been a problem for the opposing defence as soon as he had been brought on as a second half substitute, managed to act fastest when the keeper fumbled a low range shot and he steered the ball gracefully into the goal, to make it 3-1. The remainder of the game saw Town manage the ball well and continue to run down the clock, however, in the 90+11 minute, Colden Common were awarded a penalty for a clumsy handball in the area, which was very well saved strongly by Dave Tasker to his right hand side. After reminding the Referee how much additional time he had played the final whistle was blown, however, after five substitutions by Andover and six by Colden Common, it was a surprise that the additional time had not been longer. So. Andover Town now move into the semi-final awaiting to see who they will meet.