Andover Town0–1○Andover New Street

Andover New Street softened the blow of relegation with a win over their close rivals that took them in to the Final of the Andover Open Cup, their second Final of the season, but the game will surely not live long in the memory of the 168 supporters present. It was scrappy, at times tetchy, too many unnecessary challenges causing unnecessary cautions – no reflection on the referee – not too many threats on goal and almost ending in farce through the ridiculous rolling substitute rule that applies to the Competition.

The early play was confined very much to midfield and there was a caution for home skipper Brendan Holmes for pulling back Shane Lock after just six minutes. There were lectures for other players over the legality of challenges before the first threat of any sort on goal. Lock was stopped at the expense of a corner which led to a bout of head tennis in the area before the ball was cleared and a long through ball from Josh Berti saw visiting keeper George Baxter leave his area to deny Shaquille Gwengwe. The first substitution of the evening was a genuine one, Callum Sweeney coming on for Street after an injury to Jamie Coleman , before the first real shot of the game saw Tasker save at full stretch from Zach Hine. New Street came forward again and scored what was to be the only goal of the game after twenty eight minutes though they needed help from the home side to do so. A back pass was badly under hit and the predatory Lock beat Tasker to the ball and gleefully fired in to the unguarded net. Sweeney gave the ball away but recovered his ground to make a saving tackle and a scrappy game continued with Berti blazing a free kick high over the bar. Ben Emans – a substitute – skilfully reached the New Street area before being denied by weight of numbers before the last action of the half saw a dangerous low cross pass across the six yard area with no blue shirt in touching distance.

Half time - Andover Town 0-1 Andover New Street

The home side started the second half with greater urgency with Jordan Raguette inches too high and another cross, this time from Gary Thorne, again finding no blue shirts in the danger area. At the other end two home defenders almost fatally left a through ball to each other but Kylan Lewis’s shot was deflected for a corner. Baxter hung on to a Berti free kick at the second attempt before Matt Scott, a tower in the visiting defence all evening, sent Hine clear but his lob over the advancing Tasker went the wrong side of the post. The game reached the final minutes without either side looking like adding to the scoreline and suddenly developed almost in to farce as substitutes came and went seemingly every thirty seconds. It would be no surprise if the Assistant on the dugout side is now in need of a new notebook and it would be interesting to know how many Andover players lasted the full ninety minutes. Even Mark Keogh, whose performance matched that of Scott, saw his number raised as the Sub Boards flashed on and off like Belisha Beacons. One of the Andover substitutes, Nathan Lunness, managed to collect two cautions for dissent over matters that did not involve him in the space of five minutes and he was probably the only player on the evening who left the field and did not come back on again apart from the injured Coleman. All this made no difference to the game other than to increase the stoppage time to seven minutes after which the final whistle confirmed New Street’s place in the Final.

This was Andover Town’s last game of the season, a season in which they still may finish bottom of the Division One table – Totton and Eling have yet to complete their fixtures – twelve months after finishing second in the Premier Division. There has been no lack of effort but the same cannot perhaps be said for ambition.