○Whitchurch United0–3Andover Town

Andover Town travelled to Whitchurch for the North Hampshire derby on a crisp November evening where pitch conditions were excellent. Whitchurch have been somewhat of a bogey team for Town in the past so a good performance was needed writes Roger Fawcett. Andover were looking for a fast start to extend their 8 match unbeaten league run and a fast start they certainly got. Inside 3 minutes a corner from the left found Musa Stamburi unmarked 10 yards out and the rangy midfielder coolly stroked the ball into the net. The pitch at Longmeadow is one of the biggest in the league and Andover were looking to exploit the considerable areas of space throughout the match. Ben Emans was finding the space on the left to his liking and after 27 minutes his cross found Brendan Holmes on the right edge of the penalty area and whether it was a cross or a shot the ball flew into the top left of the net giving the home keeper no chance and giving Andover a 2-0 lead within the first quarter of the match. Andover settled into a comfortable rhythm for the rest of the first half, keeping the ball well and constantly probing with controlled passing from the back to the front. Whitchurch rarely threatened in the first half and Andover closed out the half with a comfortable 2-0 lead. The half ended with a blistering run and shot by Bertie which arrowed just over the bar. The referee was worthy of comment in the first half, the game flowed easily with a minimum of fuss from the official and there was indeed the rare instance of no bookings in the half.

Half-time Whitchurch United 0-2 Andover Town

No changes at half time and Whitchurch started off with fire in their belly. A mazy run and a brilliant shot from the 17 year old striker Harry White saw keeper Steinborn-Busse at his very best acrobatically reaching to tip the ball over the bar, a superb shot and an outstanding save. As the half developed Town slowly recovered their poise and in the 65th minute Holmes crossed from the right and a Gerrard pullback on the edge of the box saw Bertie firing in and scraping the outside of the post.. Approaching the 70th minute a plethora of substitutions from both sides began first from Whitchurch, within 10 minutes the full complement from both sides were used and it seemed to upset the flow and pattern of the game. After 25 minutes Dec Shuttleworth Whitchurch centre back and captain was quite rightly sin binned for a tirade of foul and abusive language directed at the linesperson. More referees should take the step of punishing foul language which is totally unnecessary. The controlled flow of the first half had by now disappeared and the game became increasingly scrappy with neither side creating good chances. In the 90th minute Bertie was tripped unceremoniously in the area,a stone cold penalty and skipper Brendan Holmes crashed in the penalty. The game ended with a comfortable 3-0 win for Andover to continue their fine run of form and their surge up the table. Newport (IOW) the league leaders come to Portway on Saturday which will be a stern test of our improving form.