Andover Town0–1○Laverstock & Ford

Hoping to get back onto winning ways after two defeats in a week admittedly against strong sides Andover Town kicked off against their near neighbours from Wiltshire into a strong northerly wind which with wind chill made it a pretty cold afternoon. The healthy 236 attendance no doubt reflected a significant number of Salisbury based away supporters.

The first quarter of the half passed by with relatively little impressive play from either side until the first goal came from Laverstock on 15 minutes. A through ball was not dealt with by the Andover centre backs who were caught square and the opposition's top scorer, Russell Jones, coolly rounded the keeper to put Laverstock ahead. The first half continued with neither side producing any clear cut chances of goal scoring opportunities. The first half ended with two long range shots from Ryan Griffiths and David Gerrard which skimmed over the bar. Andover certainly needed to up the anti if they were to break down an obdurate and hard working Laverstock side. Town ended the first half looking more positive but still with no really significant scoring opportunities.

The second half started with a tactical change which resulted in centre back Michael Owen moving forward to a striking position, presumably to give more height and substance to the front line. Connor Cullingford moved to left back and Town continued with three at the back, Sadly the second half was not much of an improvement on the first half for Andover. There were more yellow cards for the home side which was not a result of overly physical play. First Ben Emans was booked which was followed by the best chance of the match when Jamie Ritchie fired off a rasping drive from the edge of the area which looked a certain goal until Alexis Aguer pulled of an outstanding save by diving high to his right. This fired up the crowd and encouraged Town to push forward for the equalizer. Sadly the half then deteriorated into a turgid midfield encounter with nether side showing the kind of form which had put both into the top six of the league. Substitutions followed with Adan Pattison being replaced by Charles Medway on the left wing, JJ Tucker replacing Cullingford at left back and Lewis Williams replacing Ben Emans. More yellow cards came with George Higgins and JJ Tucker going into the book.

The second half ended in a whimper and the most worrying aspect for Town was that they created very few scoring opportunities. Even with a 30 a season goal scorer if no opportunities are created then no goals will be scored. The recent winning run has definitely ground to a halt and another serious challenge comes with the Tuesday's visit to Andover New Street who are bang in form. Also there are 4 matches between now and the end of the seasons against promotion challengers who are currently placed higher in the league then 5th placed Town and there will have to be a marked improvement if they want to get into the play-offs for promotion to the Premier League.