Andover Town5–0○Frimley Green

After their four match losing run in the league there was a collective determination to right this wrong with the arrival of league newcomers Frimley Green. This is the first time the two teams have met and the kick off was greeted by late summer sunshine and a perfect playing surface.

Both teams started brightly and livewire Zach Hine opened the scoring for Town in the 7th minute when he skipped past a couple of defenders and coolly slotted the ball home – the first time Andover have been in front this season. As early as the first ten minutes Andover were playing with more effort, more determination and importantly with much higher skill levels than had been apparent in the season to date. Their efforts were rewarded in the 15th minute when Owen Trapnell firmly headed in from a deep left wing cross to make the score 2-0. However Frimley pushed hard to score and almost did so in the 32nd minute when a free kick driven from 30 yards out by number 7 Jones looked a like a certain goal until it was acrobatically pushed over the bar by stand in keeper Cameron Wise. The first half ended with the score at 2-0 which slightly flattered the home side.

The second half started with a booking for Trapnell which the statisticians would love because the two yellow carded players had both scored. Town striker Ismail Kifoun caught the eye in the first half and continued to do so in the second half with intelligent and pacey runs behind. Equally noteworthy was the box to box midfield play from Zach Hine who as always worked unstintingly hard. But again Andover had to be on their guard when in the 57th minute Trapnell headed clear on the goal line to prevent a certain goal. Malachi Johnson effectively put the seal on a Town victory when he broke through in the 64th minute and steered the ball low and hard int the net to make the score 3-0. Unheard of riches so far this season for Andover to have scored 3 times and to be cruising to victory. Ismail Kifoun finished off a great afternoon’s work by scoring two late goals on the 92nd and 97th minute to make the score 5-0 to Town.

So maybe this is the turning point in the season for Andover. Let’s hope that this momentum builds and Town can now begin to climb the table. The next match is in the first round of the Wessex League Cup away at Premier League Fareham Town on Tuesday August 29th kick off 7.45pm. Fareham have had a pretty good start to the season and are currently 4th in the Premier League so a tough prospect on Tuesday evening.