Ash United 1–7 Andover Town

The above is the correct designation of a game that was rescheduled after the original fixture had been postponed 30 minutes before kick-off, but the game was switched to the Portway at the weekend because of floodlight problems at Ash’s ground. This in effect made, what was because of the respective League positions and their away form already a difficult game for Ash, doubly difficult and also led to a much reduced attendance that was under three figures.

Andover Town won a free kick wide on the right that, in true Premiership fashion, hit the first defender before the legs of goalkeeper Sam Bell twice stopped the home side taking an early lead, Firstly he blocked a Ben Emans effort from a narrow angle and then denied Ryan Griffiths after Brendan Holmes created the opening, Ash were awarded a free kick for a totally unintentional handball - such things are now punishable – but Ruben Guerin’s header was too close to keeper Karl Steinborn Busse but play was very much largely in the visitors half. A David Jerrard corner was headed off the line and there was at times some desperate defending with the ball more than once cleared over the bar. A break by Luke Cairns won the visitors a corner that came to nothing and play returned to the other end with Bell failing to hold a cross but recovering well to block Emans at close range. Griffiths was again denied by Bell’s legs with Holmes’s follow up striking Griffiths on the goal line before the breakthrough eventually came after thirty four minutes when a fiercely driven low cross from Holmes was turned in to his OWN GOAL by a defender. A long range effort by full back Connor Auns was not too far away but Town were not to be denied and the third corner in the space of sixty seconds was bundled over the line by NATHAN PRIMUS to double the lea. ’There was still time for two more goals before the break as Bell failed to hold a Jerrard shot allowing RYAN GRIFFITHS to slot home the loose ball before Ash reduced the deficit through a CAINS penalty after the tall striker had been bought down in pursuit of a through ball.

Anything said in the visiting dressing room at half time as regards reducing the deficit went out of the window within a minute of the re-start as a corner on the left was bundled over the line by RYAN GRIFFITHS. The best Ash move of the game ended with a George Hedley shot grazing the far post and after a mass of substitutions from both sides, Cains broke clear again but badly fluffed his shot only for his blushes to be spared by a very, very late offside flag, That was a break in the almost one way traffic and Andover had innumerable corners, most of which caused panic in the six yard box but it was not until the last quarter of an hour that the pressure paid off with three more goals in the space of five minutes. Holmes, who virtually played as a right winger in the second half, saw his overhit cross returned by Emans from the other flank for RYAN GRIFFITHS to sweep the ball home to complete his hat trick, with the next two goals coming from substitute JOSH BERTIE. His clever reverse pass sent Emans clear on the left and the cross was clinically converted before he finished low in to the corner after moving unchallenged in to the penalty area. The game then drifted to a finish, happily with very little stoppage time.

Credit to the very youthful Ash side for their non stop effort and for playing the game throughout in the right spirit but defensively they simply were not good enough on the night, and better finishing by the home side could have made the scoreline even more embarrassing, but is a boost for Town as they look forward to the clash with Andover New Street in a week’s time.