Bemerton Heath Harlequins 1–3 Andover Town

Andover recorded their third victory of the season over Bemerton despite having to field a below full strength team.With four players on the injury list and two others suspended they signed David Allen on a short term loan from AFC Totton. He came in to help fill the gap left by the enforced absence of the two regular central defenders and did not put a foot wrong all afternoon. Despite the setbacks Andover produced a performance that in a match that was full of drama will rate among the seasons best.

Andover started well and forced five corners inside the opening ten minutes, but it was the home side who created the first scoring opportunity, but Robbie Matthews header from six yards was superbly flicked over the bar by Luke Cairney. Shortly after Ben Cook, who enjoyed his best game in an Andover shirt, was denied by the Bemerton Goalkeeper Robert Crossley after a good attempt on goal. Andover did go ahead, a slick passing movement ended as Cook slipped the ball into Reece Rusher’s path and without breaking stride he fired in from just inside the box. All afternoon Andover’s approach work was excellent none more so than when Hibberd and Rusher combined to set up Jason Silver but his final volley shaved the wrong side of the post. On the half hour mark Alex Dockree was upended in the area but the referee waved away the appeals. The match official went on to make several contentious decisions during the afternoon much to the dismay of both sides. With the interval a minute away Bemerton were reduced to ten men when Jack Slade was shown a straight red card. His tackle on Aaron Nesbeth looked hard but fair but the official decreed that it was dangerous. With Nesbeth showing no ill effects the decision seemed harsh.

Half time - Bemerton Heath Harlequins 0-1 Andover Town

Straight after the restart Andover took advantage of their numerical advantage when following another good build up Silver hit a tremendous volley but once again his trajectory was slightly off target. Shortly before the hour mark Andover’s injury list increased when Joe Chamberlain was carried off with one unofficial estimate suggesting he would be out for three to four weeks. However, dispite the losing a player, the home side got back into to match with a goal from Jake Burgess. So now although having the advantage of an extra player Andover needed a second goal and when Joe Wright was hauled down inside the area the thought was that a penalty would do the trick. However the referee again turned the appeals down with the home support joining forces with the Andover faithful to express their incredulity at the decision. A good effort by Cook struck the underside of the bar but finally with ten minutes to go Andover secured that vital second goal as Mike Gosney neatly swept Rusher's assist wide of Crossley into the net. Five minutes later Ben Cook put the icing on the cake converting Mike Gosney’s pullback. During the final moments Cairney in quick succession blocked two volley’s and Dave Allan completed a satisfactory debut by clearing another.