Laverstock & Ford 4–4 Andover Town

The acrimonious reverse fixture between these teams last October ended with just sixteen player on the pitch at full time. Perhaps the events of that game still lurked below the surface as for long periods this was a very feisty encounter. The referee did well to control the situation and ensure that a full compliment were still on the pitch at the final whistle.

A total of eight yellow cards were issued and the only Red Card of the evening saw Andover Manager Ron Bertie banished from the dug out for reasons that were not immediately apparent. Josh Bertie helped Andover’s good start when in the fifth minute he fired in the first goal of the evening. Without regular defenders Gary Thorne and Owen Trapnell for this game the home side caused problems at the back and the excellent Dave Tasker came to their rescue on several occasions. However there was little he could do to prevent the Laverstock equaliser but midway through the half Pride Kayima scored from close range to restore the Andover advantage. For the remainder of the half play was end to end with little to chose between the teams.

It was Laverstock who started the second half the stronger and they soon put away their second equaliser of the evening and it was not long before they took the lead for the first time converting a penalty. Despite some dubious tactics by the home side, Andover refused to bow down and worked their socks off to get back into the game. However, Laverstock scored a fourth and they thought that was game over. However, Josh Bertie scored Andover’s third with eight minutes left and Andover put all the pressure onto their opponents With the home bench screaming that added time was not necessary Josh Bertie scored his third and Andover’s fourth. Three further minutes of added time were played but Andover held on to gain a share of the points.