Petersfield Town 0–0 Andover Town

Andover Town travelled to Petersfield seeking redemption after being dumped out of the cup earlier in the season in a game that finished 3-2 to the home side after 3 goal first half blitz. Gary Thorne returned to the line-up after his lengthy suspension with Howard Nhemachena moving in to centre midfield. Pride Kayima came back in to the starting eleven for the first time since his hamstring injury.

Both teams struggled to exert any dominance in the opening 10 minutes with the pitch, resembling an allotment, nullifying any attempts at playing football on the floor. Gradually, Andover started to get to grips with the pitch and after the 13th minute, Josh Bertie cut inside from the right with his effort being blocked but falling to Zac Hine who blazed over. Moments later, Petersfield forward, Matt Low, missed the first of several opportunities during he had during the game, Dave Tasker standing tall to parry his shot to safety. Almost immediately after, Hine’s whipped free kick from the left found Nhemachena yards out and when it looked like he was going to head Andover in to the lead, Stephens jumped to glance the ball over. Petersfield only other notable chance of the half came when Low beat Adam Pattison to the ball and raced through only for a heavy touch to push the ball wide. Soon after, Tom Pattison had two chances. The first he engineered himself, cutting in from the left and curling an excellent shot in to the keepers top left corner only for Matt Petts to tip over. From the resulting corner, Hine picked up a loose ball and set up Pattison who dragged his shot wide. It looked like only a matter of time before the visitors took the lead and 5 minutes before half time, a swift counter attack saw Hine and Kayima combine with the ball looping up over the defender and Bertie hitting a volley that lobbed Petts from 20 yards before the linesman incorrectly flagged for offside. Seconds later, Trapnell’s cross from the left provided an open invitation for Bertie from 5 yards out but he lacked any conviction to attack the ball with his head and Petersfield cleared.

Half time Petersfield Town 0-0 Andover Town

The second half began with Andover again looking more composed on the ball. However, on the hour mark, Nhemachena, who had impressed in midfield, over stretched and caught Merritt late. Much to the surprise of most, he was shown a straight red. 10 minutes later, it looked to have evened up with Petersfields Stephens stamping on Adam Pattison. The crowd expected another red but bizarrely, was only shown a yellow. Gradually, the home side grew in to the game without creating any clear chances although the dangerous looking Marvin Orepo had the ball in the net from an offside position. As the game approached the latter stages, Orepo skipped past several challenges but his heavy touch prevented him from causing Tasker any problems. The final chance of the game fell to substitute Denis Ipeure whose pace got him through one-on-one against Petts who saved well at his near post. Both teams will reflect on dropped points. Andover for not capitalising on their chances and Petersfield for not taking advantage of the numerical difference for half an hour. The game summed up Andover at present. Huge improvement seeing them compete against the top teams but a lack of conviction in front of goal preventing them from gaining ground on those above them.