○Romsey Town7–0Andover Town

Reporter’s Man of the Match Nickoy Pinnock

As the weather became progressively wetter in Andover this morning there was a risk that another league game would need to be postponed until later in the season. But the sun came out in time and the pitch was deemed to be fit for play, and performed remarkably well. The previous meetings of these two teams had both taken place at The By-Pass Ground and both resulted in convincing wins for the home team. As time had passed since the last game Andover would have hoped that experience could present them with a better chance of a win. However Romsey had also improved since their last encounter and were able to contain the hard working Andover forwards and wear down the stretched defence.

It was in less than two minutes that Romsey took control. Jack Odam was able to beat his chasing defenders and deliver the ball so well only the slightest touch was needed to score their first goal. Andover protested that the ball had passed over the touch line but the Officials awarded the goal and the ball came back for the restart. Andover had their own chances, but each time their attractive midfield play resulted in the Romsey defence either blocking the attempt or forcing an inaccurate shot. One such chance was an inspired three man attack started by Waledin Ahmed followed through by Josh Bertie and ended with Shaquille Gwengwe. The shot was good and demanded an equally impressive save from Charlie Philpott, who put it wide for a corner. Nic Turpin was the next Andover forward to be thwarted by Philpott when a pass through from Gwengwe looked like a centre forwards dream but both Turpin and Philpott ended up on the ground, with the ball unfortunately in Philpott’s hands. The Andover defence had to work hard today. Nickoy Pinnock seemed to be constantly chasing his man as the Romsey forwards found spaces and passes with ease. The second goal came from a keeping error. Odam was extremely well placed to take advantage when Dave Tasker was unable to keep hold of a save and the ball came back out to the waiting forward who must have thought Christmas had come early. Romsey found the back of the net again from a corner. During the next twenty minutes Andover had a couple of attempts led by Jordan Raguette. However Romsey were equally still looking to add to their tally. An offside call prevented another home-side goal but the constant pressure on Tasker’s goal must have challenged the keepers concentration. Due to an earlier Romsey injury the first half continued into added time. They used this time to increase their lead by two. The first was set up by Oliver Jenkins who unselfishly passed to Geoff Dunn for the glory. The second was almost an action reply but this time with Odam passing to Jenkins.

Half time - Romsey Town 5-0 Andover Town

The second half stared with Ahmed having a shot which was stopped and held by Philpott. The play then continued as an even contest and anyone entering the stadium at the break may have thought the score was a draw. But as the game approached the hour mark Romsey added to their impressive score line when a free kick taken just outside the penalty area looked like it had been cleared by the Andover defence but Joao Aldeano received the clearance and put it home for his team sixth. Pinnock and Nathan Lunness continued to have problems with Odam who looked dangerous every time he received the ball. Pinnock was constantly chasing and Lunness blocking. Although the score doesn’t suggest successes in defence they were hard working and prevented a number of other chances. As the game entered the last ten minutes Turpin had his best chance. He controlled and turned with the ball in front of goal, passed out to Gwengwe who managed to pass it back to the centre forward who was close to and in front of goal. His shot was saved well by Philpott, preventing Andover receiving some consolation for their efforts. Then, with only a couple in minutes left to play, substitute James Clifton headed in his team’s final goal. It came from a free kick which floated around the goalmouth for a while before he was able to make the winning contact.

Based on the previous encounters it would have been ambitious to think Andover would have had an easy time today. Although Towns play has improved dramatically since the start of the season so has the play of some of the other teams. On the day Romsey played like they were near the top of the league, which was just too much for Andover.