Andover Town2–1○Ringwood Town

Ringwood Town were the visitors to Portway on a warm and sunny October afternoon. With absolutely no wind and with a perfect playing surface a good contest ought to ensue for the sizeable crowd. Before kick-off Alan Musson made a presentation to skipper Brendan Holmes to recognize that with 174th matches he became Andover’s leading number of matches played.

If Andover were looking for a quick start they certainly got it in the 4th minute when Ben Emans fired in an excellent cross at the feet of Matty Morris for an easy tap in. Town were starting very brightly with crisp passing and great running into space and were in total control during the first 20 minutes. In the 12th an audacious flick from Morris almost produced the second goal and the general standard of play from Andover was excellent. No surprise then in the 24th minute a great cross from the right by Brendan Holmes found Harrison Hale on the penalty spot who planted a firm header into the net – cue great celebrations which were dashed when the offside flag was raised by the linesman, the player definitely looked to be level and surely VAR would have reviewed it and the goal would have stood. But the second goal was not long in coming when Corey Taylor-Kelly who was up for the corner pushed the ball into the net from 6 yards following a goalmouth melee. As the half progressed Andover were playing really well and creating several chances. Kimron Quashie was giving an outstanding display in the first half with dominant box to box midfield play and for such a slightly built player his control and presence up and down the pitch was impressive.The first half ended with the score at 2-0 and with the crowd not knowing where the added time of 6 minutes had came from. A really excellent first half performance by Andover and one which promised more goals in the second half.

Jake Watson tried to start the second half after a leg injury but to no avail and in the 46th minute he was replaced by Musa Stamburi. This resulted in fairly significant positional changes – Brendan Holmes moved into midfield, Kimron Quashie moved to left centre back with Stamburi slotting in at right back. It was to be hoped that these changes would not disrupt the play and that the first half dominance would continue. It looked like it would in the 51st minute when Morris broke free, ran unchecked into the penalty area was one on one with the keeper and a goal looked certain until the Ringwood keeper pulled off another excellent save. As the second half progressed somehow Andover lost all the initiative which they had had in the first half maybe caused by the several substitutions which they made, none of which seemed to be a result of injuries. Ringwood were now growing into the game and with Town looking distinctively sluggish Smith scored in the 79th minute. After their first half performance it was perverse that Andover ended the second desperately holding onto a slender lead. The game finished 2-1 and it should have been much more comfortable for them than that.

Still Andover maintained their top six place and look forward now to their next match on Saturday October 22nd away at Millbrook.