Andover Town2–2○Christchurch

Andover Town kicked off their season at Portway with a Hampshire Senior Cup tie against Premier League Christchurch. The cool damp evening felt more like late October than the first week in August. Several new players were making their debut for Andover and sad to note some significant departures. After 200 plus matches and 5 seasons skipper Brendan Holmes has left to join Southern League Bemerton as has Ryan Griffiths and obviously Ben Emans, last season’s player of the season, will be missing the whole season recovering from his double fracture. This trio will be badly missed this campaign.

Both teams started briskly and end to end action characterized the first quarter, debutant Callum Beasley fashioned an early chance with a strong run and finish from the right flank. In the 18th minute Christchurch scored first when number 11 Nazim Meddah beat the offside trap and slid the ball under the advancing Steinborn-Busse. Zach Hines got Town’s first yellow card of the season in the 23rd minute with a robust challenge and it would be an big improvement if the number of cards, both red and yellow, could be significantly reduced this season. Hines levelled the score in the 31st when a fumble from the Christchurch keeper let him score easily. It seemed odds on that the half time score would be 1-1 but in the 42nd minute a clearance in the 6 yard box from Owen Trapnell hit the outstretched leg of Hines who seemed to be at the centre of much of the first half action. Half time score 2-1 to Christchurch.

Both teams were fairly scrappy in the opening quarter of the second half but as the game wore on Andover were getting more control and unsurprisingly in the 70th minute a great run from Malachi Johnson freed up Sanjay Samunda who marked his debut with a goal to make the score 2-2. Both teams pressed hard for the winner and despite an astonishing 10 minutes of added time the score ended at 2-2 and the penalty shootout began. Sadly Town lost 4-2 in the penalties to put Christchurch into the next round.

Bearing in mind all the newcomers who had not played together before this was an encouraging start to the season by Andover and there is some guarded optimism for the league season. The next match is in the league away at Millbrook on Saturday August 12th at 3pm.