○Millbrook8–0Andover Town

Now beginning their 3rd season in the Wessex League Millbrook have consolidated their position with two top 10 finishes and today looks and feels like a very different scenario from the 20/21 season when Town cruised to a 7-0 victory in the opening match of that season.

Right from the off Milbrook dominated every facet of the game and it was no surprise when they opened the scoring in the 8th minute with a goal from number 8 O’Connell. There then followed a procession of goals from Millbrook with the seeming inability of Town to defend properly and stop the flow. Millbrook seemed to score at will from then on with goals at regular intervals from Long, Drake and Gray in the 28th, 41st and 45th minute to make the score 4-0 at half time.

At half time it was pretty obvious that Town were just not at the same level of ability as the opposition and it seemed pretty certain that the deluge of goals would continue in the second half. To a man it was evident that every Andover player was trying as hard as they could but the different in class between the two sets of players was palpable. Maybe not surprising when out of starting 11 today only 4 were regulars last season largely because of a raft of departures to clubs in either the same or a higher division.

The second half progressed much the same as the first with a regular procession of 4 more goals from Beattie, Stapleton, White and Drake. The final score and a blessed relief when the ref blew for time was 8-0 to Millbrook

Analyzing this game and accounting for the result seems pretty straightforward. To a man and in every position Millbrook had much better players. Hard to resolve this issue and the only hope is that today was a dreadful day at the office rather than a frightening glimpse of the rest of the season. A reminder that Andover won the team of the month for August last season and were top of the division.