○Ringwood Town2–1Andover Town

Andover Town travelled down the A31 to Ringwood hoping to repeat their victory in the home fixture back in November. Ringwood are close to completing their £3.4 million redevelopment which includes a 3G pitch, a new clubhouse, new changing rooms and meeting facilities. The 3G pitch is already in use and looked in great condition as the match kicked off in dull and drizzly conditions.

Andover started on the front foot and dominated exchanges in the first quarter and unsurprisingly went ahead in the 18th minute. Following a misdirected clearance Samjay Samunda fastened onto to the ball on the edge of the area and fired in a fierce low shot which gave the home keeper no chance. Score 1-0 to the visitors. Andover were pushing forward confidently and as the first half ensued this looked like one of the better first halves of the season to date. However Ringwood were looking dangerous on the break and Town had a lucky let off when number 7 Ben Harris looked certain to score when one on one with keeper Wise his shot was parried and it looked easier for Harris to score when he blasted over the bar from close range. But as the half wore on Andover were looking more and more comfortable and playing with real purpose In the 38th minute a good through ball from Josh Bertie found Josh Cummings who fired just over from a good position on the edge of the area. And in the final minute of the half Town’s position looked to have strengthened when Ringwood’s number 11 Fishlock was given a straight red card when he scythed down Josh Ngombi who required a lot of attention before he was able to continue. Half- time score 1-0 to the visitors and they were looking odds on at this stage to secure a much needed away win.

As the second half got underway the ten men of Ringwood looked energized and were certainly on top. No real surprise then when in the 60th minute left back Pat Correia broke into the penalty area and slid the ball home to make the score 1-1. And as the half progressed it looked more like Andover were the side playing with ten men. Ringwood were dominating the half and only some last ditch defending kept the scores level. The last ten minutes were real back to the wall stuff from Andover who were manfully holding on to preserve their point. To no avail though because in the 88th minute substitute Luke Pothas hit an unstoppable shot into the roof of the net to make the score 2-1 with only a few minutes remaining. Despite valiant efforts from Town Ringwood held on and the match finished with a 2-1 victory to the home side but not before Andover’s Kieran Diaz-Benitez was red carded in the 92nd minute when he had to bring down the Ringwood striker who was bearing down on goal and looking certain to score.

Despite going down to ten man Ringwood, this was a much better performance from Andover, who played with lots of skill and lots of heart, hopefully a portent for the final quarter of the season. Next match is at home on Tuesday February 20th kick-off 7.45pm with Ash United as the visitors.