Andover Town1–3○Colden Common

Town welcomed the arrival of league leaders Colden Common to the Portway. The visitors have already got a nine point lead at the top of the table and although Town have got a couple of games in hand it’s important that they do their utmost to win this afternoon. The pitch looked pretty heavy after the recent rainfall and Town were again without their talisman Ryan Morgans.

Both teams started brightly and in the 12th minute Andover had their first chance when Luke Holden was through on goal but flagged offside in a questionable decision. But Colden hit back quickly and in the 14th minute left winger Brad Lethbridge broke through on the left in the penalty area and hit a good cross shot to make the score 1-0 to the visitors. Town were losing midfield control and were definitely below par as the half progressed and unsurprisingly Colden doubled their lead in the 28th minute when number 18 Matty Driver cut in from the left and hit an unstoppable shot past Chris Redshaw to make the score 2-0. And somewhat controversially the visitors were awarded a penalty in the 37th minute and no-one in the crowd from either home or away fans had any idea why it was awarded. Bred Lethbridge stepped up and easily converted to make the score 3-0. As the first half moved towards its end Town were showing no real signs of getting back into the game until the 44th minute when a shot from Jacob Burrows took a deflection and nestled into the back of the net to make the half-time score 3-1 to Colden Common.

As the second half started still a considerable mountain to climb if Town were to get anything out of this game. But they seemed to up the ante as the half progressed and Colden were more on the back foot and their first half pressing game changed to a second half with the emphasis on defence. In the 60th minute Town had a great chance to pull another goal back when after a goalmouth melee Luke Holden fired just over the bar. Andover were certainly pushing hard to score and they dominated the final quarter without ever finding a definite scoring chance. Colden indeed managed the game out well to make the final score 3-1.

So a disappointing day for the home side and this result saw them slipping further down the table. Their long winning streak before Christmas seems a long time away and Andover have to get back to winning ways pretty quickly if they are to seriously challenge for promotion. The next match is again at Portway on Saturday February 1st kick-off 2pm against Liss Athletic.