Andover Town0–1○Liss Athletic

Anxious to get back to winning ways Town welcomed Liss Athletic to the Portway on a cold but dry afternoon. Ryan Morgans returned to the starting line-up after a two week absence and it was really good to see former skipper Brendan Holmes starting since his present club Dorchester Town were without a match today.

Within two minutes Malachi Johnson almost scored when he broke through into the penalty area and fired a good shot just over the bar. And then a costly error in the 8th minute when keeper Redshaw advanced a long way out of the area to collect a ball which he couldn’t manage to do and Liss almost scored. Things were pretty even in the first quarter with both sides pushing forward but then in the 22nd minute a through ball on the left found the Liss left winger Harrison who eagerly put the ball into the net from 25 yards out to make the score 0-1. And things got worse for Town in the 32nd minute when they conceded what looked like a very soft penalty. Luckily the penalty was weakly struck and Redshaw saved easily to keep the score to 0-1. The visitors were certainly on top as the half progressed and Andover managed to get to half time without conceding again. Half time score 1-0 to Liss.

Just like last week Town had to improve in the second half if they were to draw level. They did just that in the 49th minute when a strong shot from Luke Holden flashed just over the bar followed by a snap shot from Brendan Holmes in the 50th minute which was just wide. Andover were definitely playing better now as the half progressed and in the 78th minute what looked like a certain goal with a fierce shot from Brendan Holmes was pushed onto the post by the Liss keeper. In the last quarter it looked like Town would equalize but it was not to be and the game ended with another defeat 0-1.

So it looks increasingly unlikely that Town will finish in a promotion place unless they quickly start winning again and stop slipping down the table. Next Saturday February 8th sees another home match against Meon Milton kick-off 2pm