○Locks Heath3–0Andover Town

Winter is Here.

Friday night has become less entertaining in the Jones household since my wife now books Friday nights out, my thinking this is 1) to avoid kitchen fires and 2) to have a house on Saturday mornings. Saturday morning began with a second cup of coffee and a quick weather check out the patio door and scratch of Jobless the cats head (formerly known as Shadow) only to look down on the table to find no Jobless, this mystery was solved by my wife stating Shadow (the wife’s name for Jobless) was hunkered down on the sherpa blanket on the bed like the last man of the raft of the Medusa. So a quick guess was maybe it was time for big coat? A shifty outside said go with medium next week definitely big coat.

So with good time made down to Locks Heath the remnants of the once mighty Blue Army took in refreshment at the club house; after running the numbers it was decided we could do with a win - maybe after last week’s thriller the corner had been turned?

Watching the Town warm up it was quickly apparent like the support we were very short on numbers. With Ryan Morgans now at Amesbury and Luke Holden with family commitments the striking department looked a bit shy, this was maybe to prove costly. Kick off found the Blues kicking up hill against the wind although with this disadvantage Town made a good move only for Malakai to find the side netting in the second minute. Town pressured and kept Locks Heath inside their own half for a good 25 minutes but was really unable to make or get a clear shot in. It was a midfield battle between the Locks Heath 18 yard box and the half way line - any real chance we got was snuffed out, the story of this season so it seems. From 25 minutes to 35 minutes Locks Heath started to find their feet although never threatening, on 36 minutes a through ball a rush out by Chris and I reckon you know what happened. 1 nil Locks Heath. OK we’ll take that 1 nil get to half time, organize, kicking downhill, wind behind we can do this. 4.47 ref? 4.49 Ref? 4.52 REF? 4.55 REF your Whistle please and on 4.57 we go 2 nil down. Two goals conceded the body language said it all - it was not pretty, play resumed for a further 2 minutes. Half

time 2 nil Locks Heath.

The second half saw us keep Big Chris company as the clouds looked threatening and the only shelter was said end. A few words of encouragement to Chris and we were off. Locks Heath had tweaked their tactics - although Town played reasonably we were chasing the game, with chasing the game gaps appear - Locks Heath tactic of a cross field and a first time cross into the centre of the park for the forwards to run on to was soon causing town problems. Desperate defending was soon the order of the day with big Chris making a wonderful double save and Jaydon Wheeler making a fine block, but as always we just couldn’t make it last. A miscommunication between Big Chris and Sam Scannilli saw the ball run free for a Locks Heath forward to bang in the net. 3 nil Locks Heath.

The journey home was quiet. This one hurt.

Thanks for reading see you next week for cup action.

Martyn and Jobless.

Thanks to the wife for proof reading my efforts.