Andover Town 1–1 New Milton Town

Reporter’s ‘Man of the Match’ Zac Hine

The last home game before Christmas saw Andover Town entertain New Milton Town at the Portway in a game where the first half should have seen Andover secure the three points. However the second half became more frustrating as the clock ticked on. Andover Town showed almost dominating play in the first forty-five minutes making all the chances on goal and forcing their opponents to give away an extraordinary number of free kicks. At times, in the first half, it looked as if the home side were in a league above their opponents. However the lack of a second goal appeared to have an overly negative effect on the team and even though they all played with everything they could muster it wasn’t enough for the win.

The start of the game was definitely ‘too good to be true’. Within two minutes Josh Bertie had drawn the New Milton keeper, Luke Dennison, out of his area to take him on, almost in mid-field. Having defeated Dennison, Josh Bertie was never going to miss the open goal even if the ball appeared to be watched by the New Milton defenders who looked as if they had been close enough to block the attempt. The shot itself wasn’t particularly remarkable however the coolness with which Bertie executed the overall manoeuvre was, which demonstrates why he is the teams top scorer. Within a minute of the first goal Bertie was once again upfront looking to find the back of the net with his head, this ended in a pass which was cleared by the New Milton defence. New Milton’s Joe Petty gave Owen Trapnell probably the hardest Andover job in the first half. Petty was their most attacking player and it wasn’t long into the game before he received a booking for one of the many battles with Trapnell. However Andover continued to rip the New Milton defence apart. In one instance Zac Hine found himself with just one defender to beat when he appeared to mis-kick and gave the ball away. As usual Hine ran the whole game making chances and worrying the opponents. Some of the most entertaining play involved himself and Bertie, who have formed a combination that opponent’s defences should be concerned about. Goalkeeper, Dave Tasker’s first real involvement in the game, didn't come until the eighteenth minute, the attempt from Asa Drodge was straight at Tasker not even requiring him to move from his spot. Shortly after Hine beat four defenders to put himself in a scoring position, his final shot went only just over the bar which, although not the ideal ending, was made possible by an exceptional build-up. As the onslaught of attacks continued Bertie and Tom Patterson followed the Hine magic with an exhibition of their own. Bertie found himself in the final shooting position but his touch was just too much and Dennison was there first. However the ball was not cleared and there were a few seconds of close contact play with at least four players, during which time the crowd thought the ball must eventually go over the line. But the whistle blew for a goal kick before Andover could make it a second. Later Bertie and Hine once again put on a sophisticated show and eventually released Brendan Holmes to run unexpectedly at the New Milton goal. Holmes only managed to hit the side netting but the opponents wondered where he had come from as like the rest of us they had been watching the forwards beautifully choreographed play. As the first half came to an end and the flood lights turned on the play calmed down a little. The score did not reflect the forty five minutes of play which could have easily supported two or three goals for the home side.

Half Time Andover Town 1-0 New Milton Town

The second half started very much like the end of the first half, but as the players warmed up the tempo increased. Kieran Diaz-Benitez put the ball through to Ben Emans with no defender to challenge him. But his run had been too well advertised to Dennison who was able to anticipate the direction of shot and push the ball wide. Ethan O’Kelly had a close encounter with the away sides goal but the angle was just too much and he was unable to bring it back to a blue shirted player. New Milton had their first real attempt in the fifty-fourth minute when Dom Taylor headed it just over the crossbar. Taylor had another try at goal with Adam Patterson defending, who was then deemed to have handled the ball. New Milton were awarded a penalty. Taylor took and Tasker knocked out, however only as far as Taylor who made no mistake the second time. Within only a couple of minutes Andover called for a penalty as Bertie appeared, from the stand, to have been floored by a push in the back inside the penalty area but no penalty was given. The rest f the second half became increasingly more frustrating for Andover as they were unable to create any of the first half chances. The closest was probably a shot by Bertie which received an exquisite deflection which appeared to guide it toward the inside right hand net of the goal. Unfortunately it went out for a corner. The team put in a last full on effort for the winner but it just wasn’t to be.

Only one point for the play in the first half seems little reward, however there were moments today when Andover completely outplayed their opponents, lets hope the next match presents them with the Christmas cheer they deserve.