Lymington Town 1–2 Andover Town

Two Mike Gosney goals secured the points for Andover Town as they inflicted Lymington’s first league defeat of the season. In their previous game, Lymington found the net on six occasions but never looked likely to stage a repeat in this match. Apart from a spell midway through the second half they were always second best and have their goalkeeper Ross Casey to thank for the fact that the final result remained respectable.

As the match started in the early stages it was an excellent save by Lloyd Thomas that prevented Lymington scoring the vital first goal but for the rest of the first half Thomas was not seriously troubled. After a couple of near misses Andover took the lead with twenty minutes gone. They were given a free kick around twenty five yards out in a central position and Mike Gosney’s strike sailed into the top corner of Casey’s net. Shortly before half time Gosney had the chance of a repeat from an identical position but that time his trajectory was slightly off line. Before that Zach Glasspool and Reece Rusher gave the home side some anxious moments and a lot to think about during the interval.

Half time Lymington Town 0-1 Andover Town

Within a minute of the resumption Sam House should have scored the equaliser but despite having the time he blazed his effort over the bar. Lymington were then caught ball watching as Rusher ran half the length of the field but Casey came out to narrow the angle and smother the goal attempt. With thirty minutes left Lymington were awarded a penalty. Lloyd Thomas guessed correctly but House converted the spot kick. This lead to a significant period of Lymington pressure during which there were times when Andover rode their luck. Eventually Andover regrouped and Zach Glasspool twice and Alex Dockree were thwarted by Casey. However with just over fifteen minutes left another Andover attack appeared to be breaking down before Reece Rusher spotted Gosney wide on the left and unmarked, Rusher threaded the ball through and Mike Gosney hit a venomous volley that left the agile Casey rooted to his line.