Andover 1st XI 4-1 Wanderers 1 st XI

28th October 2017 Match Report by Dan Allen

Andover 1st XI 4-1 Wanderers 1st XI

Following a strong win over early league leaders Oxted 3rds the previous weekend Andover looked
forward to hosting another top contender in Wanderers.

The visitors appeared to struggle in adapting to the dry pitch conditions, the ball travelling fast and
unpredictably. Andover were quick to identify and put pressure on forcing the play out wide then
refusing their opponents any comfort on the ball.

Andover’s intensity was rewarded when man of the match Anthony made himself space from his
marker before firing the ball into the roof of the net. The second coming moments later when Trott’s
aerial was neatly controlled by Anthony who wasted no time smashing the ball into the side netting.
Hacker made it 3-0 after returning his saved back hand with a more powerful strong side shot that
left the Wanderer’s keeper no chance as the backboard boomed.

Wanderers found some response and in gaining a rare entry to the Andover third were awarded a
short corner. McClenaghan making easy work on the initial drag flick but unfortunate in only clearing
as far as the injector who struck well to give the visitors a small lifeline into the second half.
The second half saw Wanderer’s tire further as Andover piled on pressure, the rare breaks only
meeting the brick wall of Roberts, Woolf and Jenkins in Andover’s defence. The home side could
have been more clinical as Allen, Sordillo, Daley and Anthony saw their efforts fly past the posts.
O’Sullivan stepping up to bury the hatchet with an unstoppable short corner striker through the post
man’s stick.

Manager Andy Bridge comments: “Performance was great to watch today, we’ve been working on a
lot of video footage from previous games and it’s showing in the defence. The whole team’s
supporting and making us very hard to break down.”

Andover travel to another high-flyer at London Edwardians next weekend looking to make a strong 3
top team wins in a row.

Squad: McClenaghan, Roberts, Woolf, Jenkins, J Trott, Allmark, Daley, H Trott, Allen, Anthony
(MoM), Hacker, O’Sullivan, Scowan, Goacher, Sordillo
Manager: Andy Bridge