Andover Town vs Bournemouth – 30th August 2022

It was the Wessex League Cup second round. Andover Town hosted Bournemouth at the Portway Stadium. The home side came into this in fine form, sitting 2nd in the Wessex League Division One. As for Bournemouth, they sat 16th in the Premier Division having won one game from their opening three matches.

Kick off was underway as Andover Town, in their blue home strip, started the match. But a fast start from Bournemouth as their winger’s shot into the bottom right corner of the goal was parried well by the Andover keeper. After this cameo of Bournemouth pressure, Andover started to keep the ball and were looking dangerous, particularly down the left hand side. It was noticeable in the first half that Bournemouth were happy to let Andover have the ball, as they were looking to play on the counter-attack, with long balls up to their striker, until eventually one of them worked and the Bournemouth striker was through on goal but Steinborn-Busse, the Andover keeper came out quickly and fouled the player on the edge of the box. Yellow card. The resulting free kick caused no harm.

It was the home side’s chance to counter-attack as Lewis Williams was played through on the right wing, and Andover Town’s number 10 struck the ball into the bottom left corner to make it 1-0! 39 minutes played. Immediately after though, from a Bournemouth corner, they equalise as an attempted bicycle-kick trickles into the back of the net to make it 1-1 before the break! Half time.

The away side started the second half strongly and a free header from a corner was headed over the bar. A very even second half so far but Bournemouth lost possession and the ball was loose, Andover capitalised on this and with a quick counter-attack, Ben Emans bobbles the ball into the bottom right corner. 2-1 at Portway! Andover were very much on top now and a very good passage of play, a couple one-two’s inside the Bournemouth box and Brendan Holmes, the bluebirds captain, lashes the ball into the top left corner. What a goal that was! 3-1.

But Bournemouth weren’t giving up, and a ball played through and Freak, the Bournemouth striker, showed composure as he placed the ball into the middle of the goal past the keeper. 69 minutes played. We had a game on our hands now! 3-2. This followed by more Bournemouth pressure as they had found some momentum, a couple of blocked shots in the final third, meant that the home side had a chance to counter-attack but the striker took too long to shoot. It was Bournemouth’s chance to run at Andover now but the chance was wasted. End to end stuff here.

An array of substitutions from both teams slowed the tempo of the game down a little, which benefited Andover as they were allowed to gain possession of the ball more. This frustrated the away team who were still searching for an equaliser and a foul from a Bournemouth player, followed by some after collisions, saw a straight red card. The away side were down to 10 men for the remainder of the match. Andover Town controlled the latter stages of the game and limited Bournemouth’s attack as they failed to conjure up any clear cut chances. A long range effort from the Town full back sailed just over the bar. And that was it, the referee blew for full time. Andover progress to the third round! A thrilling game in the Wessex League Cup. It’s finished Andover Town 3-2 Bournemouth.