While my main aim for the day was to visit AFC Aldermaston for their 3pm game against Fleet Spurs, I wanted to make the most of the bank holiday and found two early kick offs en route. I decided to go to Whitchurch as it kicked off an hour earlier than the game at Tadley Calleva which would give me more time to get to Aldermaston for kickoff.
I left home slightly later than planned - after taking a couple of wrong turns only to find the planned route was blocked by a tractor cutting down a tree I was pleased to arrive at the ground with five minutes to spare before kickoff.
After paying my £4 and discovering no programme had been issued for the game, I wandered round behind the goal that Whitchurch would be attacking during the first half. The weather was overcast and when the teams came out a few minutes after twelve it gave the game a real bank holiday feel!
I was certainly glad to have arrived in time for kick off when Whitchurch scored from their first attack. The ball was played down the left wing and a Whitchurch player ran into the box and took a shot while under pressure from a defender. The rotund Andover New Street keeper managed to get his hands to the ball but couldn't catch it. The ball rebounded out to another Whitchurch player who wellied it into the open net.
The force of the shot was strong enough to loosen the net and the connecting rope behind the goal and the referee asked that the goal was repaired before the game continued. I then realised that the referee had run the line at Chichester a couple of days earlier - it's a small world!
It took a couple of minutes to repair the goal and when play restarted Andover went straight onto the attack. They almost equalised straight away but the goal was disallowed by an assistant's flag waving for offside. In the seventh minute they won a freekick outside the penalty area and lined up to take a shot. The Whitchurch wall was prepared to block the attempt but weren't expecting the taker to pass the ball to a team mate to his right. The ball was hit first time and appeared to take a deflection off a defender to wrong foot the Whitchurch keeper before flying into the back of the net.
The excitement didn't stop there. After the celebrations the referee blew to restart the game. The Whitchurch player receiving the ball decided to try and lob the Andover keeper from the halfway line. The keeper had come a long way out of his 6 yard box and was cursing as he retreated to try and block the ball. He managed to make it to the 6 yard line before jumping up and backwards to make the save, only to see the ball dip over his hand, below the crossbar and in to the back of the net. An outrageous but successful goal attempt!
Whitchurch extended their lead in the 18th minute from the penalty spot. One of their players went down in the box and the referee waved play on only to see an Andover player kick out at his opponent on the ground. This offence was deemed worthy of a penalty. There was a quick discussion with the sideline to decide on the kicker - a good choice was made as the ball was dispatched to the bottom left corner past the keeper's dive. The New Street players complained that some of the Whitchurch team had illegally entered the box before the kick was taken but the referee ignored their protests.
Whitchurch came close to adding a fourth goal in the 25th minute when a shot hit the crossbar and was cleared for a corner. From the corner the Andover keeper had to be alert to tip the ball over the bar from a header. Despite the good save, it wasn't the keeper's day. After half an hour he kicked the ball up field only to collapse in agony and lie prone in the penalty area. After some attention on the pitch it became clear that he couldn't continue and he had to be substituted. It looked like he had torn a muscle in his leg as he hobbled off.
This left Andover with a problem as they didn't have a substitute keeper on the bench. One of their defenders donned the green jersey and they brought on a tall central defender to give themselves a full complement on the pitch. At the time it seemed like an invitation for Whitchurch to push forward and put the new keeper under pressure but they didn't really take the opportunity to test him until just before half time. On this occasion the ball beat the keeper's dive but bounced back off the crossbar to the left side of the box. A Whitchurch player tried to hook it back towards the goal but couldn't get the direction he wanted onto the ball and it was cleared.
Before the second half started I wandered round to the opposite side of the pitch as I felt that it would only be a matter of time before Whitchurch scored again. I'm not sure what was said at half time but Andover started to dominate the midfield and press for another goal. They created a couple of good chances and in the 55th minute managed to reduce the deficit. The ball was played down the left side and the Andover player jinked past the defender and crossed the ball low into the middle. The Whitchurch keeper missed the ball and the Andover player running into the goalmouth poked the ball into the net.
This gave Andover more confidence to press forward and they were unlucky not to equalise 5 minutes later when a shot hit the crossbar and the rebound was too high for the onrushing player to reach before the keeper jumped up and caught it. Whitchurch were sitting back and trying to play deep balls from the back to try and beat the defence with pace. This tactic was ineffective as Andover's sub defender was very capable in the air and was able to head the ball back into the midfield for his team mates to pick up. When Whitchurch were able to bypass this route they had a couple of shots but nothing to trouble the keeper. Andover were using the midfield to switch the ball from side to side and exploit areas with less defensive cover.
This tactic paid off in the 75th minute. The ball was switched from the right side of the halfway line to the left side halfway in the Whitchurch half. The recipient took the ball on, ran through a couple of challenges and then placed a shot past the keeper to equalise.
As in the first half, Whitchurch reacted quickly to an equaliser. They had brought on a young striker and after some buildup play from the kickoff he received the ball 2 yards out from goal. He should have scored but didn't connect properly with the ball which allowed the keeper to tip the first effort back to him. The second effort was struck better but his aim was off and the ball sailed past the post for a goalkick.
In the final minute Andover almost scored again. The ball was played to the left side of the penalty area and the player hit a shot across the goal and just past the right hand post.
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