Petersfield Town 3 Andover Town 2: PETERSFIELD Town reached the second round of the Russell Cotes Cup as they saw off Andover Town at Love Lane last Tuesday night.
The Rams exposed Andover’s shaky defence in a dominating first half performance to clinch victory, despite a spirited revival from the visitors in this Russell Cotes Cup first round tie.
The home side were quick out of the blocks and Marvin Orepo gave them the lead with a clever goal in the sixth minute.
The ball dropped to Orepo, who successfully chipped the ball over the keeper and effortlessly tapped the ball into the back of the net past the defenders on the line.
The Rams doubled their advantage on 15 minutes.
Orepo gained possession of the ball and passed it to Harry Bedford on the edge of the box, who displayed good technique with a low strike which found the bottom right-hand corner of the goal.
Andover’s Zac Hine attempted to show off his tricky feet around Petersfield’s defenders, but Jake Bourton kept the pressure on the Andover attacker, forcing him to attempt a poor shot which sailed over the crossbar, resulting in a goal kick for the Rams.
Petersfield looked home and dry when they bagged a third goal 35 minutes in.
An exquisite through ball from Cameron Smith was met by a superb touch from Bedford, who advanced on goal.
David Tasker came out of his goal, but Bedford squared a pass for Jordan Neal to slot into an empty net to make it 3-0. The Rams had plenty of opportunities to add to their lead before the break.
The leaky Andover defence meant Orepo and Bedford got in behind them multiple times in the first half, but they either missed the target or their attempts were well saved.
The second half started relatively quietly, with both sides having half chances.
Petersfield keeper Matt Petts parried a Joshua Bertie effort, and then the Rams saw substitute Josh Watts fire wide of the target.
Bedford had the next two chances for the hosts. With Tasker favouring closing down his opponent, Bedford hit his shot early but straight into the keeper’s arms.
On the next chance Bedford tried to chip Tasker but his attempt was well held by the Andover keeper.
The visitors got back into the game with ten minutes to play. On the edge of the box Ruben Smith shifted the ball to his right foot and his composed strike went through Petts and into the bottom corner.
Andover increased the tension in the ground when they pulled back another goal.
Kris Stevens gave away a cheap free kick in the 88th minute. Hine curled in an inch perfect cross, which was met by a glancing header into the far corner by Smith.
The visitors pressed for an equaliser, but Petersfield managed to see out the rest of the game and hold on for victory.
n Petersfield Town were frustrated by the weather on Saturday afternoon, when their match at Hythe and Dibden in Division 1 of the Sydenhams Wessex League was postponed because of a waterlogged pitch.