DIRECTOR of football Dave Malone told Winchester City to beware the “trip wire” prior to Saturday’s Sydenhams Premier derby with Andover Town.

But his warning went unheeded as City’s title ambitions were jolted by a 3-2 defeat at the Denplan City Ground.

Winchester had taken two giant strides forward with away wins at AFC Portchester and league leaders Moneyfields, but they never truly recovered from going in 2-0 down at the break against a quietly improving Andover side who have won six of their last seven league games.

By their own admission the Sparsholt and Andover colleges visitors have taken time to adjust to the demands of the Wessex top flight following promotion last term.

But, buoyed by the confidence of inflicting a first home league defeat on Newport IoW the previous Saturday, Neil Benson’s fit, young side harried and hassled a below-par City, forcing Paul Masters’ promotion hopefuls into some uncharacteristic first-half mistakes.

Winchester were architects of their own downfall on ten minutes when Adam Tomasso’s weak back header invited Oliver Yates to nip in and lob stranded ’keeper Gareth Barfoot.

It got worse for the home side approaching the half-hour when, not for the first time, they were unsettled by the pace and power of Town’s muscular marksman Michael Dixon, who had a spell at the Denplan during the Paul McCarthy era.

Winchester breathed a sigh of relief when manager’s son Lewis Benson shot landed on the roof of the net, but there was no escape a minute later when Dixon again charged bull-like through City’s defence before squaring for Benson to sweep home number two.

Masters’ introduction of widemen Adam Roberts and Danilo Cadete gave Andover more to think about and, on 55 minutes, City halved the deficit as skipper Stuart Green got the crucial touch in the scramble for Micky Hubbard’s free kick.

But just when City appeared to be rallying, they were stunned by a breathtaking Yates free-kick from 40 yards wide right which flew over Barfoot’s fingertips and dipped in at the far, top corner.

With referee Wayne Thomas dishing out yellow cards like Christmas cards, the game became progressively stop-start.

When it did flow, City played some neat football and were rewarded when Geoff Dunn – in again for injured top gun Warren Bentley – teed up substitute Cadete for a close-range finish.

Dunn and Cadete passed up good chances before defender Scott Sampson clattered the Town crossbar with a header from a corner.

Sampson then got his 87th-minute marching orders, along with Andover’s club skipper Alex Dockree, following an innocuous-looking tangle.

Considering card-happy official Mr Thomas had already dished out ten yellows – four for City and six for the visitors – it was perhaps inevitable a red would follow.

But a mystified Dockree said afterwards that although Sampson had caught him with an elbow, he didn’t believe either player deserved to be sent off.

City drop a place to fifth, eight points behind leaders Moneyfields with a game in hand.

Admitting his side were out of sorts to start with, Masters said: “The last two games probably took a bit out of us and I maybe picked the wrong team shape-wise. We were very narrow first half, but we had more threat second half with two out-and-out wide men on the pitch.

“Andover worked really hard and were a bit fresher than us but, no excuses, we created enough chances to have won.

“We set ourselves a target of seven points from the last three games and got six, so it’s disappointing without being a massive setback. We need to stay in the mix.”

Satisfied Andover boss Benson said: “We’ve picked up six wins out of seven. We’re not ones to sing from the rooftops, we just go about our business diligently.

“The boys were probably somewhat downhearted about their early-season performances, but they’ve kept belief in their ability.

“Every credit to Winchester, they made it tough for us in the second half and will unquestionably fill one of the top spots come the end of the season.”

Winchester City: Gareth Barfoot, Dom Cope, Josh Green, Stuart Green, Scott Sampson, Adam Tomasso, Geoff Dunn, Chris Mason (Adam Roberts, 46), Zach Glasspool, Micky Hubbard, Charlie Smeeton (Danilo Cadete, 60). Subs (not used): Mike McEnery, Ryan Holloway, Luke Dempsey.

Andover Town: Jake Wellesley-David, Joe Woodward, Bradley Benson (Ope Aromona, 46), Toby McCauley, Matt Scott, Ryan Inskip, Danny Urry (Akwasi Nyarko-Marfo,63), Lewis Benson, Michael Dixon, Alex Dockree, Oliver Yates (Ike Robertson, 86). Subs (not used): Claudio Herbert, Cameron Hough.

Referee: W Thomas (Southampton) Attendance: 191