Unlucky Vets beaten by Bournemouth

Andover Vets were very unlucky to be beaten by the league-leading Bournemouth Vets side in a very close game. The first half was an end-to-end battle with the away side making better use of their chances to lead by two goals to nil.

The start of the second half saw Andover playing some excellent hockey and full of self-belief.

This clearly rattled Bournemouth who began to reveal gaps in their defence.

However, a rare foray down their right resulted in an unstoppable cross being whipped into the Andover goal by the centre forward.

Andover were not to be deflected from the excellent hockey that the whole team were now playing as the standard of Bournemouth's play deteriorated as they bickered amongst themselves and with the umpires.

Shortly after Shaw came on as a substitute for Priestley-Cooper, he supplied the final pass, in a chain that had started right at the back, for Woods to fire home for Andover's first goal.

Minutes later, Andover won a free hit just outside the Bournemouth "D". The Bournemouth defence parted to allow MacMann to smash the ball to Romer-Lee who accepted the chance to put Andover within one goal of drawing level. Despite continued pressure and complete dominance during the closing seven minutes of the game, Andover failed to take what would have been a richly deserved point.

However, the Vets can take great encouragement from a performance that demonstrates their potential to beat any team in the league. The next game is away to Petersfield. Team: Allan, McLaren, A May, MacMann, Panszczyk, Mitchell, Romer-Lee, Parker, Lawrence, Priestley-Cooper, Woods, Shaw.