Late own goal rescues Lions (From Basingstoke Gazette)

Late own goal rescues Lions

11:32am Friday 14th October 2011 in Andover

Andover Lions 2 Four Marks 2

The Graham and Co.-sponsored Andover Lions returned to action after two weekends off with a home league match against Four Marks at Charlton.

Paul George and Simon Augustus were both away on holiday, but the Lions welcomed back Aaron Downey and gave a debut to ex-Andover Reserves player, Lee Cogan.

Manager Iain Meechan shuffled the pack in an attempt to shore up a leaky defence and drafted Darren Paris into the back four.

Andover started brightly and after just two minutes Reynolds burst through, but got caught in two minds and the ball ran out of play.

Four Marks settled down and enjoyed some good possession and on eight minutes they took the lead in bizarre circumstances.

A weak effort was going comfortably wide when, inexplicably, Ben Howard stopped the ball from going out, but failed to claim it and the visiting centre forward reacted quickly to tap the ball into an empty net.

The Lions responded well and started to enjoy the majority of possession, having a strong penalty claim turned down on 22 minutes when Tom Gilbert was bundled over in the box with the unfortunate Gilbert then booked for his protests. A minute later Steve Campbell played in Nick Ward on the left, but the finish lacked power and in the next few minutes the visiting keeper made good saves from Gilbert and Reynolds as The Lions tried to get on level terms.

On the half hour mark Andover were fortunate not to go further behind when a free kick from the edge of the box was played in from the left and hit the far post before bouncing to safety.

Andover broke quickly and should have equalised when Reynolds played in Gilbert, but the diminutive striker snatched at the chance and the ball screwed wide for a goal kick.

The same player had a further chance to equalise minutes later when a ball over the top of the back four set up Gilbert who lifted the ball wide of the post.

The equaliser finally came in the 34th minute when Nassoori and Downey exchanged neat passes and Downey produced an inch perfect cross for Jamie Davies to head home.

Five minutes later The Lions almost added to their tally as Davies set Gilbert free and the ball was laid to Cogan whose shot was tipped over.

The first half ended with Steve Campbell making a superb sliding interception to play the ball back to Howard when the Four Marks striker looked favourite to give the visitors a half-time lead.

The Lions started the second half shakily and Howard was called upon to make a smart save early on when Four Marks got goal side of the back four. Minutes later Paris found himself in the referees notebook for pulling back a forward after the home defence tried to play their way out of trouble on the edge of their own box.

The resultant free kick was blocked and Andover hit Four Marks with a quick breakaway; but pressure from Jamie Davies came to nothing.

The Lions started to gain territorial advantage, but found themselves frustrated as Four Marks got numbers behind the ball.

A Paris corner then ran all across the six yard box with no one taking a gamble on the loose ball and it was hacked away to safety.

It looked to be an expensive miss when, in the 65th minute, Steve Campbell was adjudged to have fouled his opponent in the box and Four Marks despatched the penalty confidently into the corner.

Within seconds of the restart the Lions almost drew level when Nassoori burst through and lifted the ball over the keeper and both Gilbert and Reynolds failed to turn the ball into the net.

With time running out The Lions brought on Simon Woodley and pushed Paris up front and put the visitors under real pressure.

The excellent Jamie Davies had a fine effort saved and a McNamara free kick was punched away and Reynolds volleyed wide.

The equaliser looked a certainty when Paris and Gilbert broke at pace with just two minutes left. Paris’s effort was blocked, but the ball came to Gilbert who shot wide with the goal beckoning.

The Lions were now camped around the Four Marks penalty area and further shots from Davies and two from Cogan still came to nothing.

With time virtually up Reynolds ran down the right and played the ball into the six yard box where the visiting centre half played the ball straight into his own goal while desperately trying to get the ball from under his feet.

It was no more than Andover deserved for not giving up and it brought them their first home point of the season to the delight of the 50+ crowd.