Big Mac's tasty winner

A late, late goal from Steve McNulty saw the Lions shake off a spirited Hamble side on Saturday. After knocking Basingstoke out of the Hampshire Senior Cup, it was always going to be tricky for the Lions to psyche themselves up for a trip to Folland Park. And Hamble, who last year only avoided relegation from the Jewson Wessex League by a matter of seconds, are a much tougher prospect this season, with a team of hard-working players who took Andover right to the wire. But instead of a cup hangover, Lions began the game full of fizz, with Vince Rusher and Danny Sullivan both going close. Hamble had their openings too, as Danny Jeffery's deflected shot just went over the bar of stand-in keeper Dean Hutchins' goal. Andover it was, though, who delighted their 50-plus away fans by taking charge on 26 minutes, when Keith Nicholls' perfect cross found Sullivan six yards out, and he fired home past Peter Harris. Despite letting in the goal, Harris had an excellent game in between the posts for the home side, and thwarted many of the Lions' attacks, saving from Rusher, Sullivan and last Tuesday's cup hero Justin Bennett. Sunshine, rain and hailstones greeted the start of the second half, and Andover seemed just as unsettled as the weather, as Hamble, featuring a star turn by ageless former Lion Terry Samways, turned up the heat. A Louis Langdown shot just rose over the bar; and the home side had strong appeals for a penalty waved away by referee Martin Bloor. Rob Ackroyd equalised with some excellent control outside the box to find space before whacking his shot past Hutchins - but instead of seizing the advantage, Hamble disappeared out of the game after their goal, and it was all Andover after that. Lions fans got their first sight of Kevin Reacord in an Andover shirt, albeit the away "Inter Milan" black-and-blue strip as opposed to the home "AC Milan" red-and-black kit; he combined well with Rusher and Bennett throughout the second half to cause chance after chance. Paul Hughes hit the crossbar with a header and Bennett had two great chances in two minutes, both of which went just wide, while Rusher forced more good saves from Harris, who turned one effort onto the post. Finally, Hamble's resistance was beaten on 91 minutes as a cross from the left was missed by everyone in the box except McNulty, who took a touch to control it and lifted it into the net, past the unfortunate Harris, to seal a game that Andover, on chances alone, shaded. Lions boss Howard Goddard said: "They were a difficult team to beat; they've beaten a lot of the top teams and they're no mugs this year. "Overall, though, we had chances galore, and we should have won the game before we did. But Danny took his goal well, and it was pleasing to get the winner at the end. "And it was an especially good performance to get a win on that pitch, which was pretty dead - the players were getting stuck in it, and the ball they were playing with was like concrete!" After that hard-earned away win, a depleted Andover side lost 2-1 on Tuesday night at BAT Sports. Horizontal sleet and freezing conditions didn't help the Lions, who were without first-choice players Kieron Drake (illness), Steve McNulty, Terry Lynch and Richard Pratley (all with forces commitments), Mario Nurse (absent) and captain Glen Damen (suspended). Even so, Andover went in front through Phil Nicholls, who had an excellent game, and had chances with Justin Bennett and Danny Sullivan to go further ahead. But in the second half BAT came back with a brilliant volley from Danny Boere, and a minute later former Saint David Puckett got the winner. Kevin Reacord's last-minute shot looked to have struck a hand in the box, and Bennett forced a super save from Gareth Barfoot, so Lions boss Howard Goddard wasn't unhappy with the performance. He said: "When you bear in mind the depleted side, there wasn't much to choose between us and them, apart from that crazy two minutes when they scored both goals."