PREVIEW – Andover (H)
Our penultimate home game of the season arrives as Tottonians welcome Andover to Water Lane for a league game for the first time since December 2007!
MATCH: Tottonians v Andover
VENUE: Water Lane, Totton, SO40 3ZX
COMPETITION: Regional Division 2 South Central
DATE: Saturday 15th February 2025
KICK-OFF: 2:30pm
ADMISSION: FREE
LIVE MATCH UPDATES: On our Twitter/X channel @Tottonians
OVERVIEW:
FIve games remain in the 2024/25 league season, just two of them at home. So the penultimate of them – the other being the huge game with league leaders Farnham next month – sees Andover head down the Test Valley as we look to return to winning ways after the disappointment of the Guldford draw last weekend.
Our fifth match in successive weeks, ahead of the break next weekend, Tottonians know the importance of this fixture against the side at the bottom of the table with two wins from their 17 games this campaign and 12 points behind Guildford, who are sat in 11th place.
However, considering the performance last weekend against the Surrey side, nothing will be taken for granted against a team battling for their survival in Regional 2 South Central and hoping not for a swift return to Counties 1 Hampshire after their promotion last season.
The Hampshire All Blacks have not been to Water Lane for a league game since the days of London 3 South-West when Totts ran out 32-12 victors back in December 2007 and with a hugely impressive league record at home – winning 41 of their last 45 on home turf (and one of those defeats wasn’t even at Water Lane, the 3-6 reverse to Winchester which was played at Applemore in February 2020), a home win, in front of the partisan Tottonian crowd, would be the heavily fancied result.
But – and it is a very sizable but – nothing but nothing is being taken for granted as Totts have won just three of their last six games and are winless in their previous couple.
Back in November, Tottonians did complete a comfortable win over Andover at the Goodship Ground – not something that previous incarnations of sides in green, white and black did very often – running out 44-15 to the good. A reminder of the report from that game is below ….
Kick-off is at 2.30pm and entrance is FREE as always.
TEAM NEWS:
There are a few changes from last weekend’s trip to Guildford with Jamie Laing returning to the starting XV at full back with both Ethan Riley and Josh Raqio both absent.
Dylan Kirk also returns on the wing as does the clubs’ leading point scorer Rich Colmer, playing at his more familiar fly-half position in the 1st XV for the first time since September 2019 at home to Battersea Ironsides.
Nic Jansen is back at number 8 and he moves Oli King to the flank in place of the injured Connor Andrews while the vastly experienced Scott Rogers and Rich Buck take places on the bench.
HISTORY and STATS:
This will be the 16th league meeting between the sides since the first in Hampshire 2 way back in September 1990, which Tottonians won 16-12 at Water Lane.
Totts have won five of the last six meetings having gone winless in the previous five (and scored just three points across those five contests from 1997 to 2004) and the head to head record is 7-6 to Tottonians with two draws – Totts have only drawn 15 league games across the 681 games in our history and only Andover, Effingham and Leatherhead and Old Reigatian have we drawn twice against!
At Water Lane, Totts have won the last three, twice in 2005 and one in 2007 in our last clash.
FLASHBACK TO DECEMBER 2007 – Ray Hall’s report from the Southern Daily Echo
Tottonians 32-12 demolition of Andover put sthem up to fourth in London 3 South-West going into the Christmas break.
A master class of trickery from Dave Woods left the visitors bewildered as to what he was going to do next.
After missing an early penalty, the Totts try machine moved into gear. From a decisive inside break by centre Mike Thomas the ball was fed to Mike Searle and onto Woods who timed his pass to perfection to allow foward of the game Danny Stocks in.
Within minutes of the restart another move between backs and forwards led to Robbie Searle scoring out wide.
Totts forward are starting to work well as a unit in the loose and, whenver Andover threatened, their endeavour was snuffed out.
Back row men Brandes, Bethal and Stocks seem to be hunting as a pack and hopefully this unit can only get better.
Woods knocked the ball out of his own hands in attempting to touch down after some nice interplay down the right wing with Joe Jarvis. But, straight from the start of the second period, Woods made up for his slip. From a neat pass by Paul Goodall, he cut the Andover defence in two.
Quick lineout ball was fed wide through Mike Searle and Stocks and onto Robbie Searle to cut a sharp line from out wide to notch his second. Then a Searle penalty made it 27-7 with the light fading.
Woods again touched down, only to be brought back as the referee awarded Totts a scrum on the 22 that left players on both sides bewildered.
Moments later, Bryn Marshall, on late for Goodall, worked wonders in getting Mike Thomas over to score.
Andover kept going until the end and, from some good inter play, their winger touched down to end the game 32-12.
