Zamaretto Southern League

Andover 1

Cinderford Town 2

NICK McCootie and Andy Lewis were both carried off with ankle injuries in a feisty affair that saw two Andover players sent off along with Town's Tom Billing.

Lewis was on the receiving end of a terrible tackle that resulted in a straight red card.

Town boss Paul Weeks said: "We were never in any danger, but Andover are the sort of team that will keep going even if they're 10-0 down.

"They're young, fit and naive, but they were up for it. I'm sure they'll upset a few teams this season.

"It was basically a scrap in the middle park and the ref never got hold of it.

"We were always comfortable, but Andover kicked lumps out of us and the ref never dealt with it."

Cinderford completely controlled the first-half and went in front through a sixth minute penalty from Dale Evans.

McCootie doubled the lead four minutes later.

Cinderford had plenty of chances to stretch their lead but never took them.

The sending offs and the injuries to Lewis and McCootie disrupted the flow of the game in the second period.

Andover capitalised on a Ben John mistake to pull a goal back through Curtis Angel in the 89th minute.

Cinderford Town: Ben John, Warren Archer, Dan Harrison, James Baldwin, Danny Haines, Dale Evans, Nick Hancock, Peter Macklin, Andy Lewis, Lewis Sommers, Nick McCootie. Subs: Sam O'Sullivan, Tom Billing, Greg Lewis, Lee O'Connor, Alex Harris.