THIS was a dress-rehearsal for the Hants Senior Cup-tie on December 7 and what a good contest in turned out to be after a poor first half.

The heavy, bumpy pitch was not suited to Alton and they were second-best to Andover for much of the first period.

Town had to rely on breakaways, yet it was this avenue of attack that earned them the lead after 19 minutes. They won two quick corners and, at the second, Richard Mealey headed home firmly from an excellent Danny McGarry delivery.

Andover deserved their equaliser which came just four minutes later. Justin Bennett's fierce shot was well parried by Steve Sladen, but the ball fell perfectly for Sam Rae to score from close in.

Alton's passing was poor, but they defended manfully, only to fall behind right on half-time. Terry Lynch swung in a good corner and Bennett made no mistake with a free header.

The pattern continued for a while after half-time, with Andover enjoying more possession, but Alton working much harder to shut them down.

The home team eventually became frustrated and Alton were at last allowed room to attack down the flanks.

Alton lost defender Simon Pullman with a sprained ankle, but Nathan Bray came on to play his part and the visitors began to gain the ascendancy.

The equaliser came on 69 minutes and was worthy of rescuing any game. John Edwards, having won possession just inside his own half, left his marker standing and attacked the heart of Andover's defence.

As the defenders retreated, he crashed an unstoppable shot into the roof of the net from 25 yards.

Having drawn level, Alton never looked like surrendering their hard-earned point and even had a chance to win the match in the last minute when Lewis Field failed by inches to get on the end of a cross from Edwards who had again showed defenders a clean pair of heels.

Manager Dave Hawtin said Alton had reaped the rewards of hard work and discipline. "We were poor in the first half and I told them so at half-time. I raised the decibel level to get my point across, but they took it on board and ground out a result.

"We had great travelling support," added Hawtin who would like to see bigger crowds at home games. "I'm told gates are well up on last season, but I believe there is scope for improvement because Alton is a large town. We should be capable of drawing two to three hundred people at all our home games. We are playing at a very good standard and nearly all the players in our teams are local."