Andover crashed to their fifth defeat in seven at Foxcotte park last Saturday as they continue to find adapting to higher level rugby challenging.

In truth Andover were so dominant in the set plays in this one, they really should have got something from the game, but not for the first time recently, silly errors and not sticking to the game plan have cost them dear.

The game began badly for Andover when man of the match Tom Waite was penalised from the kick for a dangerous hand off to give Wimborne an early lead.

Andover soon struck back however when after a series of penalties Matt Ryan drew the home team level with a neat kick. Andover pressed hard behind a very powerful scrum and lineout, where the front five of Nic Reed, Waite, skipper Alex Hibdige and the two giant locks Tom Erskine and Dave Barber were all over their opponents.

They could not break through however due to a mixture of great defence, poor options and a couple of personal errors, and were soon made to pay when from one of those errors, Wimborne broke, went through the phases and showed Andover how it should be done.

Unbowed Andover continued the pressure and before long Ryan was again on target to cut the lead and with half time beckoning he put Andover in the lead with a further effort after a brilliant break from Stan North. Unfortunately though Andover could not see out the remainder of the half again conceding from a personal error to trail 8-15 at the break.

With slope now in favour and a rampant pack, Andover should have put this to bed, but if they want to survive at this level they really must stick to game plans and be more clinical with possession.

From the restart Andover coughed up the ball and Wimborne happily accepted the chance.

Andover roared back and were camped in the visitors twenty two with a series of scrums and lineouts. Again lack of discipline with the ball however meant they could not break through despite numerous chances and once again Wimborne weathered the storm to counter and increase their lead.

From another scrum in the Wimborne twenty two Andover finally broke the defence after North crashed over for a lovely try converted by Ryan, but any chance of a comeback was soon snuffed out by a further effort by the visitors.

Andover to their credit continued to press but missed several more good chances, before replacement prop Stan Pearson grabbed a consolation with a fine try after good work from Charlie Deavall again converted by Ryan.

Afterwards Director of Rugby Andy Waite said: "We have seen enough in our squad to know we can turn this around. We are training very hard and have already fixed a few issues and will continue to do so."