ANDOVER Lions moved eight points clear at the top of the Hampshire Premier League Division One after they beat nearest rivals Hayling United 4-0.

A brace from Shane Lock and a goal a piece from Robbie Owen and Max Allen helped the away side to an important win on a windy Saturday afternoon.

Hayling went into the match knowing that only a win would help them in their pursuit of Andover and elected to kick off with a strong wind behind them.

Right from the start they pinned The Lions deep into their own half but the visitors, well marshalled by skipper Keogh in defence, broke every attack down before there was any chance of troubling Dan Magee in goal.

The Lions soaked up a lot of pressure and a combination of disciplined defending by Andover and a lack of inventiveness by the home team meant that the scores remained level.

Shortly after the quarter hour mark the balance of the game changed as Lions took the lead.

Kris Hudson and Shane Lock combined to set up Max Allen who held off his marker with strength and composure before placing his shot into the corner of the net.

The goal sparked more attacks from a Hayling team but it wasn’t until the 40th minute that Hayling had their first real effort on goal.

Two more followed in quick succession as they tried to go in level at half time but the away side held out well.

The Lions burst out of the blocks after the break and doubled their lead just three minutes after the restart when Shane Lock collected the ball just inside his own half and drove at the home defence who stepped up to play offside.

Lock cleverly played the ball past them and ran through alone before slotting into the corner for another excellent goal.

Three minutes later Lock doubled his tally and added The Lions’ third with the best goal of the game.

Beavis collected a ball wide on the right and outpaced the full back before looking up and finding Lock who opened up his body and despatched his shot cleanly past the despairing keeper to the delight of the travelling team.

The fixture became feisty and Lane was dismissed for the home team with Andover’s Dean Smith soon following him with a second yellow card.

Robbie Owen came on and scored his first goal since August when finishing a goalmouth scramble that had seen Lock, Steele and Beavis all miss chances before the striker finished.

Manager John Smith said: “We came here knowing that this was a fixture that Hayling had to win but we didn’t intend on sitting back. We came here to win it.

“We didn’t win the League today by any means but we have made things look very good and sent out a bit of a statement about our club.

“We have now got to the half-way point of the season and have the perfect 10 to our name. Ten games, ten wins, I couldn’t be more pleased with them”