ANDOVER Lions cruised into round two of The Hampshire Intermediate Cup with a 3-0 win over Nursling, despite playing almost an hour with 10 men.

Kris Hudson’s first half dismissal for retaliation did not lessen The Lions’ grip on the tie and a physical Nursling side left The Athletics Track Stadium with just a single shot in the 90 mins to their name.

The Lions could not have had a better start to the match and went ahead in under a minute thanks to a spectacular effort from Tommy Stringer who curled a free-kick into the net off inside of the post.

Paris went close with a volley from a half cleared corner and a minute later Owen prodded in a goal bound shot from Stringer whilst in an offside position and the goal was rightly ruled out.

On 33 minutes Andover did extended their lead when Beavis raced on to a long ball over the back four and finished in style with the ball nestling into the top corner.

However, the mood soured for the Lions moments later when Kris Hudson retaliated after being struck by the elbow of Yeates, prompting the referee to produce a red card.

However, Andover remained in control for the remainder of the half and a minute before the break Owen again provided a cross that just eluded a team mate at the far post, with this time Shane Lock being the player missing out.

The Lions lost Alex Wright at the start of the second half with Max Allen coming on as his replacement.

Pollard went close on a rare sortie forward forcing a fine save from Churchill from outside of the box.

The game was struck by another moment of controversy shortly after the hour mark when Longland took out a goal-bound Allen.

However, the referee deemed that a Nursling defender was covering and Longland escaped an early dismissal.

Andover continued to produce chances and got their third in the last ten minutes when Stringer scored his second with a precisely placed effort from 25 yards.

Nursling finally mustered their first effort on target in the dying minutes of the match.

The Lions comfortably saw out the last moments to secure a tie with Shanklin in the next round.

Manager John Smith said: “We were very strong at the back today.

“The back five were outstanding and Nursling had just one shot in the whole match.

“I’m very pleased with the progress that we have made and the whole squad is contributing to our success.”