AFC Totton
CITY OF SOUTHAMPTON SUNDAY FOOTBALL LEAGUE DIV.1 MATCHDAY #1 SUNDAY, SEPT 5
EMPIRE FC 1 AFC TOTTON SUNDAY 5
Substitute Josh Carey's shot hits the post (image courtesy of Pete Humphry Photography)
Own Goal 44mins; Nathan Gray 52mins; Josh Carey 61mins;
Matt Harrington 72mins; Billy Bellows 77mins
NEWLY PROMOTED AFC TOTTON SUNDAY began their inaugural season in the 2021/22 City of Southampton Sunday Football League Div.1 with an emphatic victory against the highly-rated Empire FC at Sherfield Sports Field, last Sunday morning.
Sam Conway's charges, who - as AFC Forestlake, prior to becoming an official feeder club to the senior AFC Totton team - romped to the Div.2 title last season, announced their presence in Div.1 with an impressive 5-1 mauling of their opponents from the village of Sherfield English, just outside Romsey.
AFC TOTTON SUNDAY
Starting Line-Up
1. Mitch COLEMAN
2. Simon ROWSON
3. Luke SCOULER
5. Dan GAIN
6. Jason CALCUTT
7. Lewis GUNDRY (Capt.)
8. Tom RAFFERTY
9. Matt HARRINGTON
10. Nathan GRAY
11. Jay BRADING
13. Leon TATAVOSSIAN
15. Billy BELLOWS
16. Josh CAREY
Resplendent in their brand new fluo-yellow-and-black away kit, and illuminated by bright sunshine on a warm morning with a slight breeze, Totton lined-up in a 4-4-2 formation and were the first to threaten on 15 minutes when Nathan Gray raided down the left wing, outpacing the Empire right-back, before striking into the outside netting from a tight angle with the outside of his right foot.
Gray came close again 4 minutes later when he latched onto a Matt Harrington flick-on after another swift move down the left-hand side, eluding closing defenders to hit a strong shot that forced Smith, the Empire goalkeeper, to bravely throw himself in the way to block.
The playing surface was hard and the ball bounced high when it was permitted to do so, but, strangely, the away side adapted to the conditions quicker than their hosts. Empire's inability to deal with the bounce from a 27th minute throw-in from the right touchline allowed Leon Tatavossian to receive possession on the left of the penalty area. His cross was met by the head of Harrington but Smith was equal to it. Then, Harrington charged through a couple of challenges before showing the presence of mind to pull the ball back to Tatavossian on the edge of the area, whose left-foot effort flashed across Smith's goalmouth and narrowly wide.
The match was not entirely one-sided but while Empire often demonstrated skill in moving the ball through midfield and into the attacking third, their ambitions frequently crashed into a yellow wall, built on the foundations of the formidable centre-back pairing of Dan Gain and Jason Calcutt.
Smith's knees were all that stood between Totton and a 1-0 lead when Tom Rafferty latched onto Harrington's cross. Then, a rare foray forward by the home side resulted in a free-kick from which one of their centre-backs, up for the set-piece, headed over the bar. Empire came close again when a misplaced pass by Stags left-back Simon Rowson left his team exposed, but the striker in red could only hit the left-hand side-netting after a low cross from the right winger.
Gray struck a long-range effort over the Empire crossbar from a half-cleared corner kick, then a Jay Brading header pulled a smart reaction save from Smith at his bottom-left corner after a clever flick-on by Rafferty.
The half ended with a succession of Totton corners; Smith had to be alert to punch the first behind as Harrington threatened to latch onto Dan Gain's head-on. Then, Gray's in-swinging cross was headed away just as Gain looked like he was about to score. And then Gain did connect to flick-on the third corner, the ball bouncing among a sea of legs before one belonging to an Empire defender inadvertently sent the ball past Smith for an own goal, as Jay Brading was closing in.
HALF-TIME: Empire FC 0-1 AFC TOTTON SUNDAY
AFC TOTTON SUNDAY'S Billy Bellows, Nathan Gray and Lewis Gundry celebrate a goal for the Stags (image courtesy of Pete Humphry Photography)
Sam Conway was full of praise for this team at half-time, sending them out for the second-half with a request for more of the same. But Empire twice came close to equalising within a minute of the restart. An overhit free-kick from deep on the Empire right-hand side caused problems for Totton goalkeeper Mitch Coleman, who had to contend with the sun in his eyes. And from the resulting corner, an Empire player could only glance his header wide, when any solid contact would almost certainly have levelled the scores.
Totton's response was to double their lead. Former Yeovil Town midfielder Lewis Gundry clipped a beautiful pass out to the left wing to put Nathan GRAY in behind the Empire defence. The Stags striker quickly advanced to the left edge of the 6-yard box before cutting back onto his right foot to evade a recovering defender and sit down the goalkeeper, before converting at the near post to make it 2-0.
Empire kept at it but couldn't create clear-cut chances, resorting instead to long-range attempts that rarely troubled Coleman in the Totton goal. And when their striker did manage to get through with a skilful run and shot inside the Totton penalty area, Rafferty flung his body in the way. But Coleman was required to showcase his goalkeeping prowess around 56 minutes, getting his knee in the way to block an Empire header from a left-wing corner, before scooping the ball off the goal line with his right arm; a follow-up scissor-kick blazed over the crossbar.
Another accurate crossfield pass from Gundry, calling the shots in midfield now for the visitors, put Jay Brading in on the right-hand side, but Smith reacted well to block the winger's shot, which was heading for the far corner. That was Brading's last contribution before he was replaced by Josh Carey.
And with his very first touch of the football, the new man made it 3-0. From a placed goal kick, Mitch Coleman's long ball took a hard, high bounce and Josh CAREY got behind the ball to meet it on the full, launching an unstoppable missile into the top-left corner of Smith's net, despite the Empire keeper valiantly getting his right hand to it. And Carey almost scored another when his low, long-range curling effort hit the foot of the right-hand post and squirmed across the Empire goalmouth, with Smith a mere spectator.
Empire got the consolation that their efforts deserved around 68 minutes with a well-worked team goal, when their centre-forward controlled a high ball to lay it off to the left winger. He showed good skill on the deck to get away from Luke Scouler and send in a low cross that took Coleman out of the game, leaving a straightforward tap-in from close range for the striker.
The Stags responded by smashing the ball into the Empire net once more, but Carey's ferocious strike from Harrington's neat lay-off was ruled out for offside. Then, the home side almost registered another own goal when Gray's in-swinging corner was headed against the underside of his own crossbar by an Empire defender.
That reprieve proved to be short-lived, though. Gray sent over another in-swinger which Carey met at the far post to head back across goal. The ball dropped inside the 6-yard box and Matt HARRINGTON showed composure amid the goalmouth scramble to backheel it into the bottom corner, out of Smith's reach, to make it 4-1 to Totton.
Empire never gave up but their morale was visibly depleted, as exemplified by a foot race from the half-way line to the corner flag between one of their forwards and Jason Calcutt. The Stags defender got there first, shrugged his opponent aside while turning with the ball at his feet and calmly advanced with time to spare, before beginning another Totton move with a side-foot pass to his defensive partner, Dan Gain.
Totton made it 5-1 around the 77 minute mark, when Empire again struggled to contend with the bounce of the ball on the hard surface. Carey, Harrington and Gray were all involved in the build-up, each contributing incisive one-touch passes and flick-ons to present substitute Billy BELLOWS with the opportunity to drive a low, left-foot shot into the bottom-right corner, which he took with some aplomb.
In fact, the Stags were exuding confidence all over the park by this stage. The scampering runs of Gray were a constant problem for the Empire defence and a seamless drag-back-and-turn from Bellows had the Totton management team purring in appreciation on the sidelines. And even when the Empire defenders had possession of the ball, they had to contend with the undying hassle of Harrington haranguing them into submission.
There were late chances for both sides - Coleman saved with his knee when an Empire striker broke through the Totton defence; then, Harrington should have made it six but wanted too long on the ball.
On the final whistle, proud manager Sam Conway commended his team on a job well done, while skipper Lewis Gundry congratulated them for having "turned up to play football from minute one!"
Man of the Match: Matt HARRINGTON
AFC Totton Sunday would like to thank our sponsors Gentlemen's League Barbers and Hurst Auto Assistance for their ongoing support.
Match Report: Ben ROCHEY-ADAMS
Next Match:
AFC TOTTON SUNDAY vs Boujee Pint FC
Sun 12th Sep, 2021 | Testwood Rec | Kick-Off @ 10:30am
