AFC Totton
CHAMPIONS: The AFC Totton PRO:DIRECT Academy team celebrate winning the Tactic League T1 South title at the Snows Stadium.
TACTIC LEAGUE T1 SOUTH
PDA SOUTHAMPTON-AFC TOTTON 3
Diego Ramos 53mins; Makhi Twigg 58mins; Michael Burkevics 78mins
CHAMPION ACADEMY T1 3
AFC Totton’s PRO:DIRECT Academy team secured the point they needed to clinch the Tactic League T1 South Championship title, at the Snows Stadium yesterday (Friday). They made hard work of it, having to come back from behind on two occasions throughout the 90 minutes, but won it with a 30-yard wonder strike from substitute Michael Burkevics that levelled the scores at 3-3 with 12 minutes to go.
Their opponents Champion Academy T1, who are based in Weymouth but also have connections with Poole Town FC - their manager is the Dolphins’ striker Tony Lee - and Loughborough University, were also going for the title themselves, but unlike their hosts they needed to win the match to stand any chance of going on to lift the trophy.
PRO:DIRECT Academy AFC Totton
Starting XI
1. Mackenzie HARE
2. Liam RENYARD
3. Hamza ABDI
4. Makhi TWIGG
5. Nathan EWINS
6. Mackenzie LUCAS
7. Brenno NAREZZI
8. Owen PELHAM
9. Alberto MBUNA
10. Hedley MCGHAN
11. Diego RAMOS
Substitutes
Dan SOWINSKI
Cameron HAYTER
Deje ADEYEMI
Michael BURKEVICS
Archy FORD
Co-Managers
Brett WILLIAMS
Ade OLUMUYIWA
On a warm Friday morning, Champion took the first shot in anger with a strike across Totton’s goalmouth from just outside the corner of the penalty area from the left-hand side, which flew narrowly wide of Mackenzie Hare’s far post. Totton took a little while to settle into the game, but when the tenacious Makhi Twigg refused to allow the Champion left-back any room on the ball, he was able to feed Alberto Mbuna in a dangerous crossing position but a defender intercepted just as Diego Ramos was threatening to finish.
CALLING THE SHOTS: Co-Manager Ade Olumuyiwa gives instructions from the dug-out alongside the Snows Stadium pitch.
Neat tricks by Brenno Narezzi, flicking the ball over an opponent’s head, were rudely interrupted by an agricultural tackle in midfield that set-up a Champion counter-attack, until Nathan Ewins slammed the door shut in the face of those ambitions with a strong tackle about 10 yards inside his own half.
Defensive midfielder Owen Pelham stood strong to block a long-range effort from the visitors. Then, the Champion right-back had to be alert to prevent clever link-up play between Ramos and Twigg bearing fruit, after Narezzi had carried the ball forward a long way into the attacking third.
Despite their slightly nervous start, Totton were the quicker and more decisive side, with Ewins and Pelham, in particular, stamping their authority on proceedings along the spine of the team. On 11 minutes, Ramos twisted and turned on the edge of the penalty area, trying to find a gap amongst the defenders to shoot through. When he did eventually let fly, the Champion keeper got down quickly to make the save.
Totton right-back Liam Reynard did well to put his opponent off at the back post when Champion threatened from a high free-kick delivery from deep on the right-hand side. Then, Mackenzie Hare had to react quickly to spare his own blushes when he was beaten to a through-ball by the Champion striker, who rounded him and went to the byline before trying to square the ball to a teammate, allowing Hare the opportunity to gratefully dive onto the ball inside his 6-yard box.
In a flowing move from the home side, strong centre-forward play by Mbuna presented the chance for Twigg to cross the ball. Ramos laid it off to the edge of the box and Pelham drove his shot just over the crossbar.
COMING THROUGH: Totton left-back Hamza Abdi goes on the attack for the home side.
Hare saved a shot with his foot at his right-hand post, after a neat exchange between two Champion forwards. And the visiting side came close again a few minutes later, with another high free-kick dropping at the back post where a diving header could only send the ball wide.
Narezzi charged forward with the ball at his feet again, before setting up Ramos for a first-time shot from the left of the area, which was straight at the keeper. Narezzi then won a corner on the left, from which a Champion defender diverted the ball over his own crossbar without necessarily knowing all that much about it.
Totton should have gone ahead during a goalmouth scramble around the half hour mark. From a free-kick on the right, the ball fell to Narezzi whose shot was blocked. The ball came out to Mbuna, who turned his marker and crossed low the back post. Ramos saw his shot blocked and Pelham’s rebound effort was saved by the keeper from close range, the ball squirming back to Mbuna who somehow skewed his shot wide with the goalkeeper out of commission.
The home side paid the price for their profligacy in front of goal in the 34th minute, when the Champion striker was allowed to steal in behind the defence to latch onto a short, chipped pass from the left-hand side, taking the ball with his back to goal and shooting on the turn, across Hare and into the far corner.
And within 3 minutes, the young Stags were 0-2 down. A Champion attack that had progressed into the inside-right channel was brought to an abrupt end when Mackenzie Lucas charged into the back of the forward and conceded a clumsy penalty, which was calmly despatched into the bottom-right corner as Hare dived the other way.
With Totton rocking and their title ambitions seemingly hanging by a thread, they almost went three-down when two Champion forwards combined to take on five Totton defenders, working their way towards the inside-left channel from where Hare had to block another shot at his right-hand post with his foot.
A quick break initiated by Hamza Abdi down the Totton left wing found Ramos, who quickly fed the forward run of Narezzi, the dynamic midfielder opting for an early low shot, which the keeper did well to save.
A clever switch of play enable Champion to get through on Totton’s goal again, Hare coming out to claim in on the edge of his area but requiring two attempts to snatch the ball into his grasp, with opposition forwards lurking. Hare redeemed himself shortly before half-time, parrying a long-range shot from the Champion right after another cross-field ball caught Totton out of position on the far side, enabling his defenders to scramble clear and keep the score respectable at the break.
HALF-TIME
PDA SOUTHAMPTON-AFC TOTTON 0
CHAMPION ACADEMY T1 2
Brett Williams and Ade Olumuyiwa rang the changes at half time, bringing on Archy Ford at centre-back and Michael Burkevics up front, with Mackenzie Lucas and Alberto Mbuna making way.
Totton came out for the second half with fire in their bellies. Hedley McGhan, who’d had a quiet first half, exchanged passes with Ramos on the edge of the Champion box before shooting for the near post, only to be denied by a last-second swipe of the right arm by the visitors’ goalkeeper. Then, Narezzi tried his luck from 25 yards, but couldn’t keep his effort down.
Hamza Abdi’s pass set the busy Ramos away down the left wing. He slipped the ball infield to Narezzi and went for the return pass to get to the byline, from where he pulled the ball back to Makhi Twigg, who blasted his shot wastefully over the bar.
HAIR RAISING: Makhi Twigg was among the goalscorers for Totton.
Champion were finding Totton increasingly difficult to live with, as evidenced by the yellow card earned by their right-back for pulling Ramos back by his shirt near the half-way line. Then, Ramos and Narezzi combined again to create a headed opportunity that Michael Burkevics directed a fraction too high of the top-right corner.
But, after knocking on the door for several minutes, Totton finally found a way back into the game. Again, it was Abdi playing the ball down the left-hand side to bring Ramos into play. As defenders retreated and teammates made intelligent runs around him, Diego RAMOS drifted infield from the left wing before shaping the shoot with his right foot. The ball spun up off a defender’s leg and looped over the goalkeeper in the centre of the goal, to half Totton’s deficit. Game on!
Owen Pelham showed his commitment to the cause with some strong tackles in front of his defensive line. Then, an unnecessarily rough challenge on Burkevics in the 58th minute brought an angry reaction, earning both players yellow cards. The Totton free-kick was on the left, midway inside Champion’s half. With the opposition set-up to defend a high ball into the box, Ramos rolled the ball forward down the left flank to where Narezzi had made the run, ready to lay it back into the path of Ramos to the left of the 6-yard box. The winger squared the ball to the far post where Makhi TWIGG arrived to fire back into the opposite corner, levelling the scores at 2-2.
Having clawed their way back to parity, Totton then found themselves under pressure from a resurgent Champion Academy side. Hare had to make a good save from distance. Then, the young Totton keeper made a fantastic one-handed save to divert a strong header over the crossbar, when the Champion forward was presented with a free header from a right-wing cross. From the corner, Totton struggled to clear and a low, left-footed shot from the edge of the box whistled past the right-hand upright.
Totton hearts sank in the 72nd minute, when the Champion right winger was able to isolate Abdi from a cross-field ball. As players reshuffled to fill the space, the ball was tapped infield and a low, first-time shot from the 18 yard line desperately eluded Hare’s outstretched right-arm on its way to clipping the inside of the far post and nestling in the corner, to make the score 2-3 to Champion Academy.
Burkevics had been a lively presence since coming on, and he was unlucky to have an effort cleared off the line when he rounded the Champion keeper only to see a defender make up the ground and divert the ball behind - though, he was flagged offside during the move.
There was a hairy moment at the other end, when the Totton keeper couldn’t decide whether to stick or twist when an awkwardly bouncing ball held up between him and an opposition striker on the edge of his area. His indecision would have been final, had it not been for Nathan Ewins covering in behind him and cleaning the ball upfield.
And, within seconds, Totton equalised. A high ball towards the right-hand touchline bounced and sat up invitingly for Michael BURKEVICS to unleash a spectacular strike from all of 30 yards, that soared over the keeper’s reach and into the top-left corner of the goal for 3-3.
WE HAVE TAKE-OFF: Michael Burkevics wheels away in celebration after his 30-yard wonderstrike levels the scores at 3-3 and secures the Tactic League T1 South title for Totton.
The goalscorer was soon on the deck, nursing a knee injury from a heavy challenge. But, with his team 10 minutes away from securing the title, he picked himself up and carried on giving his all to the cause.
Ramos played Burkevics in to round the goalkeeper again, but a defender got back to clear his goal-bound finish. From the subsequent corner, Ewins struck a shot over the bar - the Totton No.5 ending the game standing up to block Champion’s desperate final attempts to win the match. Right at the end, another free header in the box threatened to be Totton’s undoing, but the effort was too high. So, when the final whistle was blown to confirm a final score of 3-3, the PRO:DIRECT Academy at AFC Totton could celebrate the achievement of their season’s objective, making them Winners of the Tactic League T1 South title.
Match report by Ben Rochey-Adams
Images courtesy of Craig Hobbs Photography
