AFC Totton
SOUTHAMPTON DIVISIONAL FA CUP
Sunday Senior Cup, 2nd Round
UNITY 101 2
Hassan Ahmady 16mins, 29mins
AFC TOTTON SUNDAY 4
Jay Brading 53mins; Jordan Canning 55mins; Tom Munday 64mins; Nathan Gray 77mins
AFC Totton Sunday fought back from a 0-2 half-time deficit to Unity 101 yesterday (Sunday), in the 2nd Round of the Southampton Divisional FA Cup at Cantell School in Bassett. Unity, who are from the division below their guests, played Totton off the oak leaf-strewn 3G pitch in the first 45 minutes, leading to arguments and a major tactical rethink by the Sunday Stags that eventually brought goals during a resurgent second-half display.
Image courtesy of Chaos Soccer Gear via Unsplash.com
Totton came into this fixture having not completed a match for 4 weeks. Adverse weather conditions, including a pitch where the white lines had been washed away by heavy rain, and opponents who couldn't field a team meant that last week's league encounter with Durley was to be their first action in November. But that match was abandoned after 75 minutes with the scoreline tied at 1-1 when the AFC Totton Sunday captain Gary Bagley suffered a broken leg in a robust but fair midfield challenge with a Durley player.
Gary's injury was a clean break of both the tibia and fibula bones in his left leg, and will certainly keep him out of the game for the remainder of this season. He underwent a successful surgery at the beginning of last week and as a Club, AFC Totton would like to thank the South Central Ambulance Service and the NHS staff looking after Gary for their professionalism and compassion throughout his painful ordeal. And we all wish Gary a full and speedy recovery.
But, the football season must go on and in Gary's absence, Jordan Canning made his first start of the season in midfield. Michael MacLeod was shifted to left-back in place of Simon Rowson and Nathan Gray, who is also on the books of the AFC Totton first team's Southern League Div.1 South rivals Sholing, returned to the starting line-up to partner the ever-present Matt Harrington up front.
AFC TOTTON SUNDAY
Starting Line-Up
1. Mitch COLEMAN
2. Luke SCOULAR
3. Michael MacLEOD
4. Tom RAFFERTY
5. Dan GAIN
6. Jay BRADING
7. Lewis GUNDRY
9. Matt HARRINGTON
10. Nathan GRAY
11. Jordan CANNING
14. Tom MUNDAY
Substitutes
8. Sam CONWAY
12. Chaz LODGE
AFC TOTTON SUNDAY; BACK (L to R): Sam Conway (Player/Manager), Josh Carey, Matt Harrington, Tom Rafferty, Gary Bagley (Capt.), Dan Gain, Marc Watts (Assistant Manager), Jason Calcutt. FRONT: Lewis Gundry, Nathan Gray, Adam Jones, Mitch Coleman, Tom Munday, Luke Scoular, Billy Bellows, Jay Brading.
On a cold but bright November morning, right-back Luke Scoular was the first to show difficulty coming to terms with the hard 3G pitch, which requires the players to wear trainers rather than football boots. He took a heavy touch inside his own penalty area and conceded a corner, which Tom Rafferty had to head away. And Rafferty intervened again a few minutes later to throw his body in the way of a shot from the edge of the area, as the home side hit their stride much sooner than the visitors.
The Unity No.7, who goes by the name of Abel, repeatedly displayed an excellent first touch and relative comfort on the playing surface, and he came close to opening the scoring with a shot from outside the area but rushed it slightly and allowed Mitch Coleman to save.
Totton's first effort of note came in the 9th minute when Michael MacLeod, 55 yards away from goal on the left flank, spotted the goalkeeper Charlie McCluskey off his line and attempted to beat him with an audacious lob that dropped over McCluskey's head, struck the far post and bounced out. Then, Coleman had to be quick to beat Abel to the ball on the edge of his area, after a short, sharp passing move threatened to play the nimble-footed forward in through the Totton defence.
There was a lucky let-off for the home side when Nathan Gray was able to pressure McCluskey into an error while attempting to control a back-pass, the ball going between the keeper's legs and narrowly wide of the left-hand post with the goalmouth gaping.
But Unity were quicker and more assured in possession of the football and deservedly took the lead in the 16th minute. Abel's trickery left Dan Gain stranded out of his position in the defensive line and, after the ball was shifted first to the right and then left, the No.22 Hassan AHMADY got in at the left-wing byline, cut back onto his right foot to avoid the recovering Scoular, and fired low and hard under Mitch Coleman and into the far corner.
Totton tried to get back in the game straight away. MacLeod raided the left-wing byline and crossed to the far post, where Jordan Canning clashed heads with a defender and had to receive treatment. Then, Dan Gain brought the ball into midfield and played it square to the skipper, Lewis Gundry. His low forward through-ball was latched onto by the diagonal run of Nathan Gray, who got there before the keeper but poked his shot too far to the left, enabling a defender to intercept before it could cross the line.
A 25th minute throw-in from the right-hand touchline by Scoular was flicked on by Matt Harrington and then headed over the bar by a defender. Gray took the corner on the left wing and received the ball back near the corner of the penalty area, from where he smacked a shot towards the top-left corner, clipping the angle of post and bar.
Shortly before the half-hour, Unity increased their lead when Scoular got caught out by a high ball that dropped just behind him, allowing Hassan AHMADY to bring it down and move goal-side of the AFC Totton Sunday right-back, before composing himself on the edge of the penalty area and picking his spot with a low drive into the bottom-left corner, beyond the outstretched hand of Coleman, diving low to his right, for Ahmady's second goal of the match.
Totton looked out of sorts, unable to control the ball and reconcile their usual direct, fast-moving game with the hard surface, while possibly also still experiencing a hangover from the horrendous events of last weekend. The frustration of the whole group - players, managerial team and fans, included - was palpable and manifested itself in a strong, borderline legal challenge by Canning on Abel, that left the Unity playmaker writhing on the ground in some pain.
Gray received the ball back after taking another Totton corner and found Matt Harrington, whose shot from a tight angle soared over the bar. Then, Canning had to leave the field for treatment after pulling up while giving chase to a through-ball into the inside-left channel, a recurring thigh strain rearing its ugly head to add further to Totton's count of walking wounded. And within a minute, Totton were temporarily down to 9 men when Tom Munday was yellow carded and sent to the Sin Bin for dissent, after contesting an offside flag against him from the opposite flank.
Manager Sam Conway had some choice words for the errant Munday when he reached the side of the pitch and an aggressive confrontation ensued between the two of them, much to the amusement of the watching Unity 101 contingent further along the same touchline.
Meanwhile, back at the football match, Ahmady came within a whisker of completing his hat-trick when the excellent Abel fired the ball across from the right wing, behind the retreating Totton defence. But it eluded everyone and escaped to the near touchline, just as the referee called time on a turbulent first-half for AFC Totton Sunday.
HALF-TIME
UNITY 101 2-0 AFC TOTTON SUNDAY
Munday's temporary exclusion still had another 5 minutes to run, so a patched-up Jordan Canning meant they took to the pitch for the second half with 10 men and a reshuffled tactical line-up, which saw Nathan Gray operating from a much deeper position in an attempt to direct play and bring his side back into the cup-tie.
Gundry's direct pass out to the right wing had a little too much for Jay Brading to wrap his foot around it. Then Unity had a potential third goal ruled out for offside, before Tom Rafferty picked out Brading on the right-hand side with a direct pass from halfway. Brading laid the ball back to Gray who crossed high to the far side of the penalty area, where a ruck of players contested the aerial ball. It fell to Lewis Gundry in a central position about 25 yards out but his shot was too high.
Totton were beginning to turn Unity 101 around, making them run back towards their own goal as the visitors' direct passes out to the flanks started to find their intended targets, especially once a refocused and determined Tom Munday re-entered the fray on the left wing.
Canning tried to work his way into a shooting position, a defender's intervention only poking the ball to Gundry who tried another snapshot from distance, this time pulling a save out of McCluskey.
Unity almost went three-up when their No.14 dragged the ball infield from the right-wing and shot left-footed into the foot of the left-hand post. Had they gone 3-0 up at that point, they may well have gone on to win the cup-tie. But the match soon turned and ran away from them.
Harrington held the ball up near the right-wing corner flag, as Totton pressed forward again on 53 minutes. He rolled it back to Brading, about 40 yards out by the touchline. With teammates to aim for at the back post, Jay BRADING sent a high ball across that looped over McCluskey in the Unity goal and sailed in below the crossbar to put Totton back in the contest.
And two minutes later, AFC Totton Sunday were level. Dan Gain took possession on the right corner of the Unity penalty area, after having gone forward for a set-piece. Neat footwork by the towering centre-back enabled him to pass to Luke Scoular who played the ball into the middle where Jordan CANNING snuck in between two defenders and swept the ball home from close range for his first goal of the season.
With the injured Abel now off the field, Unity could no longer contain the rampant Stags. Another ball in from the right-hand side by Scoular was headed at goal by Munday, forcing McCluskey to save. Then, a reinvigorated Munday raced away from his marker and played a low cross into the middle, which Unity managed to scramble clear. And a link-up between MacLeod and Gundry in midfield created an opening for Canning, whose shot was deflected wide, as Totton increased the tempo and asserted their higher division authority.
Harrington went close with a header and Munday also came close to giving Totton the lead, lunging just short of connecting with the ball as it squirmed out of play at the left-hand post.
Nathan Gray was bossing the game from the libero position, taking on midfielders and releasing teammates into dangerous attacking areas. He put Munday through down the left-hand side, although the winger scuffed his shot wide after shifting infield to wrong-foot the full-back. Then, Canning hooked the ball over an opponent's head and lobbed it towards Munday, but McCluskey saved Munday's header.
Gray had an angled drive blocked from the edge of the area, but latched onto the rebound and pulled a spectacular save out of McCluskey with his follow-up effort, the keeper flinging himself to his right to beat the ball away. Then Gray popped up on the left wing in the 64th minute, holding the ball up to allow MacLeod to overlap. The left-back fed it back to Gray, who then picked out Harrington in the middle. His lay-off set-up Gundry, and the captain's shot was deflected over for a corner on the right.
Gray's delivery was aimed at Harrington at the back post. A defender managed to knock it away to the edge of the area where Tom MUNDAY intercepted, took a touch and struck a right-footed curler over the heads of two defenders, past McCluskey and just under the crossbar to send the Totton contingent into pandemonium.
Despite injuries and a lack of fully-fit substitutes, Totton were now in complete control. More hold-up play from Harrington enabled Gundry to cross high from the right, Munday stealing in ahead of the defender to send a looping header towards goal. McCluskey watched the flight of the ball carefully and pushed it over the crossbar, despite being charged by Canning. Then, Gray tried his luck from the half-way line when he saw McCluskey standing some way off his line, the ball flying narrowly wide.
Sam Conway had to come on when Lewis Gundry pulled up with a leg muscle problem, with about 23 minutes to go. And the Player/Manager went close with a dipping right-foot curler from the right corner of the penalty area, after sprinting a long way to get on the end of another Harrington lay-off.
Gray skipped around midfielders and picked out Harrington on the right wing, and his cross was glanced wide by Munday. Then, Ahmady managed to get a shot away from 20 yards for Unity, but it whistled wide of the left-hand post.
On 77 minutes, an excellent first touch by Jordan Canning to control a long kick from Coleman diverted the ball into the feet of Harrington, who was pulled down by the defender behind him, about 25 yards out in a central position. With a three-man defensive wall to contend with, Nathan GRAY's right-footed curler bent around them and past the static Charlie McCluskey into the right-hand corner for an absolute pearler of a free-kick goal, making it 4-2 to the Stags.
Another Gray curler from distance flew narrowly over. Then, Canning and Harrington were guilty of over-playing in front of goal when a firm strike might well have made it 5-2. Harrington headed over with another opportunity late on and Canning had a goal ruled out for offside, after getting through to the left of the 6-yard box and finishing neatly into the far corner.
The fight had gone from Unity with the loss of their key man, Abel. Totton kept them at arm's length whenever they managed to get the ball and there was even time before the end for some levity as right-back Luke Scoular somehow managed to be the furthest man forward, scuffing his shot wide after a promising build up also involving Canning and Brading. Tom Rafferty suffered a painful bang right at the end of the match, but was able to limp off the pitch with his teammates to celebrate a successful fight back and progress to the 3rd Round of the Southampton Divisional FA Cup.
Man of the Match: Michael MACLEOD
AFC Totton Sunday would like to thank our sponsors Gentlemen's League Barbers and Hurst Auto Assistance for their invaluable ongoing support.
Match Report: Ben ROCHEY-ADAMS
