AFC Totton
ISUZU FA TROPHY | FIRST ROUND (PROPER)
Saturday 26 October 2024 | Snows Stadium, Salisbury Road, Totton | Att: 301
LEE HEADS STAGS INTO SECOND ROUND DRAW AS MAGPIES FLY OUT OF FA TROPHY
AFC TOTTON 1
Tony Lee 51mins
DORCHESTER TOWN 0
AFC TOTTON AVENGED THEIR ONLY league defeat of the season to date by knocking Dorchester Town out of the Isuzu FA Trophy in Saturday’s (26 October 2024) First Round tie at the Snows Stadium.
Two ex-Magpies combined to send their former club crashing out of the competition, with Tony Lee heading home the winning goal from Tom Blair’s cross, six minutes into the second half. An ugly altercation between Blair and former Stags striker Shaquille Gwengwe led to both players being sent-off, and while the visitors dominated much of the possession during the closing stages as they went in search of an equalising goal, the Totton defence stood firm to secure their place in the Second Round draw.
Declan Rose came in for the injured Luke Bennett in an otherwise unchanged starting XI from the side that beat Taunton Town 5-1 in the Southern League Premier Division South in midweek. Goalkeeper Max Evans was named among the substitutes.
Dorchester Town included two former AFC Totton players in their starting line-up, in the shape of central midfielder and captain Jordan Ngalo and striker Shaquille Gwengwe, with two more on the bench in Luke Roberts and winger Marcus Daws; the latter began the 2024/25 season with AFC Totton and scored The Stags’ winning goal on his debut against Walton & Hersham on the opening day of the campaign.
AFC TOTTON: 13. Joshua GOULD; 2. Joe OASTLER (Capt.); 6. Sam MAGRI; 8. Adam TOMASSO; 10. Ethan TAYLOR; 11. Charlie AUSTIN; 15. Roddy COLLINS; 17. Declan ROSE; 18. Tony LEE; 19. Tom BLAIR; 20. Tega AGBERHIERE. Substitutes: 1. Max EVANS; 5. Charlie KENNEDY; 7. Ashley CLARKE; 9. Scott RENDELL; 12. Luke HALLETT. Substitutions: KENNEDY for AUSTIN (74mins); RENDELL for LEE (74mins); HALLETT for TOMASSO (89mins); CLARKE for TAYLOR (90+2mins). Yellow Cards: OASTLER (Foul); AUSTIN (Dissent); COLLINS (Foul); AGBERHIERE (Time-wasting). Red Card: BLAIR (2nd Yellow).
DORCHESTER TOWN: 1. Gerard BENFIELD; 2. Jack DICKSON; 6. Tom BRAGG; 18. Ieuan TURNER; 3. Ollie HASTE; 8. Corby MOORE; 5. Jordan NGALO (Capt.); 19. Luke PARDOE; 9. Olaf KOSZELA; 10. Shaquille GWENGWE; 11. Wayne ROBINSON. Substitutes: 15. Matt BUSE; 7. Wes FOGDEN; 17. Marcus DAWS; 14. Kyran SAMADI; 16. Luke ROBERTS. Substitutions: DAWS for HASTE (60mins); FOGDEN for NGALO (78mins); ROBERTS for ROBINSON (84mins). Yellow Cards: None. Red Card: GWENGWE (Violent Conduct).
The visitors, decked out in their traditional black-and-white striped shirts with black shorts and black-and-white hooped socks, kicked-off against an AFC Totton side dressed in their cup kits of light blue shirts, dark blue shorts and light blue socks — but only after the referee had subjected Jimmy Ball and his colleagues in the home dug-out to a pre-emptive talking to; allegedly, something to do with the number of people standing up and sitting down at any given moment.
Dorchester defender Jack Dickson made an important early interception from Adam Tomasso’s cross from the right-wing byline, to prevent it reaching Ethan Taylor who was rushing into the box at the far post. Then, a long throw from the Totton left caused confusion in the visitors’ box, as they allowed the ball to bounce across the middle for Tony Lee to unleash a snapshot that goalkeeper Gerard Benfield did well to shovel away. Totton regained possession and worked the ball to the left, where Taylor slipped Tega Agberhiere into a crossing position at the byline, but Dorchester had restored their defensive shape and cleared.
Olaf Koszela, whose two goals in the previous meeting between these two sides inspired The Magpies 3-2 victory in the league encounter at The Avenue in mid-September, retrieved a long pass high on the left wing and played it back to Jordan Ngalo in midfield. The combative captain spread the play to Luke Pardoe on the right, but Agberhiere blocked his cross to concede a corner. Croby Moore delivered a high cross, which Roddy Collins headed out for The Stags, before Taylor was fouled to hand Totton a free-kick just outside their own box.
Dorchester won a free-kick right in front of the AFC Totton dug-out, shortly after; Moore’s ball into the area was turned away by Taylor. The Totton winger was then on the front foot, latching onto Agberhiere’s pass to attack the inside-left channel, before big defender Ieuan Turner got across quickly to deflect his cross into the arms of Benfield.
A miss-kick by Tomasso gave his former Stags teammate Shaq Gwengwe a chance to dart in behind the Totton defence. Josh Gould was quickly off his line and although Gwengwe managed to get to the ball first and nudge it to the goalkeeper’s left, Gould still grabbed it at the second attempt without fouling Dorchester’s No.10.
Tom Blair got to the right-wing byline and played a low ball across the box, which wrong-footed Taylor but fell to Charlie Austin, whose shot was well-blocked by Moore. Blair picked up the rebound and floated a high cross into the area; Lee headed narrowly over the crossbar. Austin was next to direct an effort over the top with his head from another Blair delivery, after Magri’s forward pass out of defence was helped on through the midfield by Tomasso.
Play was suspended while the referee and his assistant on the side of the ground closest to the SFS Main Stand fussed over the standing and sitting arrangements of the incumbents of the away dug-out, while paying fans watched on in bemusement. When play resumed, Blair did well to halt Ngalo’s progress in the centre-circle, despite giving away a whole weight division.
Austin held his arms wide open in the centre-circle, imploring Taylor to supply a pass from the left touchline, which he did. Austin picked out Blair on the right to build a promising move, but Blair’s high cross-field pass back to the left gave Taylor little chance of catching up with it. Then, a strong defensive header by Magri was flicked on by Blair to set Austin on the chase. Left-back Ollie Haste read the situation and made a strong tackle to ensure the door remained firmly shut.
Tomasso tussled with Koszela to ensure the ball ran-out for a goal-kick, much to the audible annoyance of the travelling fans. Then, another firm defensive header from Magri enabled Blair to head-on, teeing-up Lee to try a 25-yard volley that looped into the arms of the well-placed Benfield.
Former Sholing forward Wayne Robinson, who scored Dorchester’s third goal in September, cut in from the left flank to shoot from 25 yards. His effort flicked off a light blue shirt and carried over the bar for a Dorchester corner. Moore’s cross was aimed to the near corner of the six-yard box, where Gwengwe squeezed between two defenders before guiding his header high and wide.
Stags skipper Joe Oastler was shown the yellow card for a miss-timed sliding tackle on Koszela; he pleaded his innocence but it was a clear foul, resulting in a free-kick close the right-wing touchline. Moore’s cross prompted a collision in the area, which the referee allowed to pass. Taylor hooked the ball out and, when Robinson tried to bring it back into the Totton box, Taylor was there again to clear into touch.
The temperature of the game was beginning to rise, as players of either side began to leave a bit on each other in every fifty-fifty challenge. Blair and Declan Rose combined down the right to force a Totton corner. Taylor rolled the set-piece back 18 yards for Rose to cross from a deeper position; Turner headed out for another corner before it could reach Austin at the far post. This time, Taylor delivered high to the far post where Magri - who scored from a similar situation against Taunton in midweek - had his back-post header cleared off the line. Magri managed to force rebound across goal again, and it fell to Austin whose volley struck a defender. The cries of “hand-ball!” from Stags fans behind the goal were ignored by the referee, and Dorchester scraped the ball clear.
Determined defending by Roddy Collins saw the Irishman run the ball out of the Totton defence through two opponents, shortly before Austin was shown a yellow card for dissent — presumably, regarding the unheeded hand-ball appeal moments earlier.
Taylor won a corner on the Totton left. Before it could be taken, the referee had words with Oastler who was upsetting Benfield with the intimacy of his positioning in the six-yard box, despite Turner’s best attempts to chaperone. Blair’s near-post cross was a fraction too high for Austin to nod home; the headed clearance flew as far as Collins, but The Magpies defended the midfielder’s lob into their box.
Collins went in strongly to dispossess Ngalo, then Gwengwe went down under an Oastler challenge but any fears of further disciplinary difficulties for the Totton defender were cut short by an offside flag against Robinson.
A through-ball from Collins threatened to put Blair in the clear at inside-right, but the pass struck the winger on his calf as he was about to test the defender’s pace. Then, Tomasso frustrated Moore’s attempt to deliver good service into the Totton box. From the resulting corner, Moore played it short to Koszela, whose cross was headed away from the six-yard box by Austin.
Rose made a decisive defensive intervention in the nick of time, after Robinson managed to attack along the left-wing byline and feed the ball into the middle. Then, Oastler’s strong block put a stop to Koszela’s attempt to attack Totton’s goal.
Koszela emerged from a cluster of players in the centre-circle to release Pardoe down the left-hand side. Rose jockeyed to force him to turn back and look for support for the arriving Koszela, who tried an angled shot from the left corner of the penalty area, that flew over the bar.
A foul on Collins failed to elicit a yellow card for the black-and-white striped culprit, much to the annoyance of the AFC Totton bench. Gwengwe retrieved an over-hit pass in the Totton area, on the Dorchester left, and laid it back for Haste to send a dangerous, low cross into the box. As the ball came across to Moore on the right, Robinson tugged Agberhiere’s arm to prevent the Totton left-back intercepting, needlessly denying his teammate any chance of taking a shot since the referee saw the foul clearly and awarded a free-kick to the home team.
Gould was called upon to head clear at the edge of his area to prevent Robinson running onto a through-ball. Then, shortly before half-time, Oastler played Agerberhiere in to cross from the left, resulting in a Totton throw high up the pitch, which Taylor quickly traded up for a corner. As the Stags Youth Section banged their drum in loud support, Blair’s cross was flicked away to the far side and, when the ball came back into the box, a push from Blair handed Dorchester a free-kick.
HALF-TIME: AFC TOTTON 0-0 DORCHESTER TOWN
Totton got the second half underway with neither side having made any changes at the break. The sun was now blazing hard into the SFS Main Stand from some celestial location about 150-million kilometres — or a couple of Josh Gould goal-kicks — beyond the Salisbury Road side of the ground.
Pardoe led the first serious attacking raid of the second half, but as he looked to be making progress into the Totton box, Oastler and Tomasso combined to smother his cross, with Tomasso bringing the ball out for The Stags. The Totton Terrier then took the ball off Koszela in the centre-circle and fed Agberhiere, who was motoring down the left wing before he turned into the box and had the ball taken off his toe as he was about to shoot.
Totton had made the brighter start to the second half and they took the lead in the 51st minute. Austin received possession in the middle with his back to goal, about 30 yards out. His square pass was helped on further to the left by Collins to Blair, who hung a high cross towards the edge of the six-yard box at the far post. The ball arced over the defender and perfectly onto the head of Tony LEE, who guided it past Benfield and into the corner of the net.
Shortly after the restart, Tom Blair was shown a yellow card, although it wasn’t clear why. Then, Austin went close with a snapshot that flew over the bar, after Lee flicked-on a Josh Gould goal-kick.
Blair dribbled infield from the left wing and fed Lee in the box, whose shot was blocked at close quarters and cleared. Then, Lee brought a high ball under control and threaded through the defence to Taylor, who used the outside of his left boot to effortlessly drag the ball into his stride to elude his marker and set himself for a one-on-one with Benfield; Taylor went for an early right-foot finish and the ‘keeper made a crucial block with his legs.
Austin headed into Benfield’s arms from Blair’s floated free-kick, and then — one minute before the hour mark — all hell broke loose. As Blair and Gwengwe chased a ball that was running harmlessly out of play at the touchline closest to the Salisbury Road side of the ground, Blair gave his opponent a shove that caused him to crash into and fall over the advertising hoarding. Gwengwe responded with a shove that sent Blair falling to the turf and, during the subsequent multi-player pile-up, Gwengwe went forehead-to-forehead with Agberhiere, while others joined in with less imaginative forms of generic pushing and shoving. Amongst the melée, the referee saw reason enough to show Blair his second yellow card and, before the winger could make his way across the Snows Stadium pitch to the tunnel, Gwengwe was shown a straight red card, leaving the cup-tie a 10-versus-10 contest.
Dorchester boss Tom Killick decided it was time to gamble by bringing off defender Ollie Haste and sending on Marcus Daws against his recent former club. The winger was quickly involved in the game, giving Collins the slip in midfield before passing to Koszela on the left, who helped the ball on for Pardoe. Tomasso got stuck in to win the ball back for Totton on the right edge of the box, and drew a foul from Koszela to ease the pressure on The Stags.
Lee intercepted a wayward pass midway inside the Dorchester half and exchanged passes with Tomasso to put the midfielder in on goal, but Benfield came out and got there first. Lee was felled by a late challenge during the move but while the referee allowed he striker to receive treatment on the pitch, no free-kick was awarded and play resumed with an uncontested drop ball for the visitors.
Daws received Moore’s pass and crossed into the Totton box from the right. The ball hit a Totton defender but the “hand-ball!” cries were to no avail. Then, Taylor got back to block a long-range shot, before Roddy Collins had his name taken for a foul, which provided Dorchester with a free-kick within shooting range. Moore’s effort hit the defensive ball and rebounded to Daws, who crossed towards Koszela but the striker could only get a faint touch with his head and Gould collected.
Strong running from Dickson, getting forward to join the attack in the middle from right-back, brought a stern challenge from Rose. Daws picked up the loose ball but couldn’t find a teammate with his delivery. Then, Jimmy Ball withdrew both Charlie Austin and Tony Lee, and sent on Charlie Kennedy and Scott Rendell.
A muddle in the middle of the pitch enabled Ngalo to come away with the ball and free Robinson to attack from The Magpies’ left. Oastler headed his cross out for a corner, from which Gould punched away the cross before showing acrobatic reflexes to tip Koszela’s fierce snapshot over the bar. Totton defended the subsequent corner.
Ngalo came off in the 78th minute to be replaced by former Portsmouth midfielder Wes Fogden for Dorchester. Moore tried a long shot that hit Magri, and Robinson couldn’t latch onto the rebound inside the Totton box.
Kennedy tripped Daws on the right-wing touchline. Moore sent a high ball into the Totton area from the free-kick but Gould might light work of picking that one out of the air. Then, as Dorchester began to dominate possession and territory, Koszela laid the ball off for Moore to try another effort from range but it again hit a Totton defender.
Robinson threatened from inside-left for the visitors; Gould got something on the ball as the forward tried to go round him and Magri was able to tidy up. That was to be Robinson’s final contribution to the cup tie, with Luke Roberts coming on the replace him with six minutes of normal time remaining.
Fogden and Koszela combined to work their way into the Totton box from left of centre. Daws darted into the area and went down, but the referee wasn’t impressed and gave the universal signal of crossing and uncrossing his arms to indicate ‘no penalty’. A shot was driven in towards the corner of the left post; Magri diverted it wide and Totton were awarded a free-kick for pushing as the ball came in from the corner.
Luke Hallett came on for Adam Tomasso in the 89th minute. Agberhiere made a strong tackle to dispossess Daws, who had just controlled a cross-field pass, then the match officials indicated there would be nine minutes of added time.
Rose knocked away a Dorchester free-kick from their right. Then, Gould punched clear from another corner and Daws fired the loose ball high and wide from 20 yards out.
Ashley Clarke was sent on in place of Ethan Taylor. Daws dribbled into traffic on the edge of the Totton area, before Oastler headed away the next attack.
Totton were camped in their own half, attempting to protect their slender lead until the bitter end. Pardoe played the ball into the Totton area once more. Magri slipped but Daws could only fire into the side-netting behind the left-hand post. A corner was given, which Gould swatted away with one hand — and suddenly, Ash Clarke was breaking away on his own, with only one defender to beat. He forced him all the way back into the Dorchester box and worked the ball onto his right foot to take aim, but Benfield saved.
Agberhiere heated Daws’ progress with another strong challenge, but Totton could not retain possession of the ball. The Stags’ left-back conceded a free-kick just off the corner of the penalty area, on the Dorchester right. Benfield came up to join the attack; Moore’s delivery was punched away by Gould, again. Rose defended the next punt into the Totton box and Rendell kicked clear to give the boys in light blue some respite.
Clarke tested the Dorchester defence again when he latched onto Agberhiere’s pass to attack down the left, with three opponents around him. He dribbled to the left byline and tried a shot from a tight angle, which Benfield diverted wide with his shin for a Totton corner. Totton opted to keep the ball close to the corner quadrant to eat up valuable seconds. They won a throw-in in the process, and Tega Agberhiere was shown a yellow card for taking too long to restart play, but the referee blew the final whistle less than a minute later to confirm AFC Totton’s passage into the Second Round of the Isuzu FA Trophy.
There was still time for additional late drama, though, as the referee took umbrage at something said by a member of the Dorchester Town backroom team for which he produced a red card as the players were leaving the pitch.
Watch JIMMY BALL’S Post-Match Interview
Watch ADAM TOMASSO’S Post-Match Interview
Next Up: MARLOW vs AFC TOTTON
Southern League Premier Division South | Matchday#14 | Alfred Davis Memorial Ground, Oak Tree Road, Marlow, Buckinghamshire SL7 3ED | Saturday 02 November 2024 | Kick-Off 3:00pm
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By Ben Rochey-Adams
