AFC Totton
SOUTHERN LEAGUE PREMIER DIVISION SOUTH | Matchday#24
Tuesday 21 January 2025 | Salisbury Road, Totton, Southampton | Att: 1,198
LATE STAGS COMEBACK BURIES BORO’
AFC TOTTON 1
Ethan Taylor 65mins
FROME TOWN 1
Rex Mannings 64mins
RELEGATION-THREATENED FROME TOWN continued their recently improved league form by taking a point from their midweek visit to the Snows Stadium against an AFC Totton side who were once again left to rue a number of missed chances in front of goal.
After a first half in which the home side had failed to convert several opportunities to take the lead, The Stags fell behind to a Rex Mannings shot from outside the box. Although it took less than a minute for Ethan Taylor to level the scores, Jimmy Ball’s men were unable to find a winning goal despite dominating the latter stages of the game.
Ben Jefford came into the side for his first start of 2025 with Tega Agberhiere dropping to the substitutes’ bench in an otherwise unchanged team from the one that beat Gosport Borough on Saturday.
AFC TOTTON: 13. Ryan GOSNEY; 2. Joe OASTLER (Capt.); 3. Ben JEFFORD; 5. Charlie KENNEDY; 6. Sam MAGRI; 8. Adam TOMASSO; 10. Ethan TAYLOR; 11. Charlie AUSTIN; 16. Luke BENNETT; 18. Tony LEE; 19. Tom BLAIR. Substitutes: 7. Ben SEYMOUR; 9. Scott RENDELL; 14. Toby STEPHENS; 17. Jack MASTERTON; 20. Tega AGBERHIERE. Substitutions: SEYMOUR for BENNETT (66mins); RENDELL for LEE (66mins); STEPHENS for AUSTIN (79mins); AGBERHIERE for JEFFORD (79mins). Yellow Cards: OASTLER (Foul); BLAIR (Foul).
FROME TOWN: 1. Kyle PHILLIPS; 2. Matthew WOOD; 5. Pierce MITCHELL; 6. Joseph BUDD; 11. Albert HOPKINS; 14. Warren MAIDMENT; 15. Ethan VAUGHAN; 16. Rex MANNINGS; 17. Alex MONKS; 19. Archie FERRIS; 20. Jospeh O’LOUGHLIN. Substitutes: 3. Samuel HEAL; 8. Callum GOULD; 9. Curtis JEMMETT-HUDSON; 12. Jack POFFLEY; 13. Daniel GREAVES. Substitutions: JEMMETT-HUDSON for FERRIS (53mins); GOULD for MANNINGS (88mins); POFFLEY for HOPKINS (90mins). Yellow Cards: HOPKINS (Foul); FERRIS (Foul).
Totton kicked-off, attacking towards the now fully-operational Aldi supermarket, wearing their usual home kit of all-Royal blue with white trim, against a Frome Town side decked out in all-red.
Ben Jefford and Tony Lee instigated the first attacking foray down Totton’s left but the visiting defence dealt with the threat, though they were relieved to receive the aid of an offside flag. Luke Bennett and Tom Blair tried to make similar progress on the right flank but the Frome left-back got across the disrupt for The Robins.
A foul by Warren Maidment on Bennett handed Blair the opportunity to float a free-kick into the box from 20 yards out on the Totton right. His cross found Joe Oastler coming in from the far side but his header struck one defender and another was able to clear it upfield.
A misjudged defensive header from Ryan Gosney’s long kick had both Charlie Austin and Lee buzzing about the Frome Town defence but the two Totton forwards were unable to seize possession of the football. Then, Ethan Taylor drove forward on the left before playing a square pass to Austin, 25 yards out in a central position. He took a touch and went for goal with a well-struck effort that flew over the crossbar.
Bennett curled a beautifully-weighted pass into the path of Blair, putting him goal-side of the left-back, but the winger’s whipped cross was confidently claimed by Kyle Phillips in the Frome Town goal. Then, an Alex Monks snapshot from the right of the Totton penalty area was comfortably saved by Gosney.
Austin’s diagonal pass was kept in at the right-wing corner flag by Blair, who then crossed to the near post where it was headed away. Bennett sent it back in towards the six-yard box where Lee was lurking but again, Frome cleared and Kennedy went down under a challenge as he tried to retrieve the ball. No free-kick was given but play was stopped to allow Kennedy to receive treatment.
A swift one-two between Austin and Bennett helped the ball on to Taylor, who progressed towards the left-wing corner then turned the ball back to Jefford, providing support from just beyond the corner of the penalty area. His short pass found Adam Tomasso, who slipped Taylor in to attack along the byline and poke a shot towards the near post, which Phillips saved.
Frome advanced down their left. Jospeh O’Loughlin darted along the left edge of the Totton box and fired the ball across. It flashed across the goalmouth and landed at the feet of Archie Ferris beyond the far post; his drive from a narrow angle was straight at Gosney.
A high ball from Oastler enabled Lee to bustle between two defenders and shift the ball right to Bennett, whose low cross was hooked out of the six-yard box by Frome captain Pierce Mitchell for a corner. But Totton’s short corner routine broke down and when resorted to pumping the ball into the area, Austin was offside.
The Stags should have taken the lead when Austin’s volley from midway inside his own half found Taylor in the centre-circle. The ricocheted between his legs but he still managed to control it and set off on a run beyond the last man, advancing on the Frome area from the left of the D with the ball on his favoured foot. He blasted his low shot towards the bottom-right corner but steered it a fraction too far to the right, letting The Robins off the hook.
A push by Tomasso gave Frome a free-kick in a similar position from which Gosport Borough scored at the Snows Stadium at the weekend. Ethan Vaughan floated the ball into the Totton box. Ferris met it to the right of the penalty spot and guided his header towards goal but Gosney saved.
Blair ran onto Bennett’s pass and won a free-kick on the Totton right. Lee took it short, hoping to play Blair in to the right of the two-man wall, but the nearest of those defenders broke off the wall to block Blair’s delivery. Then, Bennett had to get back into his defensive position quickly to prevent Ferris getting in on the counter-attack.
Lee made progress from the left flank into the Frome area before his low cross was turned away. Austin regained possession and found Blair on the right. His clipped pass into the box enabled Bennett to shoot on the turn, the ball hitting a defender and rebounded fortunately for Phillips.
Bennett conceded a free-kick just off the right corner of the Totton penalty area. Vaughan’s cross was headed out by Lee at the near post. Then, Kennedy fed Blair on the right, whose first cross came back to him via a rebound; his second cross seemed to pass through two defenders who both missed it, and ricocheted off Lee’s shins to then loop over the crossbar with neither Lee nor Phillips knowing too much about it.
Lee got up well to head Jefford’s long ball on for Austin, whose shot flew wide to the left. Then, Magri directed play out to Blair on the right wing, but his attempt to put Lee in through the heart of the Frome defence was undone by a heavy pass.
Gosney recovered quickly from an awkward bounce in his penalty area that almost presented Ferris with a clear shot at an open goal. Then at the other end, a foul on Taylor resulted in a free-kick on the Totton left. Blair’s cross towards the near post was met by Lee’s head, but he steered the ball narrowly wide and into the advertising hoarding behind the goal.
Frome’s management team raised half-hearted penalty appeals when a cross from The Robins’ right bounced across the box and struck Bennett; the referee waved play-on. Then, Lee forced a corner on the Totton right from Tomasso’s up-and-under. Blair’s cross was headed away before Oastler could connect. Jefford regained and fed Taylor, who high cross into the middle arced agonisingly over the leaping Lee’s head at the edge of the six-yard box; Austin rushed in behind him but couldn’t sort his feet out and stabbed the ball wide of the left-hand post when it looked easier to score.
During just one minute of stoppage time at the end of the first half, Kennedy found Blair on the right-wing touchline. He hung the ball forward for Lee to head on. Bennett darted into the box and tried to get the ball under control but it was hooked off his toe before he could unleash a shot on goal. Archie Ferris found time to get booked for demanding that a Totton player be booked for a foul, and Frome got the ball into the Totton net only to see the effort ruled out for offside, shortly before the half-time whistle was blown.
HALF-TIME: AFC TOTTON 0-0 FROME TOWN
Neither side made any changes at the break and Frome Town got the second half underway. Phillips raced out of his box to head Bennett’s forward pass away as Lee was trying to latch onto it. Then, Blair drove infield from the right and nudged the ball to Lee on the edge of the box, but he didn’t get enough bend on his shot and it flew wide to the right.
Gosney caught a cross and bowled the ball out to Blair, who advanced down the right wing and crossed towards Lee, but Phillips stepped forward to catch the ball at the near side of his six-yard box. Then, Jefford fed the ball to the inside-right channel where Lee and Austin tried to one-two their way towards goal before they were crowded out by red shirts.
Archie Ferris went down needing treatment and had to come off on 53 minutes, to be replaced by Curtis Jemmett-Hutson whose first involvement in the game was to lose out in a tussle for the ball with Oastler.
Taylor tried to run at the Frome defence. The ball was knocked away from him, allowing Blair to pick up the loose ball and sting the goalkeeper’s palms with a dipping shot from 20 yards. The rebound came back to Taylor on the right; he tried to pick out Austin at the far post but his delivery was too long.
Frome burst forward down their right and Albie Hopkins met the cross to head straight at Gosney. Tom Blair was shown a yellow card for pushing an opponent after he was dispossessed near the left-wing corner flag. Then, Lee came off worse after colliding with Phillips while challenging for Kennedy’s lobbed forward pass in the Frome Town box.
A misjudged header in the Totton defence allowed Jemmett-Hutson in to fire at goal. Gosney parried the first shot and the follow-up was hooked away by Jefford, filling in behind his goalkeeper. Tomasso cleared the resulting corner from the near post.
The visitors took the lead four minutes past the hour when a throw-in from the right was headed from the corner of the penalty spot to the D, where Rex MANNINGS controlled and struck a left-footed shot into the bottom-left corner of the net, beyond Gosney’s reach.
Totton had been punished for their own profligacy in front of goal, but within seconds of the restart, Bennett threaded a pass into a gap between the Frome central defenders and Ethan TAYLOR ran onto it and calmly slotted the ball past Phillips to instantly restore parity. Lee ran into the net to retrieve the ball and run back to the centre-circle, as Totton showed their determination to go on and claim a winning goal.
Bennett darted in behind the defence at inside-right and struck a shot that was blocked by a defender. That proved to be his last action in the game, as he and Lee were both withdrawn by boss Jimmy Ball and replaced with Ben Seymour and Scott Rendell.
Oastler was booked for a late challenge. From the free-kick, the ball was delivered into the box and Hopkins dragged his shot wide of the left-hand post. Then, Austin nearly took out the entire AFC Totton Media team with a clearance into touch that flew high into the back of the SFS Main Stand.
Tomasso interrupted a Frome attack in the centre-circle but the visitors quickly regained possession and moved forward down their right. Totton had a few attempts to clear but struggled to do so, until Jefford stepped in to smack the ball into Mally’s Corner. Then, Vaughan worked the ball into an advanced position on the Frome right, before a switch of play ended with Hopkins sending a cross-shot creeping wide of the right-hand post.
Austin came off to be replaced by young midfielder Toby Stephens, shortly before Tega Agberhiere also came on in place of Jefford with 11 minutes to go.
Totton were trying to force the issue. Blair ran into three red shirts on the corner of the Frome box. Then, Seymour had a chance to run through on goal but couldn’t get the ball under control.
Tomasso intercepted a pass and put Totton on the front foot, enabling Taylor to win a free-kick on the left. Blair’s in-swinging free-kick eluded Magri. Seymour gathered and attacked the right byline but had to settle for a corner. Blair’s cross was flicked on at the near side of the six-yard box but the referee blew for a push in the middle.
Frome were taking every opportunity to slow the game down, which included several players laying on the turf whenever they were involved in a physical challenge, then a late substitution saw Callum Ball come on for Mannings.
After the board had gone up to indicate six minutes of stoppage time, Agberhiere dashed between two defenders and down the left edge of the penalty area before smashing the ball into the middle. A block rebounded the ball back to him but he couldn’t find a teammate with the renewed possession.
Gosney’s long kick found Blair on the right wing but his cross was out of Rendell’s reach. Another substitution further disrupted Totton’s flow, as Jack Poffley came on for Hopkins, before another player in red hit the turf in need of physio attention.
Totton continued to probe against a rigid Frome defence. There was a late flurry of Totton corners, two of which were cleared behind for another corner. Eventually, one delivery found Magri’s head. His effort was blocked and it bounced towards Rendell, but was called-up for hand-ball, shortly before the final whistle.
Watch JIMMY BALL’S Post-Match Interview
Watch CHARLIE KENNEDY’S Post-Match Interview
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Next Up: AFC TOTTON vs PLYMOUTH PARKWAY
Southern League Premier Division South | Matchday#25 | Snows Stadium, Salisbury Road, Totton, Southampton SO40 2RW | Saturday 25 January 2025 | Kick-Off 3:00pm
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By Ben Rochey-Adams
