AFC Totton
SOUTHERN LEAGUE PREMIER DIVISION SOUTH | Matchday#22
Saturday 06 January 2024 | Snows Stadium, Salisbury Road, Totton | Att: 1,235
MASONS' AERIAL ASSAULT LEAVES STAGS FLOUNDERING IN LOCAL DERBY
AFC TOTTON 1
Scott Rendell 53mins (pen)
SHOLING 3
Daniel Mason 48mins, 73mins;
Byron Mason 83mins
AFC TOTTON SLUMPED to a disappointing home defeat against arch local rivals Sholing at the Snows Stadium. Three corners delivered by ex-Totton midfielder Charlie Davis proved to be The Stags’ undoing, with the Mason brothers sharing the goals between them for the triumphant Boatmen.
Jimmy Ball’s men were unbeaten in eight league matches coming into this game, while Sholing had won two and lost four during the same period.
AFC TOTTON
Starting Line-Up
1. Lewis NOICE
3. Jordan RAGGUETTE
5. Charlie KENNEDY
6. Luke HALLETT
7. Joseph OASTLER
8. Adam TOMASSO
9. Scott RENDELL (Capt.)
12. Jordan CHIEDOZIE
15. Sam MAGRI
17. Leon MALONEY
18. Joseph TURNER
Substitutes
10. Ethan TAYLOR
11. Matty BURROWS
14. Ashton PICKLES
16. Alfie STANLEY
19. Luke BENNETT
Joe Turner was first to take aim at goal on five minutes, firing wide to the left from just outside the visitors’ area.
Owen Roundell-Prince was shown the yellow card for a foul on Maloney to the right of Sholing’s box. Maloney’s free-kick was knocked out for throw-in, from which Kennedy got to the right-wing byline and centred. The ball was deflected out as far as Ragguette on the left, who struck an angled left-footed drive that bounced wide of the far post.
Ragguette and Turner linked up on the left wing to mount Totton’s next attack, which ended with Turner’s driven effort being charged down on the edge of the area. Sholing countered but The Stags managed to get enough players back to quash the threat. Then, quick interplay between Charlie Davis, Keane Anderson, the veteran left-back Marvin McLean and young AFC Bournemouth loanee striker Karlos Gregory had their hosts stretched at the back. McLean went down under a challenge, prompting appeals for a penalty from the Sholing contingent of fans behind Lewis Noice’s goal, but the Referee shook his head and awarded Totton a goal-kick.
Chiedozie thought he should have been given a free-kick for a high boot against him in centre-circle but nothing was given and Sholing were allowed to continue their attack. The crucial pass from the right-hand side was slightly over-hit, forcing Luka Chalwell to stretch to connect with his head, which he could only send wide.
Davis was seeing plenty of the ball, on his first return to the Snows Stadium since his departure in September, knocking the ball around amongst his teammates as the visitors enjoyed a period of possession inside the Totton half. The Stags pressed their opponents eagerly, although Kennedy was pulled up for a foul on Chalwell.
Leon Maloney demonstrated his defensive capabilities, winning the ball off Chalwell before the young striker could get his shot away after McLean’s cross from the left had been headed out to the edge of Totton’s area, before the game lapsed into a spell of untidy up-and-under football over which neither side could influence much control.
Kennedy, operating at right-back, was released down the flank by Maloney’s pass. He whipped in a low cross but it was too close to Sholing goalkeeper Ryan Gosney.
The Boatmen came close to taking the lead when Tomasso’s forward pass fell short of Chiedozie, enabling Sholing to counter. Magri was undone by the pace of Dan Mason down the right, whose low cross-shot from the byline was parried by Noice at his near post. Kennedy reacted immediately to block Anderson’s follow-up shot, deflecting wide for a corner, which Totton dealt with. Then, Chalwell received possession on the left-wing touchline and clipped the ball towards the inside-right channel, where Ragguette won a tussle with Gregory before clearing into touch on the far side.
Magri made a defensive header from a Sholing throw. The ball dropped to Dan Mason, but Tomasso was soon snapping at his heels and steered the ball away. Turner took up the play and advanced down the left-wing but his cross was headed out for a corner. Maloney crossed high looking for Hallett, but Gosney claimed comfortably. Hallett had to return to defensive duties quickly to prevent a Davis cross finding its intended target.
Turner switched the play from left to right at the halfway line, finding Kennedy on the right. He and Chiedozie played a one-two to advance down the wing, which was interrupted by a well-timed sliding challenge by Byron Mason to intercept on the edge of the Sholing penalty area.
Chiedozie came forward again and crossed from the right. It was headed out to Ragguette on the opposite side, who centred to enable Turner to fire at goal from outside the box and force Gosney to tip the ball over the crossbar. The corner from the right was played in low and Tomasso drove in a snapshot that was blocked at the near post and cleared.
A long kick from Gosney caught out the Totton defence and enabled Dan Mason to latch on to it at inside-right. With Noice coming out to narrow the angle, Dan Mason used the bounce of the ball to lift it over The Stags’ goalkeeper before watching it bounce between the far post and the incoming Chalwell to go narrowly wide for a goal-kick.
The tempo of the game had been raised with both sides looking to grab a goal before the half-time interval. A cross-field ball into the Totton box was headed out to the edge of the area. Chalwell’s shot was blocked by Magri; it fell to Targett whose cross found Dan Mason, who headed wide.
Magri intercepted Byron Mason’s forward pass to end a lengthy period of Sholing possession. He found Turner on the left corner of the area, whose passage to goal was blocked by two defenders. Leon Maloney made a run into the middle and Turner rolled the ball to him, but Maloney’s shot lacked the venom required to beat Ryan Gosney.
A high ball into Sholing’s box caused a moment of confusion among the visiting defenders, though Turner was unable to take advantage with the ball bouncing out of his reach.
Davis threatened, bringing the ball infield from the left wing before unleashing a shot that struck Magri. It looped high to Dan Mason to the right of the penalty spot. He nodded back to the edge of the box; Gregory dragged his effort wide.
HALF-TIME:
AFC TOTTON 0
SHOLING 0
Neither side made any changes at the break. Sholing got the game back underway but it was Totton who fashioned the first opening of the second half. Kennedy’s pass down the right wing found Chiedozie in space. He advanced to the byline and crossed low. Rendell couldn’t get a meaningful connection but it ran to Turner who teed up Maloney; his shot was charged down at the far post and then cleared.
Ragguette was booked for kicking the ball away after he conceded a free-kick. Sholing’s attempt to get the ball into the box was repelled for a corner on the their right. Charlie Davis swung in a high cross that eluded the first clutch of players jumping for it and dropped to Dan MASON to head The Boatmen into the lead, just three minutes into the half.
Totton were shaken. Noice came out of goal to kick clear an under-hit back-pass. Then, a long ball down the centre of the pitch by Gosney saw Dan Mason beat Hallett in the air to feed Gregory, who tried to lob Noice; his effort was too high.
Gosney comfortably claimed a high cross by Maloney from the Totton right but an under-hit clearance presented the ball to Chiedozie, who wriggled between two defenders to get himself into the right corner of the penalty area and tried to chip into the middle. The ball struck a defender’s arm and the Referee awarded a penalty. Scott RENDELL put his foot through the ball and sent Ryan Gosney the wrong way.
Strong hold up play by Rendell brought Ragguette and Turner into the game on the left. Byron Mason intervened with a robust challenge, earning a goal-kick for his team.
Sam Magri’s cross-field pass found Jordan Chiedozie, who was bodychecked by the already-cautioned Roundell-Prince. The Referee gave him a lengthly talking to, before Maloney’s free-kick was headed out. Ragguette collected and sent in another cross to Maloney, who was muscled out of it by a strong arm from Byron Mason. Then, Kennedy hooked in a cross from the right which Turner headed wide.
Ex-Stags defender Rob Flooks came on to replace Roundell-Prince. His first action was to simply watch as Chiedozie raced away from him with a burst of pace. Held up at the edge of the area, Chiedozie laid it back to Kennedy whose high cross was met at the far post by a looping header from Turner, which Gosney watched carefully before catching.
A loose touch from Magri had Dan Mason and Chalwell on their toes but the experienced defender forced the ball back to Noice to kick clear. Charlie Davis was then booked for a foul on Maloney, to the left of the Sholing box. Maloney chipped the free-kick towards the far post but there were no blue shirts close enough to apply a finishing touch.
Kennedy received Magri’s angled pass to feed Tomasso, scampering into the box from the right-hand side. He passed infield to Chiedozie, who showed neat control to side-step a defender and drive in a low shot that Gosney parried at his near post. The resulting corner lead to another, and then another. At the third attempt, the ball was knocked out to Oastler, whose powerful shot was well-caught by Gosney.
A timely interception by Luke Hallett prevented Sholing going through three-on-two, after a passing move between Oastler, Kennedy and Tomasso broke down near half-way. Then, Maloney latched on to a long ball to the left of Sholing’s box and played it across the six-yard box; Rendell couldn’t sort his feet out and the visitors cleared their lines.
George Milner-Smith was shown a yellow card for a late foul on Ragguette, as he tried to advance into space down the Totton left wing. Then, Joe Turner put the ball in the Sholing net only to see his effort ruled out for offside.
Sholing went back in front in the 73rd minute. They won another corner on their right wing. Once again, Davis sent in an out-swinging cross and, once again, Dan MASON was there to powerfully head home from eight yards.
Jimmy Ball decided to freshen up his attacking options by sending on Alfie Stanley and Matty Burrows in place of Joe Turner and Jordan Chiedozie. Burrows soon earned a free-kick for Totton, after being brought down just outside the right corner of the Sholing box. Maloney took it short to Matty Burrows, making a dash towards the right-wing corner flag. His square ball into the box was turned away.
Ragguette played Stanley in down the left, who did well to latch on to the ball despite a two-handed shove in his back from Milner-Smith. Stanley got into the area and squared to Maloney who teed up Tomasso, arriving at the edge of the box; his fiercely-struck shot flew narrowly over the crossbar.
Dan Mason’s flick-on from Gosney’s long kick found sub Alexander MacAllister in space on the left. He brought the ball infield and went for goal, firing over Lewis Noice’s goal. Joe Oastler was then booked for a foul on MacAllister, trying to atone for losing possession to Gregory. That presented the visitors with a free-kick 30 yards from the Totton goal in a central position. Charlie Davis stepped up to fire in a strike against his former club, which Noice had to tip over the bar.
From the resulting corner, Davis’s cross was knocked behind for another corner. And then, it was a case of deja-vu for the Totton fans as, for the third time in the match, a Charlie Davis corner from the right flew into the Totton box and was headed into the net by one of the Mason brothers, this time Byron MASON rising unopposed to put distance between the two sides with only seven minutes left on the clock.
Ethan Taylor was sent on in place of Adam Tomasso, for one last throw of the dice from the Totton bench. Totton tried to attack but their efforts had become frantic and disjointed, while Sholing sat back and awaited opportunities to counter.
During six minutes of stoppage time, Ragguette headed off his own goal-line to prevent Marvin McLean extending the visitors’ lead still further, but come the full-time whistle, The Boatmen deservedly rowed away with all three points.
By Ben Rochey-Adams
