AFC Totton
HAMPSHIRE SENIOR CUP | SECOND ROUND
Tuesday 17 September 2024 | Snows Stadium, Totton | Att: 309
YOUNG CHERRIES KNOCK STAGS OUT OF HAMPSHIRE CUP
AFC TOTTON 1
Charlie Austin 90+4mins
AFC BOURNEMOUTH 4
Jonny Stuttle 13mins;
Koby Motto 55mins;
Ash Clarke 60mins, 77mins.
AFC TOTTON’S RECENT RUN of poor form continued with their elimination from the Hampshire Senior Cup at the Second Round stage at the hands of AFC Bournemouth on Tuesday night (17 September 2024).
The defeat means that The Stags have won only one of their last six matches in all competitions, in a run that has also seen them knocked out of the Emirates FA Cup but still sitting pretty at the top of the Southern League Premier Division South table.
Manager Jimmy Ball made several changes from the side that lost at Dorchester Town at the weekend, with Ben Jefford making his first appearance of the season and taking the captain’s armband. Harvey Rew came in for his first start, as did Marcel McIntosh and Luke Bennett. Ethan Taylor and Marcus Daws also came into the starting line-up, having both featured from the bench at The Avenue on Saturday.
AFC TOTTON: 13. Joshua GOULD; 3. Ben JEFFORD (Capt.); 6. Sam MAGRI; 7. Harvey REW; 10. Ethan TAYLOR; 12. Luke HALLETT; 14. Joshua OWERS; 15. Marcel McINTOSH; 16. Luke BENNETT; 19. Tom BLAIR; 20. Marcus DAWS. Substitutes: 2. Joseph OASTLER; 5. Charlie KENNEDY; 11. Charlie AUSTIN; 17. Declan ROSE; 18. Tony LEE. Substitutions: ROSE for HALLETT (45mins); OASTLER for OWERS (45mins); KENNEDY for TAYLOR (45mins); LEE for JEFFORD (45mins); AUSTIN for BLAIR (75mins). Yellow Cards: OWERS (Foul); HALLETT (Kicking Ball Away); LEE (Foul).
AFC BOURNEMOUTH: 1. Cal McKENNA; 2. Koby MOTTOH; 3. Karlos GREGORY; 4. Toure WILLIAMS; 5. Harold WILLIAM; 6. Max KINSEY (Capt.); 7. Ash CLARKE; 8. Lewis BROWN; 9. Jonny STUTTLE; 10. Ben WINTERBURN; 11. Remy REES-DOTTIN. Substitutes: 12. Coby SMALL; 13. Mack ALLAN; 14. Jonny DAY; 15. Josh SALMON; 16. Balraj LANDA. Substitutions: SMALL for GREGORY (63mins); LANDA for WINTERBURN (63mins); DAY for STUTTLE (87mins); SALMON for MOTTOH (87mins).
Totton wore their cup kit of light blue shirts, dark blue short and light blue socks. AFC Bournemouth, whose team consisted largely of Under-23 players, wore their club’s home kit of red-and-black striped shirts, with black shorts and socks.
The home side came close to taking the lead within the first two minutes under somewhat fortuitous circumstances when Harvey Rew controlled a long kick from goalkeeper Josh Gould on the left touchline, near the half-way line and in front of the SFS Main Stand. He tried to lay the ball back to Ben Jefford but under-hit his pass, prompting the left-back to rush a clearance under pressure from an opponent. The ball flew into the inside-left channel and caught the defender flat-footed, enabling Ethan Taylor to get into the box and set himself for a shot that flashed narrowly beyond the far post.
Bournemouth’s players looked very neat and tidy in possession, able to play their way out of defence despite Totton’s willingness to press and eagerness to steal the ball high up the pitch. On the first occasion that Luke Hallett was able to benefit from a rushed ball out of The Cherries’ defensive line, Marcus Daws briefly threatened down the left but was soon crowded out by a plethora of red-and-black stripes.
Marcel Macintosh managed to get to the right-wing byline and centre with a low ball into the box. Joe Oastler intercepted the defender’s clearance but Totton couldn’t capitalise. Then, Josh Owers crossed from the right touchline and the ball bounced over the defender marking Daws, but a moment’s hesitation from the former Dorchester winger proved fatal and the chance was quashed.
An attack down Bournemouth’s right wing produced a cross that was headed down at the far side for Lewis Brown - who had a short stint on loan at AFC Totton last season - to strike, stinging Gould’s palms before the giant ‘keeper grabbed the ball at the second attempt.
Koby Mottoh was enjoying freedom on the Cherries’ right and proving to be a potent attacking threat. His low, angled cross was turned away by a recovering Stags defender as far as the edge of the area, only serving to tee-up Brown for another shot that he blasted wide to the right.
But the writing was on the wall and it was no surprise to see Bournemouth go ahead in similar fashion just a few minutes later. After moving the ball across their own defence from a right-wing throw in their own half, captain Max Kinsey stepped forward and played a low pass into the centre-circle. Three of his teammates exchanged passes before the ball left the circle but when it did, Mottoh was in the clear down the right flank with Totton again chasing back towards their own goal. Mottoh saw he had runners arriving in the middle and, with a composed, accurate low pass, presented Jonny STUTTLE with the opportunity to sweep The Cherries into the lead with a firm swipe of his left instep from a yard left of the penalty spot.
Totton tried to hit straight back, Daws lifting the ball into the box where it was allowed to bounce, causing confusion between two defenders of which McIntosh tried to take advantage but an awkward bounce saw the ball escape his control. Although Totton still managed to force a corner on the right, the visitors cleared.
Daws, operating on the left for Totton, constantly had two defenders to contend with, but he did well to wriggle free at the byline and supply a cross that was a fraction too high for Sam Magri. The big defender retrieved the ball on the far side and fed Luke Bennett, whose cross hit a defender to give Taylor the chance to try an acrobatic over-head volley that wasn’t far away from finding the top-right corner.
McIntosh charged through a couple of challenges as he advanced directly down the middle of the pitch but having done the hard part, his lay-off to Daws wrong-footed his teammate and let Bournemouth off the hook. Then, Brown was alert to Gould’s pass into midfield, intended for Rew, whose pocket he picked but he couldn’t get the trajectory right to lob Gould.
Daws continued to find himself double-marked on the left, but Tom Blair was able to provide some service from the right-hand side, prompting a penalty box scramble that ended with Taylor being called up for a foul.
Impressively quick, precise passing at the back saw Bournemouth weave their way out of a high Totton press, only for the move to lose all momentum when a wayward pass in midfield sent the ball harmlessly through to Gould. Then, a cross-field diagonal pass arced over Jefford to put Mottoh in again, the winger in the No.2 shirt taking one touch to control before jinking infield to strike at goal. Jefford managed to get something on it to deflect and the ball fell to Ben Winterburn - another former Totton loanee - who couldn’t sort his feet out quickly enough to unleash a shot from 18 yards.
Josh Owers was shown a yellow card in the 26th minute for a foul just in front of the Bournemouth dug-out. Then, Winterburn did well to nick the ball over Magri and run in-behind. His low cross was cleared as far as Mottoh, whose follow-up shot took a nick off Hallett before Totton cleared in the ensuing flurry of arms and legs.
Bennett’s high cross from the right was headed back across goal by Daws, but the flight of the ball wrong-footed Taylor who was arriving at pace. Mottoh again raided from the right-hand side, his shot deflecting off a light blue shirt and falling to Ash Clarke, who fired into the side-netting behind the left-hand post from close range.
Luke Hallett picked up a booking for kicking the ball away after conceding a free-kick near the half-way line. Then, when Bennett was awarded a free-kick mid-way inside the visitors’ half, Blair’s floated delivery was headed away before Magri could get a solid connection.
Hesitation between two Bournemouth defenders allowed Daws to escape to the byline and deliver a low cross, which took a partial deflection on its way to Blair, arriving from the right of the box. He danced between two players and unleashed a fierce right-foot shot, which Cal McKenna parried with two strong hands before the loose ball was cleared upfield.
Already on a yellow card, Owers had his head in his hands while the referee assessed the damage to his opponent of his latest transgression. The match official was lenient, though, opting to give the midfielder a talking to rather than issuing what would have been his second red card of this still fledgling 2024/25 season.
HALF-TIME: AFC TOTTON 0-1 AFC BOURNEMOUTH
Jimmy Ball made four changes at the break, bringing off Hallett, Owers, Taylor and Jefford to be replaced by Declan Rose, Joe Oastler, Charlie Kennedy - who took the captain’s armband - and striker Tony Lee.
McIntosh was the first to mount a promising threat from Totton’s right but his cross eluded everyone in the penalty area. Then, a quickly-taken throw-in put McIntosh in on the right, again, and this time he picked out Rew, arriving in the D, who shifted it left for Daws to strike, pulling a smart save from McKenna.
Totton threatened again but the offside flag went up as Daws’ cross reached Tony Lee within finishing range. Then, neat ball control and a tight turn from Lee in the centre enabled him to release Daws into the inside-left channel, but his cross-shot was shuffled away by The Cherries’ defence.
Just as Totton were beginning to assert themselves with several more senior players now on the pitch, Bournemouth responded by doubling their advantage. Kinsey was allowed the freedom of the New Forest to bring the ball out of defence and his well-measured pass to the inside-left channel invited Remy Rees-Dottin to a play a first-time pass to the near side of the penalty spot where the impressive Koby MOTTOH finished inside the near post.
Magri had to stoop to head clear from around the penalty spot, as Bournemouth attacked from their right. Then, on the hour, the visitors went three-up when Stuttle peeled off the left to receive a forward pass. He shifted the ball to his right foot as he advanced into a more central position and fired a shot on-target. Gould did well to get both hands to it but could parry into the path of Ash CLARKE who managed to contort his body into the required shape to connect his right instep with the high rebound and redirect to into the net.
Bournemouth were running rampant and only a late intervention by McIntosh prevented Clarke from breaking the offside trap and racing clear through on goal.
Kennedy and McIntosh won a corner on Totton’s right, which New delivered high to the far side and Magri headed at goal, sending the ball looping over the right-hand upright. Then, a deflected shot by McIntosh fell to Daws in space on the left, whose own effort was deflected wide of the near post, before McKenna claimed the corner delivery.
Blair and Bennett combined down the Totton right; Bennett’s cross was flicked away as Lee challenged for it. Then, a clever pass by Rew sent Daws racing towards the left-wing byline, closely attended to by a defender. Daws appeared to get the better of his man, advanced infield along the byline and checked back before hitting the deck. Totton appealed for a penalty but the referee waved play on, prompting a Bournemouth counter-attack that Bennett eventually dismantled.
Kennedy brought the ball down near centre-field and squared to Rew, who found Daws on the left again, sending the winger into the box to shoot narrowly wide of the near post.
With 15 minutes to go, Tom Blair was withdrawn to make way for Charlie Austin, who came close to signing for AFC Bournemouth from Poole Town before his original move to Swindon Town in 2009.
Tony Lee was booked for going in late on McKenna, after the goalkeeper had come out to intercept a low cross from the Totton left. Declan Rose fired one over the frame of the goal with a 25-yard snapshot, after bustling his way past an opponent, left of centre.
Goal number four for Bournemouth came in the 77th minute. Stuttle controlled the ball in the middle of the pitch and spread the play wide right to Mottoh. His high cross was over-hit but kept in play at the left-wing byline, and although Totton cleared the initial danger, a header in midfield sent the ball back into the box where Rees-Dottin’s cushioned header enabled Ash CLARKE to hook it past Gould for his second goal of the night.
Stuttle found himself in the clear to attack the Totton box from the left-hand side, but could only steer his shot high and wide of the far post. Then, Tony Lee was brought off the pitch as a precaution, with Totton already having made all five of their permitted substitutions.
The visitors made a couple of late substitutions, as the cup-tie - already over as a contest - petered out. Totton claimed a consolation goal with what proved to be the last kick of the game. McIntosh ran onto a cross-field pass from Daws to win a corner on the right. Rew’s delivery was pushed over the bar by McKenna for another corner on the opposite flank. McIntosh’s cross to the far side was headed down by Magri to spark a flurry of arms and legs worthy of a Hanna Barbera cartoon; Charlie AUSTIN poked the loose ball under McKenna - taking his personal goals tally to four-in-four - before the referee decided that enough was enough.
Watch JIMMY BALL’S Post-Match Interview
Next Up: BRACKNELL TOWN vs AFC TOTTON
Southern League Premier Division South | Matchday#09 | The SB Stadium, Bottom Meadow, Sandhurst Memorial Park, Yorktown Road, Sandhurst, Berkshire GU47 9AH | Saturday 21 September 2024 | Kick-Off at 3:00pm
LIVE Commentary via StagsRadio on X
By Ben Rochey-Adams
