AFC Totton
SOUTHERN LEAGUE PREMIER DIVISION SOUTH | Matchday#10
Saturday 12 October 2024 | Snows Stadium, Totton | Att: 1,313
TOTTON MAINTAIN PRESSURE AT THE TOP WITH HOME WIN OVER HANWELL
AFC TOTTON 2
Charlie Austin 28mins;
Ashley Clarke 60mins
HANWELL TOWN 0
AFC TOTTON TOOK ADVANTAGE of their game in-hand over title rivals Merthyr Town and stayed in touch with new Southern League Premier Division South leaders Gloucester City by comfortably beating Hanwell Town at the Snows Stadium on Saturday (12 October 2024).
Goalkeeper Joshua Gould produced a magnificent save to deny the visitors from the penalty spot, shortly before Charlie Austin’s sixth goal of the season, volleying home from a Luke Bennet cross, put The Stags in front on 28 minutes. AFC Bournemouth loanee Ashley Clarke, making his full AFC Totton debut, ran three-quarters the length of the pitch to double the lead with a powerful shot from just inside The Geordies’ box.
Luke Hallett was suffering with illness, so he was dropped to the bench with Sam Magri returning to Totton’s starting line-up. Joshua Owers came back into midfield, while Ashley Clarke made his first start in an AFC Totton shirt. Scott Rendell missed out through the injury that ended his participation against Merthyr Town last weekend. Tony Lee was named on the bench.
AFC TOTTON: 13. Joshua GOULD; 2. Joe OASTLER (Capt.); 6. Sam MAGRI; 7. Ashley CLARKE; 8. Adam TOMASSO; 10. Ethan TAYLOR; 11. Charlie AUSTIN; 14. Josh OWERS; 16. Luke BENNETT; 19. Tom BLAIR; 20. Tega AGBERHIERE. Substitutes: 1. Max EVANS; 12. Luke HALLETT; 15. Marcel MACINTOSH; 17. Declan ROSE; 18. Tony LEE. Substitutions: MACINTOSH for OWERS (66mins); ROSE for BLAIR (78mins); LEE for AUSTIN (78mins). Yellow Cards: LEE (Simulation); CLARKE (Dissent); TAYLOR (Foul); AGBERHIERE (Foul).
HANWELL TOWN: 1. Sam BEASANT; 2. Joe WILSON; 3. Cameron ROHART-BROWN; 4. Dwayne DUNCAN; 12. Rudi PACHE; 6. William HALL; 7. Kamaron ENGLISH; 8. Callum WOODCOCK; 9. Alfie PENDLEBURY; 10. Jordan EDWARDS; 11. Daniel CARR. Substitutes: 5. Christopher REGIS; 14. Emmerson SUTTON; 15. Elliot BENYON; 16. Roderick YOUNG; 17. Ezekial SONUKAN. Substitutions: BENYON for WILSON (68mins); SUTTON for ROHART-BROWN (68mins); REGIS for ENGLISH (68mins); SONUKAN for PENDLEBURY (68mins); YOUNG for EDWARDS (76mins). Yellow Cards: WOODCOCK (Foul); ROHART-BROWN (Foul); CARR (Foul); YOUNG (Foul).
The visitors’, whose nickname of The Geordies owes itself to the club’s reformulation by a group of Newcastle United fans working in West London on a transport infrastructure project in the 1920s, kicked-off wearing their traditional kit of black-and-white striped shirts with black shorts and socks, with Totton in their home kit of all-Royal blue with white trim. The morning’s intermittent rain had abated but there was still a chill in the air.
There was little of quality on show during the early exchanges, with both sides struggling to assert any kind of possessional or territorial dominance. Tom Blair did well to track back into his own half and not only nullify the threat of an emerging Hanwell attack but also win himself a free-kick near the half-way line. But, Hanwell won a free-kick of their own in front of the home dug-out shortly after, from which Jordan Edwards’ delivery into the Totton box was headed wide of the near post.
SKIPPER JOE: Captain for the day Joe Oastler heads clear for AFC Totton.
Tenacious midfield work from Josh Owers won the ball back for Totton midway inside their own half, but when Ethan Taylor tried to switch the angle of attack with a long diagonal pass, he over-hit beyond the reach of Tega Agberhiere, pushing up from left-back. When Tega was able to get on the ball, he played Blair into a crossing position from the left wing, but goalkeeper Sam Beasant — the son of former Southampton and England ‘keeper, Dave Beasant — intercepted before Charlie Austin could connect.
Joe Oastler was penalised for holding centre-forward Alfie Pendlebury, providing Hanwell with another opportunity to cross the ball into the Totton box, but the visitors let their hosts off the hook by pushing while the ball was mid-flight to concede a free-kick and gift possession back to Jimmy Ball’s team.
Ashley Clarke received possession from a left-wing throw-in and tried to work himself into a shooting opportunity on his right foot. His effort was smothered at close quarters, so he redirected the ball to Blair, just inside the right corner of the Hanwell box. The winger attempted a low cross, looking for Austin, but his delivery nicked off a defender and fell kindly for Beasant.
Blair caught Cameron Rohart-Brown dawdling on the ball in the centre-circle and released Ethan Taylor to attack the penalty area from the right-hand side. Taylor’s low cross found Austin at the edge of the six-yard box, but his shot was blocked by either one of two defenders throwing themselves in the way. Adam Tomasso arrived at inside-right to take up the loose ball and cup a cross that struck another defender — cries of “hand-ball!” from Totton fans behind the goal were offered more in optimistic hope than expectation — and Hanwell managed to scramble the ball away.
A deft touch by Austin, from Tega’s pass, enabled Taylor to wriggle to the left-wing byline and win a corner. Blair cut the ball back to Tega, just off the left corner of the penalty area, whose high cross drifted beyond the top-right corner of the Hanwell goal.
The industrious Blair benefitted from some sloppy Hanwell midfield play to win the ball in the middle, once again, and found Luke Bennett eager to race away down the right wing from his forward pass. Bennett whipped in a low cross that was fractionally out of the reach of Taylor, arriving at pace towards the near post.
SPOT-KICK STOPPER: AFC Totton goalkeeper Joshua Gould saves Jordan Edwards' penalty to deny Hanwell Town the opening goal at the Snows Stadium.
Hanwell created their best chance of the game so far when Daniel Carr carried the ball down the right-wing and clipped a cross into the near post area, where Pendlebury controlled on his chest and turned sharply, despite the presence of Sam Magri at his back, to aim a shot towards the top-right corner, forcing Gould to parry wide for a corner. The ball was crossed in high, dropped over the head of one Hanwell player and struck his teammate a few yards behind him. As the ball bounced, players of either side converged and fell to the ground. The referee saw something worthy of awarding a penalty-kick to Hanwell, much to the visible disbelief of Austin, who may have been judged to have committed the foul. Jordan Edwards struck his spot-kick well enough, aiming his shot towards the bottom-right corner; Josh Gould read it brilliantly and got two strong hands behind the ball to parry towards the touchline. Full-back Joe Wilson retrieved the ball before it could go out of play, but his high cross to the near post was gathered with ease by the giant Totton ‘keeper, who then dropped to the turf to take the applause of The Stags faithful around the ground.
Indignant at the award of the penalty against them, Totton immediately had their tails up. Blair’s cross from the right looped over Austin and fell to Clarke, coming in from the left, and his shot was deflected wide for a corner. Blair crossed high to the far post but Beasant claimed the ball confidently.
Carr went down under Tega’s challenge, giving the left-footed Rohart-Brown the chance to deliver an in-swinging cross from the Totton right. Gould punched clear from above Pendlebury’s head, before a late challenge on Taylor just outside the Totton box relieved the pressure on the home side.
A clever dummy by Clarke on the left flank enabled Austin to play The Cherries loanee into the inside-left channel. Taylor made a darting run and latched onto Clarke’s short forward pass, before skipping around one defender and sending in a low cross that was hacked away from the edge of the six-yard box.
SIX OF THE BEST: Striker Charlie Austin takes his Totton tally for the season so far to half-a-dozen by applying a controlled finish to Luke Bennett's right-wing cross.
Having emerged as the more threatening of the two sides, Totton went ahead two minutes shy of the half-hour mark. An initial miss-kick by Taylor was quickly rectified by Tomasso winning the ball back and playing the winger into possession once more, at the right edge of the Hanwell penalty area. With his forward progress blocked, Taylor rolled the ball back to Bennett, pushing up in support from right-back to deliver a first-time high cross. As the ball arced over a cluster of Hanwell defenders in the middle, Charlie AUSTIN ghosted in unmarked at the far post to flash a controlled side-foot volley past the exposed Beasant. The goal was Austin’s sixth of the season in all competitions, which makes him the club’s leading scorer for 2024/25 to date.
Totton tried to press home their advantage, Magri leading the way with a mazy dribble from his own half to mid-way inside Hanwell territory. His forward pass found Taylor on the right corner of the box, who squeezed between two defenders before firing a shot into the side-netting behind the near post.
Defensive tenacity from Bennett and Tomasso prevented Hanwell making progress down their left wing. Then, Gould kicked clear under pressure at the edge of his six-yard box. Hanwell intercepted in midfield and tried to capitalise on a moment of defensive chaos, but the through-ball into the inside-right channel triggered an offside flag.
A well-time sliding interception by Rudi Pache prevented Tega’s pass from releasing Taylor for a clear run at goal in the inside-left channel. Then, a series of up-and-unders ended with Totton winning a corner on their left. Blair’s cross was headed out and looped back into the box by Bennett, only for Clarke to be flagged offside.
Bennett tracked Kamaron English’s forward foray down the Hanwell left and blocked his cross for a corner, which Austin cleared from the edge of the six-yard box, first with a header and — when the ball came back in — with a right-foot volley. Wilson gathered the loose ball and put English into a dangerous position at the right byline, but Gould caught the winger’s cross.
When The Geordies did manage to get good service into the Totton box, via Daniel Carr from a free-kick deep on their right flank, the ball dropped at the corner of the six-yard box in front of the far post and bounced out of play, with nobody in black-and-white gambling on making a telling connection.
During two minutes of first-half stoppage time, an enterprising run by Blair took Totton up the pitch before they opted to go backwards in favour of retaining possession rather than trying to stretch the opposition defence. Taylor had a brief sight of goal after making a sharp turn on the edge of the box, but he couldn’t get his shot away.
HALF-TIME: AFC TOTTON 1-0 HANWELL TOWN
The sun came out to greet the players as they emerged from the tunnel in the centre of the SFS Main Stand to begin the second half, with neither manager making any changes to their starting line-ups.
The busy Carr threatened to break through from Hanwell’s left wing but Bennett calmly shepherded him out of bounds at the byline, for a Totton goal-kick. Then, Wilson hooked the ball away as Taylor was making progress towards the left-wing corner flag; Clarke brought it under control just off the corner of the penalty box, advanced a few steps and let fly with a low shot from the edge of the box which Beasant did well to gather at his near post.
SOLID PERFORMANCE: Left-back Tega Agberhiere put in another impressive display in just his second appearance in an AFC Totton shirt.
Callum Woodcock impudently nutmegged Magri on the edge of the Totton box. Tomasso was on-hand to whisk the ball away on the cover to save his teammates’ blushes and prevent Hanwell carving out a shooting chance. Then, an unfortunate ricochet from Austin’s attempted forward pass along the right-wing touchline sent English away down Hanwell’s left wing, but again, Bennett was alert to the situation and made himself too big an obstacle to bypass before the ball ran out play and back into Totton possession.
Wilson got forward to cross, after Edwards and Carr combined to shift the ball out to Hanwell’s right flank. Oastler turned it behind for a corner, then Magri headed the resulting cross clear for Totton. Blair ran onto the ball to launch a counter-attack on Totton’s right, with Clarke motoring forward in support on the opposite flank. Blair tried to go past Pache, who body-checked him to concede a free-kick and earn a yellow card. Taylor and Blair attempted a short free-kick routine but they weren’t on the same wavelength, and the ball ran out of play for a goal-kick.
A minor scuffle on Totton’s right-wing touchline resulted in Hanwell’s Callum Woodcock being booked. Then, a foul by Carr on Tomasso prompted the referee to make Sam Beasant — the Hanwell goalkeeper and captain — to run three-quarters the length of the pitch to be instructed to get a grip on his players.
OFF THE MARK: AFC Bournemouth loanee forward Ashley Clarke opens his AFC Totton goalscoring account by doubling The Stags' lead at home to Hanwell Town.
Whatever Beasant said to them, it didn’t work. Totton defended a set-piece from the Hanwell right, on the hour. Clarke picked up the loose ball just outside his own box and set off on a counter-attacking run, in which he was soon joined by Blair bursting forward to his right and three other blue shirts supporting from the left. As he progressed into the opposition half with Hanwell defenders falling back and conceding more and more territory, indecision appeared to get the better of the young striker, who neither passed nor took a shot. The ball seemed to have bobbled out of his control as he entered the penalty area, with two defenders converging to close his direct route to goal. But, the bounce confused the two defenders and fell kindly for Ashley CLARKE to open his AFC Totton scoring account with a rasping right-footed drive from 18 yards that left Beasant with no chance.
Daniel Carr flashed an angled 20-yard shot past Totton’s left-hand post, as Hanwell grasped for a foothold in the match, before Wilson treated the crowd to that rarest of things — a foul throw that even the match officials couldn’t ignore.
Blair saw his right-wing cross headed out from close to the penalty spot, but he was able to get his foot in to stab it into Taylor’s possession and manoeuvred himself wide to receive the return pass. He hung his next delivery towards the far side of the cluster of defenders in the middle, where Austin had time and space to pick his spot, but Beasant was equal to the striker’s firm header.
The DJ-inspired music of a wedding reception taking place in the Monarch Suite gave the chanting of Mally’s Corner some much-needed melody, as Jimmy Ball made the game’s first substitution by sending on Marcel MacIntosh in place of Josh Owers. Ball’s opposite number decided it was time to roll the dice — four dice at the same time, in fact — to try and inject some urgency into his team’s performance.
Emmerson Sutton, wearing the No.14 shirt, was the first of the Hanwell subs to make an impact on the game, getting forward down the right and sending in a cross that Oastler had to head clear. Then, Blair and Bennett linked up on the Totton right to enable Blair to clip a cross towards Austin at the near post, that was cut-out by a defender just in time.
Clarke tried to burrow his way forward on the left but found his path blocked; Austin made a well-timed tackle to prevent Hanwell launching a counter-attack. Then, Tega got forward on the overlap to help Taylor create an opening for Clarke on the left. The forward tried a shot, which was blocked, when there were perhaps better options laying in wait for a pass further infield.
HIPS DON'T LIE: Winger Tom Blair prepares to take a Totton corner.
Blair’s interception of a Hanwell pass on the half-way line enabled him to put MacIntosh in the clear on the right flank. Isolated from any support, MacIntosh had little choice but to go directly for goal, but rather than continue into the box and perhaps wait for support for a pulled-back cross, he tried an early shot that he dragged well-wide of the far post.
Daniel Carr’s name was taken for a foul on Tomasso with about 15 minutes to go, before Hanwell made their final substitution with the introduction of Roderick Young in place of Edwards.
Ashley Clarke was booked for complaining against a decision given Hanwell’s way, after he was engaged in a grappling match with a defender as the ball bounced over them on the edge of the Hanwell box. Charlie Austin and Tom Blair were then given a rest, with Tony Lee and Declan Rose entering the contest for The Stags.
Lee’s first contribution to proceedings was to pick out Clarke on the left of the Hanwell area, for the young forward to check onto his right foot before he fired over the crossbar. Then, Magri was called-up for a shove on substitute striker Elliot Benyon, resulting in a free-kick that Carr bent high towards the Totton six-yard box. Gould came out and punched clear but at the cost of a collision with big defender William Hall, which left both players needing treatment from their respective team physios.
MacIntosh laid the ball off to tee-up Bennett at the edge of the opposition box, only for Carr to pick his pocket before he could take aim. Then, Gould came out towards the right-wing touchline to deal with an over-hit through-ball, only for his teammates to pass across their goalmouth with their ‘keeper out of position. Fortunately, Tega was aware that there was nothing between him and the open goal when he received the ball inside the D, and he shifted it to the left before the in-rushing Sutton could poke it towards the unguarded target.
Oastler’s sliding tackle kept Hanwell at bay from a right-wing raid, but at the expense of a corner. An in-swinging cross was headed out to the edge of the area, where substitute Christopher Regis had his shot closed down before it could amount to any threat.
Tony Lee controlled Bennett’s pass from the Totton right with a neat spin and turn to burst between two defenders in an advanced central position, before landing on the turf. The referee was well-positioned and deemed Lee to have taken a dive, awarding a free-kick to Hanwell and booking Lee for his trouble.
PERSISTENT THREAT: Ashley Clarke's ability to run with the ball at pace caused constant problems for the Hanwell Town defence during their Southern League Premier Division South visit to AFC Totton's Snows Stadium.
Hanwell were able to get the ball forward but their service into the box left a lot to be desired, with Carr wasting another chance to hurt the Totton defence with an in-swinging cross from the left that was over-hit and drifted harmlessly behind for a goal-kick.
Tega was booked, possibly for an accumulation of fouls rather than the specific one that enabled another high cross into the box that Gould once again punched clear without fuss. Then, Beasant got himself in a muddle with a miss-kicked back-pass that MacIntosh charged down to present himself with an open goal, before the referee came to the goalkeeper’s rescue with a hand-ball decision against the former Norwich City man.
The 10 minutes of stoppage time indicated is a record for this competitive season, although not entirely unfathomable given that there were a couple of lengthy stoppages during the second half. Hanwell headed wide from a free-kick on their right. Then, Roderick Young was the eighth player to be booked, for his foul on Taylor.
Bennett made a crucial interception from a square pass on the edge of the Totton box, after Sutton drifted infield from the right only to find his own shooting path blocked. And, The Stags continued to defend solidly to deny Hanwell a grandstand finish, with Bennett —now playing in a more advanced role with Rose at right-back — and Tomasso combining to dismantle one promising attack as it attempted to pass through the midfield.
Rose headed away a Regis cross, after Carr found a pocket of space from which to instigate a raid at inside-left. Then, Young got forward to cross from left of the Totton penalty area. The ball was deflected to Benyon on the far side. He chested it down and shot over the bar, although he claimed his effort had taken a deflection off Oastler.
Ashley Clarke had the last chance of the game, running through on the Hanwell goal at inside-left. He went down, claiming a penalty; the referee did put the whistle to his lips, but only to blow for full-time.
View the GALLERY of Images from AFC Totton 2-0 Hanwell Town
Watch JIMMY BALL’S Post-Match Interview
Watch LUKE BENNETT’S Post-Match Interview
Southern League Premier Division South LEAGUE TABLE
Next Up: PLYMOUTH PARKWAY vs AFC TOTTON
Southern League Premier Division South | Matchday#11 | Bolitho Park, St. Peter’s Road, Plymouth PL5 3JH | Tuesday 15 October 2024 | Kick-Off 7:45pm
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By Ben Rochey-Adams
Images courtesy of Harvey Gerring Photography
