AFC Totton
SOUTHERN LEAGUE PREMIER DIVISION SOUTH | Matchday#39
Saturday 12 April 2025 | Snows Stadium, Totton, Southampton | Att: 1,274
STRENGTH FROM BENCH DECISIVE IN LATE COMEBACK WIN
AFC TOTTON 2
Tom Blair 75mins;
Scott Rendell 89mins
TIVERTON TOWN 1
Daniel Koita 40mins
TWO LATE GOALS from substitutes Tom Blair and Scott Rendell saw AFC Totton rescue victory from the jaws of defeat, having gone in trailing at the half-time break of a game at home to Tiverton Town in which The Stags had created the better chances.
Starting strikers Ben Seymour and Charlie Austin both had good chances to put Totton in front during the first forty-five minutes, with a combination of solid goalkeeping and the woodwork keeping them out long enough for visiting forward Daniel Koita to spring the offside trap and round Ryan Gosney to put the Devonians ahead five minutes before the interval.
Totton didn’t lose heart, though, and Blair levelled the scores with a rasping shot into the far top corner from an angle on the right of the Tiverton box to set-up a barnstorming finish. Then, clever play from a right-wing throw-in presented Scott Rendell with the chance to win it one minute from normal time, and The Sunburnt Assassin duly obliged.
Jimmy Ball reverted to a four-man defence, bringing Charlie Kennedy in on the right and shifting Richard McIntyre into a more conventional full-back role, rather than the left wing-back position he occupied at Taunton Town last Tuesday evening. Craig Tanner returned to the starting XI, together with Ben Seymour and Charlie Austin, with Ethan Taylor restored to his more familiar left-wing role. Luke Hallett, Scott Rendell and Tony Lee were all dropped to the bench.
AFC TOTTON: 13. Ryan GOSNEY; 2. Joe OASTLER; 4. Mike CARTER (Capt.); 5. Charlie KENNEDY; 6. Sam MAGRI; 7. Ben SEYMOUR; 10. Ethan TAYLOR; 11. Charlie AUSTIN; 14. Craig TANNER; 15. Roddy COLLINS; 20. Richard McINTYRE. Substitutes: 9. Scott RENDELL; 12. Luke HALLETT; 16. Luke BENNETT; 18. Tony LEE; 19. Tom BLAIR. Substitutions: LEE for AUSTIN (53mins); HALLETT for OASTLER (62mins); BLAIR for COLLINS (62mins); RENDELL for McINTYRE (62mins); BENNETT for KENNEDY (87mins). Yellow Card: TANNER (Foul).
TIVERTON TOWN: 1. Joseph DUNCAN; 3. Dylan JONES; 4. Toby DOWN; 6. Matthew BRITTON (Capt.); 7. Joe PARKER; 8. Asa HALL; 10. Niall THOMPSON; 14. Jeffrey FORKUO; 15. Charlie CUMMINS; 16. Daniel KOITA; 17. Jamil ROBERTS. Substitutes: 5. Joshua JONES; 9. Joe BEARDWELL; 11. Marcus DAY; 12. Gabriel BILLINGTON; 18. Sam GLEESON. Substitutions: BEARDWELL for KOITA (75mins); J.JONES for ROBERTS (75mins). Yellow Cards: KOITA (Foul); CUMMINS (Foul).
Taunton wore yellow-and-black striped shirts, with black shorts and socks that blended from black to yellow. Totton wore their traditional home kit of all-Royal blue with white trim.
Totton had the better of the early possession, forcing Tiverton into conceding a couple of free-kicks in midfield, before Charlie Kennedy got free on the right-hand side and almost caught out visiting goalkeeper Joe Duncan with a cross-shot that floated narrowly over the crossbar at the far post.
LET ME AT IT: Left-back Richard McIntyre competes for possession.
Richard McIntyre and Ethan Taylor probed down the left flank, but Charlie Cummins blocked Taylor’s cross from close to the corner flag. When Tiverton got forward for the first time, Mike Carter headed out a left-wing cross from Jamil Roberts. Jeffrey Forkuo picked up the loose ball and won a corner on the Tiverton right, which was taken short to set-up Joe Parker for a shot from the edge of the area; Taylor read it and was quickly out to block the effort, charging the ball down for McIntyre to switch the play to Charlie Austin on the right, who fed Craig Tanner on the overlap to earn a Totton corner on their right. Tanner’s in-swinging cross was met by a glancing header from Austin that flashed across the goal before it was cleared.
Tiverton had another corner on their right-hand side, from which forward Daniel Koita helped the ball on to Dylan Jones at the edge of the box. He managed to squeeze a low shot between two Totton defenders but Ryan Gosney saved comfortably. And The Stags’ goalkeeper was called upon again shortly after, to deny Koita from an angled shot from the right. Totton countered quickly, with Gosney’s clearance finding its way to Tanner, who tried to spring Ben Seymour in behind the Tiverton defence, only for Duncan to race off his line and kick the ball away.
McIntyre joined the attack on the left flank, once again, and won another corner for Totton. Tanner crossed onto the head of Sam Magri, whose header was blocked at source. The ball fell to Austin, who blasted over the bar. Then, Carter spread the play from the middle of the park to Kennedy, pushing forward on the right flank, but his cross sailed over the bar, too.
Seymour came close to giving Totton the lead, when he timed his run to spring the offside trap from Carter’s forward through-ball to find Duncan closing him down at the edge of the area. The striker managed to get his shot away and Duncan got something on it, but Tiverton still needed a covering defender to usher the ball away from the goal line. Totton regained possession and came forward, again; Tanner received on the right, brought the ball infield and attempted a low, left-footed shot from the edge of the box which Duncan saved.
A high pass from the centre-circle by Tanner put Seymour in through the middle, again, but he couldn’t control the ball on his right foot and Duncan was able to come out and smother the shot.
Koita found himself isolated in possession, high on the Tiverton left. Without much attacking support, he tried a speculative lob towards the far post, which floated wide. Then, a poor pass out of defence by Joe Oastler gave the ball to Dylan Jones, whose long-range shot flew over the top.
Austin switched the play from left to right, finding Tanner on the wing, who played a short pass square to set-up Taylor for a right-footed shot that deflected to Seymour. He stabbed it towards goal but Duncan swiped it away; Kennedy retrieved the loose ball but Tiverton defended the cross.
FULL-STRETCH DEFENDING: Tiverton Town have to double-up to keep on-loan striker Ben Seymour at bay during the Southern League Premier Division South match at the Snows Stadium.
Oastler released McIntyre down the left, but his cross from the byline was well-claimed by Duncan at his near post. Then, Carter and Seymour moved the ball forward through the middle, allowing Carter to feed Austin on the right. He advanced and played Kennedy in, before darting into the middle for a return pass, but his header was straight at Duncan.
Austin’s persistence produced a corner on the Totton right, via Toby Down. Tanner’s cross was knocked out to Roddy Collins, whose shot under pressure flew over.
Niall Thompson got forward for Tiverton and forced Gosney to parry a shot wide for a corner. Roberts crossed to the edge of the six-yard box, where Cummins appeared to head the ball onto his own shoulder, before it rebounded over the bar.
Totton began to get into their familiar passing rhythm, moving the ball from left to right. Magri stepped out of defence to collect the ball in midfield, and carried it into the Tiverton half. As the yellow-and-black shirts continued to sit off him, Magri progressed to within 25 yards of goal and thought “Why not?”, before striking a well-hit effort narrowly over the bar.
However, despite having created several chances, Totton fell behind five minutes before the break. A high ball down the Tiverton left had Oastler appealing for offside against Koita, but the officials deemed Kennedy to be playing the forward onside. The Divvy No.16 didn’t stand on ceremony, taking advantage of the hesitation in Totton’s defence to race through the middle and go one-on-one with Gosney. The ‘keeper came out to challenge but Daniel KOITA skipped around him to the right and then slid to drive the ball into the empty net from the six-yard line.
Totton tried to respond immediately but Tanner was dispossessed and Koita was soon holding the ball up on the edge of the Totton box and passing to Joe Parker, who fed Thompson on the right and his shot was well-caught by Gosney.
Koita escaped Totton’s offside trap, again, getting in at inside-left to go clean through on Gosney’s goal. However, when the obvious shot to take was to the bottom-right corner, Koita tried to disguise his finish into the bottom-left and dragged his shot wide of the near post, letting Totton off the hook.
OFF THE BAR: Charlie Austin goes close to equalising for The Stags.
Tanner and Seymour combined through the middle to create a shooting chance; Seymour’s shot deflected into the path of Austin, who beat his marker to the loose ball. Duncan closed him down and got enough on Austin’s shot to lift it high enough to clip the top of the crossbar on its way over.
HALF-TIME: AFC TOTTON 0-1 TIVERTON TOWN
Oastler defended an early second-half raid from the Tiverton left, heading out from the middle of the Totton box. Then, Down did likewise for the visitors to repel Magri’s cross from deep. Dylan Jones picked up a loose ball in midfield and advanced before hitting a long shot that some combination of body parts belonging to Collins and Oastler managed to block.
Tanner took up possession on Totton’s right flank and clipped a forward pass to Collins, darting to inside-right. He chipped to the far post for Austin, who got his head to the ball but couldn’t direct it. Austin was then substituted, with Tony Lee coming on to replace him.
A change of approach from Tanner saw the attacking midfielder trying to dribble past defenders into the Tiverton box, but he was crowded out before he could do any damage.
Two minutes past the hour, Jimmy Ball made a triple substitution, withdrawing Collins, McIntyre and Oastler, and sending on Scott Rendell, Luke Hallett and Tom Blair.
Duncan’s long kick upfield came off Magri’s head for a right-wing corner to Tiverton. The cross came in low and was stubbed towards goal by a yellow-and-black shirt; Gosney grabbed the ball gratefully to his chest.
A collision between Tanner and Tiverton’s Player/Manager Asa Hall left both of them on the turf in some discomfort, requiring treatment. The referee added insult to injury by booking Tanner for the foul.
Hall headed out Tanner’s next corner delivery. Tanner regained the ball on the right and fed Rendell, who fired low across the six-yard box, but Hall was there again to hack the ball away.
LEVELLER: Substitute Tom Blair fires AFC Totton on level terms.
Daniel Koita was shown the yellow card for a high boot challenge, as Totton began to boss possession, searching for a way back into the game. Blair and Lee advanced the ball down the right side of the Tiverton penalty area, before Lee’s low centre was blocked. The ball came back to Lee and he rolled it back to the corner of the box, where Tom BLAIR took a touch and fired an unstoppable shot across the ‘keeper and into the far top corner to level the scores.
Totton were straight back on the ball and a swift move involving Seymour, Kennedy, Carter and Blair pulled the Tiverton defence this way and that, before a stoppage in play gave the visitors a chance to make some changes of their own. Koita and Roberts departed, with Joshua Jones and Joe Beardwell entering the fray.
Down intercepted from Magri’s headed clearance to drive a 25-yard effort straight at Gosney. Then, Magri’s pass found Lee on the left corner of the Tiverton box. The striker pirouetted away from his marker and got to the byline before crossing to the far post, where Seymour’s header was deflected wide. Tanner took the corner short to Blair, who went for goal again, but it was deflected wide.
A miss-kick by Gosney landed the ball at the feet of Tiverton skipper Matthew Britton in the centre-circle. With the ‘keeper off his line, Britton went for the spectacular but his shot lacked power and drifted away from goal.
Big defender Joshua Jones — who once scored a late winner for Larkhall Athletic at the Snows Stadium — frustrated Totton’s attacking ambitions by belting the ball into Salisbury Road, shortly before Kennedy was replaced by Luke Bennett.
THE SUNBURNT ASSASSIN STRIKES, AGAIN: Scott Rendell scores the winning goal for AFC Totton against Tiverton Town at the Snows Stadium.
Totton kept plugging away, with Kennedy and Seymour winning a throw-in high up on the right wing. Kennedy took the throw and, after a quick exchange of passes, Seymour wriggled free at the byline and laid the ball back to the right of the penalty spot. Unmarked, Scott RENDELL was the calmest man in all of Hampshire, as he placed a measured side-foot finish under Duncan to put AFC Totton in front.
Taylor and Seymour both scampered back to the Totton left-back position to protect their slender lead against a Tiverton right-wing raid. The away side earned a corner but Totton defended it well.
During four minutes of injury time, Tiverton’s Charlie Cummins was booked for a foul on Tanner, which enabled Totton to slow things down, before eventually seeing the game out for a two-one home win.
Watch JIMMY BALL’S Post-Match Interview
Watch TOM BLAIR’S Post-Match Interview
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Next Up: BASINGSTOKE TOWN vs AFC TOTTON
Southern League Premier Division South | Matchday#40 | Winklebury Sports Complex, Winklebury Way, Basingstoke RG23 8BF | Friday 18 April 2025 | Kick-Off 3:00pm
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By Ben Rochey-Adams
Images courtesy of Harvey Gerring
