AFC Totton
SDFA SOUTHAMPTON SENIOR CUP | Second Round
Monday 04 November 2024 | Snows Stadium, Salisbury Road, Totton | Att: 463
YOUNG STAGS PRODUCE STERLING SECOND-HALF FIGHTBACK BUT LOSE OUT ON PENALTIES
AFC TOTTON DEV. SQUAD 1
Remus Nixon 62mins
AFC STONEHAM 1
Tyrell Sampson 27mins
AFC Stoneham won 5-4 on penalties
AFC STONEHAM ENDED TOTTON’S HOPES of winning an historic fourth consecutive SDFA Southampton Senior Cup trophy by holding a youthful Stags team to a one-all draw before triumphing in the penalty shoot-out by the odd successful conversion in nine, courtesy of a match-winning save by former AFC Totton goalkeeper Ross Casey.
Due to fixture congestion — with the first team having travelled to Marlow at the weekend and due to face Gosport Borough away in the Southern League Premier Division South on Friday evening — the decision was made to enter a side consisting predominantly of AFC Totton’s U23 players, with senior player Scott Rendell continuing his return from recent injury by captaining an otherwise young and inexperienced team. The instruction to the Media team to refer to the side as the AFC Totton Development Squad was communicated shortly before kick-off.
AFC TOTTON DEV. SQUAD: 1. Max EVANS; 2. Cruz WRAGG; 3. Logan LAIRD; 6. Leo TAYLOR; 7. Dylan ANDREWS; 9. Scott RENDELL (Capt.); 10. Owen PELHAM; 11. Remus NIXON; 15. Will KEITA; 17. Runo AGBERHIERE; 18. Connor BENT. Substitutes: 5. Charlie KENNEDY; 8. Mason REDWOOD; 12. Luke HALLETT; 14. Jack MASTERTON; 16. Hugo RAWLINGS. Substitutions: REDWOOD for KEITA (11mins); RAWLINGS for AGBERHIERE (58mins); KENNEDY for ANDREWS (73mins); HALLETT for TAYLOR (75mins); MASTERTON for WRAGG (77mins).
AFC STONEHAM: 1. Ross CASEY; 2. Tom ANNETTS; 3. Lewis NAGLE; 4. Mat BAINBRIDGE; 5. Jake THOMSON; 6. Ben CLARKE; 7. Tyrell SAMPSON; 8. Alex WELCH (Capt.); 9. Duarte MARTINS; 10. Oliver JENKINS; 11. Jamie JOHNSTON. Substitutes: 12. Dan NGUYEN; 14. Jim ORVIS; 16. Ryan CLUETT; 17. Owen FEE; 18. Tim NGUYEN. Substitutions: ORVIS for BAINBRIDGE (58mins); FEE for JOHNSTON (77mins). Red Card: SAMPSON (Violent Conduct).
Before kick-off, MC Denis Bundy led the 463-strong attendance in a Service of Remembrance in honour of all of those who have given their lives and lost loved ones in war throughout the years. The service was impeccably observed by everyone around the ground.
Stoneham — known as The Purples due to their all-purple strip — started brightly and forced an early left-wing corner, which Totton defended. Logan Laird, who has been playing on loan at Shaftesbury, intercepted a dangerous through-ball and diverted back to his goalkeeper, Max Evans. Then, Will Keita, playing at centre-back, misjudged the pace of a pass towards Stoneham’s inside-left channel and had to stretch to recover in time to prevent the striker running clean through on goal.
A late sliding tackle by Leo Taylor earned the defender a ticking-off from the referee and presented Stoneham with a free-kick within shooting range, about 25 yards out at the left corner of the penalty area, from the visitors’ perspective; the shot was curled over the crossbar.
The distinctively mop-haired Ross Casey sliced his kick after receiving a back-pass under pressure. From the left-wing throw, Remus Nixon received the ball and hung a high cross towards the far side where Scott Rendell managed to get his head to it despite being surrounded by three defenders, but he could only steer his effort wide.
Stoneham won a corner on their left. The arced cross struck Keita in the face near the penalty spot and fell kindly for Oliver Jenkins, who blazed his shot over the bar. When Totton went up the other end, Runo Agberhiere did well to keep the ball in play at the right-wing corner flag before playing a sharp one-two with Rendell, but his cross was blocked.
Will Keita had to come off after just 11 minutes with what appeared to be an aggravated thigh. Midfielder Mason Redwood came on to replace him, prompting a positional reshuffle within the defence. Rendell tried to thread a through-ball into Nixon’s path but Casey read it well and beat the rangy centre-forward to it.
Stoneham should have taken the lead when full-back Lewis Nagle burst down the left flank to beat the offside trap and centred into the box for Jamie Johnston, whose first-time shot with his left foot was well-saved by Evans, who had rushed out to narrow the angle. Then, neat footwork from Johnston on the right-wing touchline enabled him to get past Cruz Wragg and cross to the far post; Duarte Martins headed the ball against Agberhiere’s back and Evans was able to snatch up the rebound.
A moment of hesitation from Laird, as the ball bounced back into Stoneham possession inside the centre-circle, gave Martins the time and space he needed to look up and, spotting Evans standing well off his goal line, attempt a spectacular long-range lob that dropped wide of the left-hand post.
Taylor headed out a long ball and was then quickly involved again to dispossess Jenkins, as the visitors continued to apply most of the attacking pressure. Johnston fired in a cross from the right, which Evans did well to catch high at his near post.
Rendell and Nixon tried to pick a path through a cluster of purple-shirted defenders on the edge of the Stoneham penalty area but were eventually crowded out. Stoneham quickly countered by feeding the ball forward to inside-left where Tyrell SAMPSON raced onto it, advanced into the penalty area and fired a low, angled shot under Evans, who got a touch on the ball but couldn’t prevent it finding the bottom-right corner of the net.
Totton responded by mounting an attack, but it was cut short when the ball bounced up and struck Taylor on the arm. At the other end, Wragg rushed to keep the ball in play at the Totton left-back position, but his clearance was intercepted by Johnston, who advanced into the penalty area and fired high and wide of the near post, with the goal at his mercy.
With Totton’s defence having been pulled out of shape a few times, order was restored by the unusual and unexpected sight of veteran centre-forward Scott Rendell taking up position at centre-back. And the captain made his presence felt by encouraging his young teammates to pass the ball in a style much more reminiscent of the first team. Receiving possession in the middle of the pitch, Rendell spotted Connor Bent’s run and tried to feed him with a direct through-ball, but once again Casey was one step ahead and made the crucial interception.
Stoneham managed to pin Totton back into their own penalty area, peppering shots into a crowd of players only to see the ball bounce back at them. The inevitable shout of “hand-ball” was routinely turned down by the referee, and Totton stood firm to limit The Purples’ lead to one goal.
Agberhiere dealt with the next right-wing delivery from the energetic and skilful winger Johnston. Then, Martins received the ball on the edge of the Totton area. With space to attack on his right, he opted instead to try and curl a left-footed shot into the top-left corner, bending his effort wide of the post.
Intricate approach play by Stoneham on their left resulted in a high, looping cross into the box. Tom Annetts arrived to strike on the half-volley but his shot sailed high over the crossbar, as the right-back hid his face in his hands.
Bent and Nixon combined to attack from Totton’s left, but Bent’s low cross was turned away. Then, Taylor had to get back into defensive position quickly to clear a right-wing cross with the Totton defence stretched.
During four minutes of first-half stoppage time, Martins sprung free behind the Totton defence and fired over from a tight angle on the left — although, the offside flag was belatedly raised against him. Then, warming to his new defensive role, Rendell made an impeccable sliding tackle in the centre-circle to win the ball back for The Stags. Owen Pelham spread the play wide to the right for Agberhiere, who dribbled back infield to return the ball to Pelham. The midfielder played a short pass to Nixon; with his back to goal and a defender marking tightly, Nixon performed a few keep-me-ups, but whatever he was planning was scuppered when his marker punted the ball away.
HALF-TIME: AFC TOTTON DEV. SQUAD 0-1 AFC STONEHAM
There were no substitutions from either side at the break, with Rendell remaining in place at centre-back.
Annetts advanced at pace down Stoneham’s right-wing touchline before pulling back to Johnston. He teed-up Martins for a low, angled shot that Evans reacted well to push wide for a corner. Taylor headed out the cross and Nixon completed the clearance by running the ball through a challenge at the edge of the box and a pass to Mason Redwood in space on the right flank. The counter-attack was on, with Bent shifting through the gears with a dash between two defenders, but Redwood’s pass gave him little chance of connecting with the ball.
A well-timed sliding tackle by Wragg halted Johnston’s progress, at the expense of a right-wing corner for Stoneham. The cross was flicked upward at the near post; Rendell headed out as far as Purples’ captain Alex Welch, whose fierce volley was blocked and diverted out for another corner. Evans reclaimed the ball for Totton from the subsequent delivery.
A deft clipped pass by Sampson put Martins in behind Rendell at Stoneham’s inside-left, but the forward rushed his shot and the ball skewed off his left foot to veer away from goal. Then, Sampson received the ball on the left and dragged it back infield to line up a right-footed shot from the edge of the box. A deflection off Laird took the sting out of it and Evans was able to pick up the loose ball.
Laird played a cross-field pass to Agberhiere on the Totton right. Taylor had made an underlapping dash under the flight of the ball and took Agberhiere’s pass in his stride, but his cross was deflected wide for a corner. Dylan Andrews crossed to the near side of the penalty spot, where Rendell arrived to strike first time. Only pinball wizardry prevented the ball flying into the net, with at least three players knowing absolutely nothing of the part they played in deflecting the ball around the penalty box, before it was eventually hooked away by a Stoneham defender.
Both sides made substitutions in the 58th minute, with Hugo Rawlings coming on for Agberhiere for Totton. Taylor went on a swashbuckling run into the Stoneham area, after receiving Rendell’s pass on the right flank. He went down in the area, possibly seeking an undeserved penalty. As the ball was cleared, Taylor went down holding his face; the referee consulted his Assistant on that side of the pitch and showed a straight red card to Tyrell Sampson. From the resulting free-kick, Nixon fired a low left-footed effort at the defensive wall, which jumped in unison to allow the ball to slip under them, but it crept just wide of the right-hand post.
The Stags made their numerical advantage count by drawing level two minutes past the hour. Andrews took a right-wing corner that was partially cleared, before being redirected back to Andrews, who did well to keep it in play in the right-wing corner. He found Rawlings to clip into the box, where Remus NIXON received with his back to goal but managed to turn his marker and slot the ball past Casey into the bottom-left.
A foul on Taylor gave Pelham the chance to deliver a free-kick into the Stoneham box from the Totton right. The cross fell to Laird, whose half-volley flew over the bar.
Totton were suddenly looking the more likely side to go on and win the cup tie. Nixon’s ferocious shot struck Jenkins in the face, prompting Jimmy Ball to implore Stoneham’s physio to get out there quickly, irrespective of the referee taking his time to assess the situation. Then, Evans launched an up-and-under clearance straight down the middle of the pitch that caused Casey some problems in the opposite goal; as the ball bounced high at the edge of the box, Casey could see that Connor Bent was racing ever-closer, with the striker making a fair challenge before the Stoneham ‘keeper could grab the ball. Bent tried to turn the ball towards the open goal from a tight angle, but a defender got back to clear.
Rawlings tried to drive through a purple wall on the edge of the Stoneham area, from Totton’s right. The ball fell to Taylor, who crossed into the middle and Nixon struck on the volley to bring a brilliant reaction save out of Casey, pushing the ball over the crossbar for another Totton corner. Stoneham cleared it and launched a counter-attack, with Johnston crossing from the right and Martins jumping high in the middle, to head narrowly over the bar, clashing heads with Rendell in the process.
With 17 minutes remaining, Andrews was withdrawn to make way for Charlie Kennedy. And a couple of minutes later, Luke Hallett stepped off the bench to replace Leo Taylor, who was limping after a heavy challenge in the right-back position.
Pelham’s perseverance won a corner on the Totton right, from which his own cross was flicked off course just before it could reach Rendell’s forehead.
Former Totton & Eling midfielder Owen Fee replaced Jamie Johnston for Stoneham, and at the same time, Jack Masterton made a welcome return to the AFC Totton fold when he replaced defender Cruz Wragg to slot in at left-back.
Rendell had by now moved back into a more advanced position, operating behind Nixon. He won the ball high up the pitch and found the No.11 whose cross-shot was repelled by the Stoneham defence. Then, Rawlings passed infield to Rendell in the centre-circle, who swept the ball out to Nixon on the left. Rawlings raced towards the right-hand post but Nixon’s cross drifted too far ahead of him and out of play.
Hallett headed out for a corner from Fee’s free-kick, from deep on the Stoneham right. Fee crossed to Ben Clarke, who performed a neat trick to give himself half-a-yard but then missed his kick. The ball came out to Fee again, who drove in a powerful, low cross-shot that Totton turned away.
Rawlings tried again to run through the defence. The ball popped loose to Bent, who slipped at the crucial moment. When Rawlings received the ball in space high on the right flank for Totton, his cross into the box struck a defender on the arm, prompting loud calls for a penalty; the referee made a gesture to indicate that he was happy that the defender’s arms were by his side, and allowed play to continue.
Hallett had to make a sliding interception to stop Fee’s through-ball releasing Martins behind the Totton defence. Then, Kennedy and Pelham combined to play Redwood to the right-wing byline but Casey caught his cross at the near post.
With the threat of a penalty shoot-out looming, Totton were occupying possession and territory in the Stoneham half. Masterton received the ball near the half-way line and picked out Rendell near the penalty spot. With defenders between him and the goal, Rendell chested down for Nixon to strike; Nixon went for power but got too much elevation and saw his effort fly high over the top.
With six minutes of stoppage time having been indicated, a succession of right-wing throw-ins eventually resulted in a corner, which Pelham took. Stoneham cleared but Totton came back again, Bent turning neatly to escape his marker but from a tight angle, he couldn’t find the target.
Casey came out to kick clear into Salisbury Road, as Totton pushed for a late winner. Then, Nixon, Rendell and Masterton worked the ball infield for Kennedy to bend a high cross towards the right-hand post, but Bent couldn’t get there before Casey.
Pelham and Bent worked the space on the right flank for Pelham to cross towards the near post area, where the unmarked Rawlings steered his header wide of the near post. Rawlings then had a shot blocked after Rendell played him in. He recovered possession and found Pelham, whose cross reached Nixon on the left; a heavy first touch enabled Casey to block his shot. The resulting left-wing corner was headed away at the near post, shortly before the referee blew the final whistle to send the cup tie to a penalty shoot-out.
Stoneham went first, with the first nine-out-of-nine spot kicks all being successfully converted. Former Southampton Academy player Jake Thomson went first for The Purples, with Owen Fee, Duarte Martins, Jim Orvis and Oliver Jenkins all finding the net; Hugo Rawlings, Scott Rendell, Charlie Kennedy and Remus Nixon all did likewise for Totton. So, it came down to Totton’s fifth spot-kick, with Jack Masterton needing to score to take it to sudden death. However, Ross Casey guessed the right way and parried Masterton’s shot to send Stoneham through to the Third Round.
Watch JIMMY BALL'S post-match interview
Watch REMUS NIXON'S post-match interview
Next Up: GOSPORT BOROUGH vs AFC TOTTON
Southern League Premier Division South | Matchday#15 | Privett Park, Privett Road, Gosport, Hampshire PO12 3SX | Friday 08 November 2024 | Kick-Off 7:45pm
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By Ben Rochey-Adams
