The LONG READ: BRACKNELL TOWN 1-1 AFC TOTTON, SLPDS#09

SOUTHERN LEAGUE PREMIER DIVISION SOUTH | Matchday#09
Saturday 21 September 2024 | The SB Stadium, Bottom Meadow, Sandhurst | Att: 407

ALL THE ACTION EARLY-ON IN ONE-ONE DRAW AT BOTTOM MEADOW

BRACKNELL TOWN 1
Joel Rollinson 6mins

AFC TOTTON 1
Ethan Taylor 3mins

AFC TOTTON HAD TO SETTLE for a point against Bracknell Town at Bottom Meadow in Berkshire on Saturday (21 September 2024), despite having taken an early lead through Ethan Taylor’s second strike of the season.

The Robins equalised within a few minutes and, although both teams had chances to add more goals and either side may well have come away with all three points, one-one proved to be the final score.

Jimmy Ball kept faith with Joshua Gould, despite the arrival of goalkeeper Max Evans during the week; the former Gosport Borough man was named among the substitutes. Among the outfield players, there were several changes to the side that lost to AFC Bournemouth in the Servio Hampshire Senior Cup in midweek, with Joe Oastler returning to the back three, and Charlie Kennedy and Adam Tomasso occupying the central defensive midfield berths. Garrett Kelly was given his full AFC Totton debut, while the attacking trio of Scott Rendell, Tony Lee and Charlie Austin were reunited up front.

BRACKNELL TOWN: 1. Michael EACOTT (Capt.); 3. Ethan BURDEN; 4. George KNIGHT; 6. Darryl HARRISON; 8. Anthony CHESHIRE; 14. Joel ROLLINSON; 15. James DOBSON; 16. Joe DANDY; 17. Gabriel GEORGE; 18. Sam ASHTON; 19. Maxwell HEMMINGS. Substitutes: 5. Max HERBERT; 9. Maurice BLACK; 10. Benjamin PURCELL; 11. Jack BREWER; 20. Amari FASHANU. Substitutions: PURCELL for HEMMINGS (45mins); BLACK for ASHTON (75mins); HERBERT for ROLLINSON (76mins). Yellow Cards: Cheshire (Foul); Burden (Foul); Black (Kicking the ball away).

AFC TOTTON: 13. Joshua GOULD; 2. Joe OASTLER; 5. Charlie KENNEDY; 6. Sam MAGRI; 8. Adam TOMASSO; 9. Scott RENDELL (Capt.); 10. Ethan TAYLOR; 11. Charlie AUSTIN; 12. Luke HALLETT; 15. Garrett KELLY; 18. Tony LEE. Substitutes: 1. Max EVANS; 3. Ben JEFFORD; 16. Luke BENNETT; 17. Declan ROSE; 20. Marcus DAWS. Substitutions: JEFFORD for MAGRI (63mins); DAWS for AUSTIN (78mins); BENNETT for KELLY (84mins); ROSE for HALLETT (86mins). Yellow Cards: Taylor (Foul).

Ethan Taylor conducted the kick-off from the centre-spot, wearing The Stags’ away kit of light grey shirts with turquoise shorts and socks, against a Bracknell Town team decked out in all-red with white trim - and straight from the start, Totton went forward and should have been awarded a penalty after just 20 seconds. Charlie Austin received Rendell’s flick-on at inside-left and danced through two defenders before being tripped and shoved from behind to send him crashing to the 3G surface. The referee was slightly behind the play - possibly unsighted through a cluster of players - and waved play-on.

While Totton had good reason to feel aggrieved, they didn’t have to sulk for long. Garrett Kelly showed good anticipation to dart in front of his opponent to win a header in the centre-circle and direct the ball to Joe Oastler on the Totton left. He swept the ball forward and Austin brought it under control to the left of the penalty area before crossing to the centre where Ethan TAYLOR arrived at pace, holding off his marker to thump a powerful header past Bracknell goalkeeper and skipper Michael Eacott.

Bracknell tried to go on the attack from the restart but Adam Tomasso’s clearance set Taylor away down the Totton right. He checked infield and fed Tony Lee in an advanced position, who tried his luck with an early long-range shot that may have caught Eacott unawares had it not been too high.

However, Totton’s good start was tempered when The Robins drew themselves level in just the sixth minute of the match. From a seemingly innocuous high cross from deep on their right flank, new signing Sam Ashton met the ball on the far side of the penalty spot with a downward header, and Joel ROLLINSON stole behind the last defender to side-foot Bracknell back into the game.

Charlie Kennedy cut-out an in-swinging cross by Rollinson from the Bracknell right, at the expense of a corner which Gould made light work of plucking out of the sky before anybody in a red shirt could connect. Then, a well-timed sliding tackle by Kelly was undermined by an unfortunate ricochet that threatened to put Gabriel George in down the home side’s left, until a heavy touch took the ball back to Gould.

Gould’s long kick down the middle of the pitch was headed-on by Rendell for Austin to chase through the middle, but central defender Darryl Harrison managed to get there first and hook the ball out for a left-wing corner. Tomasso played it short to Austin, who teed up Taylor for a first-time shot that was smothered by two red-shirted defenders.

Sam Magri showed an impressive turn of pace to tidy up in Totton’s left defensive corner, after a misplaced pass by Tomasso rebounded off an opponent to present Rollinson with an attacking opportunity. From the clearance, Taylor and Lee were able to force another corner on the left. Tomasso’s delivery was good but Eacott punched it away from just above Austin’s head on the edge of the six-yard box. Taylor won a header on the edge of the box to keep it alive but Bracknell eventually got the ball clear.

Anthony Cheshire, playing at right-back for Bracknell while wearing the No.8 shirt, was given the game’s first yellow card for a straight-legged challenge on Austin, which sparked an angry reaction from the former Southampton striker and several of his teammates. Taylor floated the ball into the box and Oastler headed down, but Austin was judged to have pushed an opponent near the penalty spot.

Tidy feet from George Knight enabled the Bracknell midfielder to break up a promising Totton attack and send the ball back to the relative safety of his goalkeeper. Then, Harrison and Joe Dandy had to keep their wits about them as they took turns in heading the ball back to Eacott with Austin flitting between them, ready to take advantage of the slightest error.

Bracknell were awarded a free-kick on their left, midway inside the Totton half, for a foul by Kelly. Kennedy and Magri both made defensive headers to keep The Robins out. Lee received the ball in the centre-circle and laid it off to Rendell, who played Austin in at inside-left. With two defenders between him and the goal, he managed to back them into the box before a challenge came in from behind to send him crashing to the deck - but, again, the referee saw nothing untoward and allowed play to continue, much to the disbelief of Austin and several others in the light grey shirts.

The home side tried attacking from their left wing. Hallett and Rendell both made clearing defensive headers, then Hallett was called upon again to clear a low cross at the near post. The ball fell to James Dobson about 30 yards out; he spotted Gould off his line but his attempted lob was dealt with by the giant ‘keeper, who had to shift his feet to catch it just inside his left-hand post. Then, Gould came out to collect the ball at the edge of his area when a pass intended to play George into the inside-right channel bounced ahead of the forward.

Cheshire and Taylor rubbed one another up the wrong way while tussling for possession next to the corner flag at the advanced end of Totton’s left wing. The referee intervened to calm them both down but then, almost inevitably, an up-and-under brought the same two players together for an aerial challenge in which Taylor’s left elbow appeared to clip Cheshire in the face. The defender went down, beating the 3G turf in apparent agony, although he was able to continue playing with no visible mark on his face once the referee was done issuing Taylor with a yellow card.

A foul by George on Kelly handed possession back to Totton; the referee kept his cards in his pocket on this occasion. Then, Magri again reacted quickly to prevent a through-ball to inside-right causing any problems for the Totton defence.

Austin and Kennedy instigated the next Totton attack, shifting the ball to the right where Hallett was pushing up in support. A striker in his youth, Hallett dribbled past the defender with ease and clipped a dangerous-looking cross into the box, which Harrison did well to get in front of Lee and flick out for a corner on the Totton left. Again, the delivery was to the edge of the six-yard box, where the ball was allowed to bounce before being hooked out by a defender.

Lee was shoved to the ground on the advanced side of the centre-circle. Taylor hung the ball into the box and Hallett headed down for Lee to strike on the volley, his shot headed out by a defender on the six-yard line.

Rollinson and George found space to attack from the Bracknell left, and a low ball across goal was turned on-target by Ashton. Fortunately for The Stags, Hallett head read the situation well and retreated to the goal line, where he kicked clear to ensure the two teams went in level at the break.

HALF-TIME: BRACKNELL TOWN 1-1 AFC TOTTON

The home side brought Benjamin Purcell on for Max Hemmings during the half-time interval, and got the second half underway. Totton threatened first with a neat one-two between Lee and Rendell, which didn’t quite come off. Then, Lee bustled a defender out of possession on the left-wing touchline and turned to supply an in-swinging cross that Rendell headed narrowly wide of the near post.

Kelly, Austin, Kennedy, Taylor and Tomasso combined to build an attack down the Totton left, but Taylor’s low cross was comfortably dealt with by Eacott at his near post.

The incessant beating of a Bracknell drum from behind the goal at the end of the ground closest to the club house accompanied the same ear-achingly limited musical repertoire of just about every other club in non-league football; surely, even the home team regulars don’t enjoy that unimaginative, infantile racket.

Austin found Taylor on the left, who managed to force the ball into the middle despite not really having it under control. Rendell tried to set-up Lee, but the striker had to stretch to bring the ball down and was called-up for a foul. Then, Taylor picked up the pace to skip between two opponents on his way from the centre-circle into the final third, but his pass into the D intended for Lee was cut-out.

Rendell and Taylor tried to work an opening from the left, but Lee couldn’t reach Taylor’s cross. Then at the other end, Gould demonstrated his aerial prowess again to catch a high delivery at the edge of his six-yard box with two attackers challenging.

Three minutes past the hour, Sam Magri came off to be replaced by Ben Jefford, who took up position on the left of the defensive unit while Oastler shifted into the middle. Taylor got away from Dandy to cross into the Bracknell box, but Eacott caught it. Then, Rendell knocked the ball down for Taylor, who scuffed his shot wide.

A rare miscued header by Oastler had Hallett and Jefford working together to remove the danger in The Stags’ defensive third. Then, Hallett was alert enough to keep the backdoor shut when Rendell’s cross-field pass was intercepted and Bracknell tried to launch a counter-attack.

A Totton counter-attack through the middle allowed Austin to hold the ball up with his back to goal, before rolling the ball to Lee whose effort was blocked by a defender, so too Tomasso’s follow-up attempt. Then, Rendell lost possession on the edge of the Bracknell box, prompting Lee to take over with a pass to Kennedy, who tried to twinkle-toes his way into the inside-right channel before he was unceremoniously dumped to the ground, sparking an angry confrontation and a speaking to by the referee for players of both sides but no penalty-kick.

Dobson forced a right-wing corner off Jefford for Bracknell. Tomasso headed out at the near post, and Rendell and Austin quickly shifted the ball forward to Lee, who was brought down by Ethan Burden, about 25 yards from goal at inside-right. Taylor put the ball into the box but any chance to score was scuppered by the raising of an offside flag.

Taylor and Jefford advanced the ball down Totton’s left wing. Rendell received a short pass infield and centred for Lee to finish, only for Eacott to make an excellent block with his legs, before the ball was scrambled out for a corner on the left. Tomasso played it to Taylor, who fed it into the crowded penalty area. Rendell slipped and Lee went down under a challenge, but once again there was nothing doing from the referee.

Totton had their tails up. Taylor, Jefford and Tomasso continued to work the left flank, before Taylor’s cross flicked off Lee’s fringe and wide of the far post. Then, Hallett was required to head out Bracknell substitute Maurice Black’s clipped ball into the box, as the home side’s attacking forays became fewer and further between.

Tomasso made a forward run to inside-left, where he received Oastler’s pass and shuffled possession to the left. Jefford controlled and crossed from deep, arcing the ball just over the head of Lee. Austin controlled it but his shot was blocked, and Taylor was dispossessed before he could get the ball onto his left foot to take aim from the rebound.

Marcus Daws came on for Charlie Austin in the 78th minute. Then, Black was booked for kicking the ball away after he had briefly been put clean through to run at Josh Gould’s goal from close to half-way. Hallett’s pace then prevented George exploiting open space on the Bracknell left.

Garrett Kelly was withdrawn to make way for Luke Bennett with six minutes of regulation time remaining. Bennett’s first duty was to track back as Max Herbert showed neat feet to get to the left-wing byline and cut-back. Dobson got a shot away but Kennedy blocked for Totton, and in the ensuing scramble, the ball was knocked out of play for a goal-kick.

Daws took up possession wide on the left flank and made a charging diagonal run towards the box, before striking a high, looping shot that Eacott did well to get up to and tip over the crossbar. Declan Rose was sent on in place of Luke Hallett, before the eventual corner delivery was headed wide at the far post.

Daws, Austin and Jefford all tried to build something from the Totton left, but found their efforts blocked by the hard-working Bracknell defence. Then, Totton got numbers back quickly to prevent The Robins capitalising when George briefly got the better of Bennett to supply the ball Into the visitors’ box.

Jefford fed Daws on the Totton left. He crossed to Rendell, who was closely marked. He tried to tee-up Lee, but the striker didn’t have the room he needed to chest the ball down and Eacott intervened to kick clear.

Totton had the last chance of the game, with a move instigated by Declan Rose on the right touchline, moving the ball infield to Kennedy. He advanced to the edge of the penalty area and played it square to Taylor, standing inside the D. He shifted the ball to his favoured left foot and aimed a low shot for the bottom-right corner, dragging his effort a foot or so wide of the upright with Eacott rooted to the spot.

Watch JIMMY BALL’S Post-Match Interview

Watch ETHAN TAYLOR’S Post-Match Interview

Southern League Premier Division South LEAGUE TABLE

AFC Totton FIXTURES

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By Ben Rochey-Adams