AFC Totton
Southern League Premier Division South | Matchday#35
Saturday 22 March 2025 | Reynolds Field, Greenford, West London | Att; 502
STAGS' TITLE HOPES HANGING BY A THREAD FOLLOWING DEFEAT IN WEST LONDON
HANWELL TOWN 1
Giovanni McGregor 84mins
AFC TOTTON 0
AMID THUNDER AND LIGHTNING under the flightpath to Heathrow Airport, AFC Totton fell to their fourth Southern League Premier Division South defeat of the season at Hanwell Town (on Saturday 22 March 2025), severely damaging their chances of catching the leaders Merthyr Town before the regular season ends on 26 April.
Adam Tomasso, Tony Lee and Charlie Austin all came into the team, with Mike Carter, Ethan Taylor and Ben Seymour dropping out of the side that beat Bracknell Town 2-0 at home last weekend. Taylor and Seymour were both named among the substitutes, while Carter was left out of the matchday squad.
HANWELL TOWN: 1. Sam BEASANT (Capt.); 2. Roberto NDITI; 3. Daniel CARR; 4. Taylor MILES; 5. Dwayne DUNCAN; 6. Harry SEASBROOK; 7, Joseph WILSON; 8. Mathew MacKENZIE; 9. Alfie PENDLEBURY; 10. Ryan COLE; 11. Joseph WAIGHT. Substitutes: 12. Cameron ROHART-BROWN; 14. Ezekial SONUKAN; 15. Christopher REGIS; 16. Kamaron ENGLISH; 17. Giovanni McGREGOR. Substitutions: ENGLISH for WAIGHT (35mins); REGIS for MILES (68mins); McGREGOR for COLE (82mins); ROHART-BROWN for ENGLISH (89mins). Yellow Cards: DUNCAN (Foul); REGIS (Time-Wasting).
AFC TOTTON: 13. Ryan GOSNEY; 2. Joe OASTLER; 5. Charlie KENNEDY; 6. Sam MAGRI; 8. Adam TOMASSO; 9. Scott RENDELL (Capt.); 11. Charlie AUSTIN; 14. Craig TANNER; 15. Roddy COLLINS; 18. Tony LEE; 20. Richard McINTYRE. Substitutes: 3. Ben JEFFORD; 7. Ben SEYMOUR; 10. Ethan TAYLOR; 12. Luke HALLETT; 16. Luke BENNETT. Substitutions: SEYMOUR for LEE (61mins); TAYLOR for TOMASSO (67mins); BENNETT for McINTYRE (88mins). Yellow Card: McINTYRE (Foul).
Having warmed up on a hard, dry pitch, Totton kicked-off just as the weather started to take a turn for the worse. The very early exchanges of the game were conducted in the air, where Hanwell Town had a distinct height advantage over their visitors. When the ball was allowed to drop to the ground, players of both sides had to be careful not to let it skid off the suddenly slick surface and escape their control.
Central defender Dwayne Duncan did well to intercept a Tanner through-ball that had Charlie Austin already motoring to latch onto it at inside-right. A stoppage in play while Hanwell’s Taylor Miles received treatment enabled several players to change their boots to pairs with studs more suitable for the conditions.
Oastler and Kennedy both had crosses turned away from the crowded Hanwell box, before Tanner sent in an in-swinging cross from the right that Collins headed over. Then, Tomasso had to make a strong sliding tackle to halt a left-wing raid from their hosts, resulting in a corner that Kennedy headed away. Joe Wilson intercepted and let fly from distance with a dipping shot that was over the bar, as hail stones rained down.
Charlie Austin headed the ball into the Hanwell net from a Collins cross, but the flag went up to indicate offside against the Totton striker. Then, Collins swept the ball down the right for Kennedy to chase. A tackle diverted the ball back to Magri, who lofted it into the penalty area. Austin went for it but then fell to the ground, claiming that he had been pushed in the back; the referee was nearby and gestured for play to continue.
Totton got their first corner of the game on 19 minutes. Tanner’s in-swinging delivery to the back post was met by Oastler, who directed the ball back across goal, but it was cleared before Lee could get a decisive touch. Then, another Tanner cross was headed out to McIntyre, who chested down and struck a half-volley narrowly over the bar.
Magri slipped to concede a corner on the Hanwell right, from which Harry Seabrook headed over the bar. Then, a miss-kicked clearance by Gosney handed possession back to the home side, for whom the left-back Daniel Carr fizzed the ball low across the box without finding a teammate to apply the finishing touch.
Duncan headed out Lee’s cross from the Totton right to prevent Rendell connecting at the near post, but at the expense of a corner. Tanner’s cross found Magri, who didn’t get a clean connection with his header, then Collins went down as he tried to control the ball, and Hanwell cleared their defensive lines.
The thunder and lightning continued, as Joe Waight went down needing treatment and had to be replaced by Kamaron English, 10 minutes before half-time. Then, Ryan Cole and Joe Wilson combined on the Hanwell right to play Cole into the corner of the area, from where he bent a curling shot just past the left-hand post.
Dwayne Duncan was shown the yellow card for a late challenge on Collins, sparking an angry reaction from several Totton players that the referee had to quickly arrest. Kennedy found space on the right flank and centred for Austin to head wide, although the flag had gone up against the former Saints striker, anyway, as more hail stones bounced off the surface of the pitch.
Roberto Nditi showed good strength to hold off Lee, as Totton tried to get their noses ahead before the break. Then, a pass down the left by Tomasso found Tanner, whose cross had the Hanwell goalkeeper Sam Beasant colliding with Duncan and dropping the ball in the middle of his area, but the son of the former Southampton and England goalkeeper Dave Beasant was able to grab the loose ball before Rendell could react.
Mathew MacKenzie picked up the loose ball near the halfway line and fed Wilson on the right, who scampered forward and hung over a cross that Gosney appeared to push past his post for a corner, although the referee gave a goal-kick.
HALF-TIME: HANWELL TOWN 0-0 AFC TOTTON
Hanwell’s groundstaff brushed a lot of standing water off the pitch during the interval. There were no further changes when the two teams emerged for the second half.
Austin got in behind the Hanwell defence from McIntyre’s long ball which arced over Duncan, but it bounced too far ahead of the striker and Beasant was able to claim it.
Wilson demonstrated neat skills to skip through the challenges of Lee, Tanner and Oastler, cutting in from the right flank, but when it came time to shoot he leaned back and sent it high over Ryan Gosney’s crossbar. The home side had started the half at a higher tempo and stretched Totton’s defence again, but Wilson’s cross failed to find its target.
Lee met a low Tanner cross about eight yards out but, given little room to work in by his marker, his underhit shot was caught by Beasant. Then, Magri made a crucial sliding stop to prevent the ball running through to English, who was ready to burst into the Totton box to attack Gosney’s goal.
Kennedy’s cross forced Totton’s first corner of the second half. Tanner and Magri played it short, and when they eventually got the ball into the box it fell to Collins, who scuffed his shot. Then, a free-kick for a foul on Tanner enabled him to centre with a cross that Kennedy headed over from a crowded box.
Magri and English collided just outside Totton’s penalty area, resulting in head injuries to both players. Seymour came on for Lee, and took up position on the right of The Stags’ attack.
Despite his height, Hanwell centre-forward Alfie Pendlebury was unable to climb high enough to meet Wilson’s cross from the right, perhaps partially due to a timely shove by Oastler. Seymour won a Totton corner up the other end, but Beasant claimed the ball from Tanner’s cross easily, before springing a counter-attack that was ended by McIntyre, coming across from left-back to Totton’s inside-right to clear into touch.
Ethan Taylor came on for Tomasso, while Rendell trotted over to the bench to receive new tactical instructions. Christopher Regis replaced Miles for The Geordies. Good skill from Carr got the defender in behind Kennedy. His cross briefly tempted Gosney, who then thought twice about coming out to claim it, but Pendlebury couldn’t capitalise on the ‘keeper’s indecision and nodded the ball wide to the right.
Pendlebury then found himself in acres of space from a long pass by Duncan; Gosney made the save. Then, Kennedy and Seymour made progress down the right before the latter’s cross flashed across the box, a fraction too high for Rendell.
Ryan Cole picked the ball up in midfield, with space to turn and run at the Totton defence. McIntyre pulled him back by his arm, taking a yellow card for his trouble. Then, Magri slipped while carrying the ball out of defence, prompting Rendell to dart back and fill the Magri-sized whole in the Totton defence.
Totton had the ball in the Hanwell net again, when Seymour and McIntyre combined on the left and the full-back’s low cross was diverted in via the goalkeeper and crossbar by Austin, but the assistant referee had his flag up for offside. Then, English should have done better when he sprung the offside trap and spooned his shot a long way over the bar. The substitute striker had another opportunity shortly after, when MacKenzie picked Taylor’s pocket and fed English further forward but his shot was too high, again.
McIntyre got down the left wing and played the ball infield to Taylor, who skipped around Beasant in the box and, from a tight angle, cut the ball back across the goal but too far ahead of Seymour. Then, Tanner put a cross in from the right that somehow eluded three Totton players arriving in the middle.
Totton switched the play from right to left, where Taylor’s cross was dummied by Seymour and the ball fell to Collins, who was denied a third goal in as many games by the feet of Sam Beasant. Then, Hanwell countered but Oastler got across to block a shot from the edge of the box, diverting it wide, before Totton successfully defended the resulting corner.
Cole was replaced by Giovanni McGregor for Hanwell, with just eight minutes remaining. And within two minutes, the new man struck to give The Geordies the lead. Rendell tried to make a sliding tackle inside the centre-cricle but the ball rebounded kindly for the home side. A through-ball to inside-left put the forward into a foot race with Magri, and Giovanni McGREGOR raced in behind before firing his shot under Gosney and into the far bottom corner of the net.
English played Pendlebury in, but his right-footed shot went wide with the goal at his mercy. A corner was given, and Magri headed behind for another. Wilson’s delivery from the right reached the back post where Harry Seabrook went down; the referee waved away the penalty appeals. Hanwell then sent on Cameron Rohart-Brown in place of English.
Totton continued to feed crosses into the box but the central defensive partnership of Duncan and Seabrook dominated. A clearance reached Pendlebury, who was able to hold the ball up and find Wilson on the right. His pass found Regis, who was flagged offside, and then booked for time-wasting when he went ahead and took a shot at Gosney’s goal, anyway.
Bennett came on in place of McIntyre, before six minutes of stoppage time were indicated. Oastler drove forward and clipped the ball into the box; Collins won the header but the ball just looped into the arms of Beasant.
Oastler went down holding his knee, but was able to continue. Gosney began to play as a sweeper-keeper, often taking up a defensive midfield position to help Totton maintain pressure in the Hanwell half. Then, from a right-wing corner, Gosney went forward and actually got his head to Tanner’s cross. Duncan nodded it out as far as Magri, who sent the ball back into the box. Beasant didn’t get a clean punch on it, and a defender had to clear off the line as Hanwell scrambled to protect their slender lead. Totton barely had time to rue the missed chance before the final whistle brought the contest to an end.
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Next Up: AFC TOTTON vs DORCHESTER TOWN
Southern League Premier Division South | Matchday#36 | Snows Stadium, Salisbury Road, Totton, Southampton SO40 2RW | Saturday 22 March 2025 | Kick-Off 3:00pm
By Ben Rochey-Adams
