AFC Totton
SOUTHERN LEAGUE PREMIER DIVISION SOUTH | Matchday#05
Monday 26 August 2024 | Westleigh Park, Havant, Hampshire | Att: 1,028
HONOURS EVEN AFTER FEISTY HAMPSHIRE DERBY
HAVANT & WATERLOOVILLE 1
Harvey Bradbury 30mins
AFC TOTTON 1
Tom Blair 47mins
HONOURS WERE SHARED after AFC Totton and Havant & Waterlooville fought out a feisty one-all Hampshire derby draw at Westleigh Park on Bank Holiday Monday (26 August 2024).
Jimmy Ball named an unchanged starting line-up from the team that beat Hungerford Town on Saturday. Owen Pelham was re-introduced to the substitutes’ bench, with young defender Logan Laird having joined Shaftesbury on-loan in midweek.
The home side named the sons of two former Portsmouth players in their first XI, in Harvey Bradbury and Alfy Whittingham, and ex-AFC Totton attacking midfielder Leon Maloney, who made the move from the Snows Stadium to Westleigh Park in the summer. Like The Stags, Havant came into the game with an unbeaten record in the league, having won one and drawn three of their opening four matches.
HAVANT & WATERLOOVILLE: 1. Ben DUDZINSKI; 2. Devante STANLEY; 4. Nigel ALANGANA; 5. Joseph McNERNEY (Capt.); 6. Brendan WILLSON; 7. Harvey BRADBURY; 8. Alfy WHITTINGHAM; 10. Leon MALONEY; 11. Callum KEALY; 16. Amadou JALLOW; 18. Joshua COCKERILL. Substitutes: 12. Seok-Jae LEE; 13. Alan WALKER-HARRIS; 15. Reuben SWANN; 17. Mitchell ASTON; 20. Harvey LAIDLAW. Substitutions: ASTON for ALANGANA (45mins); SWANN for KEALY (83mins). Yellow Cards: KEALY (Foul); MALONEY (Foul). Red Card: WHITTINGHAM (Foul).
AFC TOTTON: 13. Joshua GOULD; 2. Joe OASTLER; 5. Charlie KENNEDY; 6. Sam MAGRI; 8. Adam TOMASSO; 9. Scott RENDELL (Capt.); 11. Charlie AUSTIN; 12. Luke HALLETT; 17. Declan ROSE; 18. Tony LEE; 19. Tom BLAIR. Substitutes: 7. Harvey REW; 10. Ethan TAYLOR; 14. Owen PELHAM; 16. Luke BENNETT; ; 20. Marcus DAWS. Substitutions: DAWS for KENNEDY (76mins); TAYLOR for BLAIR (86mins). Yellow Cards: BLAIR (Foul); KENNEDY (Foul).
Immediately before kick-off, there was a medical emergency within the crowd, which the physios from both teams had to cross the pitch to attend. Thankfully, it was quickly resolved and the fan in question was restored to good health, before Leon Maloney kicked-off for Havant & Waterlooville wearing all-white with dark-blue trim, with Totton in their all-Royal blue with white trim home kit.
In a match of several controversial moments, the first occurred within seconds of the start when Totton’s Tom Blair was left needing treatment for a bloody nose after an off-the-ball collision with Harvey Bradbury, who was in the meantime instructed by the referee to insert a pair of shin-pads into his socks.
When the game restarted, there was little in the way of early quality on show, with both teams choosing to send the ball long and the two sets of central defenders dealing comfortably enough with whatever their opposite numbers could launch their way, until The Hawks’ captain Joseph McNerney miscued his headed clearance of an Adam Tomasso up-and-under out for the first corner of the encounter. McNerney was well-placed to atone with another headed clearance of Tom Blair’s cross from the edge of the six-yard box. Charlie Kennedy kept the ball in play on the Totton right but Luke Hallett jumped a fraction too early to connect with the high ball in as it sailed over him and was dispatched by a Havant boot.
CAPTAIN CREATIVE: Scott Rendell shifts the ball wide for AFC Totton.
A long kick from goalkeeper Ben Dudzinski was headed on by Bradbury. Blair hooked it away but The Hawks came back, with Joshua Cockerill and full-back Devante Stanley combining to progress along their right wing before the delivery was turned away by the Totton defence and Tony Lee reacted quickly to prevent Amadou Jallow kick-starting the attack from the centre-circle.
Joe Oastler blocked Callum Kealy’s low cross from the Havant right, resulting in their first corner of the game. Maloney crossed towards the near side of the penalty area, where Lee’s header flicked it out as far as Austin, who was brought down for a Totton free-kick.
A triangle of passes between Stanley, Maloney and Bradbury earned another Havant corner, via Oastler’s intervention. Maloney’s cross evaded the leaping McNerney, who was being closely monitored by Scott Rendell, and fell to Brendan Willson, who chested the ball down and struck a right-foot half-volley that soared narrowly over the crossbar. Josh Gould miss-hit his goal-kick but, despite gaining possession, the home side were unable to capitalise before giving him another placed kick with which to atone.
Blair clipped the ball into the middle from deep on the Totton left. Lee flicked on for Tomasso, who had scampered to the left of the penalty area. He rolled it back to Blair, who aimed a high in-swinging cross towards Lee, inviting Dudzinski to come out and claim the ball from above the striker’s head.
Rendell flicked-on Magri’s right-to-left diagonal, but Stanley read the situation well to make a clearing header, and then chased the ball out of defence, earning a free-kick for a shove from Blair. Then, Charlie Austin was given a brief sight of the Havant goal when an under-hit back-pass required Dudzinski to rush out and kick clear. Kennedy dispossessed Alfy Whittingham just outside The Hawks’ box, but there were enough white shirts back to quash the threat.
Luke Hallett sent a high diagonal towards the left wing. It was headed out but Tomasso intercepted and found Blair, whose one-two with Austin advanced him to the byline until Stanley got across to usher him and the ball out of play for a goal-kick. Then, Magri carried the ball out of the Totton defence before passing forward to Rose, who picked out Hallett on the right. He fed Lee higher up the wing, whose whipped cross was searching for Austin, rapidly arriving in the middle, but a defender got a crucial boot on the ball to send it clear.
Maloney conceded a corner on the Totton right, which Blair crossed high to the near post and Rendell headed over the top. Then, Rendell side-footed Hallett’s cross-field pass on for Lee, sneaking into a dangerous position from the left. Stanley got his body in the way, again, and Dudzinski was able to claim the loose ball.
Rose and Whittingham got to grips with each other as the Havant midfielder tried to advance his team’s cause on their left, winning his side a corner. Maloney’s in-swinger was repelled by Tomasso at the near post. But Maloney regathered close to the touchline and arced a high cross towards the near post, where Harvey BRADBURY got in front of Lee, Magri and Gould to flick-on with his head, guiding the ball over the cluster of Totton players and into the net to give the home side a 30th-minute lead.
EARLY SET-BACK: Havant & Waterlooville's Harvey Bradbury gets in front of three Totton players to head The Hawks in front at Westleigh Park.
Totton took a minute or two to recover their composure. Hallett and Magri got in each other’s way trying to deal with a high ball into the centre-circle, which allowed Kealy to attack from the right before Hallett got back to deflect his low cross out for another Havant corner. Rose kicked the cross clear but when it came back into the Totton box and took an awkward bounce, there was a moment of hesitation between two Totton defenders before Gould eventually claimed the ball.
Magri aimed a long pass out to Hallett on the right flank. His infield pass found Lee, who fed Rose to whip in a low cross that Dudzinski saved at his near post. Then, after a cross from the Totton right was headed only partially clear, Kennedy’s snapshot from just outside the box looped over the bar.
Lee and Rendell combined to direct Hallett’s long pass into the path of Austin, who turned his marker to line-up a right-footed shot from outside the box. His effort was well-struck but Dudzinski was well-positioned and saved low to his left. Austin then had the ball in the Havant net with a neat chest control, tight turn and shot, but the offside flag was already up before the ball came to him.
THIN BLUE LINE: AFC Totton defender Luke Hallett blocks Alfy Whittingham's shot on the 3G surface at Westleigh Park.
One of Havant’s players garnered the sympathy of every man in the ground by taking one for his team to redirect Blair’s cross behind for a corner. Once all parts of the defender’s anatomy were confirmed as present and accounted for, Austin flicked-on Blair’s right-wing corner and it was cleared at the far post. Then, Maloney bent another free-kick from the left into the Totton box, bringing a headed clearance from Magri. The Hawks picked up the loose ball in midfield and shifted play to their right, where white shirts were queuing up along the edge of the penalty area, but they found their path to goal blocked by a blue wall of Totton defenders. Stanley found a pocket of space on the right and bent a high cross to the far post. McNerney out-jumped three other players but steered his header wide to the left.
defender Nigel Alangana was withdrawn two minutes into first-half stoppage-time, with Mitchell Aston coming on to replace him. Play continued for a few more minutes, with Havant holding out to protect their lead until the interval.
HALF-TIME: HAVANT & WATERLOOVILLE 1-0 AFC TOTTON
You wouldn’t think a 3G football pitch required sprinklers, but they do - apparently, the water makes the ball run truer. There were no further changes at half-time, so Totton got the game back underway, and they drew themselves level with the first significant action of the second half.
Rose emerged with the ball in the centre-circle, despite being challenged by two Havant & Waterlooville players, and directed the ball out to the right wing, where Blair had space to run at Willson. He shrugged-off the defender on his way towards the right corner of the six-yard box and, with the instep of his right foot, Tom BLAIR registered his first competitive AFC Totton goal by flashing the ball across Dudzinski and into the portion of the inside-netting just inside the far upright. As one of five former Havant players in the Totton team, and given his painful experience in the opening seconds of the match, Blair indulged his moment with a demonstrative goal celebration.
NOW HEAR THIS: Totton winger Tom Blair celebrates his first competitive goal for the club after levelling the scores against one of his former clubs, Havant & Waterlooville.
Totton immediately went looking for another goal. A Blair free-kick from the right was turned behind for a corner, from which his in-swinging cross wrong-footed everyone in the middle and bounced across goal and wide. Then, Hallett played Rose in at the right-wing byline. McNerney headed the cross away and Tomasso intercepted, before slicing his shot from outside the box, causing the ball to loop harmlessly into Dudzinski’s arms.
Havant & Waterlooville were awarded a free-kick in the centre-circle. The ball was chipped into the Totton box, where Whittingham ghosted in goal-side of Hallett and headed straight at Gould, who made a more comfortable catch than he may have been expecting.
Kennedy won the ball deep in Havant territory, giving Tomasso a glimpse of the target, but his effort was charged down. It came to Austin on the right, who fed the ball back into the middle before Havant scrambled it away. Totton came again, Blair playing the ball down the right wing for Lee to run onto. His low cross was again cleared only as far as Tomasso, who controlled the ball before trying to side-step an incoming challenge, winning a free-kick for a trip about 25 yards out. Lee lined-up the free-kick, from a similar range to the one he scored against Hungerford on Saturday but this time to the left of the D. He struck his shot over the wall and down to the 3G surface, where it bounced narrowly wide of the left-hand post, with Dudzinski at full-stretch.
Lee, Austin and Rendell linked-up through the middle. Whittingham managed to knock the ball wide, where Blair took control and found Lee in the crowded box. The striker scuffed his shot into a defender and it fell kindly for Dudzinski to scoop up.
Ben Dudzinski then laid on the ground and pretended to be injured, while Havant’s physio pretended to treat him and the referee pretended that everything was above board, while all the outfield players in white huddled around the home team’s dug-out for an impromptu team meeting; the “time-out” has already been introduced into Association Football - it’s only the rule makers who don’t yet realise it. Not that it did the home side much good, because within minutes of the game getting back underway, they were reduced to 10 men when Alfy Whittingham was shown a straight red card for a foul on Lee, as Totton were trying to break away on the counter-attack after a short spell of Havant pressure.
STRAIGHT RED: Havant & Waterlooville midfielder Alfy Whittingham is given his marching orders by the referee, following a foul on Tony Lee.
There was a spot of pushing and shoving between players from either side, which caused the referee to have to stand with his red card clearly visible in his left hand for a good 30 seconds before he could actually brandish it at the midfielder. Dudzinski’s mysterious back injury returned, the ever-faithful physio trotted back on and Havant & Waterlooville engaged in their second tactical time-out of the afternoon.
Rose brought the ball forward for Totton and found Lee to the left of the penalty spot, too tightly-marked by Mitchell Aston to squeeze his shot away. Then, Lee chested down a cross from Hallett, hoping to set-up Rendell with a shooting chance, but again there was a well-placed Hawk ready to swoop in and kick clear.
Magri found Austin in the box, and his shot was deflected wide by Willson for a right-wing corner. Blair played it short to Rose, who under-hit his square pass intended to set Kennedy up with a shooting chance from inside the D. Maloney nicked the ball away before Kennedy scythed him down with a late lunging challenge, ending any hopes of a Havant counter-attack and prompting several home fans and players to insist the foul was at least on a par with the one for which Whittingham had just been dismissed. However, the referee was content to limit his punishment for the Totton No.5 to a yellow card.
Hallett had to be alert to prevent the lively Maloney taking advantage of a wayward pass from Magri, within the Totton defensive line. Then, Blair earned himself a yellow card for a late challenge on Havant’s stand-out defender, Devante Stanley.
As the temperature of the game continued to rise, Totton won a free-kick just off the left corner of the Havant penalty area. The ball was fed in and only partially cleared, and it was suddenly The Stags’ turn to queue up for shooting chances, Hallett driving infield from the right but taking a heavy touch as he was about to shoot. Kennedy redirected the ball out to Rose on the right, his whipped cross bending tantalisingly behind The Hawks’ defence for Lee to stoop in with a diving header that flashed wide of the far post.
MY BALL: Charlie Kennedy wins the ball back in midfield for Totton, during their Southern League Premier Division South visit to Havant & Waterlooville.
After a first half in which they were distinctly second best, Totton were now putting their numerical advantage to good use. The increasingly influential Blair won another free-kick on the left-wing touchline, for which McNerney was given a stern talking to by the senior match official. The Stags preferred to retain possession with a short free-kick on this occasion, and it almost back-fired when Magri was caught facing his own goal with Bradbury chasing him down. The former Malta international defender prodded the ball wide of the penalty area on Havant’s left wing. Bradbury retrieved it but when he looked for white-shirted support, there was none and Hallett was able to remove the danger.
Lee forced a corner with a headed effort on goal from Rose’s cross. After initially taking a short corner, Blair swung the ball in from close to the byline and Magri had his header blocked at close quarters, before it was cleared.
With 15 minutes to go, Charlie Kennedy was withdrawn and winger Marcus Daws was sent on for Totton. Blair, who by now had Devante Stanley shadowing his every move irrespective of which flank he chose to operate on, managed to latch onto Magri’s long pass towards the right-wing byline and feed the ball into the middle. Lee and Rendell both had touches inside the box, but they couldn’t work a shooting angle, and when Hallett tried to fire through the bodies, the ball rebounded back off one of them and was soon belted clear.
Rose played Blair in to supply another cross; Austin arrived to apply the finish but was denied by Willson’s block, with the Havant defence scrambling away Blair’s follow-up cross. Then, Totton should have been awarded a penalty; Magri won a free-kick high on the left, from which Blair provided an in-swinging cross that Rendell headed towards goal. The ball struck Joseph McNerney on his right forearm with an audible slap, but it appeared that the only two people in Westleigh Park who didn’t see it were the referee and his assistant on the near side. Play continued with a left-wing corner for Totton, from which Rendell headed Blair’s delivery over the bar.
Havant brought on Reuben Swann in place of Callum Kealy with seven minutes to go. Marcus Daws bustled into the box from the left and chipped the ball over the massed ranks of defenders to Blair, whose side-foot volley veered wide of the right-hand post. Then, Stanley charged down Blair’s flick-on and advanced into Totton territory, until Blair caught up with him and brought him down about 25 yards from goal, within the kind of range that suits Leon Maloney. Gould appeared to be putting a lot of faith in his defensive wall, leaving plenty of space to his right for Maloney to aim at, but the former Portsmouth and Volendam man could only drive his effort directly at where Gould was already standing, making for a routine save.
The overworked Blair was given a deserved rest when Ethan Taylor stepped off the bench to replace him. Totton had to defend another free-kick in a similar position to the last, when Rose brought down Maloney. Captain McNerney pulled rank and took this one himself, clipping Totton’s defensive wall with his shot, resulting in a corner from the Havant left. Rose headed Maloney’s cross back to him; Tomasso quickly covered the ground between them and did enough to hold Maloney off and claim a goal-kick.
ME AND MY SHADOW: AFC Totton striker Charlie Austin receives the ball under the watchful gaze of a Havant & Waterlooville defender.
Daws and Taylor both probed at the Havant defence, before Rendell’s flick enabled Taylor to get an angled shot in from the left that Dudzinski parried low at his near post, before one of his defenders hooked the ball away. Then, Tomasso robbed Bradbury as he threatened to create something for Havant from just outside the Totton box. Maloney found himself surrounded by three blue shirts in the centre-circle before he was dispossessed.
Taylor nicked the ball off one defender on the left-wing touchline, only to lose it again by running into Jallow. The Hawks flew forward but the move ended with Maloney taking a tumble on the right of the Totton box and the referee awarding a goal-kick.
Had Bradbury been aware of Gould’s positioning, outside his penalty area, he might have tried to lob the Totton ‘keeper from distance after receiving the ball from Maloney. But he chose to hang onto it and was soon dispossessed, with Tomasso chasing the ball through Swann and out of the Totton defence.
Totton continued to search for a winning goal. Daws cracked a shot from 20 yards that struck Austin near the penalty spot. Rose followed-up with an effort that was charged down, and when Hallett forced the ball wide to Daws, his cross was deflected behind by Stanley, who also cleared from the resulting corner. Devante Stanley ended the game prone on the 3G surface, having worked himself into the ground with a sterling defensive display. The referee’s final whistle rewarded him and his team with a hard-earned point.
View the GALLERY from Havant & Waterlooville 1-1 AFC Totton
Watch JIMMY BALL’S Post-Match Interview
Watch TOM BLAIR’S Post-Match Interview
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Next Up: WESTBURY UNITED vs AFC TOTTON
Emirates FA Cup | First Round Qualifying | Platinum Hyundai Park, Meadow Lane, Westbury, Wiltshire BA13 3AF | Saturday 31 August 2024 | Kick-Off 3:00pm
By Ben Rochey-Adams
Images courtesy of Dave Haines
