AFC Totton
SOUTHERN LEAGUE PREMIER DIVISION SOUTH | Matchday#14
Saturday 02 November 2024 | Alfred Davis Memorial Stadium, Buckinghamshire | Att: 271
TOTTON WIN THE BATTLE OF THE BLUES IN BUCKINGHAMSHIRE
MARLOW 0
AFC TOTTON 2
Tony Lee 4mins, 31mins
AFC TOTTON PILED ON THE MISERY for bottom-of-the-table club Marlow with a two-nil away win in Buckinghamshire on Saturday (02 November 2024) in the Southern League Premier Division South.
Another brace from Tony Lee took the striker’s tally for the season into double figures and put The Stags in control of the contest by half-time. The home side were unable to find the cutting edge required to get back into the game, as Totton extended their unbeaten run to eight matches in all competitions.
Newly-signed goalkeeper Ryan Gosney came straight into the starting line-up for his AFC Totton debut. Luke Hallett slotted into defence in place of Sam Magri, who was named among the substitutes. Charlie Kennedy returned to the starting XI for the first time since his red card dismissal against Merthyr Town in the Isuzu FA Trophy First Round tie at the beginning of October. Young striker Connor Bent, who has been banging in the goals for AFC Totton’s U23s, was on the bench hoping to be handed his senior Stags debut.
Marlow’s No.9 Stefan Brown is the former AFC Totton striker who stepped off the bench to score the quickest FA Cup hat-trick in history when The Stags thrashed Bradford Park Avenue 8-1 on home soil, in the First Round Proper of the 2010/11 competition.
MARLOW: 1. Finn RUSHTON; 2. Elijah OLADUNJOYE; 3. Joshua MASTERS; 4. Harry HOATH; 5. Sebastian D’AVERSA; 6. Alexander SALMON; 7. Rhys HARPER; 16. Joshua SMITH; 9. Stefan BROWN; 19. Momodou JALLOW; 11. Naheer NAWAF. Substitutes: 10. Aaron McLEISH-WHITE; 12. Harvey MAUDNERl 15. Thomas JACKSON; 17. William GUTIERREZ RAMIREZ; 18. Jose SANI. Substitutions: SANI for SMITH (70mins); GUTIERREZ RAMIREZ for BROWN (70mins); JACKSON for HOATH (79mins); McLEISH-WHITE for JALLOW (90mins); MAUDNER for NAWAF (90mins). Yellow Cards: MASTERS (Foul); HOATH (Foul); SANI (Foul).
AFC TOTTON: 13. Ryan GOSNEY; 2. Joe OASTLER (Capt.); 5. Charlie KENNEDY; 8. Adam TOMASSO; 10. Ethan TAYLOR; 11. Charlie AUSTIN; 12. Luke HALLETT; 15. Roddy COLLINS; 17. Declan ROSE; 18. Tony LEE; 20. Tega AGBERHIERE. Substitutes: 1. Max EVANS; 6. Sam MAGRI; 7. Connor BENT; 9. Scott RENDELL; 14. Owen PELHAM. Substitutions: BENT for AGBERHIERE (46mins); RENDELL for AUSTIN (67mins); PELHAM for BENT (85mins). Yellow Cards: TAYLOR (Foul); HALLETT (Foul); COLLINS (Foul); LEE (Foul); BENT (Foul).
Marlow were decked out in all-blue with white trim, so Totton reverted to their away kit of light-grey shirts with turquoise shorts and socks. With The Blues due to play away next weekend, a period of one minute’s silence was held prior to kick-off at the Alfred Davis Memorial Ground, in observance of Remembrance Sunday (10 November 2024).
The home side were first to mount an attack, when Momodou Jallow swept the ball forward down Marlow’s right wing for Naheer Nawaf to chase. Joe Oastler came across to block Nawaf’s cross at source, at the expense of an early corner. Harry Hoath’s cross was punched out by Ryan Gosney, who was able to stand and watch Hoath’s second attempt to cross loop wide of the near post.
Despite a bobbly, uneven playing surface, Totton wasted no time in taking the lead when a Marlow defender slipped in his own penalty area under pressure from Ethan Taylor to present the ball to the feet of Tony LEE, who advanced towards the six-yard box and fired past goalkeeper Finn Rushton with just four minutes on the clock.
Oastler slipped while taking a free-kick midway inside his own half. The ball fell to a Marlow player but Charlie Kennedy got back to intercept a through-ball towards the home side’s left wing and divert it back to Gosney.
Charlie Austin picked up a loose ball after Taylor’s left-wing raid was halted, and picked out Adam Tomasso arriving in the box, but a well-timed block smothered the chance and Lee’s follow-up shot was deflected wide for a corner. Declan Rose became the third player to slip while taking a set-piece and Marlow were able to clear.
Elijah Oladunjoye managed to work himself into a dangerous crossing position from the Marlow right, but his teammate missed his kick at the edge of the penalty area after the cross had been knocked down, and Totton were able to hook the ball away. Then, Oladunjoye played Hoath towards the right-wing byline; Tega Agberhiere got his head to the cross and Oastler completed the clearance for Totton.
Agberhiere won a free-kick on the advanced side of the centre-circle. Taylor floated the ball into the box, where Lee was able to bring it down with his back to goal and find Rose in space on the right. Rose’s cross picked out Austin, who headed wide of the left-hand post.
Lee flicked on a long kick from Gosney to find Rose in an advanced position on the Totton right. Goalkeeper Rushton lost his footing as Rose centred, but Marlow’s fans were able to breathe easy once more when Alex Salmon cleared into touch before the ball could reach the lurking Austin.
Marlow’s Rhys Harper and Naheer Nawaf combined to stretch the Totton defence but Tomasso’s timely intervention kept The Stags’ stable door bolted. Tomasso was the next player to fall foul of the unstable surface, as his foot gave way to allow Oladunjoye to carry the ball forward and cross from the right flank; Hallett headed out. Then, Tomasso got back to clear just as a Marlow player was lining up a shot from the edge of the penalty area.
A left-wing attack from the home side that owed as much to persistence than creativity presented Harper with a half-chance at the far post, but he couldn’t wrap his leg around the ball and it bounced off his shin and wide.
Totton went route one for their second goal on 31 minutes. Gosney sent a long kick down the centre of the pitch. Lee used his strength to hold off his marker and feed Taylor in the box at inside-left; the winger beat one challenge and then unselfishly played a square return pass to wrong-foot Rushton and enable Tony LEE to steer the ball into the exposed right side of the net.
Gosney swatted away a right-wing corner delivery with his big left glove, and then drew a foul from the subsequent corner from the opposite side of the pitch. On Marlow’s next right-wing foray, the eventual cross was harmlessly over-hit.
A crucial last-minute sliding block by Oladunjoye denied Taylor a third Totton goal, as he lined up a right-foot shot after Lee’s headed knockdown in a crowded penalty box. Then, Lee’s hat-trick hunting eyes lit up when a free-kick was awarded within shooting range, but the striker bent his 25-yard effort high and wide of the top-right corner.
Kennedy intercepted a Marlow clearance to breathe new life into a left-wing attack for Totton. Taylor dribbled into the box and then wrong-footed the whole defence with a back-heeled pass to Austin, who fired narrowly high and wide across goal.
HALF-TIME: MARLOW 0-2 AFC TOTTON
Young striker Connor Bent came on at half-time for his senior AFC Totton debut. Throughout the second half, Marlow mustered little by way of goal threat, the only tangible weapon in their arsenal being the long throw of right-back Oladunjoye, whose trebuchet-style deliveries only served to underline the aerial dominance of Totton’s central defensive pairing of Luke Hallett and captain Joe Oastler, with the added support of Charlie Kennedy and the long reach of goalkeeper Gosney’s arms.
Bent’s run from Totton’s run wing forced Joshua Masters to make a sliding tackle that only succeeded in feeding the ball infield to Lee, but his cross-shot was knocked behind for a corner by Sebastian D’Aversa. Rose crossed into the centre where Rushton managed to punch clear under pressure. Then, Taylor tracked his opponent deep into his own half and executed an inch-perfect sliding tackle to continue to keep the home side at bay.
Gosney made light work of catching a high cross from deep on the Marlow right, with two opposition players trying to get something on it. When the home side managed to attack the right-wing byline, Oastler’s sliding tackle swiftly snatched the ball back into Totton possession. Marlow resorted to taking long shots, but Gosney was equal to Masters’ drive.
Marlow midfielder Joshua Smith fired narrowly wide from distance, after taking up possession near half-way and playing a one-two to get within 30 yards of Totton’s goal.
Bent was booked for a late challenge on Rushton, as the goalkeeper kicked clear from outside his box on the Marlow right. Hallett volleyed clear from another long throw and Collins was in position to kick the ball away when Marlow changed their approach and tried to dribble into the box.
The travelling Totton fans had made all the noise throughout the game but there was little of quality on show in the second half. As the pitch deteriorated, so too did the timing of some of the challenges by players on both sides, leading to a flurry of yellow cards and a number of substitutions slowing the game down further.
Totton were comfortable with their two-goal advantage; Gosney saved comfortably when a left-wing Marlow attack led to an angled shot from within the box on The Blues’ right. A free-kick in a dangerous position on the edge of Totton’s area was harmlessly punted into the car park behind the goal.
There was a late cameo appearance for young midfielder Owen Pelham. Taylor had a right-footed effort blocked in the Marlow penalty area, after good work from Lee to pull back from the byline from a right-wing throw-in. The home side forced several corners and throw-ins in advanced positions near the end of the game, but could not find a way to penetrate the Totton defence.
Watch JIMMY BALL'S Post-Match Interview
Watch TONY LEE'S Post-Match Interview
Latest Southern League Premier Division South LEAGUE TABLE
Next Up: AFC TOTTON vs AFC STONEHAM
SDFA Southampton Senior Cup | Second Round | Snows Stadium, Salisbury Road, Totton, Southampton SO40 2RW | Monday 04 November 2024 | Kick-Off 7:45pm
Join us for a SERVICE OF REMEMBRANCE commencing at 7:35pm.
By Ben Rochey-Adams
