AFC Totton
ISUZU FA TROPHY 2022/23
3rd Round Qualifying - Saturday 08 October 2022
MERTHYR TOWN 0
AFC TOTTON 1
Scott Rendell 2mins (pen)
Jimmy Ball’s AFC Totton made the 312-mile roundtrip across the Second Severn Bridge yesterday (Saturday) into Wales, to continue their adventures in the Isuzu FA Trophy with a 3rd Round Qualifying tie against mid-table Southern League Premier Division South side Merthyr Town. Scott Rendell’s penalty after just two minutes put the visitors ahead and, in an entertaining and at times feisty cup-tie at Penydarren Park, The Stags stood firm to maintain a clean sheet and see themselves safely into Monday afternoon’s draw for the 1st Round Proper.
New signing Jack Seddon retained his place in the starting line-up at right-back, after making his AFC Totton debut in the Southampton Senior Cup match at Ringwood Town 11 days earlier. Mike Carter celebrated his 31st birthday by coming back into the team and resuming his duties as captain. Luke Hallett returned to the starting XI, swapping places with Ben Jefford who dropped to the bench. Adam Tomasso came into midfield, with Seung-Woo Yang also named among the substitutes, along with teenager Owen Pelham.
AFC TOTTON
Starting Line-Up
1. Lewis NOICE
2. Jack SEDDON
3. Jordan RAGGUETTE
4. Michael CARTER (Capt.)
5. Luke HALLETT
6. Charlie KENNEDY
7. Ethan TAYLOR
8. Adam TOMASSO
9. Scott RENDELL
10. Freddie READ
11. Jake ADAMS
Substitutes
12. Giulio GIRELLI
14. Brett WILLIAMS
15. Jireh OYEBAMIJI
16. Seung-Woo YANG
17. Ben JEFFORD
18. Yemi Odubade
19. Owen PELHAM
Totton wore their changed kit of fluo yellow shirts, black shorts and yellow socks. Their hosts were decked out in a Juventus-style combination of black-and-white shirts, white shorts and white socks.
The Stags got off to a fantastic start. In just the second minute of the match, Jack Seddon received possession near the right-hand touchline, just behind the half-way line, and he clipped the ball over the Merthyr left-back Thomas Handley to encourage Ethan Taylor to race into the right side of the penalty area. Goalkeeper Jaimie Cogman came out to challenge; Taylor managed to knock the ball past the keeper just before the two of them collided. The Referee was well-placed and had no hesitation in pointing to the penalty spot. Scott RENDELL was calmness personified as he stroked his spot-kick beyond Cogman to give AFC Totton an early lead.
THE SUNBURNT ASSASSION STRIKES AGAIN: Scott Rendell's 7th goal of the season got The Stags off to a flying start at Penydarren Park in the Isuzu FA Trophy 3rd Round Qualifying tie.
Within another two minutes, The Martyrs were claiming a penalty of their own when defender Liam Angel swept the ball forward to the home side’s left wing. Luke Hallett jumped slightly too early, missing the ball in the air and enabling Curtis Jemmet-Hutson to escape into the left side of the area. As the forward tried to cut inside onto his right foot, yellow shirts converged upon him and he went down, sparking loud penalty shouts from the 300-strong home crowd. The Referee waved play on as the ball popped out of the Totton box into midfield, where Taylor thought he saw Cogman off his line and attempted a long-range shot that sailed wide to the left.
Merthyr had their tails up and were soon on the attack again. Handley found space on the left and crossed to the edge of the box, where Ricardo Reed got it under control and turned Charlie Kennedy in the inside-right channel before driving a low shot that Lewis Noice saved with his legs. Reed quickly retrieved the ball at the right-wing byline and crossed to back post, where Andy Lewis got above Seddon to head down, Noice reacting sharply again to claim the ball on the deck. And Noice had to be alert again soon after, when a cross from the Merthyr right deflected off Kennedy, forcing The Stags’ keeper to parry at his near post and gather the ball at the second attempt.
Totton regrouped and began to reassert themselves. Black-and-white shirts repelled a number of crosses into the box and then an attempted clearance hit another Merthyr defender, prompting Freddie Read to unleash a snapshot from 20 yards that flashed wide of the right-hand upright.
Jordan Ragguette’s throw on the left, mid-way inside the Merthyr half, found Taylor at the left-wing byline. With his back to goal, he hooked the ball over his own head into the middle, the high bounce daring Rendell to try something similar but he couldn’t manage a firm enough connection and the ball dropped wide to the right, with Cogman covering his near post.
The game settled a little after quarter of an hour, with a few promising attacks for the home side falling foul of the offside flag. Ragguette and Jake Adams linked up on the left-wing for Totton, but they couldn’t find a way past a well-organised home defence. Taylor’s volleyed knock down in the 20th minute sat up for Rendell to strike but he was charged down quickly, enabling Merthyr to launch a counter-attack that Totton dealt with effectively, despite Mike Carter accidentally taking Seddon out as the two collided in their efforts to regain possession high up the pitch.
A curled cross from Kieran Evans on the Merthyr left wing invited Charlie Kennedy to shank the ball into his own top-left corner from three yards in the 22nd minute, but the defender’s concentration was impeccable and he cleared the ball to safety. Taylor latched onto it and threatened to raid the Merthyr goal from the right, until a strong block tackle by Callum Rhys-Phillips left him winded and in need of treatment, prompting the Referee to call a water break while The Stags playmaker was attended to by physio Andrew Hanley.
BIRTHDAY BOY: AFC Totton captain Mike Carter led his side to victory in Wales on his 31st birthday, even receiving a card from the Referee to match the colour of his shirt.
The match resumed with a drop ball, from which Lewis was played in at the left-wing byline and crossed into the Totton box. Read was well-positioned, having tracked the situation from midfield, and hooked the ball away. Then, Hallett made a perfectly-timed sliding tackle inside his own penalty area to shut the door on the home side’s goal-getting ambitions, once more.
Just before the half hour mark, Merthyr thought they had equalised when a succession of crosses into the Totton area culminated in Lewis heading against the underside of the crossbar. The ball bounced near the goal line and came out, Kennedy calmly nodding it into the grateful Noice’s gloves. As home players and fans alike insisted the ball was over the line, the Assistant Referee raised his flag to indicate offside against Lewis.
Ragguette and Adams plotted another insurgency from the Totton left, the former then driving infield and trying his luck from distance on his right foot and ballooning the ball a long way over the bar.
Seddon was penalised for a foul on Evans in the 33rd minute, resulting in a free-kick close to the Merthyr left-wing touchline, mid-way inside Totton’s half. The high cross was bent into a dangerous area; Totton managed to knock it away and block a follow-up effort, but the ball fell to Ricardo Reed to strike a fierce effort that stung Noice’s palms at his left-hand post as the keeper kept The Martyrs at bay.
Freddie Read played Adams into the right-wing byline in the 35th minute but his pull-back was behind Rendell in the middle. Then, the Referee marked Mike Carter’s birthday by giving him a card - a yellow one for persistent fouling in midfield.
After a period of sustained home pressure, Kennedy conceded a free-kick about 22 yards out, to the left of the D. Alex John attempted a right-foot curler that bent over the defensive wall and then swung narrowly wide of the left-hand post.
Thomas Handley was unfortunate to pick up a yellow card for a sliding tackle on Adams near half-way, in which he appeared to get as much of the ball as of the young Stag, encouraging the home crowd to become increasingly disgruntled. And this remained the case with several minor decisions, such as the direction of throw-ins and the awarding of free-kicks for minor infractions in neutral areas of territory.
A smart one-two through the middle briefly opened up the Totton defence on the verge of half-time with Alex John threatening to pull the trigger, until a combination of Kennedy and Hallett intervened to block and turn the ball away.
HALF-TIME
MERTHYR TOWN 0
AFC TOTTON 1
Jordan Ragguette was denied a shooting chance by an excellent Alex John tackle in the first minute of the second half, after Jake Adams played the Totton left-back into a dangerous area. Within a minute, Lewis Noice saved at the foot of his right-hand post, turning an effort behind for a corner, which was subsequently swung in towards his goal requiring Ragguette to head over his own crossbar. From the next corner on the other side, John received the ball short and drove infield before miss-hitting his shot, sending the ball high and wide of the target.
Adam Tomasso was booked in the 52nd minute for a tactical foul in the centre-circle, as he prevented the home side from mounting a counter-attack after Ethan Taylor tried to tee-up Mike Carter for a shot from the edge of the penalty area that was charged down by the Merthyr defence.
Totton appealed for a second penalty in the 55th minute; Ragguette’s cross from the left of the box struck the hand of a defender but with so little distance between the two players, another spot kick would have been a harsh decision. Ragguette continued to cause problems for the home side. Carter played him in at the left byline and Alex John had to track from midfield again to slide in and concede a corner. Taylor took it, playing the ball short to Freddie Read, who back-heeled to play Taylor into the left side of the box. His low cross beat Cogman but was turned away from two yards out by a covering defender. Adams fired it back in left-footed, dragging his shot narrowly wide of the right-hand post.
ALL-ACTION DISPLAY: The energetic Ethan Taylor put in a hard shift at both ends of the pitch.
Taylor was the next Totton player to threaten to extend The Stags’ lead. Tomasso put him through in the inside-left and he skipped around the first challenge to advance towards the penalty spot, before Angel threw himself in the way to block Taylor’s attempted shot.
Just before the hour mark, Merthyr made the first substitution of the game by sending on striker Lewis Powell in place of midfielder Alex John.
Adam Tomasso put in the hard yards to track the run of Jemmet-Hutson, putting the kibosh on one Merthyr attack. Then, the atmosphere was raised several notches when Kieran Evans got free in the right corner of the Totton penalty area and Ragguette appeared to pull him back by his left wrist to give himself the chance to clear. The home fans were incredulous to the Referee’s decision not to award a penalty, while the Totton contingent - and Jordan Ragguette in particular - thanked their lucky stars that none of the officials had seen it clearly.
With about 20 minutes remaining, Seddon and Read worked the ball forward down the right wing. Read’s pass was shielded to the byline by a defender but Taylor was able to win a corner, from which he delivered an in-swinging cross that Cogman missed with his punch, but the Referee blew up for a push on The Martyrs’ keeper.
Quick interplay by Powell and Jemmet-Hutson advanced the ball for Merthyr, until Hallett and Kennedy closed ranks in central defence to stop them squeezing through, Taylor completing the job by lumping the ball clear.
In the 75th minute, Jimmy Ball sent Jireh Oyebamiji into the fray, withdrawing Jake Adams. And Merthyr made another change shortly after, with Zack Maher replacing Andy Lewis.
Totton won a free-kick mid-way inside the Merthyr half when Rendell was pushed as he attempted to head on Lewis Noice’s long kick. Taylor sent the ball high into the home side’s area. Handley hooked it out and Merthyr were able to bundle forward, despite Carter’s challenge in midfield. Jemmet-Hutson took up the running from the centre-circle, prompting Ragguette and Kennedy to close him down quickly, doing enough to enable Noice to kick clear from just outside his penalty area.
SHUT OUT: Another clean sheet for Stags goalkeeper Lewis Noice.
Ricardo Reed did well to retain possession amid challenges from Ragguette and Tomasso on the Merthyr right. He passed square to Jemmet-Hutson who picked out Handley on the left wing. His cross found Powell in the middle but his header glanced across the Totton goal and wide of the right-hand post.
Camden Duncan was the next player off the substitutes’ bench for the home side, with Rhys-Phillips making way. The Merthyr coaching staff could be clearly heard instructing their players to switch to a top-heavy 3-3-4 formation, signalling their intent to overload the Totton defence in search of an FA Trophy lifeline.
Cross after cross was sent into the Totton box from black-and-white shirted players on either side of the pitch with Totton defenders and midfielders compacted into their defensive third to compete for everything, and Lewis Noice catching anything that swung within range of him. Totton stood firm and were able to counter in the 83rd minute when Noice’s long kick was headed out for a corner on the Totton right. Taylor’s cross was too high for Hallett and as soon as Merthyr regained possession, the yellow wall was reconstructed as Totton players raced back into their defensive positions.
A head injury to Charlie Kennedy drew less than overwhelming sympathy from the home crowd, who insisted he was merely wasting time. When the game restarted, Carter had to scamper across to the left-back area to stop Zack Maher delivering into the box from the byline. The first cross from the corner was headed out, as was the follow-up cross, the third attempt from Handley on the right-hand side finding a black-and-white shirt but the header lacked power and wafted wide of the left-hand post.
Noice’s long kick was headed on by Rendell to play Jireh Oyebamiji in behind his marker, but Cogman was able to close the situation down before the Totton striker could finish, at the expense of a corner. Taylor’s cross was flicked on by Rendell for Hallett but a defender headed out for another corner on the Totton right. This time, Taylor found Hallett directly, the central defender heading over the top.
Taylor held the ball up in the centre-circle as Totton rejected another Merthyr attack, laying the ball back to Carter for the skipper to put Oyebamiji in again at the inside-left. JJ beat his man but keeper Cogman came out to kick clear.
LET-OFF: Jordan Ragguette was fortunate not to concede a penalty during the second half.
A tannoy announcement confirmed five minutes of stoppage time. Merthyr got bodies forward but Totton blocked their path, until Rendell was able to put Taylor through to take the ball to the left-wing corner flag for a bit of respite. He won throw-in near the corner flag, from which Ragguette found Oyebamiji. He exchanged passes with Taylor before both players had shots blocked. The ball came out to the edge of the area for Tomasso to strike from 20 yards, his right-footed effort soaring narrowly wide.
Merthyr came forward again but a bit of industrial welly from Luke Hallett cleared Totton’s lines. The ball came back in again but Ethan Taylor was back to head clear for his side, the attacker contributing to his team’s rearguard action again moments later to clear a cross from the right by Merthyr captain Adam Davies that had eluded Kennedy.
With goalkeeper Cogman now coming forward for every set-piece, Merthyr tried to bombard the Totton box with their aerial threat but The Stags were not for conceding. Oyebamiji posed a significant break-away threat and Cogman had to be alert again to kick clear to prevent the striker profiting from a clearance down Totton’s left-hand side.
Jimmy Ball broke up the flow of the play by sending on Yemi Odubade for the last couple of minutes, in place of Freddie Read whose tactical dawdling o the touchline further enraged many of the home fans.
The tenacious Adam Tomasso put in another strong tackle in midfield as Totton continued to fight their way to the final whistle, the ball popping up for Taylor to try another long shot with Cogman away from his goal line. The ball floated about a foot over the bar in the top-right corner. Before it could be retrieved to enable Merthyr to take the goal-kick, the Referee blew the final whistle to confirm Totton’s progress to the FA Trophy 1st Round Proper.
After the match, AFC Totton manager Jimmy Ball said:
“We’ve been to a place today where many teams wouldn’t be able to win a game of football but we’ve shown a really good side of ourselves to come through a difficult challenge. We matched Merthyr today, fought them for every ball and engaged in the to-and-fro with a team that have taken a few impressive scalps of their own recently.
“Our defensive work was very good but I was particularly pleased with our ability to frustrate them while still creating several chances of our own to get another goal, and not just half-chances, either. As much as they wanted to throw everything forward to get an equaliser, they were never on top enough to abandon their defensive responsibilities and we probably should have scored a second goal.
“Our defenders were outstanding and we had leaders all over the park. There are certain players you look to for authority on the pitch and they all delivered for me today. Every player took responsibility, whether it was tracking back to defend, putting in important tackles and clearances, or wanting to receive the ball higher up the pitch to make something happen or to just take the pressure off.
“We had studied Merthyr extensively before the game, and altered our shape a little to go up against them. The players all did their jobs; I certainly can’t ask for anymore than that. The game got a bit scrappy and feisty towards the end but in all honesty, we enjoyed that. We’d happily have that in every game this season if it means we come away with a 1-0 win.
“I’d love to get Wrexham in the 1st Round Proper, so we can take on the biggest team in the competition and go up against an old mate of mine in Phil Parkinson, who I know from our time together at Southampton. But whoever we get in the draw, if we produce another gritty and determined performance like that one today, we’ll be in with a very good chance. And I’ll be expecting more of the same commitment and application at Bashley on Tuesday night.”
NEXT UP: BASHLEY vs AFC TOTTON
Southern League Div.1 South | Matchday 05 | GlenMex Stadium
Tuesday 11 October 2022 | Kick-Off 7:45pm
View AFC Totton’s fixture list for the 2022/23 season
Latest Southern League Div.1 South league table
By Ben Rochey-Adams
Images courtesy of Craig Hobbs Photography
