AFC Totton
SOUTHERN LEAGUE PREMIER DIVISION SOUTH | Matchday#11
Tuesday 15 October 2024 | Bolitho Park, Plymouth | Att: 327
TWO-GOAL TONY PLUNDERS THE POINTS AT PRECIPITOUS PARKWAY
PLYMOUTH PARKWAY 1
Dylan Jones 50mins
AFC TOTTON 2
Tony Lee 1min, 39mins
TWO GOALS FROM TONY LEE secured a valuable away win on a cold, wet night in Devon, despite a spirited second-half display from a Plymouth Parkway side still searching for their first Southern League Premier Division South win of the season on Tuesday (15 October 2024).
Totton had already had a penalty shout turned down when Lee headed home from Tom Blair’s right-wing corner in the first minute of the game. Then, Lee struck again, controlling on his chest and firing high into the net after Parkway goalkeeper Harrison Lee had parried the striker’s headed effort from another corner, six minutes before the break.
Plymouth rallied with a vastly-improved second-half performance, and pulled themselves back into the game on 50 minutes through Dylan Jones’s conversion of a Frankie Monk centre. The home side threatened to get something from the game but Totton fought to the last and came away with an important victory under difficult conditions.
Jimmy Ball named an unchanged back four, with new signing Roddy Collins — whose registration was completed on the morning of the game — coming into midfield and Tony Lee leading the line up front. Josh Owers and Charlie Austin dropped to The Stags’ bench.
PLYMOUTH PARKWAY: 1. Harrison LEE; 2. Thomas DEAN; 5. Taylor SCARFF; 6. Shane WHITE (Capt.); 8. Callum HALL; 9. Frankie MONK; 10. Rio GARSIDE; 11. Dylan JONES; 14. Mitchel BEARDMORE; 16. Jack ENDACOTT; 20. Carlo GARSIDE. Substitutes: 3. Charlie STEVENS; 12. Gene PRICE; 13. Ewan GRIFFITHS; 18. Joseph WRAGG; 19. James WATTS-BARCIELA. Substitutions: WRAGG for C.GARSIDE (46mins); WATTS-BARCIELA for MONK (83mins).. Yellow Cards: DEAN (Foul); HALL (Foul).
AFC TOTTON: 13. Joshua GOULD; 2. Joe OASTLER (Capt.); 5. Roddy COLLINS; 6. Sam MAGRI; 7. Ashley CLARKE; 8. Adam TOMASSO; 10. Ethan TAYLOR; 16. Luke BENNETT; 18. Tony LEE; 19. Tom BLAIR; 20. Tega AGBERHIERE. Substitutes: 11. Charlie AUSTIN; 12. Luke HALLETT; 14. Joshua OWERS; 15. Marcel MACINTOSH; 17. Declan ROSE. Substitutions: AUSTIN for CLARKE (46mins); OWERS for LEE (63mins); MACINTOSH for BLAIR (63mins); ROSE for AGBERHIERE (76mins). Yellow Cards: TOMASSO (Foul); BENNETT (Foul); TAYLOR (Foul); ROSE (Foul); AUSTIN (Dissent).
Having left the Snows Stadium by coach at 1:30pm and stopped off at Exeter Services for an hour, the Totton squad arrived in plenty of time for their evening encounter at a Bolitho Park ground that showed no signs of the damaged playing surface that caused Plymouth Parkway so many scheduling problems last season.
Totton, in their changed kit of light grey shirts with turquoise shorts and socks, were quickly out of the blocks with Joe Oastler’s long ball up the left flank playing Ash Clarke into a position from which to raid the penalty area. He went down under a challenge, prompting immediate calls for a penalty which the referee turned down. Plymouth hacked the ball away but it came back in from Tega Agberhiere, whose cross was turned behind for a right-wing corner.
Tom Blair sent a high, out-swinging cross into the box where Tony LEE met it more with his face than his head, but they all count when they fly into the corner of the goal beyond the reach of the goalkeeper.
Plymouth tried to muster an early response. Mitchel Beardmore turned sharply on the half-way line, dribbled infield and spread the play to the home side’s left wing, but determined back-trackin by Blair prevented Plymouth from overloading down that side and Totton turned them away.
Lee’s headed flick-on from a long diagonal pass put Clarke in again on the left of the Plymouth box, but the men in all-yellow with blue trim were able to block the cross from the AFC Bournemouth loanee on its way across the box.
Agberhiere gave a good account of himself in a fifty-fifty challenge 10 yards inside the Plymouth half, but the ball bounced kindly for Beardmore to sweep it forward. Totton got men back to crowd out the yellow shirts trying to progress a right-wing attack.
When Parkway managed to settle on the ball and pass it around within 15 yards of the Totton area, the preference of every player receiving the ball to shift it onto their favoured foot cost them at least two clear shooting opportunities, and gave Totton time to regroup and deal with the eventual delivery, with Tomasso booting clear from close to the penalty spot.
Blair tested Harrison Lee’s alertness with a 20-yard snapshot from Tony Lee’s headed knockdown, which the Parkway ‘keeper parried. Plymouth managed to mount a counter-attack, crossing from the left-wing touchline. Joshua Gould grasped at the ball and diverted it towards the penalty spot, where Tomasso was able to clear before a yellow shirt could pounce.
Adam Tomasso was booked for a foul on Frankie Monk in midfield on 14 minutes, with many of the home fans gathered in The Charlie Baggott Stand closest to the incident encouraging the referee to show a straight red card. Play was halted while Monk received treatment. Tomasso almost added insult to injury when play resumed. His pass put Blair in down the right but a heavy touch took the ball out of his control and Harrison Lee was able to kick clear. His punt struck Tomasso in the chest, about 25 yards from goal, and the midfielder tried to fire it back past the ‘keeper but looped his effort over the crossbar.
Full-back Thomas Dean got himself into a promising position from which to fire in a low cross towards the near post. Among the flurry of legs and bodies sliding in hoping for a telling connection, Totton captain Joe Oastler made an important block and, after a short scramble, The Stags hooked the ball away from danger.
A strong tackle by Luke Bennett put an early end to a burgeoning Plymouth attack on their left. Then, a foul by Blair on the same touchline gave the home side a chance to pump the ball into the Totton box. Tony Lee headed out at the six-yard line and, although the skilful Callum Hall received the ball and advanced into the box, he was quickly surrounded by three defenders to snuff out the chance.
Clarke tried in vain to latch onto Tomasso’s pass to inside-left. Parkway’s attempt to counter-attack was well-read by Oastler, who stepped into midfield to intercept the pass and return possession to AFC Totton. But just as The Stags looked to be regaining their flow with a move that saw Taylor switch the play to Blair on the right and the winger send a high diagonal to the opposite corner of the home team’s box, an offside flag against Clarke stopped them in their tracks.
Two Plymouth players went down in need of treatment, so Totton physio Andrew Handley was pressed into action to help patch one of Totton’s opponents back together. When play restarted, Totton defended their box and got the ball forward to Lee in the centre-circle, who released Blair to raid the Plymouth box from the right-hand side. As he bore down on goal, Blair took a slightly heavy touch, with enabled Harrison Lee to block his angled shot and turn it wide for a corner.
Blair took the corner himself, sending the ball to the near post. Totton’s No.18 got a clean header on it this time, forcing his namesake in the Parkway goal to parry at the top-right corner. The ball fell back to Tony LEE, who held off defenders to chest the ball down and thrash it high into the net, bringing him level with Charlie Austin with six goals for the season to date.
Having recently conceded nine goals at Hungerford Town and yet to record a league win this season, Plymouth might have been forgiven by some for sinking without a trace, and it took three of their defenders to prevent Ash Clarke piling on the misery as he cut inside onto his right foot from Oastler’s pass up the left-wing touchline.
An incisive pass from Beardmore in midfield put Monk in position to deliver a dangerous cross from the Plymouth right, but his delivery was too strong for the two players in yellow shirts arriving at the far post and Bennett was able to bring the ball away for Totton. Then, Blair was fouled near half-way, earning a yellow card for Plymouth’s Thomas Dean. The management team in the home dug-out took exception to that decision, so one of them also had his name taken by the referee.
Agberhiere got forward to link up with Clarke and Taylor on the Totton left. When the ball came to Tony Lee at the edge of the box, the hat-trick hunting striker shifted the ball to his right foot and drove a low effort that Harrison Lee saved to his right.
Totton’s next chance fell to Taylor, after Lee knocked down a high diagonal to the left corner of the penalty area, but the winger scuffed his effort which was going wide before Harrison Lee gathered it.
During three minutes of first-half stoppage time, Rio Garside tried an opportunistic snapshot from Sam Magri’s headed clearance, dragging his effort well wide to the right. Agberhiere headed away Plymouth’s final forward foray of the half to ensure Totton went in two goals to the good at the interval.
HALF-TIME: PLYMOUTH PARKWAY 0-2 AFC TOTTON
With the rain now pouring down, both managers made changes before the second half got underway. The home side withdrew Carlo Garside and sent on Jack Wragg to strengthen their midfield, while Jimmy Ball replaced Ash Clarke with Charlie Austin.
Blair came within a whisker of intercepting a back-pass that would have left him with just one defender to beat to go clean through on goal. Plymouth managed to lump the ball forward and win a corner on their left, but Gould made light work of catching the high cross at his back post.
A neat spin by Dylan Jones took him away from Bennett on Plymouth’s left-wing touchline, but as the forward tried to advance infield, Roddy Collins got a strong foot in to disrupt those plans and Totton were able to shift the ball amongst themselves.
But five minutes into the second half, the visitors were guilty of switching off immediately after conceding a free-kick in the centre-circle, and Parkway punished them by halving the deficit. The free-kick was quickly played forward to send Monk scampering to the right-wing byline, from where he centred into the box. Gould dived full-length to try and intercept the cross, but he could only parry the ball onto the chest of the incoming Dylan JONES, who held off Bennett to convert into the empty net.
Their confidence boosted, the hosts came close to levelling within a minute when Hall fired a low 20-yard effort narrowly wide of the left-hand upright. Then, the same player tried to instigate an attack at inside-left but over-hit his pass to run out of play for a goal-kick.
Plymouth came forward, again. Magri and Lee both had to head clear from successive corners, before Gould made a clean catch at his near post from a cross at the left-wing byline. Then, Agberhiere put the ball out for a Plymouth throw-in midway inside Totton’s half. It was taken quickly and Beardmore found himself with the freedom of the midfield to advance and let fly at goal from 25 yards — but he got his shot horribly wrong, landing the ball on the roof of the club house a long way behind his intended target.
Bennett darted in front of Jones to intercept a pass near half-way and, via short, sharp passes between himself, Blair and Austin, the full-back manoeuvred himself towards the right-wing corner flag, taking three defenders with him, before cutting the ball back to Blair in space on the flank. Blair’s short pass infield found Collins, who attacked the open space at inside-right and, as a defender confronted him, tried to poke the ball to Lee, but it was cut-out before it could reach the striker.
A high right-to-left diagonal had Jones poised to run off the shoulder of Bennett, who did well to track the flight of the ball and head out of play. Then, Gould needed two attempts to catch a high cross from the Parkway right, as the rain descending upon Bolitho Park intensified.
On 65 minutes, Jimmy Ball took Tony Lee and Tom Blair off to be replaced by Joshua Owers and Marcel MacIntosh. The latter was involved straight away, controlling a Plymouth cross-field pass on his chest before advancing on the right flank, but his forward pass into the run of Owers was too strong and ran out for a goal-kick. Then, Collins again demonstrated his ability to sense danger by getting his foot in to send the ball back to Gould from midfield, as Plymouth were building a threatening assault on Totton territory.
Austin dropped deep to receive MacIntosh’s pass, and then hit a glorious cross-field pass onto Taylor’s left foot on the far side of the pitch. Taylor had a defender blocking his progress, so he pulled the ball back to Owers, whose floated cross-shot drifted narrowly wide of the far post.
Oastler and Magri — twice — had to clear from the Totton box to keep the home side at bay. Then, when Plymouth won a left-wing throw high up the pitch, Bennett put in a strong tackle inside the box that had some fans on the far side of the ground celebrating the award of a Parkway penalty, when the referee was actually indicating for a Totton goal-kick.
Magri got caught in possession near half-way, trying to run the ball out of defence; Bennett was alert to the danger and quickly intervened to send the ball back to Gould before Plymouth could muster their counter-attack. Then, Bennett had his name taken for delaying his throw-in too long for the referee’s patience.
Plymouth won themselves a left-wing corner but immediately handed possession back to Totton by committing a foul against Gould, as he came off his line to catch the ball. Then, Magri had Totton hearts in mouths as the ball briefly slipped out of his control on the wet surface with two Plymouth players pressing, but he managed to stab it wide for Bennett to clear.
The home side’s next corner came from a smothered cross that had some fans appealing for a penalty. Austin got back to clear the corner for The Stags.
Heavy rain continued to fall, as the game entered its last 10 minutes. Jones managed to wrong-foot Bennett on the Plymouth left, but Magri stepped across to nullify the threat. Then, Declan Rose was booked for pushing during an aerial challenge in the centre-circle.
A cross from the Plymouth right was headed back across goal, then hooked wide by a yellow shirt before they could fashion a proper shooting opportunity. Totton, meanwhile, were struggling to make the ball stick up top, and began to fall back into their own defensive third.
James Watts-Barciela was sent on for Frankie Monk for the home side, with six minutes to go. MacIntosh and Owers combined to play Bennett into the box at inside-right; his shot was blocked and cleared before he could reach the rebound. Then, Totton forced a corner on the left, from which Taylor’s cross bounced in the box before Oastler chested down and had his shot smothered at source. Collins was pulled up for a push, trying to maintain pressure on the Plymouth box.
Tomasso was fortunate to not pick up a second yellow card for a late tackle, as Plymouth shifted the ball at pace on their left. The referee allowed play to continue as Taylor Scarff and Jones worked their way to the left-wing byline, Jones floating a shot towards the near post where Gould pushed it wide for a corner. Tomasso sunk into the sodden grass to avoid the senior match official’s attention, before Magri headed out the corner and Scarff copied Beardmore’s earlier example by volleying high over the bar and onto the club house roof.
Four minutes of stoppage time were indicated. Totton still couldn’t hold the ball up in the final third, and several of their attacking runs fell foul of the offside flag. A well-timed sliding tackle by Owers halted Jones’s progress, and when the loose ball fell to MacIntosh, he passed back to Gould with just enough power to prevent another Plymouth forward intercepting for a clear run on goal.
Taylor went down near the left-wing corner flag, but the referee awarded a throw-in rather than a free-kick. It came to nothing, and when the players were resetting for a Plymouth goal-kick, Charlie Austin was shown the yellow card for dissent, shortly before the referee brought the rain-sodden spectacle to an end with the final whistle.
Latest Southern League Premier Division South TABLE
by Ben Rochey-Adams
