AFC Totton
SOUTHERN LEAGUE PREMIER DIVISION SOUTH | Matchday#02
Tuesday 13 August 2024 | Mortgage Decisions Stadium, Southampton | Att: 1,005
STAGS SECURE BRAGGING RIGHTS WITH EMPHATIC WIN AT LOCAL RIVALS
SHOLING 0
AFC TOTTON 3
Scott Rendell 42mins (pen);
Luke Hallett 66mins;
Ethan Taylor 89mins
AFC TOTTON TOOK BRAGGING RIGHTS from the first Southampton derby of the 2024/25 Southern League Premier Division South season with an emphatic three-goal victory over Sholing, in front of a record crowd for a league match at the Mortgage Decisions Stadium (Tuesday 13 August 2024).
Just as Sholing were perhaps beginning to gain the upper hand towards the end of a tightly-contested first half of few clear chances for either side, The Stags were awarded a penalty for hand-ball from Tom Blair’s cross. Skipper Scott Rendell coolly put his team ahead from the spot. Totton extended their lead through defender Luke Hallett, who applied a tidy near-post finish to a low, fizzing cross from Marcus Daws, after the home side had failed to properly clear a set-piece. Ethan Taylor tied a ribbon on an impressive away win with a stunning left-footed curler from distance that beat goalkeeper Ross Worner via the foot of the far post.
SHOLING: 1. Ross WORNER; 3. Jake FLANNIGAN; 5. Daniel MILLER (Capt.); 6. Harry TAYLOR; 7. Charlie GUNSON; 9. Daniel MASON; 10. Jake HESKETH; 11. Bradley TARGETT; 18. Joseph RABBETTS; 19. Jacob GARDINER-SMITH; 20. Daniel FITCHETT. Substitutes: 2. Benny READ; 12. Max BUSTAMENTE; 14. Seung-Woo YANG; 16. Marvin McLEAN; 17. Frankie MONK. Substitutions: READ for FLANNIGAN (45mins); BUSTAMENTE for RABBETTS (45mins); MONK for GUNSON (73mins); McCLEAN for TARGETT (73mins); YANG for FITCHETT (73mins). Yellow Cards: MILLER (Foul); READ (Foul); YANG (Foul).
AFC TOTTON: 13. Joshua GOULD; 2. Joe OASTLER; 5. Charlie KENNEDY; 6. Sam MAGRI; 8. Adam TOMASSO; 9. Scott RENDELL (Capt.); 12. Luke HALLETT; 14. Joshua OWERS; 18. Tony LEE; 19. Tom BLAIR; 20. Marcus DAWS. Substitutes: 7. Harvey REW; 10. Ethan TAYLOR; 11. Charlie AUSTIN; 16. Luke BENNETT; 17. Declan ROSE. Substitutions: ROSE for TOMASSO (45mins); TAYLOR for BLAIR (75mins); AUSTIN for DAWS (75mins); BENNETT for OWERS (90mins); REW for LEE (90mins). Yellow Cards: KENNEDY (Foul); OWERS (Foul); BLAIR (Foul); DAWS (Foul).
Sholing lined-up with two former AFC Totton players in their starting XI in the shape of midfielders Charlie Gunson and Joe Rabbetts, who had a short spell on loan at the Snows Stadium under Dan Sackman during the 2021/22 season. Right-back Benny Read, who made the move across the Itchen Bridge in the summer, and Seung-Woo Yang, another who spent time on loan at Totton, were named among The Boatmen’s substitutes.
As a balmy summer’s afternoon gave way to a cool evening along Southampton’s Portsmouth Road, the home side kicked-off, wearing their new home kit of red-and-white-halved shirts, with the sleeves adorned in the opposite colours, black shorts and white socks — a style reminiscent of the Dutch club, Feyenoord. Totton gave a first competitive outing to their new away kit of light-grey-and-turquoise shirts, with turquoise shorts and socks.
Both sides had made winning starts to the new season at the weekend and were keen to double their early-season points tally by taking the scalp of their nearest and dearest arch rivals. Totton had opted to switch ends prior to kick-off, which meant they were defending the goal at the clubhouse end of the ground for the first 45 minutes. Sam Magri got to work on man-marking the home side’s centre-forward Dan Mason, heading away a long ball from the middle of Totton’s back line. Charlie Gunson took up the loose ball and tried his luck from 30 yards, but his effort squirmed harmlessly wide to the left.
END PRODUCT? COMPLETED IT, MATE: Winger Marcus Daws made more telling contributions to Totton's attacking efforts during an important away win against rivals Sholing.
Gunson proved a more threatening presence when he took up a position wide on the left to slip Dan Mason — whose brother Byron was in attendance but not named in The Boatmen’s matchday squad — into the inside-left channel, where he was promptly crowded out by a swarm of light-grey shirts. But the home side continued to enjoy the majority of the early possession. Joe Oastler fouled ex-Southampton midfielder Jake Hesketh in the centre-circle, and Charlie Kennedy was required to put in a strong challenge to halt the progress of Joe Rabbetts on Sholing’s left wing.
Fans congregated behind the goal that Totton were attacking exchanged competing chants about their respective “red-and-white/blue-and-white armies”, with the fuller voices of the travelling contingent quickly drowning out the home support. A clever lay-off from Scott Rendell put Marcus Daws in a position to cross from the right. Tony Lee had a brief sight of goal but his shot was smothered by the covering Miller.
Luke Hallett won a duel in his customary airborne fashion, prompting unheeded calls from some home fans and players for a foul. Daws picked up the loose ball and was immediately tripped by Mason, who took the break in play as his opportunity to question the referee on his previous non-decision.
Sholing clearly believed their chances of breaching The Stags’ defences were best-served by going direct to Mason and attempting to play from the final third, with the likes of Hesketh, Daniel Fitchett — who both scored at Swindon Supermarine on Saturday — and Jacob Gardiner-Smith ready to break the lines with darting forward runs. Kennedy got above Mason to cut-out one long delivery and Adam Tomasso’s clearance fell to Daws, who set-off on a diagonal, counter-attacking advance across the centre-circle until his pass to Tom Blair on the left-wing touchline was intercepted by Sholing captain Dan Miller.
When Blair was able to get on the ball, he weaved between two defenders to earn his team their first corner of the match on the left-hand side. He bent the delivery towards goal, but man mountain Miller was well-placed to head clear from the edge of the six-yard box before any of the Totton heads could register an interest. Totton regained possession and Daws popped up on the left to aim a cross towards the near side, where Josh Owers got something on it but not enough to prevent goalkeeper Ross Worner grabbing the ball to his chest.
An extended game of head tennis from either side of the half-way line resulted in Joe Oastler getting the ball down and trying to release Blair into the left side of the box, whose angled cross-shot soared over the bar. Blair was becoming an increasingly influential presence on the park, and was soon involved again when he and Owers exchanged passes to enable the winger to attack the byline, but Flannigan did well to ensure the ball came off Blair last before going out for a goal-kick.
SECOND CLEAN SHEET: Defender Joe Oastler played an integral role in maintaining a second consecutive shut-out with which to begin the 2024/25 season.
Charlie Kennedy’s name was the first entry into the referee’s notebook for a trip on Bradley Targett, which provided Sholing with a free-kick close to their right-hand touchline, midway inside Totton’s half. A decent delivery found the top of Gunson’s head, who inadvertently directed the ball away from the better-placed Mason, lurking at the back post. From the resulting goal-kick, Josh Gould launched a long ball that Rendell flicked-on to put Lee through at inside-left. Holding his marker at arm’s length, Lee spotted Worner off his line and tried to chip into the right corner of the goal, his effort lifting a little too high and landing on top of the net.
The home side went back on the attack, with Rabbetts feeding the ball into the box from the left wing. Mason nipped in front of Tomasso on the near side of the box and tried to feed the incoming Hesketh, who arrived at such pace that he lost his balance and swiped thin air as he fell backwards over the byline and Gould scooped up the loose ball.
Sholing were bossing the early possession but Totton were defending compactly and limiting their hosts to ambitious efforts. Hesketh picked up the ball in the centre-circle and drove it wide for Targett to race down the wing and win a corner from Oastler’s block. Hesketh rolled it out to the right corner of the box, where Gardiner-Smith arrived to try a first-time shot that looped over the frame of the goal.
A loose pass in midfield gave Tomasso too much to do to maintain Totton possession. Mason stole the ball and supplied Hesketh to deliver a high cross from the right flank. Dan Fitchett met it with a header at the back post but couldn’t keep the ball down.
Totton defended a couple more free-kicks from around the half-way line, before they got forward to earn their second corner of the game, which was headed out from the six-yard box. Back at their own end, Tomasso cleaned up for The Stags to put a stop to a right-wing raid from their hosts. Then, Lee came back to help defend after Kennedy had conceded another free-kick for a shove on Mason. Totton had to endure two corners, before Kennedy hooked the ball away and Daws was able to conduct a counter-attack. He was quickly stopped in his tracks but The Stags retained possession and Blair switched flanks to rapidly advance down the right and supply a low cross to the far post that Lee somehow fumbled, moments before the referee’s assistant kindly saved the striker’s blushes by raising an offside flag.
As a tight but competitive first-half approached its end, Blair charged down Gardiner-Smith’s attempted pass up the Sholing left-wing, forcing the ball instead to Lee, who prodded it forward to put Blair in at the right-wing byline. The winger’s cross passed one defender and appeared to be routinely headed away by the second, so when the referee blew his whistle, most of the 1,005 fans in the ground were bemused as to why. The official signalled there had been a hand-ball offence and pointed to the penalty spot. Despite having to wait for the referee to deal with a disciplinary issue before the spot-kick could be taken, Scott RENDELL calmly sent Ross Worner the wrong way as he slotted The Stags into the lead with his first goal of the new season.
UP AND RUNNING: Stags skipper Scott Rendell opens his 2024/25 goalscoring account with a successful penalty-kick to give AFC Totton the lead at Sholing's Mortgage Decisions Stadium.
Sholing restarted the game with the obvious intention of bringing themselves level in the three minutes that remained to half-time, and they came close to achieving it when they overloaded the left side of the Totton defence and Hesketh stung Gould’s palms with a fierce angled shot that the giant ‘keeper parried wide for a corner, which Totton successfully defended.
Targett turned sharply and demonstrated a keen burst of pace but ran out of pitch at the right-wing byline before he could centre. Then, The Boatmen had to resume defensive duties to deny a well-constructed move between Tomasso, Blair, Hallett and Kennedy that ended with Blair’s cross from the right being scraped clear.
Magri’s physical strength was giving him the edge in his one-to-one battle with Mason, particularly when the two were pitched against one another in the air. And a strong tackle from Hallett shortly before the half-time whistle ensured the visitors headed in at the break with their lead in tact.
HALF-TIME: SHOLING 0-1 AFC TOTTON
When the teams came out for the second half, Declan Rose stepped off the bench to replace Adam Tomasso for Totton, while the home side made two substitutions, with Jake Flannigan making way for recent former-Stag Benny Read, and the Chilean-born Max Bustamente coming on for Joe Rabbetts, who had received treatment during the opening 45 minutes.
Totton got the game back underway and quickly won a free-kick high on the left flank for a clattering challenge on Daws, which they converted into a left-wing corner via a blocked Josh Owers cross. The ex-Yeovil Town man put the ball in at a lower height than anybody in the box was expecting, and the home fans were relieved to see it trickle between a forest of legs before a defender hacked it clear at the back post.
Worner turned away a Tony Lee effort from a tight angle. A short corner was fed infield to Rendell, whose lay-off reached Daws, but Miller stepped across to block out the sun and refuse the diminutive winger further forward passage. Totton came forward again, and Lee popped up at inside-left to latch onto a dipping cross from the right and drive a firm shot into the ground on its way to goal-side of the near post. Worner reacted sharply, diving to his right to push the ball away with both hands.
READY, AIM, FIRE: Totton striker Tony Lee squeezes a shot away despite pressure from mountainous Sholing captain Dan Miller.
Daws connected with Rendell’s headed flick-on to win a free-kick for a trip by Read, high on the left wing. A quick free-kick had Daws darting to the left-wing byline and feeding the ball into the crowded centre, where Rendell tried to improvise a back-heel volley that Worner clutched gratefully to his chest.
Marcus Daws was booked for a foul on Mason, close to Totton’s left-wing touchline, after the Sholing talisman had dispossessed him about 20 yards from the byline. Gunson’s delivery was probably over-hit, but Gould still had to watch it carefully as it clipped the top of the crossbar and bounced behind for a goal-kick.
Gould’s long kick was chested down by Rendell, allowing Daws to cleverly switch the play to the right wing, where Blair took a touch and hung a high cross into the danger area. Lee had stolen half-a-yard on his marker but was at too acute an angle to steer his header anywhere but into the outside netting behind the left-hand post.
Totton were ramping up their dominance, now restricting their hosts to less frequent, more hasty attacking forays. Hesketh and Mason ran aground trying to pry open the left side of The Stags’ defence, before Kennedy cleared. Miller’s ability to read the situation prevented Lee scampering through the middle, then a foul by Gardiner-Smith on Rendell near the centre-circle gave both sides a welcome opportunity to take a breather and re-group.
Tom Blair was booked for a foul close to the two dug-outs, on Totton’s right flank, which appeared to be a harsh decision for a relatively routine infraction. Read and Bustamente made progress on Sholing’s right, as Totton struggled to close them down, eventually conceding a corner. The ball was delivered high into the Totton box; Gould plucked the ball out of the heavens while the mere mortal outfield players were still preparing to jump. The goalkeeping Goliath distributed quickly, and Owers soon won a free-kick on the Totton right, mid-way in opposition territory. With the big men up from the back, Blair delivered into the box. A Sholing head redirected the ball into midfield but Owers was alert; he intercepted and picked out Magri on the left, who threaded a short pass into the path of Daws’ underlapping run. The winger beat a defender to get to the left-wing byline and fizzed the ball in at pace to the front post where Luke HALLETT guided it past Worner with a tidy finish into the bottom corner, sending the travelling fans congregated behind that goal into raptures.
HALLETT'S MALLET: Defender Luke Hallett wheels away in celebration after delivering a knock-out blow to Sholing's hopes of taking anything from this season's first Southampton derby.
Blair’s pace threatened to expose the Sholing defence again, until a tumble from Targett garnered a dubious free-kick for the home side. Oastler made a solid block on the edge of the Totton area, then Dan Miller was booked for a foul at centre-field.
Read reacted to Rendell’s missed interception by flying forward down the right for his new team, feeding the ball low to inside-right where Bustamente had a brief glimpse of goal but couldn’t pull the trigger, eventually coughing up possession to the scooping arms of Josh Gould. Benny Read was then booked for another foul on Daws; Blair’s free-kick was headed out to Owers, whose cross was put out for a corner by Gardiner-Smith. Blair played it short to Owers, darting to the left corner of the area, but he let The Boatmen off the hook with an uncharacteristically poor delivery that sailed over.
With 16 regulation minutes remaining, Sholing boss Paul Doswell decided to roll the dice. He withdrew Charlie Gunson, Brad Targett and Dan Fitchett, and introduced FA Vase-winning veteran and club legend Marvin McLean, ex-Totton loanee Seung-Woo Yang and former West Bromwich Albion Academy winger Frankie Monk.
Totton seemed content to fall back into their own half and play on the counter-attack, which Jimmy Ball confirmed by taking off his two wingers — Marcus Daws and Tom Blair — to be replaced by the fresh legs of Ethan Taylor and Charlie Austin.
Mason successfully wrestled possession inside the Totton box, close to the left-wing byline. He forced the ball across goal and a gap briefly opened up to invite Bustamente to strike on the volley, before it was quickly snapped shut by two Totton defenders throwing their bodies in the way. Then, Jimmy Ball picked up his first yellow card of the new campaign after being less than complimentary about the referee’s decision to award a free-kick to Sholing just in front of his dug-out. The Stags struggled to clear the high ball into the box, with Sholing having a couple of bites at the cherry before Mason eventually prodded wide under pressure at the left-hand post.
Hallett darted ahead of his former Forest Green Rovers teammate Seung-Woo Yang, only to be tripped by his old mate who was booked for his troubles. Then, Gould ran out of his area to kick away another Sholing attack, with seven minutes to go.
Oastler did well on Totton’s left touchline to put Austin in a position to feed the ball high into the box. Worner leapt high above a ruck of players to punch clear. Marvin McLean then rolled back the years to make a promising run down the Sholing left, but Gould comfortably claimed his low cross at the near post.
Austin exchanged passes with Rose on the right, before driving towards goal and striking a left-footed shot that clipped a defender and went out for a corner on the Totton left. Owers sent in a high cross that reached Magri beyond the far post; the former England U17 international headed over the bar from a tight angle.
For many of the home fans, the game was already up, and they had begun leaving in their droves before Read intercepted Austin’s pass to gallop forward and cross from the right, only for Kennedy to pump the ball away from the edge of Totton’s six-yard box. Magri did likewise when Bustamente tried to attack the inside-right channel, and Rendell was cast in the unlikely role of centre-back to prevent Hesketh getting a shot away from the edge of the 18-yard area.
Totton cleared the ball into the opposition half, where Austin controlled and manoeuvred himself to the right wing. He looked up and picked out Taylor, advancing to the inside-left area, about 25 yards out. The winger’s first touch took him wide of the defender, then with an assured swipe of the outside of his left foot, Ethan TAYLOR struck a glorious, low curling shot against the inside of the right-hand post and into the back of the Sholing net, while — like everyone else still in the ground — Ross Worner could only stand and admire a stunning goal. Taylor milked the moment for all it was worth, adopting a wide stance while putting fingers in both ears, while his teammates gathered to celebrate an emphatic away win.
HEAR NO EVIL: Second-half substitute Ethan Taylor shuts out the noise to celebrate his stunning long-range strike in glorious silence.
Seven minutes of stoppage time were indicated, during which Sholing huffed and puffed, and competed honestly to try and draw something positive from the game. A late free-kick within shooting range was blasted high over Gould’s crossbar by Hesketh, shortly before Harvey Rew stepped off the bench to make his competitive AFC Totton debut as a late substitute for Tony Lee.
Austin conducted proceedings as The Stags went in search of a fourth goal, but they couldn’t find a way through. Luke Bennett also made a late cameo appearance, replacing Josh Owers deep into stoppage time. The referee’s final whistle was the cue for the roving Mally’s Muppets to lead a chorus of the Jimmy Ball song — “To us he’s massive” — shortly before Sholing Manager Paul Doswell gave a magnanimous post-match interview, praising the better team on the night.
View the PHOTO GALLERY from Sholing 0-3 AFC Totton
Watch LUKE HALLETT’S Post-Match Interview
Watch JAMES BEATTIE’S Post-Match Interview
Watch JIMMY BALL’S Post-Match Interview
Southern League Premier Division South LEAGUE TABLE
Next Up: POOLE TOWN vs AFC TOTTON
Southern League Premier Division South | Matchday#03 | BlackGold Stadium, Tatnam Ground, School Lane, Poole BH15 3JY | Saturday 17 August 2024 | Kick-Off 3:00pm
By Ben Rochey-Adams
Images courtesy of Sayers Sports Photography
