AFC Totton
SDFA SOUTHAMPTON SENIOR CUP, FINAL
Saturday 18 May 2024 | Snows Stadium, Totton, Southampton | Att: TBC
STAGS BEAT HYTHE TO MAKE IT THREE-IN-A-ROW SDFA CUP TITLES
AFC TOTTON 4
Leo Taylor 1min; Leon Maloney 3mins;
Scott Rendell 27mins (pen); Ethan Taylor 38mins
HYTHE & DIBDEN 1
Christos Papakonstantinou 82mins
AFC TOTTON LIFTED THEIR THIRD SDFA Southampton Senior Cup in as many seasons on Saturday (18 May 2024) after beating Hythe & Dibden at the Snows Stadium in their final game of the 2023/24 season.
Teenager Leo Taylor took just 32 seconds to give Totton the lead, and Leon Maloney added a second just two minutes later. Scott Rendell added a third from the penalty spot, after a foul on Luke Bennett, and Ethan Taylor joined his younger brother on the scoresheet before the half-time break. Hythe held their own in the second half and deservedly pulled a goal back through a deflected shot from ex-Totton winger Christos Papakonstantinou eight minutes from the end.
CUP WINNERS: AFC Totton celebrate their third successive SDFA Southampton Senior Cup triumph after beating Hythe & Dibden 4-1 in the Final at the Snows Stadium.
Jimmy Ball made two changes from the side that beat Brockenhurst in last Tuesday night’s Semi-Final win. Leo Taylor and Luke Bennett both came into midfield, with Adam Tomasso and Tony Lee both unavailable.
AFC TOTTON
Starting XI
1. Lewis NOICE
6. Luke HALLETT
7. Joseph OASTLER
3. Jordan RAGGUETTE
4. Owen PELHAM
12. Leo TAYLOR
16. Luke BENNETT
17. Leon MALONEY
10. Ethan TAYLOR
11. Matty BURROWS
9. Scott RENDELL (Capt.)
Substitutes
2. Benny READ
14. Sa-Sean LUTUMBA
18. Remus NIXON
19. Hugo RAWLINGS
20. Zach EARLEY
The Final was originally to be held at Southampton FC’s St. Mary’s Stadium, but The Saints’ involvement in the Championship Play-Offs meant that a women’s cup final scheduled for Friday night got bumped into the Saturday afternoon slot, with the SDFA Southampton Senior Cup Final having to find a new home. Eastleigh’s Silverlake Stadium was briefly under consideration before the decision was made to hold it at AFC Totton’s ground.
Hythe & Dibden kicked-off, wearing all-green, with Totton in their all-white cup kit. The Stags took just 32 seconds to go in front. Matty Burrows received the ball on the right-hand side and played a well-weighted pass into the inside-right channel for Leo TAYLOR to run onto and smash past goalkeeper Luke Deacon for his first ever AFC Totton goal.
Leo’s older brother Ethan had a shot blocked from the edge of the area, after Scott Rendell beat two defenders in the air to knock the ball down to him. And with just three minutes on the clock, Burrows dribbled infield from the right, beating one man on the edge of the penalty area before having the ball poked off his toe by Hythe Captain James Parker-Trott. But his pass acted as a through-ball for Leon MALONEY who ran onto it and, from more-or-less the same spot at inside-right that Leo Taylor had opened the scoring, slammed a low angled shot into the net to record his 14th goal of the season in all competitions.
After a nightmare start, the Wessex League Premier Division side could have been forgiven for capitulating to a heavy defeat. Forward Charlie Drury had other ideas, showing neat footwork to make space for himself to cross from the right wing only for Luke Hallett to clear from the edge of the Totton six-yard box, with Owen Pelham tracking back into the area to tidy up the second wave attack after Hythe & Dibden had regained possession. Then, a poor touch from Jordan Ragguette enabled Drury to run at the hosts from the half-way line. With options left and right, he advanced to about 25 yards out and went for goal, but dragged his shot wide to the left to loudly bang against an advertising hoarding.
Already up against it, Hythe’s best chance of getting back into the game might have come from a set-piece but when Ragguette fouled Drury on the Hythe right, the delivery into the box was wastefully over-hit.
Former AFC Totton winger Christos Papakonstantinou demonstrated considerable skill on the ball, using his low centre of gravity to keep defenders guessing as to which way he was going to twist and turn while running at pace, in a style impressive enough to earn him the nickname The Waterside Shaqiri (if limited only to this match report). The Hythe No.10 had Hallett retreating towards his own box before centring for Marcel Laptas to strike from the edge of the area, forcing Lewis Noice to save smartly, low to his right. While Laptas remonstrated with himself for not doing better with his side’s best chance of the game so far, Noice punted long to set Ethan Taylor on the attack to the left of the visitors’ area. His cross floated over Burrows in the middle and dropped to Rendell, who prodded it first-time to loop towards the top-left corner. Deacon had to scramble his feet but did well to scoop the ball out of the air before it could cross the line.
A foul by Ethan Taylor gave Hythe another free-kick in Totton territory, but once again the service into the box was inaccurate. Maloney continued to try to exploit The Watersiders’ high defensive line, only succeeding in twice triggering the offside flag. Totton were bossing possession, though, with the relatively youthful trip of Pelham, Leo Taylor and Luke Bennett operating in the central midfield positions. They combined to work the ball out to Burrows on the right, who backed left-back Sam Boon into his own box before switching to his left foot and blazing his shot wildly over the crossbar.
Rendell again made a nuisance of himself to wrestle a high ball under control despite the attentions of two Hythe defenders. He slipped the ball back to Maloney, who dribbled wide to make an angle for a short cross to Ethan Taylor. Defender Jordan Smith intervened with an outstretched leg and Deacon was able to grab up the loose ball. Then, Rendell, Maloney and Taylor worked together again to force a corner from the Totton left, which was cleared at the near post.
Laptas tried his luck from distance but failed to generate enough power to trouble Noice. Then, Leo Taylor flashed a well-struck effort across the Hythe goal, after being set-up by Hallett’s forward pass via a Matty Burrows flick-on.
Totton’s third goal came from the penalty spot on 27 minutes. Hallett’s long cross-field pass to the left-hand side had Ethan Taylor jumping high to head infield to Rendell, who passed to the incoming Bennett. He went past one defender to get into the box before Smith bodychecked him to the ground. The Referee appeared to think about it for a moment but then pointed to the penalty spot. Scott RENDELL converted to notch his 34th goal of the season in all competitions and his 70th since joining the club in the summer of 2022.
Rendell was immediately on the hunt for another goal. Joe Oastler got forward on the right and chipped to the far post, which Rendell almost ran into as the ball squeezed between the upright and The Sunburnt Assassin. Bennett then picked out Burrows on the right touchline, who held the ball up to enable Maloney to overlap and attack the byline. Maloney shrugged off one defender but his pass to the near post was cut-out for a corner. Ethan Taylor’s delivery was cleared.
Pelham made a strong tackle on the half-way line to prevent Hythe exploiting space in behind, after Ragguette’s pass had sold him short. Then, Maloney combined with Burrows on the right, again, to feed the ball into the box. It was a little behind Rendell, who tried to contort his body to aim a shot on-target but lifted it over the bar. Maloney fed another dangerous ball across the six-yard box soon after, but Smith intercepted before it could reach Rendell.
Hythe’s burly centre-forward Cain Prentice exchanged passes with Boon to advance down the Hythe right. Oastler and Ragguette were soon on them and nicked the ball back for Totton. Then, Laptas picked Ragguette’s pocket as the Totton left-back dribbled over the half-way line. Laptas carried the ball forward down the middle and swapped passes with Prentice to unleash a shot that flew narrowly wide of the left-hand post. Soon after, an enterprising run from Papakonstantinou was undone when his lay-off caught a teammate flat-footed, enabling Pelham to nick the ball and clear for Totton.
Seven minutes before the break, Maloney played a one-two with Rendell to dart into the inside-right channel, before running into two green shirts. Pelham retrieved the half-cleared ball and prodded it right for Burrows. The winger dribbled into the box, trying to work an angle to unleash a left-footed shot, before he spotted his team’s No.10 in space at inside-left and laid it off for Ethan TAYLOR to arrow a low shot across Deacon, despite Boon’s valiant attempt to perform a sliding block, and into the bottom-right corner to make it four-nil with his 16th goal of the season.
A strong tackle from Bennett in central midfield epitomised Totton’s determination to deny Hythe a foothold in the game. Papakonstantinou was emerging as the greens’ most likely source of a goal, though Oastler stepped into his path to block his dribbling run at Noice’s goal.
Burrows went close to extending Totton’s lead still further just before the interval, when he ran onto Maloney’s through-ball with one defender to beat, who he skilfully side-stepped before firing inches wide of the top-left corner with Deacon beaten at full-stretch.
HALF-TIME:
AFC TOTTON 4
HYTHE & DIBDEN 0
Both sides made substitutions as the teams came out for the second half. Ethan Taylor took his leave of the 2023/24 season to make way for Remus Nixon for Totton. Hythe’s Jackson Scorey came off to be replaced by Luke Gray.
Maloney bent in a cross-shot from the left-wing touchline that Deacon carefully watched bounce past his far post. Then, Rendell grappled with his marker to help Oastler’s forward ball on to Nixon to the right of the penalty area. The teenager cut in on his left foot and hit a solid shot that Deacon saved low to his right.
A free-kick from midway inside Totton’s half was headed across goal by Ethan Hartness. Laptas sliced his shot under pressure and it came to Drury on the right of the six-yard box. He hooked it back into the middle but Noice made the catch just under his crossbar.
A clever backheel from Burrows, latching onto Leo Taylor’s pass, wrong-footed his marker, but he scuffed his shot straight at Deacon. Then, Rendell held the ball up at the edge of the area and laid it off to Burrows on the right. He played a short square pass to tee-up Bennett to swing a high cross to the far post, where Rendell had manoeuvred himself to meet the dropping ball but couldn’t control it.
Totton worked the ball infield from the left-had side. Bennett passed up the opportunity to shoot; Maloney was not so bashful but he shanked his effort over the crossbar from the left corner of the penalty area. Then, Burrows shot high and wide from 25 yards while Rendell had taken up a good position in the middle, but the skipper was appreciative of what the winger was trying to do, applauding the attempt. Bennett was the next to take aim at the Hythe & Dibden goal, firing narrowly wide to the left from the edge of the area with defenders quickly closing in.
Papakonstantinou was his team’s most prolific source of creativity, cutting in from the left to clip the ball into the area for Gray to flick on into the centre. A Totton defender prodded the ball out as far as Laptas, whose volley flew high and wide.
Matty Burrows earned a yellow card for tugging Papakonstantinou’s shirt, after The Waterside Shaqiri had dispossessed him at half-way to interrupt a Totton counter-attack. Rendell dropped back to defend the free-kick and it was from his clearance that Burrows was able to scamper forward down the right wing and win a corner off defender Dave Wyatt. The corner was taken short, presenting Burrows with the chance to cross from a deeper position near the right touchline. It was headed down by a defender and fell perfectly for Oastler to strike with a volley that was on target but was charged down as far as Maloney, whose follow-up effort deflected wide for another corner. This time, the short corner came to Leo Taylor, who over-hit his cross.
Pelham showed that size matters not, sliding in to unceremoniously dump the considerably larger figure of Prentice to the ground as the centre-forward tried to carry the ball from the middle of Totton’s half. Then, Totton temporarily went down to 10 men, as Leo Taylor picked up a knock that required his removal from the pitch. Maloney had a shot blocked, before Totton were able to bring on Benny Read to replace the younger Taylor brother.
Read’s first action was to concede a corner to prevent Papakonstantinou fashioning a chance for Hythe from their left-wing byline. Parker-Trott received a short pass and crossed into the box, where Rendell punted clear to send Burrows on another counter-attacking raid down the Totton right. With two defenders between him and the Hythe goal, Burrows drifted infield and slipped a pass to Remus Nixon in space to the left of the penalty spot, who took a touch before shooting, allowing a green-clad defender to throw himself in the way, taking the power out of the shot and enabling Deacon to collect the loose ball.
Luke Gray, who had come on as a substitute at the start of the second half, then had to be substituted himself due to injury; Charlie Cox was his replacement. Bennett continued to work hard in the central midfield, despite his team’s four-goal advantage. Nixon won a throw high on the right flank, which Totton soon traded up for a corner. Burrows’ cross was punched off Rendell’s forehead by Deacon in the six-yard box. Pelham collected the loose ball and directed it to Maloney on the left, who cut in on his right foot and shot straight at Deacon for a comfortable save.
A cross from the Totton left was hooked back across goal by Burrows. With his back to goal and a marker behind him, Rendell teed up Bennett, but with the ball landing on his weaker foot, he sliced his effort into the ‘keeper’s arms.
With 10 minutes to go, there was another flurry of activity from the Totton dug-out. Sa-Sean Lutumba, Hugo Rawlings and Zach Earley all entered the fray, with Jordan Ragguette, Matty Burrows and Owen Pelham coming off.
The underdogs notched a consolation goal in the 82nd minute. Hythe’s No.10 exchanged passes with the hard-working Laptas on the Hythe left, and upon receiving the return pass, Christos PAPAKONSTANTINOU worked himself infield into a shooting position from the edge of the area; Read tried to charge the shot down but only succeeded in deflecting the ball high over the stranded Lewis Noice and inside the right-hand post.
CHARGE OF THE LIGHT BRIGADE: Joe Oastler (left) joins the attack to receive Scott Rendell's pass for a shooting chance at the Hythe & Dibden goal.
Rendell had what would have been a fifth Totton goal ruled out for a dubious offside decision, after Nixon dummied Bennett’s pass to leave the captain free to run through on goal and slide the ball across Deacon, into the bottom-left corner. Totton then overloaded the Hythe defence with a three-on-two counter-attack, with Oastler bursting forward from midfield to latch onto Rendell’s through-ball to drive in a shot from a tight angle on the right which Deacon saved with his legs at the near post.
Cain Prentice was replaced by Ollie Stickland for Hythe, shortly before the fourth official indicated there would be five minutes of stoppage time. Zach Earley showed tidy skills on the ball to dance between two green shirts and square to Bennett in space on the halfway line. Bennett’s pass sent Rawlings away down the right flank, but again an over-eager offside flag put a stop to the move.
The impressive Papakonstantinou had a shot smothered in a crowded Totton penalty area, before Lutumba eased Laptas off the ball to invite Noice to claim it. Smart defending from Ethan Hartness prevented Maloney running onto a straight pass from Hallett that briefly threatened to open up the Hythe defence, again.
Nixon fizzed the ball in from the left-had side, but it was too fierce for Rawlings to reach at the far post. Then, Earley won the ball just inside his own half, prodding it back to Oastler who sent Lutumba away on a left-wing foray. The full-back did well to beat his man and keep the ball in play, getting his head up to present Scott Rendell with his final shooting chance of the season, which was well-blocked by Ollie Stickland, shortly before the Referee brought the curtain down on the 2023/24 campaign.
Scott Rendell was presented with the official Man of the Match Award, which he also won in last season’s Final. The Hythe & Dibden players were presented with their Runners-Up medals before the AFC Totton collected their Winners’ medals and Rendell was handed the SDFA Southampton Senior Cup trophy to hold aloft from the middle of the SFS Main Stand.
UP FOR THE CUP: Captain Scott Rendell displays the SDFA Southampton Senior Cup trophy after receiving it from SDFA Chairman, John Moody.
Watch Highlights of the SDFA Southampton Senior Cup Final 2023/24
Watch Jimmy Ball’s Post-Match Interview
Watch Scott Rendell’s Post-Match Interview
By Ben Rochey-Adams
Images courtesy of John Duncalf
Highlights video courtesy of Jon Ashworth, Side of the World
