THERE ARE FEW BETTER WAYS to announce yourself to your new teammates than laying on a beautifully-weighted pass from midfield that splits the opposition defence wide open to allow your forward to get in behind and score the goal that wraps up a valuable 2-0 away win.
That’s what Luke Bennett did on his AFC Totton debut last Saturday, after coming on as a second-half substitute for the injured Leon Maloney at Beaconsfield Town’s Holloways Park. Picking the ball up deep inside his own half from Jordan Ragguette’s defensive header – and under audible instructions from Assistant Manager Paul Masters on the touchline to ensure The Stags “keep the ball” – Bennett rolled possession forward to Scott Rendell, dropping deep to play a return pass to the former AFC Bournemouth youth player, who had advanced to the centre-circle.
As Joe Turner set off on a run towards the inside-left channel, Bennett played a precision pass along the 3G surface that took out both the right-back and centre-back, sending Turner clear to take a touch and finish left-footed to register his second goal of the game. And Bennett came close to assisting another goal from his corner deliveries, with Sam Magri and Luke Hallett both going close to making it 3-0 to The Stags on a bitterly cold afternoon in Buckinghamshire.
Having been with The Cherries for four years since the age of 12, Luke became a teammate of Ethan Taylor’s at Team Solent, the former Wessex League club that was attached to Southampton’s Solent University. At the age of 17, he moved to Tennessee, USA on a three-and-a-half-year scholarship. While back in the UK in 2021, he trained with National League South club Weymouth, before returning to the United States to complete his final semester. While he was away, The Terras underwent a change of management and upon his return to the Bob Lucas Stadium, Luke found his first team opportunities limited.
In February of this year, the midfielder was given the chance to play professional football in Australia for Devonport City Strikers FC, a National Premier Leagues club based in Tasmania.
“It was an excellent experience,” recalls Luke, in the salubrious setting of the stairwell under the PWI Suite, prior to setting off for a Tuesday night training session at Southampton FC’s Staplewood complex, with his new AFC Totton teammates.
LET'S GO: Luke Bennett (in white) attacks the Downton defence during The Stags' 3-1 home win in the Second Round of the SDFA Southampton Senior Cup at the end of November.
“It was a good level of football and it gave me the chance to get a full season of under my belt, playing regularly in a successful team. I had a great time, both on the pitch and more generally, as a young person living and working in Australia.
“As a cultural experience, it was fantastic. They have a great way of life over there and everybody was very kind and really positive towards me. The club itself was very well-run; we had a smaller budget than some of our rivals but the club has consistently produced the best team in the state over the last seven or eight years, and while I was there – playing from February to September – we won the Quadruple.”
Devonport claimed the State Championship for the 10th time in the club’s history, the Milan Lakoseljac Cup (which Luke referred to as the League Cup), the Under-21s Statewide Cup and a Super Cup – which they presumably qualified for by winning the league title in the previous 2022 season.
Upon the expiration of his contract with Devonport, Luke returned to the UK, once again.
“Ethan Taylor and I are good friends, so just by keeping in regular contact with him and following his progress while I was away, I was aware that AFC Totton were doing well. Ethan only had good things to say about the club and the way Jimmy Ball and the coaching staff go about their business, so when I heard that Jimmy had seen some footage of me playing from over the last few years and would be happy to let me come and train with the team, I was really pleased to take up the chance. We then had a conversation about me signing for the club, and I’m delighted to have got it sorted quickly and that I was still relatively match fit, which has enabled me to get involved straight away.
“We achieved a good result at Beaconsfield, and I’m glad to have played my part. There are lots of matches stacked up over the next couple of months, with us right in the thick of it as far as the Play-Off situation and possible promotion is concerned, as well as three cup competitions. So, I hope the AFC Totton fans will be seeing a lot of me and I will do my best to deliver the goods in what is already a very good team.”
By Ben Rochey-Adams
Image courtesy of Michaela Cater Photography