AFC Totton
The Venue:
Snows Stadium, Salisbury Road, Totton, Southampton SO40 2RW
THE STAGS ARE AT HOME under the lights on Tuesday night when they entertain Promotion Play-Off challengers Havant & Waterlooville in a local clash that is huge for both sides.
Having had their planned trip to Taunton Town postponed at the weekend, Totton’s last outing was a 6-1 home win over bottom-of-the-table Marlow, when a brilliant performance produced goals from Tony Lee, two each from Scott Rendell and Ethan Taylor, and a first for the club from Torquay United loanee striker Ben Seymour.
HAVANT & WATERLOOVILLE – THEIR SEASON SO FAR:
The Hawks are currently lurking just outside the Promotion Play-Off places, occupying sixth place in the Southern League Premier Division South table with 47 points from 29 games.
After suffering relegation from the National Leauge South in 2023/24, Havant & Waterlooville made a solid start to the new campaign, going unbeaten for their first seven games – although, that run consisted of one win in the league and one in the Emirates FA Cup, with the other five all ending in draws.
But an FA Cup defeat to Worthing was followed by big league wins over Marlow and Frome Town, before a surprise 1-5 defeat to Sholing threw a spanner in the works.
Havant beat Frome again, via a penalty shoot-out, to knock them out of the Isuzu FA Trophy at the Third Round Qualifying stage. Then The Hawks’ next four league games saw a defeat to Gloucester City, followed by two wins and a draw, before another penalty shoot-out success against Bristol Manor Farm to progress in the FA Trophy.
Back-to-back defeats to Walton & Hersham and the league leaders Merthyr Town followed, but Havant’s FA Trophy run continued unabashed with a 2-1 win over National League South outfit Welling United.
Three league wins in a row lifted The Hawks into contention for the Play-Off places, but their FA Trophy run came to an end with a Third Round penalty shoot-out defeat at the hands of Woking.
Since then, Manager Shaun North’s team have played 12 more games, of which they have won five, drawn two and lost five. The highlights include a 4-0 triumph at Chertsey Town just before Christmas and the subsequent 3-1 home win over Gosport Borough on Boxing Day, and wins against Poole Town and Wimborne Town, more recently. Lowlights include a 1-2 defeat at Plymouth Parkway and elimination from the Servio Hampshire Senior Cup at the hands of the reigning holders, AFC Portchester – who were reinstated into this season’s competition despite their Second Round penalty shoot-out defeat to Brockenhurst after The Badgers were found to have fielded an ineligible player.
Ex-Stag Leon Maloney was on target for The Hawks on Saturday, giving them the lead at Hanwell Town, and former Southampton Academy striker Ryan Seager doubled the advantage a minute past the hour. But goals from Harry Seabrook and Daniel Carr saw The Geordies take a share of the points in the eventual 2-2 draw.
AFC TOTTON – LAST FIVE:
Frome Town (Home) | SLPDS | Drew 1-1
Plymouth Parkway (Home) | SLPDS | Won 4-0
Gloucester City (Away) | SLPDS | Drew 0-0
Gosport Borough (Away) | SLPDS | Won 2-1
Marlow (Home) | SLPDS | Won 6-1
HAVANT & WATERLOOVILLE – LAST FIVE
Poole Town (Home) | SLPDS | Won 2-1
Hungerford Town (Away) | SLPDS | Lost 0-1
Walton & Hersham (Home) | SLPDS | Lost 2-3
Wimborne Town (Away) | SLPDS | Won 2-1
Hanwell Town (Away) | SLPDS | Drew 2-2
IN THE REVERSE FIXTURE…
Havant & Waterlooville and AFC Totton played out an entertaining 1-1 draw at Westleigh Park in an aggressively contested affair. The Hawks broke the deadlock just before the half-hour, when Harvey BRADBURY leapt highest in the box to nod home from Leon Maloney's free-kick delivery. The hosts were certainly the stronger of the two in the first half but the visitors exploded out of the blocks in the second. Tom BLAIR (pictured above) flashed a wicked strike beyond the goalkeeper within 60 seconds of the restart, to record his first competitive goal for his new club against one of his old ones. Tempers flared when Alfy Whittingham was issued a straight red card for a strong challenge on Tony Lee, before several Totton players joined him in the book, before the feisty affair ended in a 1-1 draw.
STAGS RADIO:
Not able to make it to the Snows Stadium? Don’t fret – you can listen to all the action LIVE from the comfort of your own home via StagsRadio on our official X account, with full match commentary from Josh Cole.
By Joshua Cole
Image courtesy of Dave Haines Photography
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