AFC Totton
PRE-SEASON FRIENDLY #1
Saturday 01 July 2023 | Miller Park, Totton | Att: 202
NEW STRIKER STANLEY BAGS A BRACE AS STAGS MAKE WINNING START TO PRE-SEASON
AFC TOTTON 4
Alfie Stanley 7mins, 17mins;
Charlie Davis 28mins; Scott Rendell 39mins (pen)
BAFFINS MILTON ROVERS 0
AFC TOTTON GOT THEIR PRE-SEASON campaign off to a flyer with a comfortable 4-0 victory over Wessex League Premier Division side Baffins Milton Rovers at Miller Park this afternoon (Saturday 01 July 2023). Two goals on his unofficial debut from former Portsmouth and Dorchester Town striker Alfie Stanley had Jimmy Ball’s men off to a positive start, before midfielder Charlie Davis added a spectacular third goal from long range and Scott Rendell completed the rout from the penalty spot.
Before the match, manager Ball stated his intention to make 10 outfield changes at half-time, to give some minutes to several younger players and trialists. But his starting XI included both of his summer signings to date, with Sam Magri taking up one of the central defensive berths and Alfie Stanley lining up on the right of the attacking trio.
AFC TOTTON
Starting XI
1. Lewis NOICE
2. Benny READ
3. Jordan RAGGUETTE
4. Owen PELHAM
5. Sam MAGRI
6. Adam TOMASSO
7. Charlie DAVIS
8. Elliott SIMPSON
9. Scott RENDELL
10. Conor WHITELEY
11. Alfie STANLEY
A crowd of 202 descended upon Miller Park to see last season’s treble-winning Stags get their pre-season fixtures underway on the Totton & Eling pitch against a Baffins Milton Rovers side decked out in their changed kit of amber shirts with black sleeves, black shorts and amber-and-black socks. Totton wore their all-blue and white kit of last season.
Totton were on the attack early on with Alfie Stanley first getting crowded out on the right side of the penalty area, before Benny Read and Charlie Davis took advantage of a loose ball to attack the byline, Baffins just doing enough to repel a low Davis cross.
Three minutes into the game, Scott Rendell chased down what appeared to be a lost cause as the ball was running towards Luke Deacon on the right corner of his penalty area. The veteran striker did enough to cause Deacon to miss-kick the ball straight to Elliott Simpson, an attacking central midfielder who played several games for Totton & Eling last season. Simpson tried to lob the ball beyond the stranded keeper from 25 yards but a defender got back in time to intercept.
An early forward foray from Baffins had Liam Brewer chasing a through-ball down the left, with Adam Tomasso’s attempts to get there first being hampered by another forward pulling him back by his arm. Brewer flashed a cross-shot across the six-yard box, without finding a teammate. Tomasso complained to the Referee about the tugging, but to no avail.
STANLEY AT THE DOUBLE: Alfie Stanley introduced himself to The Stags faithful with two goals on his non-competitive debut for the club.
The Stags went ahead in the seventh minute. A strong sliding tackle by Owen Pelham in central midfield prevented Baffins from launching another attack. Although they initially intercepted an attempted through-ball, Pelham regained possession and squared to Alfie STANLEY about 25 yards out, right of centre. The former Pompey youth player took a touch and drove a low, right-footed shot between two defenders before it bounced away from Deacon and clipped the inside of the left-hand post on its way into the net.
Stanley was then called up for a foul during an aerial challenge 25 yards from Totton’s goal, in a central position. Dillon North, wearing the Baffins No.2 shirt, curled his shot over at the top-left corner.
Elliott Simpson demonstrated impressive energy, closing down Baffins defenders and the goalkeeper, as they passed the ball amongst themselves with other Totton players blocking alternative pathways to the other end of the pitch. As Simpson pressed the keeper, Deacon struck the ball against him, and the rebound looped over the Baffins No.1 and appeared to be heading into the goal, until the spin of the ball caused it to bounce kindly for the away side.
A minute later, Stanley latched onto a long kick by Lewis Noice to drive infield diagonally from the right-hand side, before playing a short pass to Conor Whiteley to the left of the D. With a defender in front of him, he shifted the ball to his right and took aim with a shot that was deflected wide for a corner, from which The Stags were unable to capitalise.
However, they doubled their lead in the 17th minute when Scott Rendell aided Jordan Ragguette’s marauding charge down the left wing with the two of them playing a double one-two, before Rendell was able to turn his focus infield and exchange passes with Whiteley to play his way to the left-wing byline. From there, Rendell delivered a low centre that took Deacon out of the game and presented Alfie STANLEY with a two-yard tap-in, for the easiest goal he will score all season.
There was a comical moment when Rendell caught the ball in front of the well-populated main stand, because he thought it had dropped out of play, only to find that it hadn’t crossed the line and he’d conceded a free-kick for hand-ball. Owen Pelham and Elliott Simpson were dominating the central midfield area, both snapping into challenges to quickly win the ball back whenever Totton relinquished possession.
Baffins No.10 Tommy Patterson tried his luck with a speculative long range drive from mid-way inside Totton’s half on 25 minutes, when he was presented with a loose ball and a yard of space. His effort was comfortably claimed by Noice, diving low to his left. Then, Jordan Pile made a solid tackle to stop the energetic Benny Read skipping forward down the right wing to instigate another Totton attack.
SPECTACULAR STRIKE: Midfielder Charlie Davis produced a stunning long-range pearler to put AFC Totton 3-0 up against Baffins Milton Rovers at Miller Park.
The Stags went three-up in the 28th minute. Battling work from Pelham and then Rendell in midfield reclaimed possession for the boys in blue, enabling Charlie DAVIS to stride forward and strike a dipping 25-yard shot over Deacon and into the top-right corner of the net for a stunning goal that rightly earned applause from all around the ground.
There was little respite for Baffins. The lively Benny Read was a constant thorn in their side, getting forward from right-back with the new man Alfie Stanley seemingly on his wavelength in terms of offering lay-off options and, at times, just getting out of his way to allow him to advance. Read forced a right-wing corner. Davis took it and Adam Tomasso was unlucky to see his half-volley deflected wide for another set-piece. This time, the ball dropped towards the far post and struck a Baffins defender, prompting Scott Rendell to appeal for a penalty that never came.
On 34 minutes, Davis played the ball into the box looking for Rendell. It was headed partially clear by a defender; Whiteley stepped over the ball to allow it to run for Simpson, who teed himself up for a shot that drifted wide of the left-hand upright.
Liam Brewer took up possession for Baffins on the left wing, near the intersection of the halfway line and the touchline. He was immediately swarmed by four blue shirts, eager to nick the ball and put The Stags back on the front foot. The ball was worked over to the left, where Ragguette was afforded the space to charge forward and unleash an angled drive that pulled an impressive parry out of Deacon, at the expense of a left-wing corner. As the ball was floated into the penalty area, Conor Whiteley felt a shove in the back and went down, prompting the Referee to point to the spot. Last season’s Southern League Div.1 South Golden Boot winner Scott RENDELL stepped up to open his pre-season account with a confident finish.
PICKING UP WHERE HE LEFT OFF: Scott Rendell did what Scott Rendell does; he put the ball in the back of the opponents' net.
From the restart, Baffins launched a swift attack from which Liam Brewer managed to wriggle his way into possession on the right of the six-yard box. Lewis Noice reacted quickly, getting down to block the shot. The ball was partially cleared by covering Totton defenders, and when it came back into the box, it was headed wide to the left.
More good work from the impressive Benny Read won Totton a throw-in high up the pitch, which they quickly traded up for a free-kick on the right wing, a minute before the break. Charlie Davis floated his right-footed cross to the edge of the six-yard box, where Stanley ran under the flight of the ball before Rendell headed against the crossbar, his effort flicking off the woodwork and going over.
HALF-TIME
AFC TOTTON 4
BAFFINS MILTON ROVERS 0
Of AFC Totton’s starting line-up, only goalkeeper Lewis Noice remained as the teams came out for the second half. Central defender Luke Hallett took the captain’s armband, with the only other familiar faces being full-back Leo Taylor, the younger brother of Ethan who made a couple of appearances for the club at the end of last season, and Diego Ramos Santarelli, who will be moving to the United States shortly to begin his scholarship at Blinn College in Texas. Former Sholing midfielder Sami Makhloufi, who has been training with The Stags over the summer, was also involved.
Baffins also made a number of changes, which inevitably disrupted the established pattern of the first half. The new-look Totton line-up matched their opponents toe-to-toe. Leo Taylor had a long-range shot diverted out for a throw, after having been involved in the build-up, receiving a pass from Hallett in defence and releasing Ramos down the wing, before following up to connect with the partially cleared cross.
Baffins came close with a long-range effort that flashed wide of the left-hand post. Then, on the hour mark, Ramos had the Baffins defence stretched on Totton’s right wing. His cross was almost headed into his own net by a defender at the back post, but they were able to defend the resulting corner more effectively.
LUKE THE SKYWALKER: Semi-permanantly airborne central defender Luke Hallett captained the side for the second half.
Deacon took the ball cleanly from a Totton right-wing free-kick with Hallett swooping in dangerously behind him. Then, the keeper was quick off the mark to come out of his area and kick clear when Sami Makhloufi’s through-ball threatened to put Ramos clean through on goal.
After a short water break, Totton were guilty of switching off when they conceded a free-kick near the halfway line, much to the audible annoyance of manager Jimmy Ball in the dug-out. Baffins quickly exploited a gap down the inside-left but Hallett got something in the way of the driven effort from the edge of the penalty area, which took enough vim off the strike to allow Noice to claim the ball low down.
With 10 minutes to go in a largely uneventful second half, Noice had to come off his line to parry away a dangerous cross from the right-hand side, flattening an opponent in the process before a follow-up shot was well-blocked by a blue shirt. Then, it was a case of “Every duck for himself”, as a strong sliding tackle by Leo Taylor sent the ball over the trees on the far side of the ground and into Testwood Lakes.
Ramos drew a foul midway inside the Baffins half, but an attempted short free-kick routine fell apart and gave Baffins the chance to hit on the counter; a chance that was wasted by an unnecessary push by their centre-forward to hand possession back to the home side. Baffins managed to get a few late deliveries into the Totton box, but the makeshift defence had answers for everything their visitors could throw at them, and saw the game out with their clean sheet in tact.
After the match, AFC Totton Manager Jimmy Ball (pictured) said:
“Today was just what I wanted, really. Everyone got 45 minutes and we came through it, playing well and avoiding any injuries. We can see the beginning of a few partnerships out there. Sam Magri was assured at the back, as you would expect from a player of his experience, and Alfie Stanley showed exactly what I knew he would; he was bright, lively, got the ball into feet and linked up well, always keeping on the move. It was good to see him get off the mark with a couple of goals. One swallow doesn’t make a summer but it’s a good start, so I’m happy with what I’ve seen today.”
By Ben Rochey-Adams
Stock photography courtesy of Craig Hobbs Photography
