AFC Totton
PRE-SEASON 2022/23 - MATCHDAY 01
Saturday 09 July 2022
TYTHERINGTON ROCKS 0
AFC TOTTON 5
Diego Ramos 26mins; Jake Adams 49mins; Jireh Oyebamiji 63mins; Enrique Russell 73mins; Scott Rendell 85mins
Jimmy Ball’s new-look AFC Totton squad began their programme of pre-season friendlies with a trip to Western League Division One outfit Tytherington Rocks yesterday (Saturday), basking in the sunshine of a sunny South Gloucestershire summer’s afternoon with a fine five-goal display to blow off the close season cobwebs.
The Stags’ starting XI took to the pitch wearing their all blue home kit at Hardwicke Playing Fields, featuring seven newcomers making their unofficial AFC Totton debuts. Goalkeeper Lloyd Thomas was joined by returning veteran left-back Michael Green, Bermudian international centre-back Tahzeiko Harris, former Salisbury captain Charlie Kennedy and experienced livewire striker Yemi Odubade. Brenno Narezzi and Diego Ramos, two products of last season’s title-winning PRO:DIRECT Academy side, brought youth to the team, with Callum Baughan, Adam Tomasso, Lewis Waterfield and Brett Williams the only players to start who also featured in the successful Southampton Senior Cup Final at St. Mary’s Stadium in May.
AFC TOTTON - 1st HALF
1. Lloyd THOMAS
2. Callum BAUGHAN
3. Michael GREEN
4. Adam TOMASSO
5. Zeiko HARRIS
6. Charlie KENNEDY
7. Yemi ODUBADE
8. Lewis WATERFIELD
9. Brett WILLIAMS
10. Brenno NAREZZI
11. Diego RAMOS
Before the match kicked-off, the players and fans of both teams observed a minute’s silence in memory of the Tytherington Rocks honorary lifetime president and club legend Ron Holpin, who sadly passed away last month.
Decked out in orange-and-black, the home side - playing their fourth pre-season fixture - got the game underway in 25°C heat and, after a relatively timid start by both teams, the Rocks were the first to threaten on 8 minutes. Totton defender Charlie Kennedy got the ball stuck under his feet and, trying to regain control of the situation, was pulled up for a tug on his opponent, 25 yards out. The direct effort on goal was struck narrowly wide, curling past Lloyd Thomas’s right-hand post.
Having initially struggled to find their rhythm on a hard surface, Totton mounted their first raid on the Tytherington goal in the 16th minute when Brett Williams controlled a high ball in the centre-circle and arrowed a pass out to the right-hand flank to enable Yemi Odubade to scamper down the wing and cross to the edge of the area. Williams was in position to receive possession once again and let fly with an early shot that was charged down by a defender at close range, half-hearted appeals for a penalty going unheeded from the match officials.
Shortly after, pressure on the Tytherington goalkeeper presented the ball to Adam Tomasso 30 yards out, but he opted to pass rather than attempt a long shot and the Rocks defenders managed to get enough bodies around the ball to snuff the chance out.
A crossfield pass from Zeiko Harris out to the left flank in the 20th minute freed the two youngest Stags, Narezzi and Ramos, to link up in an advanced position and, after winning a throw-in, Diego Ramos then hit a delightful pass with the outside of his right-foot to create a half-chance for Williams at a narrow angle to the right of goal, but the striker fired wide.
After a 5-minute water break, Harris read the situation well to reclaim possession from a Tytherington attack and passed to Brenno Narezzi in central midfield. The teenager spun away from his man into a pocket of space before threading a beautifully-weighted pass between the orange-and-black shirted centre-backs and into the path of Diego RAMOS, who latched on to the ball near the penalty spot before skipping around the keeper to the left and sliding the ball home from a tight angle.
FORM AN ORDERLY QUEUE: Charlie Kennedy, Zeiko Harris and Brett Williams line up for a first-half set-piece at Hardwicke Playing Field in Tytherington, South Gloucestershire.
A well-struck volley from Lewis Waterfield, connecting with Odubade’s cross, flashed over the home side’s crossbar and then more incisive passing from the impressive Narezzi allowed Odubade to force a corner, but the Stags failed to capitalise on the set-piece opportunity.
While both of Totton’s central defenders showed evidence of a little rustiness in their first touch, they dealt with Tytherington’s attempts to press them with strength and calmness under pressure, while Adam Tomasso seemed to be enjoying himself getting stuck into challenges in the midfield, more than once provoking forlorn protests from opponents to a disinterested Referee.
On 39 minutes, a strong defensive header from Harris, using his towering 6’4” frame to good effect, presented the ball to Odubade who drifted through two defenders, moving inward from the right flank to tee-up Williams on the edge of the area. He tried to work the space between two defenders but ended up scuffing his shot wide to the left.
Narezzi and Ramos were the stars of the show in the first half, and their combination 5 minutes before the interval had the hosts’ defence stretching to clear their lines, at the expense of a corner. Narezzi’s delivery from the right was too hard but Ramos retrieved it on the left and attacked the byline before crossing low to the near post where Odubade’s side-foot shot was deflected wide for another corner. Soon after, an angled snapshot from the right-hand side by Williams was seeking out the bottom-left corner until the keeper got down sharply to push the ball wide of the far post.
A minute before half-time, Callum Baughan conceded what in field hockey would be considered a short corner for holding, but Lloyd Thomas came out to catch the cross with a commanding air of authority amid a ruck of players from both teams.
Ramos threatened to run through the Tytherington defence from the left wing until his path was blocked. Then, he was unlucky not to connect with what would have been a spectacular over-head flying scissor-kick from Narezzi’s clipped ball into the box, moments before the Referee signalled for half-time.
HALF-TIME
TYTHERINGTON ROCKS 0
AFC TOTTON 1
It was all change for the second-half. Not only did Jimmy Ball replace nine of the players from the starting XI, but the Stags also switched to their fluo yellow-and-black away kit, which gleamed under the bright mid-afternoon sunshine.
AFC TOTTON - 2nd HALF
1. Lloyd THOMAS
2. Jordan RAGGUETTE
3. Luke HALLETT
4. Owen PELHAM
5. Pascal KPOHOMOUH
6. Archy FORD
7. Enrique RUSSELL
8. Brenno NAREZZI
9. Scott RENDELL (pictured, right)
10. Jake ADAMS
11. Jireh OYEBAMIJI
Within four minutes of the re-start, the Stags doubled their lead when Brenno Narezzi - the only outfield starter to survive the half-time cull - took a left-wing short corner with Enrique Russell, which the Bermudian international striker floated towards the back post for Jake ADAMS to convert with a glancing header that eluded the outstretched arm of the keeper.
Narezzi tested the keeper from the edge of the area after Jireh Oyebamiji and Russell linked-up at pace down the right-hand side, the young midfielder supporting the play and trying his luck from Russell’s lay-off. Then, Adams released Oyebamiji to run clear of the last defender in the inside-left channel, an awkward bounce coming to the Rocks’ rescue, before Scott Rendell’s follow-up shot was comfortably claimed by the keeper.
Making an early bid for Man of the Match, Narezzi continued to pull the strings in midfield, feeding Oyebamiji through the middle who forced a smart reaction save and then found himself crowded out as he attempted to latch on to the rebound. Then, an Adams free-kick delivery from deep on the right-hand side had to be headed clear for a corner.
A few minutes later, Owen Pelham found Jordan Ragguette on the left wing who played in Oyebamiji on an underlapping run towards the byline. His early cross was flicked goal-ward by Rendell with a defender at his back, but the keeper managed to keep it out.
Totton made it 3-0 on 63 minutes, though, when Jake Adams surged past his man in the centre-circle and played Jireh OYEBAMIJI in, the striker darting between two defenders to poke the ball under the advancing keeper and into the bottom-right corner.
Oyebamiji - known as JJ amongst his new Totton teammates - was clearly having fun, and his fleet-footed one-two with Narezzi in the 71st minute produced another shot on goal, which the keeper did well to get two hands behind, only to almost be undone by his own defender who beat Rendell to the rebound but then smashed the ball against the keeper’s head and, somehow, away from his own goal.
Jake Adams was playing with increasing confidence and influence from a slightly deeper midfield position. When he made a rare mistake, he was quick to race back into the centre of his defence to prevent the home side benefitting from an underhit back-pass, before building the play out from the back, once more.
Narezzi did well in the 73rd minute to pick out Rendell in the inside-left channel. The former Luton Town striker evaded the keeper to the left of goal and cut the ball back from a tight angle. The ball clipped the left-hand post, wrong-footing a recovering defender as it squirmed across the unguarded goalmouth for Enrique RUSSELL to tap home with ease.
A move down the left side involving Adams, Oyebamiji and Ragguette pulled the Tytherington players out of their shape sufficiently to create an opening for Pelham to line one up from 25 yards out, in the middle of goal, but his shot curled over the bar.
With 5 minutes to go, a sweeping move down the right-hand side culminated in Russell playing a low angled pass into the inside-right, where Oyebamiji got to the ball first, the keeper only getting enough on it to deflect the ball into the feet of Scott RENDELL who scored from close range.
Luke Hallett's misplaced defensive header went unpunished when a Tytherington forward blazed his effort wildly over the crossbar. Then, at the other end, Rendell bundled a bouncing ball through two defenders to set up Adams, whose left-footed strike flew across goal and just wide to the right.
A late Tytherington free-kick was headed on to the roof of the net from the right of the Totton 6-yard box, before the Referee’s final whistle wrapped things up.
Speaking after the match, AFC Totton manager Jimmy Ball was satisfied with a good afternoon’s work:
“It was a good test. They’ve already played three pre-season games, where as this was our first. I’m pleased with the physical output from the players and with the minutes that the new boys have spent together today, getting to know each other on the pitch, creating that cohesion we’re going to need and developing their on-pitch relationships. I thought all four of the Academy boys were outstanding, and they showed that they can be a big part of it, while the other new guys also did well, showing their experience and pace as we anticipated they would.
“This pre-season period is about laying down the principles of how we want to play - not tactics or shape, just the basic principles of how to keep the ball and how to win it back quickly when we lose it. The result of the match is secondary; it’s more important to use these games to establish and build upon those principles.”
The Stags will next be in action again on Tuesday night when they visit Wessex League Div.1 outfit Hythe & Dibden at their Clayfields ground in Claypits Lane, Hythe SO45 5TN - kick-off at 7:45pm.
By Ben Rochey-Adams
Images courtesy of Adi Rose
