HAMPSHIRE COMBINATION & DEVELOPMENT FOOTBALL LEAGUE
U23 PREMIER DIVISION
Wednesday 23 April 2025 | Snows Stadium, Totton | Att: ~150

LATE WINNER SEES YOUNG BUCKS EMERGE VICTORIOUS AGAINST CITIZENS

AFC TOTTON U23s                     1
Connor Bent 83mins

WINCHESTER CITY U23s       0

CONNOR BENT’S LATE WINNING goal edged AFC Totton Under-23s closer to claiming the Hampshire Combination & Development Football League U23 Premier Division title by securing a one-nil win against second-placed Winchester City at the Snows Stadium.

The two sides came into the game with the only remaining unbeaten records in the division, and contested an end-to-end match that was far more entertaining than the slender final score might suggest. Striker Connor Bent returned to the AFC Totton starting XI, having missed last week’s draw at Fareham Town, and first teamer Declan Rose — who broke his leg in the game at Gosport Borough in November that was abandoned due to a power failure — made his return to competitive action, lining up in central defence.

AFC TOTTON U23s: 1. Max EVANS; 2. Harley STRANGE; 3. Sa-Sean LUTUMBA; 4. Zachariah EARLEY; 6. Will KEITA; 7. Jack McGIVNEY; 8. Dylan ANDREWS; 9. Connor BENT; 10. Owen PELHAM (Capt.); 11. Remus NIXON; 17. Declan ROSE. Substitutes: 5. Jack GOOD; 12. Hugo RAWLINGS; 15. Runo AGBERHIERE; 16. Sam GORDON; 20. Dyaln BIRKS. Substitutions: Rolling. Yellow Card: KEITA (Foul); ANDREWS (Foul).

Totton — wearing the first team’s cup kit of sky blue shirts, dark blue shorts and sky blue socks — went straight on the attack from kick-off, but the low cross into the Winchester box from the left-had side was turned away. When the visitors went up the other end, Ashton Palmer’s cross from the right wing was glanced wide of the far post by the head of Alex Vine.

Winchester settled on the ball sooner than their hosts, and winger Lewis Brown required the efforts of both Owen Pelham and Will Keita to prevent him getting in from The Citizens’ left. Then, at the other end of the pitch, Keita was shown a yellow card when he went in for a challenge with Winchester goalkeeper James Harwood with a high foot that caught his opponent in the face, after Remus Nixon had lobbed a partially-cleared corner back into the box.

Nixon held the ball up at the edge of the box from a right-wing throw-in, before playing a square pass to put Sa-Sean Lutumba in at inside-left, but his low centre was repelled. Winchester surged forward to send Brown to the left-wing byline, from where his driven centre was saved at the near post of the six-yard box by Marcus Evans, diving at full-stretch to smother the ball.

Keita struck a high diagonal pass out to the right-wing corner, where Jack McGivney brought it under control but was unable to get past his man. Then, Nixon found his forward progression on the Totton left halted by Winchester doubling-up on him. Dylan Andrews came up in support, helping to play Nixon further infield, and as the centre-forward tried to weave himself into a shooting position, a defensive lunge diverted the ball to Pelham, whose 20-yard shot veered wide to the right.

Totton were now asserting themselves more effectively, as demonstrated by the calmness under pressure that saw Declan Rose, Zach Earley and skipper Pelham retain possession in midfield despite being outnumbered by Winchester’s energetic press. Then, when Rose brought the ball out of defence only to have his pass intercepted, Pelham put in a strong tackle to snuff out a potential counter-attack before it could form.

Pelham tried his luck from the centre-circle when he spotted Harwood off his line, but his shot drifted wide to the right. Then, Rose was brought down in the middle of the visitors’ half as he carried the ball out of defence, again. From the free-kick, Pelham drifted the ball towards the edge of the six-yard box, where the incoming Keita beat Harwood to it but could only steer his effort wide of the left-hand post.

Pelham won another free-kick, closer to goal, after winning the ball near half-way and riding two challenges as he drove forward. From 22 yards out, left of centre, Pelham went for goal; his shot deflected through the defensive wall, allowing McGivney to steal in behind and dink a shot beyond Harwood, only to see full-back Keaton Lane drop in behind his ‘keeper to clear off the line, before another Winchester defender hacked the ball away.

Lutumba attacked from the left wing, running into two defenders. Pelham intercepted the clearance and drove forward, again riding challenges as he worked the ball onto his right foot before driving a 20-yard effort narrowly wide of the left-hand post. Then, the punchily-named Henry Cooper intercepted Rose’s pass to launch a Winchester counter, which Lutumba chased back to dismantle near the halfway line.

Keita came close to opening the scoring from Pelham’s leftt-wing corner, but as the big defender tried to bundle the ball over the line, a Winchester foot hooked it away at the back post. Winchester flew up the pitch and Dylan Andrews was called up for a foul, earning the second yellow card of the game. Lewis Elvin floated the ball into the Totton box from the free-kick, prompting Evans to loudly claim the ball before confidently catching it at the edge of his area.

Winchester caught the Totton defence flat-footed with a diagonal pass from the left that put Vine through, with Lutumba in hot pursuit. Vine advanced through the middle into the box, but a heavy touch gave Evans the chance to throw himself into the forward’s path to grab the ball; Vine lunged for the ball and caught Evans in the face. There was concern for The Stags’ goalie while he received treatment on the pitch, but he was thankfully back on his feet and ready to continue within a couple of minutes.

Totton defended a corner from Winchester’s left, and the subsequent follow-up crosses into the home penalty area, before Vine had a low shot blocked by Rose. Winchester regained possession and a forward pass put Palmer in at inside-left to poke the ball past Evans and into the bottom-right corner of the net, only to find his goal ruled out for offside.

Strong hold-up play on the left-wing touchline by Nixon enabled the part-Icelandic centre-forward to pass into Connor Bent’s run to inside-left, before the striker’s low cross was turned away. Totton maintained the pressure, winning a corner on the left from which Pelham’s cross was headed out by defender Lawson Bright. Winchester underlined their attacking threat just before the break, when Elvin found space on the right and directed his cross into the centre where the rapidly-arriving Brown fired over the crossbar.

HALF-TIME: AFC TOTTON U23s 0-0 WINCHESTER CITY U23s

There were no changes at half-time. Totton almost sewed the seeds of their own downfall just two minutes into the second half, when right-back Harley Strange misjudged the fight of the ball coming toward him, forcing him to readjust and pass back to Evans. But he under-hit his pass, putting Keita under pressure from the more alert Elvin, who side-stepped the big defender and took a shot from the edge of the box; Evans got something on it to slow the speed to the ball towards the Totton goal, and Rose had to come round on the cover to stop the ball crossing the line.

Brown dribbled into the left of the Totton box, before his shot was blocked. Then, Keita made a well-timed block to deny Vine’s attempt from an angle on the Winchester right.

Totton got on the ball and settled into their passing rhythm, once more. Lutumba carried the ball down the left wing before picking out Pelham in splendid isolation in a central position, 25 yards from goal; the midfielder went for goal but fired over. Then, Pelham’s free-kick from in front of the home dug-out was volleyed into touch by a Winchester defender. From the throw-in, Pelham won another free-kick to the right of the penalty area, and from his delivery, Bent leapt at the far post and headed narrowly wide of the right-hand post.

Substitutions are of the rolling variety in this particular competition, and the subsequent action was punctuated throughout by a flurry of changes, including a few instances of players being reintroduced to the game after having been taken off. Winchester headed wide from a corner. Then, neat approach play by Pelham, Hugo Rawlings and Bent ended with a low centre flashing across the visitors’ goalmouth. Nixon retrieved the ball beyond the far post and, as he was being ushered out of the right side of the penalty area, flopped to the ground in a manner unbelievable for a young man of his considerable size and strength.

Bright rose highest in the Winchester six-yard box to head away the busy Pelham’s in-swinging cross. The captain then demonstrated his tackling ability again, breaking up a Winchester counter from close to the centre-circle and forcing the ball forward to Rawlings, who linked up with Nixon on the Totton right, before The Citizens’ defence got sufficient numbers back to clear the ball.

An in-swinging corner from the Totton left was swatted away from under the crossbar by Harwood’s right glove. Then, Pelham delivered another cross from the opposite flank that reached Nixon on the left of the box, but he couldn’t work the ball into a shooting position and had to settle for another corner on the left. This time, Pelham’s cross was aimed for Nixon to attack with his head but Bright headed out for the visitors.

Substitute Sam Gordon received the ball from a right-wing throw and played a one-two with Bent, before his low, angled pass put Nixon in at inside-left. The big centre-forward drove a low, angled shot that was blocked by a covering defender. Then, another left-wing corner delivery from the captain bounced of a cluster of players at the far post and narrowly wide, a goal-kick the end result.

Totton took a deserved lead with seven minutes to go. Keita took a throw-in from in front of the away dug-out, midway inside the Totton half. Pelham volleyed upfield and Nixon brought it under control on the right edge of the Winchester penalty area. As he feinted to go this way, then that, he worked the ball onto his left foot and bent an in-swinging cross towards the six-yard box; a defender got a touch on it but not enough to prevent Conner BENT arriving at the back post to apply the finishing touch from close range, with Harwood unable to react.

Rawlings and Gordon combined well to feed Nixon on the right wing, again, but Winchester doubled-up on the forward and got the ball away. Then, a long ball down the middle of the Totton half put Winchester substitute Cooper Wood in a foot-race with two defenders, which he won by enough of a margin to shoot over the crossbar from 18 yards.

Pelham conceded a free-kick within shooting range, to the left of the D, by tripping Wood. Palmer went for goal with a right-footed shot, that curled just over the top-right corner of the Totton goal. The visitors then earned a corner on their right via Keita’s block. The cross was knocked out to the edge of the penalty area; Jake Rees’s first shot was blocked, but when the ball rebounded back to him, he shifted infield and tried again, this time firing under the crossbar; Evans reacted with a sharp, one-handed save to push the ball over the bar for another corner. Winchester ‘keeper Harwood came up to add to the penalty box confusion but the delivery was headed away and Keita chased after it, tussling for possession on the halfway line long enough for the final whistle to confirm a Totton win.

Next Up for the Under-23s: AFC TOTTON U23s vs HAMBLE CLUB U23s
Hampshire Combination Challenge Cup | Semi-Final | Snows Stadium, Salisbury Road, Totton, Southampton SO40 2RW | Thursday 01 May 2025 | Kick-Off at 7:45pm | FREE Entry

By Ben Rochey-Adams