HAMPSHIRE COMBINATION & DEVELOPMENT FOOTBALL LEAGUE
UNDER-23s PREMIER DIVISION | Matchday#4
Wednesday 30 October 2024 | Hurn Bridge Sports Ground, Christchurch | Att: ~60

YOUNG STAGS RE-TAKE TOP SPOT WITH ANOTHER EMPHATIC WIN

CHRISTCHURCH U23s               0

AFC TOTTON U23s                       9
Luke Hallett 25mins; Will Keita 32mins;
Tom Blair 35mins; Charlie Kennedy 44mins;
Remus Nixon 50mins, 70mins;
Dylan Andrews 53mins, 87mins;
Hugo Rawlings 90mins (pen)

AFC TOTTON UNDER-23s WENT BACK to the top of the Hampshire Combination & Development Football League U23s Premier Division table with another big win on the road, as they racked up nine goals without reply against Christchurch at the Hurn Bridge Sports Ground on Wednesday evening (30 October 2024).

Totton fielded several members of their first team squad who were in need of minutes due to recent injuries, ongoing suspensions and limited involvement in the last few first team matches. Luke Hallett and Charlie Kennedy lined up in defence, with Josh Owers and Tom Blair in midfield. Having been sidelined with a hamstring injury since joining the club in the summer, Will Keita finally got to kick a ball in anger, lining up in midfield. Club captain Mike Carter was named among the substitutes, hoping to get his first on-pitch action for more than a year - together with new midfield signing, Dylan Andrews.

AFC TOTTON U23s: 1. Max EVANS; 3. Logan LAIRD; 5. Charlie KENNEDY; 6. Leo TAYLOR; 8. Zach EARLEY; 10. Owen PELHAM; 11. Remus NIXON; 12. Luke HALLETT; 14. Josh OWERS; 15. Will KEITA; 19. Tom BLAIR. Substitutes: 2. Runo AGBERHIERE; 4. Mike CARTER; 7. Dylan ANDREWS; 9. Hugo RAWLINGS; 20. Jack McGIVNEY. Substitutions: Rolling.

The pattern of the game was set early on, with Totton utilising pace on the wings to attack their hosts at speed and deliver low crosses into the box. In the absence of free-scoring striker Connor Bent, The Stags appeared to be operating with Tom Blair and Remus Nixon pushing high up on either flank, with Owen Pelham acting as a false-9 — and many of the early chances fell to the young skipper.

First, Blair raced to the right-wing byline and cut-back for Pelham, whose side-foot shot struck the goalkeeper’s shin. Totton quickly regained possession on the left and Nixon’s high cross was punched off the top of Pelham’s head, despite his willingness to challenge the ‘keeper in the air.

Zach Earley’s through-ball threatened to put Will Keita in behind the defence until a timely poke by a defender enabled the ‘keeper to come out and collect. Then, Charlie Kennedy brought out his box of tricks to nutmeg the left-back and pick out Pelham in the box, who fired over the crossbar.

Keita had a long-range effort saved, as the one-way traffic continued. Then, the profligate Pelham notched up his fourth miss of the game with a poor side-foot finish to put the ball beyond the left-hand post, after Blair had carved out a golden opportunity to put The Stags ahead from another raid down the right-wing.

Nixon had a shot tipped over by the Christchurch ‘keeper, before Kennedy flicked his near-post header across goal and wide from the resulting corner. Then, Blair presented Pelham with another good chance but the midfielder took a touch before striking a shot that lacked conviction, allowing the goalkeeper to save.

Blair was brought down in an advanced position on the right flank. He took the free-kick and his cross was punched away, but Hallett headed it back towards goal, beating the ‘keeper only for a defender to clear off the line. Totton claimed the ball had crossed the line; the referee has having none of it. Meanwhile, the ball had gone out for a corner; from the first delivery, Blair’s cross struck a defender and went out for another corner. This time, Blair found the head of Luke HALLETT who steered the ball into the back of the net from five yards.

Pelham’s lack of luck in front of goal continued, as he got the ball stuck under his foot in the penalty area from Nixon’s left-wing cross. But, restored to his more familiar deeper midfield role, Pelham won the ball back in the middle of the pitch to release Nixon down the left. His low centre found Blair, who had made a well-timed run infield from the opposite flank to beat the offside trap, but then dragged his shot wide of the post.

Pelham fired one into the side-netting from a tight angle on the right. Then, 32 minutes into the game, The Stags extended their lead. Logan Laird had the ball at his feet in the left-back position and he responded to Keita’s demand for a through-ball, as the former Weymouth man made a dash towards the inside-left channel. Laird’s pass was well-weighted but with two defenders in attendance, there was still a lot to do for Will KEITA to shrug them both off and slide the ball into the bottom-right corner. That was the end of Keita’s involvement, at least for the remainder of the first half, as he appeared to have pulled a leg muscle while stretching to direct the ball beyond the Christchurch ‘keeper. Dylan Andrews came on for his AFC Totton U23s debut.

Goal No.3 came just three minutes later. Totton pressed in the Christchurch penalty area, as the hosts passed the ball amongst themselves. Nixon pressured the goalkeeper into rushing his kick, and the ball fell to Tom BLAIR about 20 yards out, who looped his shot into the exposed right corner of the net.

More pressing perseverance from Nixon won another right-wing corner for Totton. Blair’s cross was met by Kennedy at the near-post, who again headed across goal and wide. Then, Joshua Owers combined with Laird on the left-hand side to play Pelham into shooting range from the edge of the box, but the young midfielder flashed his shot narrowly past the far post.

Having had two sighters, Kennedy got in on the goals shortly before half-time. Earley’s angled pass towards Blair had the full-back sliding in to divert the ball out for another corner. Again, Blair delivered with quality and Charlie KENNEDY came chugging into the six-yard box like a steam train to powerfully head home Totton’s fourth goal of the night.

Nixon had the last chance of the half, latching onto Pelham’s cute pass before driving in a low, angled shot that the ‘keeper saved.

HALF-TIME: CHRISTCHURCH U23s 0-4 AFC TOTTON U23s

Totton made several changes at the break, which included the introductions of midfielder Runo Agberhiere and striker Hugo Rawlings. Neat chest control by Rawlings to bring down a high pass enabled him to get in behind the Christchurch defence and attack the right-wing byline, but his low centre eluded Agberhiere, who was at least able to retrieve possession on the far side.

Totton went five-up on 50 minutes. Blair won the ball in the centre-circle and threaded a forward pass into the path of Remus NIXON, who skipped around one close challenge and then weaved his way through the centre to keep the last defender guessing, before squeezing his shot into the bottom-right corner.

Goal No.6 followed shortly after, when Nixon was played into position to attack the left-wing byline and then cut the ball back for Dylan ANDREWS to mark his AFC Totton U23s debut with a ferocious strike from 12 yards that crashed in off the underside of the crossbar.

Christchurch chose to make a substitution, with their regular U23’s goallkeeper, Sam Cotton, coming on to replace his younger and considerably smaller teammate. He announced himself with a terrific save to push Blair’s free-kick onto the crossbar, shortly before Nixon fired an angled shot from the left wide of the far post.

Cotton’s superior confidence and experience was self-evident in his audible advice to his teammates, as they shifted possession of the football among themselves in midfield and, occasionally, in Totton’s defensive third — prompting the question as to why he didn’t start the game. His next contribution was to push a shot from Andrews over the bar, after a low cross from the Totton left had escaped two light grey shirts arriving in the six-yard box.

Jack McGivney had to limp off after a short midfield cameo. Then, Andrews struck a free-kick against the right-hand post, as Totton continued to dominate proceedings. Pelham retrieved the ball on the left and put Rawlings in at inside-left. Rawlings beat Cotton to the ball and centred for Remus NIXON to side-foot home from close range. The goal stood but Rawlings had inadvertently caught Sam Cotton on the head with his boot, and although he initially played on after receiving treatment, Cotton then had to be substituted as a precaution when he went down again, still feeling the effects. On behalf of AFC Totton, we wish Sam Cotton a full and quick recovery.

With three minutes remaining, Rawlings fired wide with a snapshot. Then, Rawlings rushed the returning original Christchurch ‘keeper into another poor kick that went straight to Dylan ANDREWS, who helped himself to his second goal of the night.

Andrews was involved again as he dashed onto a through-ball on the right edge of the Christchurch penalty area, drawing a sliding tackle that resulted in him being tripped. The defender pointed to the visible slide marks in the turf as evidence that the foul had occurred outside the box, but the referee was adamant that it should be a penalty-kick to AFC Totton. Hugo RAWLINGS despatched it with little fuss, making it 9-0 to The Stags and prompting the referee to put the home side out of their misery without the formality of any stoppage time.

With Dorchester Town and Bashley’s U23s having shared six goals between them on the night at The Avenue Stadium in Dorset, AFC Totton leapfrogged The Magpies to go back to the top of the table by one point, with two games in-hand over their rivals and a trip to Bashley’s Veho Community Stadium coming up next Wednesday (06 November).

Latest Hampshire Combination & Development Football League Under-23s Premier Division LEAGUE TABLE (Works better on the Firefox browser; Google Chrome struggles with it)

Next Up: BASHLEY U23s vs AFC TOTTON U23s
Hampshire Combination & Development Football League U23 Premier Division | The Veho Community Stadium, Bashley Road, New Milton BH25 5RY | Wednesday 30 October 2024 | Kick-Off 7:45pm

By Ben Rochey-Adams