AFC Totton
By Josh Cole
It was a night to forget for The Stags in Eastleigh as we were knocked out of the Hampshire Senior Cup in round two.
There was basically an entire team change from Saturday at Dorking Wanderers, with this game providing Jimmy the chance to rotate and play players who have not featured as much as others.
Notably on the team sheet was Jay Emmanuel-Thomas for his first competitive start at AFC Totton.
The first half saw Totton dominating possession but lacking that cutting edge in the final third.
In the 15th minute, Emmanuel-Thomas laid the ball off to Josh Dolling and his long-range effort was smartly tipped over by McNamara in goal.
This was a feature of the first half, Totton being restricted to shots from outside the box and crosses into the box not being turned home.
Eastleigh were under the cosh for a lot of the first half, but their young players stayed resilient despite the pressure.
If I had the stats, they would’ve said Totton had 80% of the ball in that first half, but the game at half-time remained goalless.
Four minutes after the break, Eastleigh took the lead. A shot from outside the box beat Nico Trojanowski and went in.
Then in the 61st minute, Eastleigh went two up, a clinical counter from the home side resulted in Stone finishing the move off.
Totton responded in the 68th minute, a beautiful assist from JET to Hisham Kasimu and he guided the ball into the roof of the net.
Luke Bennett coming on changed the second half massively as Totton were not up to the standard as the first.
And it was Bennett who put the ball on a plate for Ash Clarke at the back post but instead of shooting first time he decided to take a touch and the defender blocked.
In the 81st minute Eastleigh were reduced to ten men, and The Stags had a penalty, up stepped JET but it was saved.
Despite more chances in the closing stages, Eastleigh won, and Totton are knocked out of the Cup, onto the FA Cup on Saturday!
AFC Totton XI: 31. Nico Trojanowski, 4. Mike Carter (Zach Earley 45’), 5. Luke Hallett, 7. Ashley Clarke (Dylan Andrews 76’), 14. Jay Emmanuel-Thomas, 16. Josh Dolling, 17. Dec Rose, 21. Christos Batzelis (Dylan Birks 76’), 23. Ralph Vigrass (Luke Bennett 63’), 25. Femi Olofinjana & 29. Hisham Kasimu.
Unused sub: 9. Scott Rendell
Attendance: 611
GO STAGS
