AFC Totton
Photo courtesy of Fin Hall
By Josh Cole
It was a Jekyll and Hyde performance, The Stags conceded three in the second half and lose 4-1 away at Tonbridge Angels.
The game started bright for Totton and an early corner from Craig Tanner was delivered into a dangerous area but evaded everyone in the box.
Not many clear-cut chances were created for either team in the first 20 minutes, but AFC Totton were dominating possession with their counterparts adopting a more direct approach.
26 minutes on the clock, and against the run of play, Tonbridge took the lead. Tom Leahy got in behind the Totton defence and played the ball across the six-yard box for Marcus Sablier to tap home.
Just two minutes later The Stags were back level and it’s the least they deserved. A quick counterattack from The Stags saw Charlie Osborne release Ash Clarke and he still had a lot to do but one-on-one against Brad Williams and he chopped onto his right foot, firing a shot in at the near post!
For the rest of the first half, Totton moved the ball with speed and venom but couldn’t produce that final end product to grab a goal.
Tonbridge came out the blocks flying in the second half and were putting The Stags defence under real pressure, which buckled in the 50th minute.
Frankie Baker got in behind and showed real composure one-on-one with Jacob Knightbridge to slot it away.
After that goal, Tonbridge started to sit deep and frustrate Totton, which is what happened.
On the 70th minute, The Angels worked the ball nicely into the box and Bunmi Babajide had space to turn and shoot and he found the back of the net.
Then four minutes later it was four for the hosts with Ricky Korboa finding space down the left-side once more and his curling effort found its way in at the far post.
AFC Totton down 4-1 attempted to reply but were moving the ball too slow and were playing into the hands of Tonbridge, who were happy to sit 11-men behind the ball.
The game would end 4-1 to the home side, a second half to forget for The Stags.
AFC Totton XI: 31. Jacob Knightbridge, 2. Joe Oastler (Josh Dolling 71’), 3. Brandon Haunstrup (Christos Batzelis 73’), 5. Luke Hallett (Dan O’Connor 81’), 7. Ash Clarke, 10. Tony Lee (Scott Rendell 73’), 12. Charlie Osborne, 17. Dec Rose, 23. Ralph Vigrass, 26. Tyler Cordner, & 27. Craig Tanner (Lee Hodson 73').
Attendance: 1,656
GO STAGS
