AFC Totton
Photo courtesy of Ben Cole
By Josh Wyatt-Jones
The points were shared at the Snows Stadium in an entertaining 1-1 draw between AFC Totton and Slough Town.
The initial stages of the game lacked control as Slough quickly implemented their direct and physical style. Both teams relentlessly looked to pump the ball forward with a handful of chances falling to the feet of Viktor Makowski.
The first opportunity of the game came in the 22nd minute for the Stags, thanks to some hard work by Ashley Clarke, winning back the ball for Alfie Merritt, who whipped in a low cross onto the heel of Tony Lee, who flicked it goalwards and into the thigh of Adam Desbois.
Soon after, Clarke seemed bound to put Totton into the lead as he drove with momentum into the box and attempted to stab the ball under the legs of Desbois. The Totton-man was rejected by a second important save by the Slough stopper.
Clarke was a nuisance once again in the 32nd minute as the Stags appeared to have a clear penalty claim. The attacker got in front of Reiss Greenidge, who appeared to catch the 20-year-old while clearing.
It was Totton that took the lead in the 38th minute as Christie Ward fired in from a corner. Declan Rose’s delivery bobbled its way across the box and found Ward, who stood alone, controlled the ball on the top of his chest and blasted the Stags into a 1-0 lead.
Ward and Totton nearly added a second before the break as a long ball found Lee, who’s flick found Jaiden Bartolo, the winger twisted and turned before placing the ball into the midfielder’s path to hit and smash wide.
Jimmy Ball’s side almost instantly doubled their lead in the second half as a Rose long throw met the head of Lee and dribbled across the face of the goal, agonisingly wide.
The Stags looked both dominant and dangerous in the early moments of the second half, with chances falling to Bartolo, who both scored in an offside position was denied by Desbois.
Nevertheless, it was the visitors that landed the next decisive blow as Greenidge fired through the legs of several bodies and found the corner of the net from an acute angle in the 59th minute to make it 1-1.
In a moment of madness, Lee was handed a straight red card in the 72nd, following an in-depth discussion between
After the Lee’s dismissal, the game came to a lull as Totton struggled to create, and Slough couldn’t utilise their one-man advantage. However, in the 84th minute, Ward fantastically challenged on the edge of the box, finding Tyler Cordner in a prime position to shoot, but the captain placed it just over the bar.
Both sides battled until the final whistle in an end-to-end tussle, with the game ending 1-1.
AFC Totton: 13. Ryan Gosney, 2. Alfie Merritt (Michael Carter 67’), 5. Luke Hallett, 7. Ashley Clarke, 10. Tony Lee, 12. Charlie Osborne, 17. Declan Rose, 18. Jaiden Bartolo(Ralph Vingrass 64’) (
Unused Subs: 6. Dan O’Connor, 25. Sam Tinubu & 28. Jacob Towns.
Attendance: 1,236
GO STAGS
