AFC Totton
CITY OF SOUTHAMPTON SUNDAY FOOTBALL LEAGUE DIV.1
MATCHDAY #3
BOYATT WOOD 1
AFC TOTTON SUNDAY 3
Matt Harrington 20mins; Nathan Gray 38mins; Josh Carey 90mins+1
Deep in the heart of Townhill Park, under the shadow of the wings of aeroplanes descending and ascending from our illustrious city, there's an enigmatic dingly dell of a football pitch so hidden from the uninitiated that its listed address is an alphanumeric irrelevance that sends the lady in the Sat Nav machine into an existential crisis, three streets away from the merest hint that you're anywhere near reaching your destination. Like Platform 9-and-three-quarters, the Cutbush Lane Playing Field only exists for those who *believe* that it exists.
Fortunately, Sam Conway's AFC Totton Sunday team is bereft of Muggles and they turned up this morning to ram-raid this enchanted garden and ruthlessly hoard all three points for themselves, against a buoyant Boyatt Wood side who, until today, were yet to taste defeat this season in the City of Southampton Sunday Football League Div.1.
AFC TOTTON SUNDAY
Starting Line-Up
1. Mitch COLEMAN
2. Luke SCOULER
3. Simon ROWSON
4. Jay BRADING
5. Jason CALCUTT
6. Dan GAIN
7. Lewis GUNDRY
8. Gary BAGLEY (Capt.)
9. Matt HARRINGTON
10. Nathan GRAY
11. Tom MUNDAY
Subs
13. Leon TATAVOSSIAN
16. Josh CAREY
The return of Simon Rowson at left-back meant that Luke Scouler moved over to the right-hand side. The central defensive partnership of Dan Gain and Jason Calcutt that began the season in the match at Empire FC was reunited. Tom Munday's impressive performance as substitute at Boujee Pint last week earned him a starting berth on the left wing. Leon Tatavossian, absent last week, returned to take a spot on the bench.
Neither side was able to gain an early foothold during the first 10 minutes of end-to-end football. Nathan Gray was the first to seriously threaten, latching onto a right-wing cross by Jay Brading to volley wide of the left-hand upright from just inside the penalty area.
Boyatt Wood came agonisingly close to opening the scoring on 14 minutes, with a 25-yard drive from a free-kick that clipped the top of the crossbar and went over.
Totton, as is customary for them, looked comfortable in possession of the football, while Boyatt Wood demonstrated their potency on the counter-attack. After a collision and a couple of shoves, there were the early simmerings of a running feud between Tom Munday and the home side's right-back Dan New, into which the referee had to intervene more than once.
The Stags looked the stronger side and they got their noses in front on 20 minutes. Central midfielder Lewis Gundry clipped a long diagonal pass out to Jay Brading on the right wing. He did well to control the ball near the touchline and then danced around the full-back to afford himself the time and space at the byline to look up and pick out Matt HARRINGTON, whose near post header flew past Gazz Smith in the Boyatt Wood goal.
Another, more aggressive altercation between Munday and New led to Sam Conway deciding to switch Jay Brading to the left wing and sending Munday to play down the right flank, in an attempt to de-escalate the situation.
Boyatt Wood managed to mount an attack down their left wing, sending a low cross into the box, which resulted in a shot going wide of the right-hand post. And shortly after, they defended a corner to spring a counter-attack down their right flank, Simon Rowson in hot pursuit as the winger flashed the ball across the Totton penalty area. Then a couple of long, high throw-ins by Joe Harket-Burgess, the Boyatt Wood No.8, demanded that Gain and Calcutt remained alert among the crowd of bodies surrounding the Totton goalmouth.
An audacious effort from Tom Munday, far out on the right-hand side, on 28 minutes sailed over the crossbar. Then, at the other end, Gain did well to put himself in the way of a long-range strike after another Harket-Burgess long throw had only been half-cleared under pressure.
Munday came close again on the half-hour mark, ignoring handball shouts from some of his teammates to test Smith with a ferocious hit that the keeper did well to push away for a corner. Dan Gain connected with Nathan Gray's delivery high up at the near post, but a defender somehow managed to get his head goal-side of it to block.
Gray latched onto Harrington's flick-on through the middle of the penalty area and tried to lob the keeper, but Smith was alive to it and grabbed the ball out of the air just when it looked to have beaten him. Then Boyatt Wood let Totton off the hook with an overhit cross, after a misplaced pass by Gundry had allowed them to launch another counter-attacking raid on the Stags' goal.
Diminutive wizard Nathan Gray cast his spell to bemuse the left-back for long enough to escape to the byline, before pulling the ball back to Munday, who tested Smith's reflexes again with a shot saved low to the right. Then Gray took centre stage in the 38th minute to put the Stags 2-0 up. Jason Calcutt won possession just inside his own half and sent a long ball forward. Nathan GRAY timed his run to perfection to spring the offside trap, advance on goal and score past Smith with a right-footed strike that angled high into the centre of the net.
Luke Scouler conceded a free-kick about 40 yards out, from which Boyatt Wood managed to get the ball into the Stags' net. The ball hit the defensive wall from the free-kick and spun high into the air. Mitch Coleman came out amongst the bodies to catch the ball and took a kick for his trouble before it was fired into the unguarded net, only for the referee to award the Totton keeper a free-kick of his own.
Jay Brading should have put Totton 3-0 up on the stroke of half-time, when Gray's hold-up play enabled Harrington to put Brading in acres of space to the left of the penalty area. But the winger's attempt to place his shot into the bottom-right corner lacked conviction and allowed Smith to gratefully gather the ball to his chest with a low save to his left.
HALF-TIME
BOYATT WOOD 0
AFC TOTTON SUNDAY 2
Sam Conway's positive half-time team talk was centred on the need to control the game by keeping possession and continuing to work their opponents, particularly through midfield. Josh Carey came on to replace Nathan Gray and the Stags were out, ready for the second half kick-off, a good two minutes before the home side.
AFC TOTTON SUNDAY centre-back Dan Gain in possession, as goalkeeper Mitch Coleman looks on (image courtesy of Pete Humphry Photography)
Boyatt Wood tried to get back into the game by sending in some high balls from a variety of free-kicks, but Dan Gain had the beating of their forwards in the air, while Rowson and Scouler were dogged in their determination to win anything on the deck.
Tom Munday's last significant contribution was to evade a possible offside call and send a tempting in-swinging cross into the area for Jay Brading to contest in the air, but his marker did enough to prevent a header on goal. Then Munday was replaced, on the hour, by Leon Tatavossian.
Josh Carey headed the ball on to Harrington, close to the penalty spot, but the centre-forward's shot was smothered at source before he could threaten Smith's goal. Then, Boyatt Wood pulled a goal back in strange circumstances.
Tussling with a Boyatt Wood forward inside the Totton penalty area, Luke Scouler was adjudged to have pulled his man to the ground. The referee blew his whistle to award the penalty, a second or two before the ball was struck past Mitch Coleman and into the Totton goal. The referee put both hands to his head in recognition of his own mistake but, after a lengthy discussion involving several players from both sides, it was agreed that rather than Luke Scouler be shown the red card and a penalty be awarded to Boyatt Wood, the goal should stand and Totton should keep all 11 players on the pitch. 2-1; a goal owing more to the spirit of the game than the Laws of the Game.
A reinvigorated Boyatt Wood built-up a head of steam and came at Totton again, winning a corner on the right-hand side. It was initially cleared but then Coleman fumbled a right-wing cross as it dipped down to his feet, but the home side didn't have any forwards close enough to take advantage.
The fresh legs of substitute Leon Tatavossian ran away from the Boyatt Wood left-back but when he played the ball infield to Gary Bagley, the central midfielder was crowded out by defenders on the edge of the box. Then Harrington's headed flick-on from a throw-in on the left wing found Brading about 25 yards out, left of the D, and he curled his right-foot shot around the far post as Smith watched it flash across him.
The home side's centre-forward Warren Applegate managed to work a few yards of space to unleash one from just outside the Totton area, but couldn't keep his shot down. Then Totton went close again when Coleman's goal-kick found Harrington midway inside the Boyatt Wood half. He laid it off to Tatavossian on the right and a first time ball fed Josh Carey, whose hooked left-foot shot dropped wide of the right-hand upright. A similar move shortly after resulted in a corner on the right-hand side, for the Stags. Tatavossian sent over an in-swinging cross from which Gain's header on target was blocked. The ball came back out to Tatavossian on the corner of the penalty area and he belted it at goal to force Smith into a smart two-handed catch above his head.
With three minutes left on the clock, Gundry's slide rule pass freed Brading down the left side of the penalty area but his fizzed-in low cross was repelled. Then, from a Boyatt Wood corner down their right, Totton cleared and Matt Harrington led a one-man assault on the home side. Moving diagonally from the middle to the right wing, Harrington took two defenders out of the game to create space for himself at the right-wing byline, before landing the ball on the head of Josh CAREY who sent it across Smith and into the bottom-right corner for 3-1.
Harrington almost added a fourth deep into stoppage time, forcing defenders to block and Smith to save from close range, shortly before the referee blew for full-time and Totton emerged from the enchanted garden with a maximum 9-points-from-9 to consolidate their position at the top of the table, ahead of Chamberlayne Athletic Sunday on Goal Difference.
Man of the Match: Matt HARRINGTON
AFC Totton Sunday would like to thank our sponsors Gentlemen's League Barbers and Hurst Auto Assistance for their invaluable ongoing support.
Match Report: Ben ROCHEY-ADAMS
