AFC Totton
AFC Totton manager Jimmy Ball praised his team for the manner of their 3-0 away win at Highworth Town on Saturday afternoon, to keep them in contention for the Southern League Div.1 South promotion play-offs.
On a quiet day for Totton’s strikers, it was left to full-back Callum Baughan, centre-back Rob Flooks and midfielder Freddie Read to score the goals that put the Stags firmly in the driving seat well before an hour’s play, which allowed Ball to begin planning ahead of today’s local derby with rivals Sholing.
“It was very pleasing. We played with a lot of confidence and purpose, and put ourselves in a position where we could rest some players,” said the Totton boss.
“In the matches we’ve had so far since I came to the club, the style of our play has been dictated to us to some extent by the performances of the other teams or by the circumstances that occurred during the match, like last week when we went down to 10-men and ended the game with nine.
“Today, we were able to play our football and put into action the patterns of play we’ve been working on in training and, while we scored three goals, I thought we could have had at least as many more.”
Despite the short turnaround between the Highworth and Sholing matches over the course of the Easter weekend, concluding a period in which the Stags will have played four league and cup games in just 10 days, Ball has no concerns about his squad’s ability to deal with the heavy workload.
“This is something of a unique situation, which will require the players to respond in the right way. If we want to become a professional football club, then we have to adopt professional attitudes and behaviours and that means demonstrating a good mentality throughout this spell; eating right, getting enough rest – no spending Easter Sunday in the pub. But this is a good squad and I trust them to do the right things and look after themselves properly, to give us the best chance to be effective against Sholing.”
ASSURED FULL DEBUT: Ball was pleased by the performance of 16-year-old goalkeeper Josh Jeffries who kept a clean sheet on his Southern League Div.1 South debut at Highworth Town.
An injury to first-choice goalkeeper Lewis Noice at Sholing’s ground on Wednesday night in the Southampton Senior Cup semi-final win over Winchester City prompted Ball to hand a first start in senior men’s football to 16-year-old goalkeeper Josh Jeffries, who is still registered to play for AFC Totton despite signing for Premier League club Southampton last week. And the boss was impressed with the young keeper.
“He didn’t have a lot to do in the game but what he did, he did very well. He made a very good save early in the first half, which probably helped him to settle into the game. Then, whenever the ball came his way, he dealt with it confidently, commanded his area, and he looked perfectly at home all throughout the game. His distribution was good, too, and he never gave us any worries,” Ball said.
“For such a young lad to come into the team at relatively short notice and take it all in his stride the way he has, shows what a quality player he is and has the potential to become.”
Frome Town’s 2-0 win at Slimbridge was enough to confirm their place in the play-offs, though they will still be hoping to catch Plymouth Parkway for the title and the one automatic promotion slot. Cirencester Town need only a point from either of their two remaining matches to secure their play-off place. That leaves AFC Totton, currently outside the play-off positions in 6th place, competing with Bristol Manor Farm and Winchester City for one of the two remaining berths.
In the 19-team Southern League Div.1 South, Bristol Manor Farm will sit out the Easter Monday round of fixtures and then, on the final weekend of the season, they entertain Winchester in a potential winner-takes-all encounter. Despite being three points behind the Farmy Army, Totton have a vastly superior goal difference. So, two wins by any margin against Sholing today and at Slimbridge next Saturday will definitely be enough to take the Stags into the play-offs, irrespective of what happens between the two cathedral city clubs next weekend.
By Ben Rochey-Adams
Images courtesy of Craig Hobbs Photography
