AFC Totton
Didcot 1 AFC Totton 4 – Match Report
Hollick: “The best performance from the team so far.”
Attendance – 127
AFC Totton manager, Steve Hollick hails the 4-1 away win against Didcot Town their ‘best overall performance of the season,’ continuing their renewed belief after last week’s 7-0 demolition of Bishops Cleeve.
The game had everything; five impressive goals, four nasty-looking sliding tackles, three bookings, two crazy halves of football and one red card for a Didcot substitute.
Dylan Knight capped a great game with Totton’s opening goal in the 33rd minute. Nick Watts cut the ball back to the young striker, who skilfully guided the ball under Didcot goalkeeper, Leigh Bedwell, bagging his first league goal in a Stags shirt.
Whatever Hollick said to the squad in the dressing room at half time clearly worked wonders, as two minutes after the break, Neil Williams capitalised on a rare error. Bedwell fumbled a seemingly routine catch, and Williams was on hand to pounce, tapping the ball in from two yards after going round the distraught ‘keeper.
Watts was next to be on the score sheet just before the hour mark after a sliced shot chipped the goalkeeper and into the top corner of the net. But it was Nathaniel Sherborne’s fabulous cut back on the line to Mike Gosney, who crossed to Watts, which made the goal a reality.
Stags keeper, Steve Mowthorpe had a fairly straightforward game, with the defence looking solid in front of him throughout the match; Captain Liam Hibberd cleared off the line twice in the first half and Mowthorpe had a couple of strong punches, but Didcot didn’t look like scoring… until they did with 25 minutes to play.
Striker, Mark Janes, headed from close range, after a mêlée in the penalty area, giving the home crowd a small amount of Christmas hope, but the referee was in a ‘giving’ mood less than two minutes later, dishing out a red card.
Substitute, Jack Longford, was on the pitch less than four minutes, but managed to earn himself two yellow cards for abusive language in two separate incidents, and a very early bath to boot.
The Stags hit the woodwork three times in the space of ten minutes, with two fingertip saves onto the crossbar from the Didcot ‘keeper, but the New Forest side were not quite done with the scoring.
Knight took his bow early, making way for Dave Allen – 20 seconds later, he found a loose ball in the box and smashed it past the helpless Bedwell, with his first touch of the game.
Hollick has seen a change in his squad in the last fortnight, with 11 goals in the last two games, but he believes the goals have come because of the back line. “The defensive performances have allowed us to stay in the game instead of having to come from behind.
“We have a full squad available and everyone is fighting for the shirt, so there is always going to be friendly competition.” The comprehensive victory takes Totton up to a league high of 13th in the table with the Hampshire derby at home to Winchester on Boxing Day.
Totton starting line-up: Mowthorpe, Hibberd, Diaper, Williams***, Roden, Wilson, Watts, Alexander, Knight**, Sherborne, Gosney*
Substitutes: Hunt, Silvestre, Burgess***, Allen**, Lilley*
