AFC Totton
GET IN: New Sutton United signing Hisham Kasimu celebrates a goal for AFC Totton against Cirencester Town during the 2021/22 season.
CONGRATULATIONS ARE IN ORDER to former AFC Totton striker Hisham Kasimu, who has sealed a move into senior level professional football with a permanent transfer to League Two side Sutton United after a successful first half of the 2022/23 campaign at Farnborough.
The skilful Frenchman joined The Stags from Blackfield & Langley in the summer of 2020. After his first season at the Snows Stadium was curtailed by the COVID-19 pandemic, he made up for lost time by firing home 30 goals in all competitions last season to take AFC Totton to the brink of the Southern League Div.1 South promotion play-off places. He also scored the first goal in the Final at St. Mary’s Stadium in the 3-0 win over Folland Sports that led to the club lifting the Southampton Senior Cup for the first time in 40 years.
Such prowess in front of goal was bound to pique the interest of clubs higher up the English football pyramid, so it was no surprise when the newly-promoted Farnborough chose to strengthen their front line by signing the 25-year-old ahead of their National League South campaign, where “Hish” has continued to impress by racking up 12 goals to establish himself as The Yellows’ leading scorer and helping them to a comfortable mid-table position at the season’s half-way point.
GOAL!: Hisham Kasimu scores against Dorchester Town in the FA Trophy tie at Snows Stadium in late-October 2021.
He now joins a Sutton United team who are looking to consolidate on last season’s 8th-placed finish in League Two, which was the first ever Football League campaign throughout the 124-year history of the club. They currently sit 14th in the table but only four points separate them from the promotion play-off spots, and Manager Matt Gray will no doubt be hoping that Hisham Kasimu’s goals can help to fire The Us into contention for a place in League One next season.
Among the highlights of Hisham’s 30-goal haul with The Stags during the 2021/22 campaign, in addition to his exploits at St. Mary’s Stadium in May, were his season’s opener at Melksham Town, when he chased a long ball to round the goalkeeper and convert from a tight angle; he scored both goals in the 2-2 draw with Winchester City in mid-September; he put six past Barnstaple Town in league and cup in the space of just eight days in October; his goal in first-half stoppage time sent The Stags on their way to a famous victory against the former management duo of Glenn Howes and James Wood, who had jumped ship to join Dorchester Town in the run-up to our FA Trophy encounter at the Snows Stadium; and he was also on-target in the 5-0 mauling of National League South side Concord Rangers on their own pitch, later in the same competition.
Proud of a former Stag’s success, AFC Totton’s CEO Steve Brookwell said:
“Hisham is a player we had as a young man and we enjoyed developing him as a player. He was always very eager to learn, which made him a pleasure to work with for our coaching team. We still look after him for his treatment with our fantastic full-time medical staff, and we couldn’t be happier than to see him now earning his chance in the Football League with a great club like Sutton United.”
Congratulations, Hish – and good luck in League Two.
By Ben Rochey-Adams
Images courtesy of Craig Hobbs Photography
