HAMPSHIRE COMBINATION & DEVELOPMENT FOOTBALL LEAGUE U23 PREMIER DIVISION
Wednesday 07 May 2025 | Snows Stadium, Totton | Att: ~100

HAT-TRICK HERO HALLETT PUTS YOUNG BUCKS ON VERGE OF UNDER-23s TITLE

AFC TOTTON U23s                       4
Luke Hallett 27mins, 33mins, 60mins;
Owen Pelham 44mins

FAREHAM TOWN U23s             0

FIRST TEAM DEFENDER LUKE HALLETT made a sensational cameo appearance as a makeshift striker for AFC Totton U23s in their Hampshire Combination & Development Football League U23 Premier Division (HC&DFL-U23-PD) encounter with Fareham Town at the Snows Stadium, firing a hat-trick to power the Young Bucks to a comfortable 4-0 win and put them within one point of claiming the 2024/25 title.

A striker in his formative years in the Southampton Academy, Hallett was converted to a central defender while in the youth ranks of Forest Green Rovers under The Green Army’s then youth team manager, Jimmy Ball. He was drafted into the U23s side to face Fareham due to the absence of the team’s joint top-scorer Remus Nixon, and although he began the game in his usual central defensive role, he was soon repositioned to partner Connor Bent in leading the line for Harry Brookwell’s team.

AFC TOTTON U23s: 1. Max EVANS; 2. Jack GOOD; 3. Cruz WRAGG; 4. Zachariah EARLEY; 6. Will KEITA; 7. Sa-Sean LUTUMBA; 8. Dylan ANDREWS; 9. Connor BENT; 10. Owen PELHAM (Capt.); 11. Luke HALLETT; 17. Declan ROSE. Substitutes: 12. Harley STRANGE; 15. Hugo RAWLINGS. Substitutions: Rolling. Yellow Card: BENT (Foul).

Unbeaten in the league throughout their 2024/25 campaign, Totton came into the game knowing that they need just four points from their final three games to take the Under-23s Premier Division title in the club’s inaugural season of participation in the competition. But Fareham, who held The Young Bucks to a 2-2 draw at Cams Alders in the reverse fixture on 17 April, threatened first when they won a free-kick within shooting range. Harry Hatherley’s shot hit the defensive wall and while Totton were able to launch a counter-attack, a poor pass in midfield derailed it before it could gain momentum.

In a similar situation going in the other direction, a Totton free-kick in a promising position was well-defended and Jack Good, operating at right-back, had to make a crucial interception to prevent The Creeksiders raiding into their host’s penalty area. Then, Totton left-back Cruz Wragg did well to hold-up another Fareham counter offensive at the corner of the penalty area before Zach Earley read the winger’s intention and intercepted an infield pass to put Totton back on the front foot.

Wragg got forward to control a high, diagonal pass to the left of the Fareham box and whip in a low cross that had goalkeeper George Bonney at full-stretch to push the ball away from Connor Bent, arriving at the back of the six-yard box. Totton regained possession and Luke Hallett progressed to the right byline before clipping the ball back to the edge of the area, where Owen Pelham met it on the volley but fired over. Pelham had another go shortly after, curling a low shot from 25 yards that Bonney smartly smothered to his left.

Fareham made inroads down the left wing, but they overplayed when they had the chance to hurt Totton by being more direct; by the time the ball was eventually crossed into the middle, Will Keita headed away comfortably. The visitors regathered the ball and won another free-kick, left of centre. Hatherley went for goal again, this time shooting narrowly above the top-left corner.

Declan Rose, continuing his comeback from a double-leg fracture, played as a central defender and carried the ball across the halfway line, before steering an angled pass to Bent, on the edge of the box. Pelham made an intelligent run around his striker and the two defenders he had pre-occupied to make himself available for a short pass to inside-right, but Bent only had eyes for goal and scuffed his left-footed shot into the arms of a grateful Bonney.

Having by now been reshuffled into attack, Hallett bustled his way through two defenders on the edge of the Fareham box and may have had a valid shout for a penalty when one of them tugged him back by his arm. The referee didn’t see it, and the Totton players didn’t appeal for it, so play continued, with Wragg receiving the ball on the left touchline and whipping in a low cross that Bonney scooped up at the byline despite Hallett arriving to give him a firm shoulder charge to send him crashing to the turf.

Lewis Shann found a pocket of space to attack down the Fareham right, until Keita closed him down to deflect his cross wide for a corner. The subsequent high delivery into the box was comfortably claimed by Max Evans in his six-yard box.

Totton took the lead on 27 minutes, when Sa-Sean Lutumba took advantage of a fortunate ricochet to escape his marker and attack the left corner of the Fareham box. He curled a low cross into the middle and Luke HALLETT used his right foot to direct it towards goal; Bonney got something on it and a recovering defender stretched in vain to prevent the ball creeping into the bottom-right corner but it found the net just behind the post to put the home side one-up.

Owen Pelham hooked the ball forward from midfield to put Bent in on the right of the Fareham area. The striker kept his marker guessing with a couple of stepovers but his angled shot struck the advertising hoarding behind the goal.

TONY LEE'S GOT NOTHING ON ME: Centre-back-cum-centre-forward Luke Hallett struck a hat-trick to send AFC Totton U23s on their way to a comprehensive 4-0 win over Fareham Town U23s.

The Young Bucks doubled their advantage on 33 minutes. From the advanced edge of the centre-circle, Earley lobbed the ball forward down the middle and Hallett battled with his marker to bring the ball down on his right. Switching the ball to his left foot, Luke HALLETT muscled past his man to encroach into the box before striking a left-footed shot across Bonney and into the far bottom corner of the net.

Fareham got forward on their left, enabling Alex Kerridge to cut inside at the corner of the box and let fly with a speculative effort that flashed across goal and wide of the far post. Then, Fareham captain Cal Neil made an enterprising run through the middle until Earley got a foot in to give Keita the chance to make a decisive challenge. Earley then demonstrated both impressive strength and composure on the ball, riding two challenges in the centre-circle — one of them a foul that the referee acknowledged, even as he allowed play to continue — to retain Totton possession and keep the visitors at arm’s length.

Kai Moth, who scored for Fareham in the reverse fixture in April, found enough room to send in a cross from The Creeksiders’ left wing, which Evans did well to smother at his front post.

Totton went three goals up one minute before half-time. Receiving possession on the right-wing touchline, Jack Good sent in a high cross from deep, inviting Hallett to demonstrate his trademark leaping ability at the left side of the D, to head down towards the penalty spot. Bonney came out and appeared to be favourite to collect but Owen PELHAM reached out his right foot to toe-poke the ball beyond the ’keeper and leave himself with the simplest of tap-ins. The goal was the AFC Totton U23 captain’s third in the league, this season.

Fareham flirted with going further behind before the break, when Bonney wrestled Hallett off the ball inside his penalty area; the referee looked long and hard at the situation but erred on the side of caution, shortly before bringing the first half to a close.

HALF-TIME: AFC TOTTON U23s 3-0 FAREHAM TOWN U23s

Totton got the second half underway, attacking the Aldi End. Lutumba slipped an incisive pass to inside-left, allowing Hallett to perform a stepover and steer a low cross-shot across the danger area but Bent couldn’tt get there in time to apply the finish.

Keita’s strength was put to good use to shut down Fareham’s attempts to infiltrate the Totton box at inside-right. Then, when the visitors regained possession and went the aerial route, Evans was commander of the skies, once again.

Bent held the ball up under pressure at the edge of the Fareham box to thread a pass into the path of Hugo Rawlings, who forced a corner on the left. Fareham defended Pelham’s delivery, and when they worked the ball forward on their left flank, a dangerous cross into the middle had to be swept away by Rose.

Dylan Andrews played Lutumba in behind his full-back on the left wing, but Lutumba’s cross was over-hit. Then, Earley found himself being doubled-teamed by his opponents, battling heartily with one in the midfield before another performed a sly front-on bodycheck that the referee might have taken a sterner stand against had it not been on his blindside.

Goal number four arrived on the hour. Rose had the ball at his feet near the halfway line, on the Totton right. He hung a high diagonal towards the opposite corner of the Fareham box. Pelham and Rawlings both connected with side-foot volleys to play Luke HALLETT in at inside-left, and he strode onto the ball to fire left-footed into the far corner to complete his hat-trick.

A foul on Andrews presented Totton with a free-kick just off the right corner of the area. Andrews took it himself, delivering low into the box toward the far post, prompting Bonney to swipe at it with his right leg; the ‘keeper was relieved to see the ball deflect beyond his right-hand post and wide for a corner. Pelham’s cross was knocked out to the edge of the box. Lutumba forced it back into the crowded middle and Hallett was poised to strike again, before a defender scrambled clear.

Connor Bent was shown a yellow card for a robust shove of his opponent into the perimeter fencing in front of the SFS Main Stand. Then, Fareham substitute Tommy Carpenter got round on the cover to stop Hallett going through again, after the repurposed centre-back had beaten his initial marker to a high ball within 25 yards of the Fareham goal.

Hallett dropped into midfield to collect the ball and set-off on a surging run through the middle of the Fareham defence, before laying the ball off to Pelham on the right. The skipper’s chip into the box was headed out. Totton regained possession and Rose found himself trying to dribble through opponents at the left corner of the box; it took three of them, but eventually Fareham managed to kick the ball away.

Bonney dwelt on the ball a little too long from a back-pass, inviting Bent to close him down and stab the ball towards goal. The ball bounced up and the Fareham ‘keeper was able to grab it before Bent could get another touch to prod it over the goal line. The lively Bent continued to cause problems for the visiting defence, but his low cross into the centre eluded his fellow sky blue-shirted forwards.

Evans came out of his box to kick clear from an over-hit through-ball towards his goal down the middle of the pitch. Then, the Totton ‘keeper made a sharp stop low to his left-hand side in response to an Alex Kerridge snapshot from an angle on the Fareham right. Fareham soon fashioned another chance, but right-back Ethan Mason steered his volley across goal and wide of the far post after meeting a cross from The Creeksiders’ right wing.

Lutumba went close with a low 20-yard cross-shot from the left-hand side. Then, Good and Andrews teamed up to smother the Fareham threat from their left, before Pelham got back to help his defence by making a timely interception from Lewis Barron’s pass to inside-left.

Fareham’s Tommy Carpenter was booked for a late challenge, as Totton were building an attack from just inside their own half. Lutumba took possession on the left wing before finding his forward progress blocked by two defenders. He rolled the ball back to Wragg, whose high cross to the far post had Bonney come out to punch clear one-handed, under pressure from two Totton players. Rawlings picked up the loose ball and tried to dribble into the Fareham box, but soon ran aground and had the ball whisked away.

Jack Good charged down a Lewis Shann shot from outside the Totton box. Then, Fareham attacked the right-wing byline and pulled the ball back for Kerridge to strike on-target, only for Rose to put his body in the way and keep the visitors out.

Bent took on four defenders at once at the edge of the Fareham box. They managed to disrupt his progress but still required Bonney to come out and collect to make sure Bent couldn’t force the ball home. Then, an up-and-under pass enabled Bent to wrestle possession 20 yards out and create an angle for a right-footed shot that Bonney caught into his midriff.

Totton found themselves on the right side of a three-on-two overload when Lutumba led a left-wing raid and directed a low cross into the six-yard box. The busy Bent stabbed the ball at goal but Bonney did well to smother the shot before one of his defenders hooked the ball away.

Fareham’s last chance to claim a consolation goal was lost when they were penalised for a foul on Max Evans, as the Totton ‘keeper came out to claim another high cross, shortly before the referee’s final whistle confirmed The Young Bucks extended their unbeaten league record with another three-points.

With a far superior Goal Difference over second-placed Winchester City, a draw at Bashley next week would more than likely prove to be enough to make AFC Totton U23s Champions in their first season in the HC&DFL-U23-PD; a win at The Veho Community Stadium would put the matter beyond all doubt.

Next Up for the Under-23s: BASHLEY U23s vs AFC TOTTON U23s
Hampshire Combination & Development Football League U23s Premier Division | The Veho Community Stadium, Bashley Road, New Milton BH25 5RY | Wednesday 14 May 2025 | Kick-Off at 7:45pm

By Ben Rochey-Adams

Image courtesy of Sayers Sports Photography