AFC Totton
SOUTHERN LEAGUE PREMIER DIVISION SOUTH | Promotion Play-Off Final
Monday 05 May 2025 | Snows Stadium, Totton, Southampton | Att: TBC
“STAGS ARE GOING UP! SAY, STAGS ARE GOING UP!” AFC TOTTON WIN PLAY-OFF FINAL TO CLAIM THEIR PLACE IN NATIONAL LEAGUE SOUTH
AFC TOTTON 1
Ethan Taylor 70mins
GLOUCESTER CITY 0
AFC TOTTON WILL BE PLAYING Step 2 football next season, after Jimmy Ball’s team beat Gloucester City by a single goal to win the Southern League Premier Division South Promotion Play-Off at the Snows Stadium (Monday 05 May 2025).
Ethan Taylor scored the crucial goal, latching onto Tony Lee’s cushioned volley to dart in behind the Gloucester defence and dink the ball over the advancing goalkeeper, with 20 minutes to go. The Stags held on to maintain their clean sheet and claim a place in the National League South for the first time in the club’s entire 139-year history.
Jimmy Ball opted for an attacking looking line-up for Totton’s second consecutive Play-Off final, bringing on-loan Torquay United striker Ben Seymour for combative midfielder Adam Tomasso, who was named among the substitutes. Scott Rendell also returned to the starting XI for the first time in four games, taking the captain’s armband from Joe Oastler; winger Tom Blair dropped to the bench.
AFC TOTTON: 13. Ryan GOSNEY; 2. Joe OASTLER; 6. Sam MAGRI; 7. Ben SEYMOUR; 9. Scott RENDELL; 10. Ethan TAYLOR; 14. Craig TANNER; 15. Roddy COLLINS; 16. Luke BENNETT; 18. Tony LEE; 20. Richard McINTYRE. Substitutes: 3. Ben JEFFORD; 8. Adam TOMASSO; 11. Charlie AUSTIN; 12. Luke HALLETT; 19. Tom BLAIR. Substitutions: TOMASSO for LEE (85mins); AUSTIN for SEYMOUR (89mins); HALLETT for TAYLOR (90mins). Yellow Cards: BENNETT (Foul); COLLINS (Foul); TAYLOR (Foul); GOSNEY (Time-Wasting).
GLOUCESTER CITY: 1. Jared THOMPSON; 2. Daniel LEADBITTER; 4. Tyrone DUFFUS; 6. Daniel BALL; 7. Edward WILLIAMS; 8. Harry PINCHARD; 10 Dayle GRUBB; 13. Joseph HANKS; 14. Benjamin RICHARDS-EVERTON; 16. Kevin DAWSON (Capt.); 20. Elis WATTS. Substitutes: 3. Ronnie NEWBURY; 9. Kieran PHILLIPS; 11. Brandon SMALLEY; 17. Harry EMMETT; 18. Curtis JEMMETT-HUTSON. Substitutions: SMALLEY for HANKS (69mins); EMMETT for GRUBB (76mins); JEMMETT-HUTSON for DUFFUS (85mins); PHILLIPS for WILLIAMS (90mins). Yellow Cards: WILLIAMS (Foul); RICHARDS-EVERTON (Foul); DAWSON (Foul).
Totton got the Play-Off final underway, attacking towards the Calmore Industrial Estate, and they had a chance to go ahead almost immediately when Ben Seymour was played in at inside-left and dragged his shot across the Gloucester City goal.
Gloucester, wearing white shirts, black shorts and white socks, forced a throw-in close to the AFC Totton home dug-out via the head of Richard McIntyre. Full-back Daniel Leadbitter received close to the right-wing corner flag and sent in a cross that Joe Oastler turned away. Oastler was soon called upon to clear again for the home side, using his head to repel winger Elis Watts’ in-swinging delivery from the Gloucester right.
By his height, one could assume that Elis Watts is a centre-forward, but his slightly hunched gait and tendency to run with the ball render him a winger in the mould of Chris Waddle. McIntyre had to tackle back diligently to prevent him making in-roads from the right-hand side, with Craig Tanner dropping into defence to make sure The Tigers’ No.20 couldn’t inflict damage on the home team’s box.
MAC AT THE BACK: Richard McIntyre kept Gloucester winger Elis Watts quiet throughout the Play-Off final at the Snows Stadium.
Tony Lee flicked-on a long Ryan Gosney kick, and Scott Rendell steered the ball out to the right flank. Luke Bennett took it under control and advanced several yards before fizzing a low cross into the penalty area; Seymour tried to reach it but a defender beat him to it and swiped the ball clear.
Oastler took possession in the centre-circle and played in wide to McIntyre, whose forward pass found Seymour on the left of the box. He passed infield to Rendell and a short nudge set-up Ethan Taylor for a shot that was blocked. Totton regathered the ball and McIntyre was able to swing in a dangerous-looking cross towards Rendell, which Gloucester captain Kevin Dawson did well to head behind for a right-wing corner. Tanner’s cross towards the far post was headed down by Sam Magri for Taylor to strike; a defender blocked it and when it came back to Tanner, his low shot from a tight angle was also charged down and cleared.
Watts briefly got the better of McIntyre by heading the ball over the full-back and running onto his own flick-on. But the Oxford United loanee recovered to dispossess his opponent, with Magri coming across to lend his considerable weight to halting the winger’s progress.
A quickly-taken throw resulted in Taylor being brought down for a free-kick about 25 yards out, on the Totton left. Tanner bent his cross into the box and Taylor, on the run, connected with a glancing header that steered the ball beyond the right-hand post; Lee stretched to try and force it back across goal but couldn’t keep it in play.
Play stopped so Lee could receive treatment for a bang on the head, during which Roddy Collins and Oastler were engaged in a heated discussion about their respective responsibilities in relation to specific Gloucester City players.
The ongoing tussle between McIntyre and Watts presented the visitors with a free-kick on their right, from which Harry Pinchard floated the ball into the box; Lee tracked his runner towards the back post and pulled off a back-header to flick the ball out for a corner on the left. When the cross came in, Lee was there again to head clear from the middle of the Totton box.
Rendell coughed up possession near the halfway line, and then chased Pinchard down the Gloucester left wing, disrupting the midfielder’s concentration enough to ensure that Gosney scooped the ball up at his near post. Then, Gloucester goalkeeper Jared Thompson came rushing out to kick clear before Seymour could latch onto Magri’s through-ball down the centre.
The first yellow card of the game was shown to Gloucester’s Ed Williams for a foul on Seymour near the centre-circle. The free-kick didn’t come to anything initially, but the visitors struggled to clear their lines and Taylor managed to get into a crossing position on the left, his delivery a fraction too high for Seymour to direct on-target with his head.
ABOUT YAY BIG: Scott Rendell confirms the size of the trophy cabinet in his house.
Gloucester were content to play on the counter, but when they managed to encroach upon the Totton box from their right, they found The Stags had numbers back in defensive positions to crowd them out.
Clever play between Rendell and Tanner created an opening at the edge of the Gloucester box, but an angled pass to inside-left was played behind Taylor’s run. Then, Magri played another through-ball from deep that had Seymour scampering after it, until the colossal figure of defender Ben Richards-Everton came across to intercept and clear for The Tigers.
A mishit pass by Rendell, back towards the Totton defence, put The Stags on panic stations. Pinchard, Dayle Grubb and Leadbitter moved the ball quickly to create an overload from their right-hand side. Watts joined in, receiving possession to feet and moving infield to strike a 20-yard effort with his left foot that was curling towards the bottom-left corner before Gosney got down sharply to push it away with the palms of both hands. Gloucester gathered the ball again on the left and sent in a high cross, which McIntyre nodded behind for a corner.
It was taken short, allowing Pinchard to slip a short pass to Grubb, whose shot was charged down. Seymour picked up the loose ball and tried to spark a counter-attack, drawing a foul and a free-kick as Gloucester tried in vain to regain possession.
Seymour and Lee combined on the edge of the Gloucester box, the latter holding the ball up for the former to attack the inside-left channel, but he couldn’t shrug of the two defenders tracking him. The Tigers countered but when Joseph Hanks checked onto his left foot to line-up a shot from 20 yards out, Magri put himself in the way to deflect wide for a corner, and the former Maltese international defender also headed out the subsequent set-piece delivery.
Having ridden their luck a little during the opening exchanges, Gloucester were by now enjoying a spell of positive attacking possession. A low cross from the right-wing byline had Magri stabbing the ball narrowly wide of his own left post, unsure of what attacking threat might be lurking over his shoulder. From the resulting corner, a push on Gosney took the pressure off The Stags.
TAKE YOU BOTH ON: Totton's Craig Tanner takes on the Gloucester City defence.
Seemingly in response to a shout from the crowd, McIntyre launched the ball forward down the Totton left, inviting Richards-Everton to head away as a matter of formality; from the dug-out, Jimmy Ball made his feelings clear as to the usefulness of tactical instructions coming from the Main Stand.
Totton got themselves on the ball and settled into their usual passing rhythm. When the ball was played out to the right flank, Bennett sprung into life, surging down the wing and directing a low cross towards the penalty spot. Rendell closed in on it, but Thompson leapt on the ball to smother the chance.
Refusing to give up a lost cause, even after Richards-Everton appeared to have everything under control, Lee ran down to the left-wing corner to engage the big centre-back in a tussle and earn himself a free-kick. Tanner whipped the ball in; it soared over Lee’s head and fell to Taylor at the far side of the six-yard box. Standing side-on to the ball, the most he could do was to stab it short to Rendell, whose shot was blocked. The rebound came back to Taylor, who blasted over the crossbar.
During two minutes of stoppage time at the end of the first half, Rendell conceded a free-kick 10 yards inside Totton’s half. Dawson lofted the ball into the Totton box but Lee was back there, again, to ensure the two sides went in level at the break.
HALF-TIME: AFC TOTTON 0-0 GLOUCESTER CITY
As they did the first half, Totton began the second on the front foot. Seymour kept the ball in play at the left-wing touchline and fed the underlapping run of Collins. The Irishman directed his low cross towards Taylor, arriving in the box to the right of the penalty spot, but Daniel Ball got his foot in to clear for Gloucester.
Watts ran at the Totton defence, twisting and turning his way into a shooting chance from the right corner of the box, his Oastler intervened to sweep the ball away. As Totton tried to counter, Ben Richards-Everton earned himself a yellow card for pulling Seymour to the ground at the left corner of the Gloucester box. Tanner aimed his cross towards Lee, running in beyond the far post, but Richards-Everton atoned for his error by ensuring Lee had the last touch before the ball bounced out of play.
Magri had the ball at his feet on the Totton right, on the advanced side of the halfway line. He clipped it forward to Taylor, whose flick-on had Seymour buzzing but Gloucester got enough bodies in the way to prevent him getting to it before Thompson scooped up the loose ball.
Kevin Dawson, who had already announced his intention to retire from football after this game, come-what-may, marked his final Gloucester City outing with a yellow card for sliding through the back of Scott Rendell in the centre-circle. The Totton skipper received lengthy treatment, but he was eventually able to continue.
Magri’s defensive dominance continued, the big defender getting across to prevent Pinchard stealing into the Totton box from the left wing. Then at the other end, Leadbitter did well to whisk the ball off Taylor’s toe before he could pull the trigger from Lee’s chipped pass. Taylor threatened again from the Totton left, but his low cross eluded Seymour and Thompson reacted quickly to grab the ball.
A non-decision by the referee’s assistant patrolling the line in front of Mally’s Corner — failing to award Totton a throw-in when they thought the ball had crossed the line — brought scathing reviews from the boys in blue.
Gloucester got forward and Pinchard drove infield from inside-right to the left of the D; his shot struck Tanner and went out for a left-wing corner. Lee got back to head clear from his own six-yard box, again, but Tanner and Taylor’s attempt to launch a counter-attack came to nought.
Magri stretched to block a left-wing cross from Daniel Ball, as Gloucester began to assert themselves on-the-ball, again. Then, Magri’s forward pass found Seymour on the right touchline. His short pass played Rendell in at the byline, and from his pull-back, Lee struck towards the near post; Thompson read it well and put himself on top of the situation before the ball could flash past him.
Luke Bennett was booked for pulling back an opponent near halfway, as a Totton attack broke down and the full-back had to quickly dart back to his defensive role. Then, Totton almost shot themselves in the foot when Oastler’s square pass to Magri across the back line was under-hit; Hanks beat Magri to the ball and advanced on goal straight down the middle of the pitch. But no sooner had the chance presented itself than Ryan Gosney raced out to the edge of his penalty area to dive on the ball at his opponent’s feet, much to the relief of the majority of the Snows Stadium crowd.
Watts took aim with a left-footed shot from 20 yards, which hit Oastler and diverted to a Gloucester attacker standing in an offside position. Hanks was then withdrawn to be replaced by Brandon Smalley, the scorer of Gloucester’s goal in the one-all draw between the two sides at the Snows Stadium in October.
TAYLOR TUCKS IT AWAY: Ethan Taylor runs onto Tony Lee's knock-on to dink the ball past Gloucester City goalkeeper Jared Thompson and send AFC Totton to the National League South.
Play was halted while Gosney received treatment. Then, shortly after, a poor kick from the Totton goalkeeper became the catalyst to The Stags taking the lead. From a placed goal-kick, Gosney’s kick lacked elevation and bounced across the centre-circle, hitting Ed Williams unawares. Before the Gloucester midfielder could react, Magri took control and lofted the ball forward to Tony Lee, standing outside the box, to the left of the D. As the high ball arced towards him, Lee spotted the short diagonal run of Taylor between Gloucester’s central defenders; with his right instep, Lee cushioned the ball into the winger’s path and, as Thompson came out to narrow the angle, Ethan TAYLOR dinked the ball beyond the ‘keeper and into the net, before peeling away to celebrate with his teammates and the massed ranks of Totton fans crammed into Mally’s Corner.
STELLAR STAGS: Totton players celebrate Ethan Taylor's 70th-minute goal in front of their fans at Mally's Corner, during the Play-Off final victory over Gloucester City.
Eager to not be vulnerable immediately after having scored, Collins put in a robust challenge in midfield to add his name to the referee’s collection. Then, Lee was given a shove that sent him toppling over the advertising hoarding and onto the path on the Salisbury Road side of the ground. There was some initial concern for the striker’s welfare, until he suddenly sprang up from behind the ad board, bringing a cheer from Totton fans beyond the opposite touchline.
Richards-Everton was afforded enough time and space to try a speculative long-range effort that sailed over the Totton crossbar. Then, with 15 minutes to go, Grubb went off to be replaced by Harry Emmett for The Tigers.
Seymour received Rendell’s pass towards the right-wing corner. He centred with a low cross that caused confusion at the near side of the six-yard box, including a Gloucester defender who fell over the ball, but the visitors scrambled the ball away before Totton could capitalise.
Bennett did well to win the ball back after Williams and Smalley combined to attack the Totton box from the Gloucester left, with Emmett also sniffing around. Bennett’s clearance was intercepted, allowing The Tigers to force a left-wing corner. Williams crossed into the box and the ball bounced across the six-yard box, before Collins hooked it out.
Williams was the next to chance his arm from distance, his shot veering high and wide to the left. Then, Tanner collected on the halfway line and steered the ball to Rendell on the right. His cross was turned away but Totton regained and fed Lee on the right, whose delivery was knocked down in the box by Taylor, a defender getting an important foot in before Rendell could pull the trigger.
A poorly-timed sliding tackle by Taylor gave Gloucester a free-kick within shooting range from a central position. Smalley’s right-footed shot had plenty of curl and power behind it, but also too much elevation.
With seven minutes remaining, Adam Tomasso came on to shore up the Totton midfield, replacing Tony Lee. Gloucester took off Tyrone Duffus and sent on Curtis Jemmett-Hutson.
Oastler conceded a free-kick just off the right corner of the penalty area. It was taken short and quick, playing Watts into the box to try and dribble his way to goal; blue shirts swarmed around him and Tanner’s tackle resulted in the ball going out of play off Watts for a goal kick to the home side.
Ryan Gosney was booked for time-wasting over the goal-kick. When Totton managed to get forward, McIntyre and Tanner played keep-ball in the left-wing corner to eat up a few valuable seconds.
Charlie Austin, the scorer of the winning goal in the Play-Off semi-final against Dorchester Town, came on to replace Seymour. Magri disrupted another Gloucester raid on the Totton box and carried the ball forward.
Although there was a fourth official on duty, no board was shown to confirm how many minutes of stoppage time there would be. Gloucester pressed and tried to load the ball into the Totton box, but they did so more in hope than expectation. Totton, however, suddenly found the ball to be slippery, their attempts to hack clear sending the ball slicing off in unintended directions.
Both teams squeezed in late substitutions, Luke Hallett replacing Ethan Taylor for The Stags and striker Kieran Phillips coming on for Ed Williams. An in-swinging corner from the Gloucester right brought a foul on Gosney. Then, with time to get themselves back into the game rapidly running out, Ball rushed his pass to inside-left and gave Totton welcome respite with a goal-kick.
As the ball popped around in midfield with more than seven minutes of stoppage time having already elapsed, all eyes were on the referee. He eventually put his whistle to his lips to bring the 2024/25 Play-Off final to a close, and that was when the party really started.
WE'VE DONE IT!: Tony Lee leads the celebrations upon the referee's final whistle.
WE ARE GOING UP!: AFC Totton captain Mike Carter lifts the trophy awarded to the winners of the Southern League Premier Division South Promotion Play-Off.
Watch JIMMY BALL’S Post-Match Interview
Watch ETHAN TAYLOR’S Post-Match Interview
By Ben Rochey-Adams
Images courtesy of Harvey Gerring
