AFC Totton
SOUTHERN LEAGUE PREMIER DIVISION SOUTH - Matchday#5
Saturday 09 September 2023 | Snows Stadium, Totton | Att: 1,190
HONOURS EVEN IN A SWELTERING STALEMATE AT THE SNOWS STADIUM
AFC TOTTON 1
Ethan Light 50mins o.g.
HENDON 1
Niko Muir-Merchant 53mins
AFC TOTTON
Starting XI
1. Lewis NOICE
2. Benny READ
15. Sam MAGRI
5. Charlie KENNEDY
3. Jordan RAGGUETTE
8. Adam TOMASSO
19. Keane ANDERSON
17. Leon MALONEY
10. Ethan TAYLOR
9. Scott RENDELL (Capt.)
16. Alfie STANLEY
Substitutes
6. Harry THOMAS
11. Matty BURROWS
12. Jordan CHIEDOZIE
18. Jake SCRIMSHAW
20. Jordan HELLIWELL
AFC TOTTON AND HENDON had to settle for a point-a-piece from their boiling hot Saturday afternoon encounter at the Snows Stadium.
Taylor and Ragguette were pressed into early defensive action as Hendon, decked out in an all-bright orange kit, tried to make progress down their right wing. When Totton got forward for their first meaningful attack, Maloney overlapped to receive Stanley’s pass and drive in an angled shot that goalkeeper Matthew Kerbey.
Hendon striker Niko Muir-Merchant thrashed the ball into the back of the Totton net but had the effort ruled out for offside, before the players were invited to take a welcome mid-half water break. Shortly after play resumed, Noice did well to block a shot at his near post from a Hendon short corner.
A foul on Taylor presented Maloney with a free-kick on the left of the Hendon penalty area. The midfield playmaker went for goal, despite the tight angle, and blasted his shot high and wide of the far post. Then, Noice made another save with his feet to deny Muir-Merchant, after clever work down the wing by Olatunbosun Adenola.
Taylor won a free-kick midway inside Hendon’s half, on the right. He took it himself, floating the ball into the penalty area where Kennedy met it with a diving header from 12 yards that Kerbey reacted quickly to tip over the bar. Taylor’s corner found Tomasso but his header struck a defender and Hendon cleared.
Jimmy Ball encouraged his players to “Speed it up”, as he sent them out for the second half after a goalless first 45 minutes. And it only took five further minutes for The Stags to edge themselves ahead. Maloney had his cross from the right corner of the Hendon box blocked but when the ball rebounded to him, he clipped it high, over Kerbey and towards the back post where Rendell was arriving. Defender Ethan Light tried to intercept but only succeeded in knocking the ball past his keeper for an OWN GOAL.
But the advantage only last three minutes. Left-back Lucas Perry played a high pass up the left wing, over the head of Read for Kai Brosnan to collect on the left of Totton’s area. He advanced to the byline and then pulled the ball back to striker Niko MUIR-MERCHANT, who converted into the bottom-left corner with Noice partially unsighted.
Stanley and Taylor carried the fight forward for The Stags, winning a corner on the left. Maloney’s in-swinging cross had a defender heading clear from right in front of Kerbey, who was trying to catch the ball.
Brosnan managed to wriggle away from Anderson to aim a tight-angled shot at the near corner, bringing more fancy footwork out of Noice. Read took a painful blow to the stomach while blocking a cross. Then, from a Hendon corner, Totton did well to get blue shirts in the way of a couple of attempted shots from the edge of the penalty area.
Taylor thought he had a shout for a penalty when Light disrupted his run into the box. He didn’t go down and the Referee decided there wasn’t enough to decree it a foul.
Burrows attempted a low long-range effort but didn’t manage to get his usual powerful strike behind it. Then, he received a pass from Helliwell and blasted over from a tight angle as other Totton players were arriving in the middle for a potential cross.
The divisions draw specialists, Hendon almost won it at the death when sub Florian Envoudou Ada pushed his way between Read and Helliwell to fire a shot high into the middle of Totton’s goal, forcing Lewis Noice into an excellent save to salvage a point.
By Ben Rochey-Adams
