AFC Totton
SOUTHERN LEAGUE PREMIER DIVISION SOUTH - Matchday#17
Saturday 16 December 2023 | Snows Stadium, Totton | Att: 1,320
HONOURS EVEN IN LOCAL DERBY AS RENDELL SALVAGES A POINT FOR THE STAGS
AFC TOTTON 1
Scott Rendell 78mins
WINCHESTER CITY 1
Daniel Jones 54mins
SCOTT RENDELL’S 19TH GOAL OF THE SEASON in all competitions rescued a point for AFC Totton at home to local rivals Winchester City on Saturday (16 December 2023), after midfielder Daniel Jones had given The Citizens the lead shortly after the half-time interval.
For the second consecutive match, Jimmy Ball made eight changes to his starting line-up from the side that beat Winsor United Green in the SDFA Southampton Senior Cup on Wednesday night, with only Sam Magri and Alfie Egan retaining their places, along with new striker Reece Grant, who made his AFC Totton league debut wearing the No.19 shirt. Benny Read was named among the substitutes with Adam Tomasso starting at right-back.
AFC TOTTON
Starting XI
1. Lewis NOICE
4. Adam TOMASSO
6. Luke HALLETT
15. Sam MAGRI
3. Jordan RAGGUETTE
7. Joseph OASTLER
14. Alfie EGAN
17. Leon MALONEY
18. Joseph TURNER
9. Scott RENDELL (Capt.)
19. Reece GRANT
Substitutes
2. Benny READ
5. Charlie KENNEDY
10. Ethan TAYLOR
16. Alfie STANLEY
20. Luke BENNETT
Winchester City kicked-off, wearing their traditional red-and-black striped shirts with red shorts and socks. Despite Totton’s 6-0 victory the last time these two sides met at the Charters Community Stadium back in August, The Citizens’ came into this return game as the Southern League Premier Division South’s most in-form away side following some impressive recent results.
The visitors had their hosts defending early on, with Jordan Ragguette having to turn behind a low cross from the Winchester left wing. Captain Jamie Barron took the corner, dropping the ball to Daniel Jones at the far post, who chested down and shot, with Joe Oastler getting his torso in the way to smother the effort at close quarters, but unable to prevent the ball running out for a corner on the Winchester right. This time, ex-Totton player Patrick “Pip” Nolan got his head to the ball from the near side of the six-yard box, looping it high towards the far post where Lewis Noice was able to gather.
HEADS UP: Sam Magri gets his already bandaged head to a Winchester City cross during the Southern League Premier Division South match at the Snows Stadium.
Ragguette combined with Reece Grant to advance the ball down the left flank, and when they found their progress halted by defenders, Leon Maloney appeared behind him to provide support. He received the pass and floated a cross to the near post, where Barron scuffed his clearance but his goalkeeper Luke Cairney was alert enough to scoop the ball up before Scott Rendell could make his presence felt.
Joe Turner picked the ball up in midfield and charged out to the left with two defenders in tow. As he tried to advance to the left-wing byline, he was able to get in a low cross shot that struck the outside netting behind the near post.
Sam Magri, wearing a protective headband having suffered a couple of head injuries in recent matches, including in the win over Winsor United Green in midweek, was the first player to have his name taken for bringing down Trevor Caborn midway between the left edge of the Totton penalty area and the touchline, level with the penalty spot. Olly Balmer’s left-footed in-swinger was headed over at close range, but an offside flag was raised, anyway.
Totton then won a free-kick for a foul by Jones on Rendell, providing Maloney with the opportunity to float the ball in from a position deep on the left. It was headed away and then repelled again by Winchester, causing Noice to have to come out of his goal to kick clear from the edge of his area.
SPEED RACERS: Stags new boy Reece Grant chases a through-ball against Winchester City's former AFC Totton defender, Pip Nolan.
A miss-kick by Hallett from a right-wing Winchester cross prompted a moment of panic in the Totton defence, then Magri sliced his clearance over his own crossbar to concede another corner on their left. The cross arced over Caborn on the edge of the six-yard box and bounced on its way out of play beyond the far post.
Winchester had made the stronger start of the two sides, and they came forward again when a diagonal pass from left to right put Ragguette in a foot race with Caborn. The winger was able to get his shot away despite Ragguette’s sliding tackle, forcing Noice to parry with both hands while diving low to his left. Ragguette was back on his feet to tussle with Caborn for the rebound and earn a goal-kick.
Hallett intercepted an attempted through-ball and passed forward to Rendell on 17 minutes, whose flick-on was knocked back towards Cairney by Robert Jamison. Grant sniffed a half-chance and tried to get to the ball first; Cairney got there in time to kick clear but went down on the edge of his box, claiming Grant had fouled him. The Referee allowed the ‘keeper to receive treatment from the Winchester physio, but decided the incident warranted nothing more than a free-kick. The visitors’ left-back Daniel King was then booked for a trip on Maloney, as he tried to latch on to a long ball from Hallett; the Referee had tried to allow an advantage but called the play aback when none accrued. The resulting free-kick was headed away.
Rendell almost got in route one style from Noice’s long kick, but for once his first touch let him down. Then, Caborn continued to cause problems down the Winchester right with a burst of pace and a cross to the far post that Adam Tomasso had to hook out for a throw-in on the far side. When the ball was hurled into the Totton box, Oastler headed it clear from the near post.
Winchester continued to probe the Totton defence for a way in. A couple of high, direct deliveries were dealt with by The Stags defence. Then Caborn received possession again on the right flank and when he rolled the ball to Josh McCormick, up in support, the full-back’s chip to inside-right found Max Smith, was quickly surrounded by blue shirts to deny him the space to get a meaningful shot on goal.
Daniel King collected the ball on the Winchester left, advancing from the corner of the Totton penalty area to drive infield in search of enough space to squeeze in a shot. Oastler shut the situation down with a well-timed sliding tackle that left King in a heap and some Winchester fans behind the goal appealing for a penalty, but play continued. Then, McCormick was allowed to carry the ball forward about 15 yards before trying his luck with a driven effort that Noice parried. McCormick managed to get to the rebound fractionally before the two Totton defenders closing him from either side, and he could only stab wide of the right-hand post for a goal-kick.
Cairney did well to claim a high, looping cross by Maloney from the right touchline while under pressure from Grant. Then, some hesitant defending by two Winchester players encouraged Turner to try and bundle his way through the middle, but Jamison intervened before going to ground under Turner’s challenge to earn a free-kick.
Tomasso got forward on the half hour to aid Maloney, whose reverse pass played Alfie Egan into space down the right side of the penalty area with blue shirts arriving in the middle. Egan went for a powerful cross-shot delivery that flashed across goal and eluded all of his teammates. Then, a one-two between Smith and Caborn on the Winchester right enabled Caborn to feed ex-Stag Tommy Wright on the flank. His low, driven cross was intercepted by the stretched out leg of Magri, allowing Noice to pick up the loose ball.
BIG DIPPER: Leon Maloney tries to bend his free-kick up and over Winchester City's three-man defensive wall during the Southern League Premier Division South match at the Snows Stadium.
Magri was called into action again a few minutes later, to turn Caborn’s low cross from the byline behind for a corner. The cross from the Winchester right was headed on by Barron and fell to Jones, to the left of the penalty spot. He side-stepped one defender and hit a curling shot that Noice could only watch as it bounced narrowly past his left-hand post.
Oastler made a strong tackle to win possession near the half-way line, but then immediately undid his own good work by giving the ball to Caborn. Fortunately for Totton, Ragguette was alert and close enough to nick the ball back before the lively Winchester winger could exploit the situation. Then, Tomasso was given a talking to by the Referee for a foul in the centre-circle.
Magri played the ball out of defence to Turner, who fed Maloney on the Totton right. His curling cross towards the near post was tailor-made for Rendell, but Jamison did well to get his leg in the way to quash the centre-forward’s effort. Ragguette was alive to the danger being posed by Caborn down Winchester’s right wing, and prevented the visitors from staging a counter-attack with a strong tackle.
Grant and Caborn were spoken to about some ongoing aggravation between them, while lining up for a throw-in. Jimmy Ball might not possess the loudest shouting voice but he could be heard imploring his players to “Get Leon on the ball” from the sidelines, before promising build-up play through the middle by his team saw Rendell give the ball to Maloney on the right-hand side, only for his cross into the danger zone to be too strong for his teammates to connect.
Ragguette and Turner tried to unpick Winchester’s defensive lock from the left wing but couldn’t fashion an opening. Then, after the board had gone up to indicate two minutes of first-half stoppage time, Ragguette became the second Totton player to be yellow carded for a foul on Trevor Caborn at the touchline. Balmer’s curling, in-swinging cross from the free-kick appeared to pick out Nolan, but the former Stag mistimed his jump, going up too early and seeing the ball drift over his head as he dropped back to earth.
As rival fans entertained themselves and each other with respective chants of “6-0 in your own backyard” and “We forgot that you were here”, the Referee did the humane thing and brought the first half to an end.
HALF-TIME
AFC TOTTON 0
WINCHESTER CITY 0
Neither side made any changes to personnel at the break, and Totton began the second half brightly by winning a corner on the left wing, attacking towards the construction site that will one day be the location of an Aldi supermarket. Maloney’s delivery was insipid, though, and easily cleared at the near post.
Turner won a free-kick when he was taken down while bringing Oastler’s defensive header under control, on the right flank mid-way inside the Winchester half. Maloney’s delivery found a Totton player this time but Winchester were able to get the ball away, nonetheless.
Tommy Wright, who spent the second half of last season on loan at AFC Totton from Havant & Waterlooville, had to dig the ball out of his feet before bustling between two Totton defenders and shooting narrowly wide of the far post from inside-right. Then, Caborn fired his effort in the same place, after a fleet-footed one-two exchange with McCormick enabled him to get into a similar position.
Jones was the next to threaten for the visitors, before Magri and Hallett closed ranks to smother his shot, surviving the inevitable optimistic “hand-ball!” shouts that accompany any occurrence of a football hitting a player in the chest. Caborn then managed to isolate Ragguette on the Winchester right, dwelling on the ball somewhat with one too many twists and turns that enabled Ragguette a second bite at the cherry to clear into touch. The throw-in was soon converted into a corner, but when the ball came over, two Winchester players got in each others way and Totton were able to clear.
However, as with the first half, Winchester City had begun the second period looking the more likely to score a goal and so it proved on 54 minutes. Rendell tried to flick on a long kick from Lewis Noice, but his header landed near the centre-circle with no blue shirts to be seen. Nolan passed forward as Jones made a break down the middle of the pitch. A quick interchange of passes presented the ball at the feet of Jones, who took the ball on his right foot as Noice came out to narrow the angle. Evading Magri by taking the ball wider to the right, Daniel JONES then produced an exquisite chip over Noice and into the left side of the Totton goal.
Jones’s eventful afternoon continued when he was shown a yellow card for tugging back Turner, as he and Ragguette tried to advance down the Totton left. Maloney took aim with the free-kick, but his shot hit Rendell and bounced well wide. At that point, Jimmy Ball sent on Benny Read in place of Alfie Egan, with Read taking up his usual position at right-back and Tomasso shifting into midfield.
UNDER PRESSURE: Winchester City goalkeeper Luke Cairney kicks clear just in time to avoid Reece Grant's challenge.
A surprising burst of pace from Tommy Wright saw him keep a long ball in play at the left-wing byline. He pulled it back to Barron, who teed-up Smith for a shot that was blocked, then Nolan’s follow-up was deflected over the bar. The cross from the Winchester left was confidently claimed by Lewis Noice.
Adam Tomasso was booked for committing a foul while chasing back to prevent a Winchester counter-attack, and Josh McCormick followed him into the Referee’s notebook for a foul on Reece Grant, who was then substituted with Alfie Stanley coming on to replace him.
Totton were showing greater urgency in their play, shifting the ball at pace and trying to get Read forward to bolster their attacking efforts from the right flank. Turner took a corner from the Totton left, sending over a high, in-swinging cross that had Cairney flapping, the goalkeeper having been pushed according to the Referee - even though there was no Totton player within two yards of him.
Read and Stanley tried a quick free-kick to play Turner into the inside-right channel, but Turner couldn’t get his feet in gear sharply enough to control the pass. Read was then booked for an aerial foul on Winchester substitute Devon Arnold. Barron took the free-kick but his delivery only found the warm embrace of Lewis Noice.
Going into the last 20 minutes of the game, Maloney was getting on the ball a lot more for Totton. He drove infield from the left flank and clipped a high pass out to Read, as he motored forward on the opposite flank. His low, driven cross was turned away by a defender but Totton regained possession quickly and Read fed Stanley at the right-wing byline. He stood his cross up to the edge of the six-yard box where the unmarked Scott Rendell was presented with a free header, that he thumped wide of the right-hand post.
Winchester came forward and Wright had a brief glimpse of goal but couldn’t sort his feet out to get the shot away. An attempted cross was stabbed away for Arnold to intercept and let fly with a low shot that Noice saved low to his left. Meanwhile, Joe Oastler had gone down clutching his thigh, and play had to be stopped to allow the combative midfielder to receive treatment from Totton physio, Andrew Hanley.
Totton came forward again, in search of an equaliser. Maloney collected on the left and chipped towards the right flank. The ball was headed out but Turner intercepted and forced the ball to Oastler, who had Maloney darting around him and into the advanced area on the right flank. Oastler’s pass found Read who fed Maloney in space. He smashed his cross towards the near post where Scott RENDELL got in front of his marker to convert into the top-right corner at close range.
With 12 minutes to go, The Stags had the scent of victory in their nostrils. Read again advanced down the right-hand side and played Maloney into space to provide another cross, this time looping high towards the back post where Cairney had to help the ball over the crossbar. Turner’s corner was cleared and Wright tried to get away on the counter, but was soon pegged back by the Totton defence.
SPOT THE BALL: Joe Oastler heads clear for AFC Totton.
Totton attacked again, with Ragguette passing to Stanley on the left corner of the penalty area. As that was happening, Rendell was knocked to the ground off the ball, so when Stanley’s low cross came towards him, it was all he could do to scramble back to his feet and try to tee-up Maloney, but Winchester managed to avert the danger.
Joe Turner was the next to have his name taken for a foul on Max Smith, the Referee again pulling play back some time after the initial foul once it became clear there was no advantage. Then, Joe Oastler was also booked for a late challenge, with about five minutes left on the clock.
Maloney got forward on the right and found Rendell in the middle. With defenders at his back, he laid off to Read, whose shot was deflected wide for a corner. The cross was knocked out to the edge of the box, Tomasso’s follow-up shot being deflected for another corner. Magri then headed wide. Winchester sub Warren Bentley made a telling intervention to halt Turner’s charge down the left-hand side.
Seven minutes of stoppage time were indicated, with Totton going for a late winner and Winchester content to protect a valuable away point, getting players back behind the ball and taking their sweet time over every goal-kick, free-kick and throw-in. Ragguette received the ball deep on the left, after a prolonged period of Totton possession, with blue shirts queuing up in the middle, but his curled cross was turned away. Read tried to get in down the right only to find his passage blocked. The ball bounced back to Oastler who tried to feed it back into the box. Winchester broke and Simba Mlambo set off on a threatening-looking run, which Magri quelled with a headed interception.
An interchange of passes enabled Winchester to win a corner on their left. Noice caught the cross and tried to release Turner down the right, but over-hit his kick, sending the ball bouncing out of play by the AFC Totton dug-out. Noice received possession again from a back-pass, but his kick was poor and presented the ball back to Winchester in the centre-circle. They came forward through the middle and an attempted long shot was blocked. It fell to Devon Arnold, who drove a low shot towards the bottom-right corner which was deflected wide by Hallett. From the cross, Caborn rose highest among a ruck of players but couldn’t get above the ball, nodding it over the crossbar. The Referee’s full-time whistle followed a minute later, to confirm a point-a-piece.
After the match, AFC Totton Manager Jimmy Ball (pictured; Image credit: Craig Hobbs Photography) said:
“You can’t question the character of our players, their work-rate, their ability or their willingness to fight and continue to try to create chances, but In all honesty, Winchester City were the better team for the majority of that match. They came and put up a real good fight; they’ll go away with a point and will probably be disappointed they didn’t get more.
People sometimes forget that there’s another team out there, another group of men who have every right to come here and fight, and try to play well and pose problems for us. They brought the fight to us in the first half and I thought we coped quite well, although we fell asleep for their goal. It was one of those where it’s a great goal if your team scored it but one you should have avoided if your team conceded it. We responded positively. Games are often won in the second half, and we battled to get back into the game. After we scored, I thought there was only going to be one winner, but we just couldn’t create that extra chance we needed to win it late on.
It was a feisty game, as expected. I didn’t think Winchester would come here, roll over and let us tickle their bellies. They had a point to prove after our last meeting at their place and, as I said in midweek, they are currently one of the division’s most in-form teams. It was a proper game of football, which you would expect from a local derby, and I thought they played very well.
Reece Grant showed what a handful he can be. He doesn’t stop running, he’s good in the air and can use both feet, which brings some balance to the side with Ethan Taylor still working his way back to full fitness. The addition of Reece to the squad will help us over this busy Christmas and New Year period, especially with all his experience and know-how at this level and above. There are some tough, tough games ahead but I think we’re in good shape and I’m looking forward to Hayes & Yeading here on Tuesday night.”
Latest Southern League Premier Division South table
Next Up: AFC TOTTON vs HAYES & YEADING UNITED
Southern League Premier Division South | Matchday#18 | Snows Stadium, Salisbury Road, Totton SO40 2RW | Tuesday 19 December 2023 | Kick-Off at 7:45pm | SAVE MONEY by purchasing tickets online in advance
By Ben Rochey-Adams
Images courtesy of Michaela Cater Photography
