AFC Totton
ISUZU FA TROPHY 2022/23
2nd ROUND QUALIFYING - Saturday 24 September 2022
AFC TOTTON 2
Jordan Ragguette 18mins; Jake Adams 86mins
BERKHAMSTED 1
Jonathan Lacey 33mins (pen)
AFC Totton made progress in the Isuzu FA Trophy at the Snows Stadium yesterday (Saturday), overcoming last season’s Southern League Div.1 Central runners-up Berkhamsted who came close to taking the cup tie to penalties, despite ending the match with only nine men.
Manager Jimmy Ball restored many of his first choice players to the team after fielding a number of squad players and youngsters at AFC Portchester in the Hampshire Senior Cup last Tuesday night. Goalkeeper Lewis Noice took the gloves back from Giulio Girelli. Adam Tomasso lined up on the right-hand side of the defence with Charlie Kennedy re-joining Luke Hallett at centre-back. Captain Mick Carter came back into the midfield, alongside Jack Masterton and Freddie Read. Ethan Taylor and Scott Rendell both returned, with Jake Adams holding onto the No.11 shirt. Brett Williams and Jireh Oyebamiji, who both limped away from Portchester in midweek, were rested.
AFC TOTTON
Starting Line-Up
1. Lewis NOICE
2. Adam TOMASSO
3. Jordan RAGGUETTE
4. Mike CARTER (Capt.)
5. Charlie KENNEDY
6. Luke HALLETT
7. Ethan TAYLOR
8. Jack MASTERTON
9. Scott RENDELL
10. Freddie READ
11. Jake ADAMS
Substitutes
12. Giulio GIRELLI
14. Owen PELHAM
15. Seung-Woo YANG
16. Yemi ODUBADE
17. Pascal KPOHOMOUH
18. Lewis WATERFIELD
19. Enrique RUSSELL
Before the match, a minute’s applause was observed in memory of long-term AFC Totton fan Steve Greenwood, who recently passed away.
Berkhamsted, from the historic market town in Hertfordshire, got the game underway, wearing their changed kit of white shirts, black shorts and black socks. But The Comrades almost fell behind after just two minutes when Ethan Taylor weaved his way through several defenders on the right-hand side of the penalty area, before firing narrowly wide of the far post.
The visitors’ Jack Tompkins was shown the yellow card for a foul on Scott Rendell in the eighth minute. Then, Jordan Ragguette stepped around Jonathan Lacey’s challenge near half-way before setting off on a forward run to the edge of the Berkhamsted box. His intended pass to Rendell was too strong but the centre-forward managed to keep the ball in play at the right-wing byline and stood a cross up to the far side, which was just too high for Jake Adams to reach with his head.
Goalkeeper Craig Hill had to come out to the edge of his area to clear Ragguette’s through-ball before Freddie Read could latch onto it. Mike Carter retrieved the ball in midfield and played Jack Masterton into the right side of the penalty area, but Hill was back in his goal in time to intercept Masterton’s low cross.
Berkhamsted forwards Ryan Blake and Ethan Kessel posed a brief threat to the Totton goal in the 11th minute, Charlie Kennedy and Luke Hallett working together to close down the opportunity. Hallett then claimed a dropping ball in the centre-circle to set Totton off on another attack. Taylor received on the right of the area and played a short pass inside for Rendell to fire at goal, stinging Craig Hill’s palms in the process and earning a corner. It was taken short and again it was Taylor feeding Rendell at the near post, the striker beating the keeper to the ball but steering his attempted shot wide of the post.
The Stags were on top and they made their superiority count with a superb individual goal on 18 minutes. Ragguette received the ball near the half-way line and set off on a run into Berkhamsted territory, drifting inside the first defender and outside the second before the third had time to realise he was in trouble. The St. Vincentian U23 international advanced to the left of the D and, from about 20 yards, Jordan RAGGUETTE rifled home with a low, left-footed shot into the bottom-right hand corner of The Comrades’ net for an exceptional solo goal.
BRINGING THE VINCY HEAT: St. Vincent & The Grenadines U23 international Jordan Ragguette (No.3) celebrates his goal, amid the adulations of Jake Adams and a beaming Enrique Russell.
Totton almost handed parity back to their visitors within a couple of minutes when Hallett took a heavy touch receiving Kennedy’s square pass near the penalty spot. Lacey pounced on the loose ball but was quickly shutdown by Kennedy with a robust tackle, with Lewis Noice also converging upon the melee to slam the door in the forward’s face. Then, Adam Tomasso battled hard to win possession near the corner flag in the Totton right-back position, getting kicked for his trouble by Ben Walster, who was shown the yellow card.
During a brief stoppage in play in the 20th minute while Berkhamsted midfielder Jake Howells received treatment, AFC Totton boss Jimmy Ball took a moment to have a quiet word with Luke Hallett while pointing distinctly in the direction of the hypothetical Row Z of the Wessex Heartbeat Stand. Howells was unable to continue, so Tom Silford stepped off the Berkhamsted bench to replace him.
The home side were moving the ball around with confidence and purpose, imposing their style of play upon the game in a manner for which Berkhamsted had no answer. Taylor switched the play from the right-hand side, enabling Jake Adams to take possession on the left wing. He drifted inside his marker on his way to the corner of the penalty area to curl a low cross-shot narrowly wide of the far post, with Rendell unable to reach it.
The Stags should have doubled their lead when Taylor shrugged off his marker while running into the inside-right channel to latch onto Tomasso’s through-ball. With the ball on his left foot on the right of the 6-yard box, many in the ground no doubt expected the winger to rip the net off but he opted to lay the ball back for the on-rushing Masterton who couldn’t sort his feet out to apply the finish, despite getting a second attempt from the ground after having been knocked over by a defender.
Taylor did go for goal shortly after, when Totton worked the ball infield from the left to present him with a shooting chance from about 20 yards out, his effort dragging wide to the right.
Ragguette did well to head back to Noice while under pressure from Blake on the edge of his own area. Then, more encouraging approach play by Totton, involving Ragguette, Adams and Masterton playing fluid triangles with one another, fed Read on the edge of the box, the midfielder taking one too many touches and allowing the over-worked Berkhamsted back line to surround him and clear the ball.
Totton were warming to their task. Hallett leapt high to make a defensive header, finding Taylor in the centre-circle who turned sharply to evade three white shirts and pass into the path of Read on the right-hand side. He played it to Rendell who fed Tomasso’s overlapping run. The move didn’t quite come off but the home crowd showed their appreciation for the quality of football on show.
Noice had to be alert to remove the danger posed by Blake as he tried to latch onto a straight pass into the visitors’ inside-left channel. Then, on 33 minutes, Berkhamsted drew level against the run of play. The ball bounced up in midfield, allowing substitute Silford to slide it into the path of Lynton Goss to the left of the penalty area, with a clear sight of goal. Charlie Kennedy came bundling across and took Goss clean out. A penalty was the only possible outcome. Jonathan LACEY stepped up and drove the ball straight down the middle, while Noice dived to his left.
The home side were no doubt kicking themselves for allowing Berkhamsted back into the game after having been so dominant, and they were back on the attack shortly after the restart. Clever interplay between Read and Adams released the latter to the left-wing byline and from his pull-back, Rendell fired in a shot from about 9 yards that Craig Hill pushed over his crossbar with a stunning reaction save.
Mike Carter picked up a yellow card while tussling for possession in midfield. He made a strong tackle in the first instance, but as his opponent came back with another challenge, Carter stretched to make a grounded tackle and, despite protests from him and the Totton fans in the main stand behind him that he had played the ball, the Referee saw fit to award the visitors a free-kick and take Carter’s name.
TAKE YOU ALL ON: Scott Rendell leads the line for AFC Totton at the Snows Stadium.
Berkhamsted staged a rare attack in the 40th minute. A neat flick by Goss played Blake in down the right wing and his return, square pass gave Goss a shooting opportunity from the edge of Totton’s box, Hallett - who has been suffering from flu over the last few days - getting his body in the way to block.
A lapse in concentration from The Stags allowed Kessel to take possession mid-way inside the Totton half. With options ahead of him, he played his pass too close to Ragguette, who was able to clear the ball up the touchline but only as far as Blake who fed Goss’s run towards the byline at inside-right, Hallett getting across to deflect the angled shot over the crossbar. From the corner on the Berkhamsted right, captain Ryan Kinnane’s in-swinging delivery missed every white shirt and the ball bounced out to safety on the far side.
Shortly before the break, Jack Masterton pounced on a loose pass across the Berkhamsted defence, threatening to sprint away through the middle until Jack Tompkins took evasive action by bringing him down, earning himself a second yellow card and an early bath.
Nothing came directly from that free-kick but Totton were soon handed another just outside the area when central defender Tommy Smith tried to clear the ball upfield, catching Scott Rendell’s heel instead, as the forward came in from the side to challenge. Masterton’s shot from the set-piece was aimed accurately at the top-right corner but it lacked the power to trouble Hill in The Comrades’ goal. And Hill made the final significant contribution of the first half, saving low to deny Freddie Read who picked up the pieces when Adams tried to dance his way through a packed defence.
HALF-TIME
AFC TOTTON 1
BERKHAMSTED 1
Ethan Taylor got the second half underway for The Stags. And he was soon involved in Totton’s first attack of the half when quick-footed play by Read enabled Rendell to exchange passes with Taylor inside the penalty area, Rendell having to try a left-footed shot as he was falling backward and lacking the power to beat Hill.
Rendell was unfortunate to have his name taken for a supposed bodycheck in the centre-circle that had Smith screaming as he went down. The defender was suddenly up and smiling before the Referee had even taken the yellow card out of his pocket.
Kennedy played a long ball forward which Taylor cleverly flicked on by leaning against his marker and bouncing the ball off his calf, into the path of Rendell who drove his shot into the side-netting behind the right-hand post from a narrow angle. Then, Kennedy shepherded the ball out of play at his own end, thinking it was going to be a goal kick for The Stags only for the Referee to award a corner. The former Salisbury man made up for his mistake, though, by blocking Smith’s far post header with his chest and completing the clearance for the home side.
Jimmy Ball then withdrew Jack Masterton from proceedings and sent on Seung-Woo Yang for his third outing in an AFC Totton shirt. The Eastleigh loanee was soon in the thick of the action, linking up with Freddie Read on the left of the Berkhamsted penalty area but the latter’s ill-advised back-heel attempt saw the move break down, much to the audible frustration of Jimmy Ball in the home dugout.
MIDFIELD TERRIER: Seung-Woo Yang gets stuck in for AFC Totton against Berkhamsted.
Rendell and Taylor both had shots charged down from outside the box, though neither was able to make a clean strike on the ball with opposition players surrounding them. Adam Tomasso was afforded room to carry the ball a long way down the right wing for Totton, before his cross was diverted wide for a corner. Taylor’s high in-swinging cross was catnip to the spring-heeled Luke Hallett, but the defender only managed a glancing header across goal and wide.
A defensive error by Hallett was cleaned up by Carter in the middle, enabling Taylor to run at the visitors through the centre of the pitch. He slipped the ball to Rendell on the right, whose shot was blocked by Smith near the edge of the 6-yard box. From the resulting corner on the right-hand side, Totton played it short and Adams was able to switch the ball to his left foot and float a curling cross towards the back post, where Kinnane did well to flick the ball out on the opposite side of the goal with Rendell lurking behind him.
Totton didn’t capitalise on that corner but soon had another when Yang, Read and Adams worked their way through three defenders with some clever passing and movement on the left-hand side, before Adams had his shot deflected wide.
Ethan Kessel went off to be replaced by Russ Oulton for the visitors, mid-way through the second half. Then, Hallett played the ball forward to Tomasso on the right wing. He passed the ball infield to Taylor who turned away from his man before Carter took over with a surging run into the Berkhamsted box, laying the ball off into the centre with nobody there to apply the finish.
As the clock ticked over into the last 20 minutes, fans and the coaching team on the sidelines were both trying to inject more urgency into Totton’s attacking play, though the players themselves were also quickening the pace and looking for a way in past their 10-men opponents who had long since decided to sit in, defend and waste time at every opportunity.
Strong running from Silford through the middle for Berkhamsted, during which he shrugged off Yang’s challenge, eventually ran aground as three blue shirts converged upon him outside the Totton box. And things went from bad to worse for the visitors in the 71st minute when Ben Walter raised his arm to block Tomasso’s attempted cross from the right. The Referee interpreted it as deliberate hand-ball and showed Walter his second yellow card to reduce The Comrades to nine men.
Taylor took the free-kick, curling the ball towards the far post. One blue shirt flashed across the flight of the ball but Hill’s concentration was good and he was able to parry and then quickly claim the ball with other Totton players closing in.
Inevitably, the game soon began Attack vs Defence, with Berkhamsted hoping to hold on long enough to take the cup tie to penalties. Tomasso tried to play Taylor in at the right-hand post but Hill was out, diving on the ball, before Taylor could get there. Then, Ragguette made another foray into the left side of the area to line up a shot that ricocheted off two players before falling kindly for the keeper.
COMING THROUGH: The powerful running of Jordan Ragguette unsettled the Berkhamsted defence throughout the FA Trophy tie at the Snows Stadium.
Hallett began a move that made its way through Carter and Yang in midfield, enabling Rendell to force a corner on the left. It was played short for Adams to float the ball into the box where Hallett got up well but he could only steer his header over the bar.
Carter tried to supply a telling cross from the right-hand side. It was headed out and Ragguette intercepted about 25 yards from goal, where he took a touch and drove a ferocious shot just over the angle of post and bar at the top-left corner.
The match having been all Totton for most of the second half, Berkhamsted broke away with Goss on their right wing. He held the ball up while Kennedy blocked his forward progress, opting instead to work it infield for Blake to line up a shot from distance that required the hitherto underemployed Lewis Noice to save, diving to his left to parry wide for a corner. Only three white shirts occupied the Totton penalty area for the set-piece and the delivery missed them all and present possession back to The Stags.
Berkhamsted pressed Totton back again when Ragguette miss-kicked to leave The Comrades with a 3-on-3 situation. The ball was slipped to Blake on the left of their three, but he lacked composure and could only bend his shot into the grateful arms of Noice in the Totton goal.
The plucky nine-man outfit tried to mount another attack on their left-hand side, but Totton stole the ball back and worked the ball over the other flank. Yang found Ragguette who was brought down as he tried to run at the defender, but the ball fell to Adams who picked up the gauntlet, darted to the left-wing byline and prodded a cross into the near post area where Rendell’s header lacked conviction, the chance going begging wide of the right-hand post, to the increasing frustration of many fans.
Craig Hill, the Berkhamsted goalkeeper, needed treatment before play could resume. Then, when play was underway again, Ragguette’s high cross made its way over Rendell for the in-rushing Tomasso, his looping header dropping within reach of the fully-recovered custodian.
Jimmy Ball sent on Yemi Odubade in place of Adam Tomasso for the last five minutes, and the substitute contributed to the move that restored AFC Totton’s lead. Odubade received the ball from Hallett near the half-way line and, listening to the advice being eagerly offered from the main stand, played an early pass to release Taylor into the inside-right channel. With defenders scrambling back, Taylor checked infield to open his body up and play the ball square to the feet of Adams in space on the left of the area. With one defender to contend with, Jake ADAMS quickly sized up the situation and dipped his right shoulder to make the angle for a firm, right-footed rasper that clipped one of two recovering defenders, while flying high into the Berkhamsted net beyond the reach of Hill.
GET IN!: Mercurial playmaker Jake Adams celebrates his winning goal in the FA Trophy.
Yang almost added a third when he caught Hill in possession inside his own area, the goalkeeper managing to sidestep the midfielder's challenge at the last moment. Then, Adams made another raid down the left before squaring to Taylor on the edge of the area, his low shot flashing wide at the foot of the right-hand post.
Impressive skill and a smart turn by Taylor to take the ball away from two Berkhamsted players in the middle of the Totton half brought an angry, two-footed lunge from substitute Russ Oulton, who was lucky to only see a yellow card for his efforts. Centre-back Tommy Smith was now operating as an auxiliary centre-forward, leaving the already under-staffed visitors even more threadbare at the back. Totton just needed to keep the ball and run the clock down, which they appeared to have difficulty doing while also wanting to score a third goal to put themselves out of sight, passing up a couple of opportunities to take the ball to the corner flag.
Taylor was beaten to Hallett’s miscued through-ball by Hill. Then, Rendell bought a cheap free-kick by tumbling under a half-challenge by Kinnane on the left-wing touchline, before the Referee decided he’d seen enough and signalled The Stags’ progression into Monday’s FA Trophy 3rd Round Qualifying draw with his final whistle.
After the match, AFC Totton manager Jimmy Ball (pictured) said:
“We should have been two or three goals up before the other team even started playing. Some of our football during the first 20 minutes was the best I’ve seen from any team at any level, so far this season. But then, football happened! A lapse in concentration and a clumsy challenge inside the box, and suddenly it’s one-one from absolutely nowhere, in a game where we’d been cruising.
“When that happens, you have to accept it and regroup, stick together and work hard to make it right and get yourselves back in front, and we did that. It’s not the first time this season that we’ve had to show that kind of resilience and it’s pleasing to see that these players have that in them.
“We didn’t quite maintain that same quality of football throughout the whole game, but we were the better side. Both goals were excellent; Jordan’s was a fabulous individual goal, typical of the quality of his recent performances. He wants to play at a higher level and so do we, and if he keeps doing things like that, we can get there together. Jake’s goal was a great strike, too, and I’m pleased for the kid after I showed him some tough love by taking him off at half-time at Havant last week.
“Tuesday night, we go to Ringwood to begin the defence of our Southampton Senior Cup title. Then, with Paulton Rovers playing in the FA Cup, we’ll have a break next weekend, so we’ll probably have the players in for training to keep them ticking over ahead of whatever Monday’s FA Trophy draw gives us for Saturday 08 October and the Bashley game on the Tuesday after.”
There were only three matches in the Southern League Div.1 South this weekend...
League leaders Sholing continued their excellent start to the season with a 4-0 away win at Wimborne Town, with ex-Stag Rob Flooks getting The Boatmen off to a flyer with a goal in the 4th minute. Another former AFC Totton player, Stuart Green, also scored to take Sholing two points clear of Exmouth Town, who were held to a goalless draw at home by Westbury United.
Bradley Bevan and Ethan Dunbar were both on-target in the first half for Slimbridge AFC, as they won 2-0 at Willand Rovers. The Swans now occupy 9th place in the table.
The latest Southern League Div.1 South table
View AFC Totton’s fixture list for the 2022/23 season
By Ben Rochey-Adams
Images courtesy of Craig Hobbs Photography
