The LONG READ: AFC Totton 3-0 Walton & Hersham, SLPDS#36

SOUTHERN LEAGUE PREMIER DIVISION SOUTH | Matchday#36
Monday 01 April 2024 | Snows Stadium, Totton, Southampton | Att: 1,342

PROFESSIONAL PERFORMANCE SEES STAGS RUN OUT COMFORTABLE WINNERS

AFC TOTTON 3
Scott Rendell 10mins; Tony Lee 59mins;
Ethan Taylor 87mins

WALTON & HERSHAM 0

AFC TOTTON BOOSTED THEIR CHANCES of qualifying for the Southern League Premier Division South’s Promotion Play-Offs with a comprehensive three-nil victory over potential top-five rivals Walton & Hersham at the Snows Stadium on Easter Monday (01 April 2024).

Having kept clean sheets at home to Beaconsfield Town and at Poole Town on Good Friday, the back five remained unchanged, with Josh Gould continuing in goal for the third successive game. Midfielder Perri Iandolo was dropped to the bench to make way for another newcomer in the shape of Norwich City loanee Marcel McIntosh, making his AFC Totton debut. Tony Lee returned to the team, after having sat out the trip to his former side Poole due to a gentleman’s agreement between the two clubs. Ethan Taylor was named among the substitutes, together with Ashley Clarke, who recently joined the club on loan from AFC Bournemouth.

AFC TOTTON
Starting Line-Up
1. Joshua GOULD
16. Luke BENNETT
6. Luke HALLETT
7. Joseph OASTLER
14. Ben JEFFORD
5. Charlie KENNEDY
8. Adam TOMASSO
17. Marcel McINTOSH
12. Joan LUQUE PRADOS
9. Scott RENDELL (Capt.)
18. Tony LEE
Substitutes
2. Benny READ
10. Ethan TAYLOR
15. Sam MAGRI
19. Perri IANDOLO
20. Ashley CLARKE

Walton & Hersham got the game underway, wearing their changed kit of white shirts with black and gold trim, with black shorts and white socks. The Stags were in their usual home kit of all-blue with white trim.

The visitors began by showing their confidence in possession, passing the ball around at the back until an opening presented itself for Joe Hicks to strike a long diagonal pass out to Stan Flaherty on their right. He cut inside to shake off the attentions of Ben Jefford and hit a low, left-footed shot towards the bottom-right corner where Joshua Gould got down sharply to bat the ball away two-handed. Jefford then sent a similar cross-field pass in the opposite direction, where only a well-timed intervention by Eoin Bolger, heading back to his goalkeeper, prevented Marcel McIntosh stealing into the box from the right-hand side.

A poor touch from Johl Powell, after he’d found a pocket of space between Jefford and Joe Oastler, let Totton off the hook. Then, McIntosh responded well to having his pocket picked mid-way inside the Walton & Hersham half by running back to reclaim the ball before The Swans could do any damage, earning himself warm applause from around the ground.

A left-wing throw-in from Jefford flicked off a defender and squirmed across goal, but nobody was there in a blue shirt to apply the finish at the back post. However, The Stags took the lead in the 10th minute. A long ball forward down the Totton left brought Marcel McIntosh across to chase the ball down and cut infield into the penalty area. He passed up the opportunity to shoot to chip the ball to Adam Tomasso, standing to the right of the penalty spot, and the midfielder’s simple side-footed square pass teed-up Scott RENDELL to slam the ball home from 12 yards.

WELL DONE, BUDDY: Adam Tomasso congratulates Scott Rendell on his 28th goal of the season to put The Stags ahead at home to Walton & Hersham.

Walton & Hersham stuck to their principals, playing square passes across the width of their defensive third while looking for opportunities to hit long diagonal passes towards their forwards. Charlie Kennedy cut out a pass intended for Flaherty, who had found space on their right wing. Then, Kennedy had to scramble back to the edge of the Totton area to tidy up his own poor pass-back to Oastler. The visitors regained possession but Gould came out to collect when they played it into the box.

They won a corner on their left-hand side, which was taken short by Nana Owusu, who scored against AFC Totton for Bracknell Town earlier this season. But the forward’s cross, after having received a return pass, was charged down by McIntosh before Tomasso cleared.

Gould had to come out of his area to head the ball clear from a long kick down the middle, getting their before Owusu. Powell intercepted in midfield but before he could take advantage of the stranded goalkeeper. Kennedy brought him down for a free-kick. Owusu went for goal but it was a comfortable save for Gould, who parried the ball into the turf and grabbed it at the second attempt.

Flaherty managed to isolated Jefford on the Walton & Hersham right. He switched the ball to his left foot and sent in an in-swinging cross that Luke Bennett headed out. It fell to Bolger, whose well-struck shot required Gould to use his full 6’4” frame to push the ball over for a corner. The delivery led to a spell of head tennis, which was ended by McIntosh’s clearance. Then, Owusu crept into the box along the left-wing byline, but then fell over and handled the ball to gift possession back to the hosts.

McIntosh and Bennett combined down the Totton right, leading to the latter whipping a cross into the near post area where Tony Lee’s glancing header flashed across goal. A cross-field pass then put Flaherty in behind Jefford, whose holding of his opponent had some away fans behind the goal appealing for a penalty. Flaherty played on and squared to enable Joshua Tobin to let fly with a fierce shot that bounced back off Luke Hallett, before Owusu was penalised for a push on Bennett.

HO'WAY THE NEW LAD: Debutant Marcel McIntosh takes on a Walton & Hersham defender.

McIntosh again demonstrated his willingness to track back and reclaim the ball when necessary, after a Totton move down the right had broken down. Rendell received his pass and moved the ball further forward for Joan Luque, coming in from the left flank. Lee made a run to his left, encouraging Luque to drive forward down the middle and try his luck with a long-range shot, but his effort lacked venom and fell kindly for Tyla Dickinson in the Walton & Hersham goal.

Tomasso was harshly judged to have fouled just outside the visitors’ penalty area. Then, McIntosh threatened to mount an attack from the right of their box, but The Swans were back in sufficient numbers to block his path.

Luque dribbled into the left-wing corner of the pitch, then checked back and found Kennedy at inside-left. Kennedy took a couple of touches but didn’t pull the trigger, and was duly dispossessed by a recovering defender, resulting in a goal-kick. Luque was then shown the yellow card for kicking the ball away.

Lee went back to defend a Walton & Hersham free-kick, which he headed out of the Totton box. It came back to Flaherty, whose follow-up volley veered wide. Then, Hicks had to keep his wits about him as Jefford’s high curling pass from half-way had Lee ready to spring off his shoulder and through on goal.

During two minutes of first-half stoppage time, McIntosh conceded a free-kick mid-way inside the Totton half, on Walton & Hersham’s left. Everyone except Dickinson was in the Totton half; Flaherty played it short to Owusu, whose cross into the area was too high.

HALF-TIME:
AFC TOTTON 1
WALTON & HERSHAM 0

Neither side made any changes at the break and Totton got the second half underway, attacking towards the Aldi construction site. Powell went close to levelling the scores, when he drifted in behind Jefford at inside-right and fired into the side-netting. Then, Owusu had a shot from the edge of the area deflected wide for a corner. Flaherty crossed into the box and Mitchal Gough headed towards the top-right, prompting Gould to dive to his left and thrust the ball wide for another corner, which Totton subsequently cleared.

Dickinson miss-kicked out from his penalty area but the right-back Caelan Avenell was able to tidy up and return the ball to him to make amends with a better clearance. Then, Kennedy conceded a free-kick in the centre-circle, from which Owusu briefly escaped Hallett’s attentions, until the former Forest Green Rovers man recovered to hack the ball clear before the striker could get his shot away.

Lee was pulled down about 25 yards out, on the Totton left. Luque went for goal from the free-kick, but it was comfortable for Dickinson. Gould then had to be alert to an over-hit cross from the Walton & Hersham left that was intended for Owusu but had the goalkeeper pushing the ball over the crossbar, although they didn’t manage to threaten from the corner.

Owusu and Flaherty combined on the right but as they shifted the ball infield, they found their attacking teammates to be not on the same wavelength and Totton were able to reclaim possession.

Totton sprang forward with McIntosh carrying the ball on the right, before passing infield to Rendell. He laid back to Kennedy, who spread the play left to Luque, who in turn teed up Bennett for a right-footed shot that was deflected wide for a left-wing corner. Luque floated the ball into the near post area where Hallett and Tony LEE both went for it, the striker getting the decisive touch to head past Dickinson to double The Stags’ advantage.

IN THE GOALS, AGAIN: Tony Lee extended Totton's lead with his seventh goal since rejoining The Stags in mid-February.

Walton responded by pulling off midfielder Joshua Tobin in favour of John Gilbert. Owusu tried to force his way through the middle of the Totton defence, but found Oastler in his way and could only drive a shot against the centre-back and into the waiting gloves of Gould.

Caelan Avenell was booked for a foul on Tony Lee, towards the left corner of the penalty area. Luque’s free-kick picked out Hallett at the far post, but the defender couldn’t direct his header. Jimmy Ball then withdrew Joan Luque and Luke Bennett, sending on Ethan Taylor and Sam Magri in their stead.

Owusu tried to take advantage of a lucky ricochet but a strong challenge by Hallett kiboshed that ambition. The ball fell to Avenell, who tried a long-range shot that Gould made light work of gathering. Gilbert then shot over the bar from 22 yards, after clever approach play from Walton & Hersham saw them lift the ball over the Totton defence to inside-right.

A long kick from Gould found Rendell on the right-wing touchline. He nodded the ball down to Lee on the corner of the penalty area, who went for a speculative shot from distance that soared over the bar. Then, Gould came out of his area again to deal with a direct pass down the middle of the pitch. He controlled the ball on his chest and belted it upfield.

Ethan Taylor got caught in possession going towards his own goal, but Hallett was well-positioned to take control of the situation. From the resulting corner, Gould’s punch was unconvincing but Walton & Hersham couldn’t capitalise.

BIG KICK: Goalkeeper Joshua Gould kicks clear for AFC Totton.

The Swans had more the possession, but with Rendell and Lee both dropping into their own half to help block their passing pathways, they continued to struggle to find a way in. On 78 minutes, Tony Lee came off and was replaced by Perri Iandolo.

Impressive acrobatics enabled McIntosh to keep the ball in at the right-wing touchline and from his infield pass, Taylor took a shot from distance that hit a defender and bounced around the Walton & Hersham box a few times before the visitors were able to clear their lines. When The Swans mounted an attack from their right and tried to pick out Owusu with a cross, Hallett was there to head the ball away.

John Gilbert was shown the yellow card for a foul on Hallett. Then, Owusu held the ball up well to bring Gilbert into the play, cutting into the box from the Walton left, having evaded McIntosh. His curling shot was comfortably taken by the well-positioned Gould.

Tomasso picked up a well-deserved yellow card for pulling Gilbert down in midfield. Within a minute, The Stags were three goals to the good. Gough played a square pass across the centre-circle, which Perri Iandolo intercepted and began to advance. Rendell’s run took one defender away, allowing Iandolo to progress further forward before making a short pass to Ethan TAYLOR who swept the ball into the bottom-right corner from right of the penalty spot.

Alex Kelly was booked for a foul on Taylor near the centre-circle, as important defensive contributions from Hallett and McIntosh on the Totton right kept the visitors at bay. Tomasso made a brilliant block on the edge of the Totton box to shut down a chance for Gilbert, before Gould found time for another excursion from his penalty area, this time to head clear before Flaherty could latch on to a long, direct pass through the middle.

Joe Hicks made a spirited one-man raid at the heart of the Totton defence just before the final whistle, but the ball bobbled up and ricocheted off his shin safely into Gould’s possession, summing up a frustrating away day for The Swans, and a welcome three points for The Stags.

Watch Manager Jimmy Ball’s Post-Match Interview

Watch Marcel McIntosh’s Post-Match Interview

Latest Southern League Premier Division South table

AFC Totton Fixtures 2023/24

By Ben Rochey-Adams

Images courtesy of Tom McKenzie