AFC Totton
SOUTHERN LEAGUE DIV.1 SOUTH 2022/23
MATCHDAY 20 - Saturday 04 February 2023
AFC TOTTON 4
Tommy Wright 22mins, 90mins+3; Scott Rendell 63mins; Ethan Taylor 73mins
BRISTOL MANOR FARM 1
Marcus Day 24mins
TWO GOALS FROM TOMMY WRIGHT helped AFC Totton to a comfortable home win over relegation-battlers Bristol Manor Farm in their Southern League Div.1 South encounter at the Snows Stadium today (Saturday). The Stags’ top scorer Scott Rendell successfully converted a penalty kick and Ethan Taylor was also on target, as Jimmy Ball’s men further reduced the gap at the top of the table by another two points.
There were two changes to the team that beat Westbury United in Wiltshire, last weekend. Jordan Ragguette returned to Totton’s starting line-up for the first time since Boxing Day, having now recovered from the knock he picked up against Lymington Town. And midfielder Charlie Davis came in for Adam Tomasso, who dropped to the bench. Goalkeeper Lewis Noice was named among the substitutes, following his recovery from recent injury.
AFC TOTTON
Starting Line-Up
1. Charlie SEARLE
2. Benny READ
3. Jordan RAGGUETTE
4. Mike CARTER (Capt.)
5. Charlie KENNEDY
6. Luke HALLETT
7. Jack MASTERTON
8. Charlie DAVIS
9. Scott RENDELL
10. Ethan TAYLOR
11. Tommy WRIGHT
Substitutes
12. Lewis NOICE
14. Conor WHITELEY
15. Ben JEFFORD
16. Freddie READ
17. Adam TOMASSO
Wearing red shirts, white socks and black shorts, the visitors kicked-off on a cool but dry afternoon on the edge of the New Forest, defending the end closest to the Calmore roundabout on Salisbury Road. Neither side was able to stamp any authority on the game during the first 10 minutes and there were no shooting opportunities as a result, an offside flag against Tommy Wright from Scott Rendell’s knockdown the closest anyone came to threatening their opponents’ goal.
From a Bristol Manor Farm free-kick just inside the Totton half, Luke Hallett leapt high enough to head away from close to the penalty spot with Benny Read completing the clearance by hooking the ball over his shoulder. Manor Farm retrieved the ball and played it out to the corner of the penalty area on their left, where a neat turn by Luco Ponsillo appeared to have beaten Hallett until the defender’s stride enabled him to recover the ground between them and clear into touch.
GAME FACE: Midfielder Charlie Davis was restored to the Starting XI for AFC Totton's home match against Bristol Manor Farm at the Snows Stadium.
The first real chance of note came Scott Rendell’s way in the 14th minute. Charlie Davis and Benny Read were making progress down the right-hand side, before the ball came out to Jack Masterton midway inside the visitors’ half. He sent a high cross to the far side where Rendell took advantage of a ball-watching defender by nipping inside his man and steering a firm header at goal, where keeper Ben John was well-placed to catch the ball.
Dogged work by Davis in the advanced right-wing corner enabled Benny Read to cross. Rendell chested the ball down into Wright’s path, and the striker on loan from Havant & Waterlooville saw his low snapshot deflected narrowly wide of the left-hand post. From the corner, Ethan Taylor found Davis just inside the left side of the area, and he fizzed the ball to the near post, where Wright tried to flick towards goal with his right foot but found himself too tightly marked to make full contact.
A promising move between Davis, Taylor and Masterton quickly shifted the ball out to the left wing, where Jordan Ragguette received possession near halfway, amid vocal encouragement from all around the ground to run at his immediate opponent. He began to do so, and as he veered slightly wide of full-back Mason Winter, he took the chance to whip the ball in early, but there was nobody there in a blue and white shirt to get on the end of it.
Bristol Manor Farm responded by attacking down their left wing, which produced a dangerous cross to the centre. Charlie Kennedy’s header went up rather than out, leaving Charlie Searle to launch himself above Owen Howe to swat the ball away before landing on the visiting centre-forward to prompt half-hearted appeals for a penalty from the away dug-out, Manager Lee Lashenko directed his ire predominantly at the Referee’s Assistant along the near side touchline. Searle and Howe both seemed to see the funny side and play continued.
Neat control by Rendell, to the left of the Manor Farm six-yard box, enabled him to bring Hallett’s long diagonal down quickly on 19 minutes. Joshua Ford got his foot in quickly enough to remove the danger. Then, a rare lapse of control by Jack Masterton had him stretching to make a challenge and going in late on Steven Kingdon, for which the Referee gave him a lengthy talking to but kept his cards in his pocket.
TOMMY GUN: On-loan Havant & Waterlooville striker Tommy Wright opened his AFC Totton goalscoring account with two goals to send The Stags on their way to another three points.
As the first half crossed the 20-minute mark, Totton were knocking the ball around confidently with The Stags’ defenders and midfielders using the full width of the pitch to probe for a pathway forward to the Manor Farm penalty area. The away team had little choice but to sit back and try to fill up the space, and for a minute or so they managed to do that effectively. Then the ball arrived at the feet of Charlie Davis, about 30 yards out, and he threaded a pass into the path of Tommy WRIGHT, who’d timed his run perfectly to ensure he was onside, before striking the ball right-footed past Ben John and into the centre of the net to put the home team ahead with his first AFC Totton goal.
But Manor Farm struck back almost immediately. A left-wing raid produced a throw-in, far into Totton territory, from which the left-winger in the No.7 shirt received the ball to feet near the touchline. With defenders in position and monitoring the situation, there appeared to be little danger to the Totton goal at that point. But skilful dribbling enabled him to evade first Benny Read and then Luke Hallett to manoeuvre himself into the corner of the penalty area and, with a clear sight of goal, Marcus DAY struck an unstoppable shot into the far-bottom corner to put The Farmy Army back on level terms.
Totton went forward again, Ragguette leading the charge towards the left-wing byline. Joshua Ford came across to nullify the threat and the two players bumped shoulders with one another in a fairly innocuous manner. But as Ragguette trotted back into position in anticipation of a Manor Farm goal-kick, Ford motioned to the away dug-out, holding his left arm in obvious distress. From a distance, it looked as though he may have dislocated a finger, possibly in collision with the green wire fence that runs around the pitch perimeter. The game was initially suspended while he received treatment, but when it did resume, Manor Farm were temporarily down to 10 men while the physios continued to administer first aid to the unfortunate Ford. Totton appeared to have found a way to take advantage of their opponent’s reduced numbers when Masterton scampered onto a pass near the left of the six-yard box, but the flag on the far side ruled him offside.
The ball came across to Ragguette again on the left-hand side. With Jimmy Ball and Paul Masters both imploring him from the dug-out to run at the defence, Ragguette charged forward, bustling between two defenders, shrugging off the first and letting fly with a low left-foot rasper before the second could affect a block, his effort flashing narrowly wide of the near post.
DON'T STOP ME NOW: The powerful running of Jordan Ragguette troubles two Bristol Manor Farm defenders in the Southern League Div.1 South encounter at Snows Stadium.
Having bled onto his white shorts, Joshua Ford gave the good ladies of Totton a rare thrill by swapping them for another pair, before re-entering the fray with his left hand and wrist wrapped in a light blue bandage to restore Bristol Manor Farm to a full complement of players. Then, the relatively short Benny Read did well to time his jump and intercept a high diagonal pass, with Howe lurking just behind him at the top-right corner of the Totton penalty area.
Manor Farm’s captain Lloyd Mills threw himself full-length to block Ethan Taylor’s attempted angled shot into the bottom-right corner, after The Stags’ No.10 had been played in by Rendell’s short pass. A few minutes later, a goal-kick from Ben John was turned back towards the Manor Farm goal by Hallett’s strong header from just behind the halfway line. Rendell controlled it in front of the visitors’ defensive line and laid the ball back to Wright in the middle, whose first instinct was to dribble towards the left in search of more space. But he then checked back onto his right foot and slipped a pass into the centre of the area where Rendell stretched out his long right leg to stab the ball towards goal, Ben John thrusting his own torso down to divert it past the post.
Looking much sharper than in his previous two AFC Totton appearances, Tommy Wright went on a jinking run in the 39th minute, gamely taking on a cluster of red shirts through the middle of the pitch to earn a well-deserved free-kick about 22 yards out. Charlie Davis took it, curling a right-footed shot just past the top-left corner of the goal with John scrambling to get across.
A long period of Totton possession inside the Manor Farm half was broken up by Luco Ponsillo’s intervention, to which Benny Read had to react quickly to prevent a counter-attack. Then, skilful trickery from left-back Jayden Nielsen was able to force Davis back into the Totton area, before his cross was turned away by Kennedy on the edge of the six-yard box.
A misplaced pass in the centre-circle presented the ball back to Manor Farm, who swiftly attacked down the left wing. Marcus Day received possession in a similar position to that which led to his earlier goal, and he tried to repeat the feat by shifting infield onto his right foot and striking from the edge of the area. This time, his effort was aimed just inside the near post and Searle got his body behind it to make the save. Shortly after, Hallett’s ability to leap like a salmon was essential to enabling him to head away a long ball into Totton’s defensive third with Ponsillo poised to run through on goal.
During the lengthy first-half stoppage time caused by the earlier injury to Joshua Ford, Totton knocked the ball around again but an uncharacteristically poor pass by Kennedy left them exposed to a potential counter-attack straight down the centre. Sensing the red alert, Hallett managed to nick the ball away from Howe, leaving the ball loose in the centre-circle. Mike Carter and Luco Ponsillo both went in strongly, Carter coming off worse with a painful whack on his right foot, sparking an angry reaction from his teammates at Ponsillo’s late challenge. The Manor Farm No.10 was shown the yellow card, prompting further remonstrations from Lee Lashenko on the touchline that earned him a lecture from the Referee.
Owen Howe was booked for an unnecessary kick that left Jordan Ragguette needing treatment, after the centre-forward had got back to help his defence well enough to cause Ragguette to turn away from goal towards the left-wing corner flag. Manor Farm headed away the free-kick and the half-time whistle blew before Totton could retrieve the ball in midfield.
HALF-TIME
AFC TOTTON 1
BRISTOL MANOR FARM 1
Adam Tomasso came on in place of Charlie Davis for the start of the second half, as Jimmy Ball looked to inject more grit into the midfield battle. Ethan Taylor made a threatening run down the right wing after combining with Benny Read, until the considerably larger figure of Jayden Nielsen outmuscled him and kicked the ball clear. Ragguette followed the example of his left-back counterpart soon after, nipping in ahead of Owen Howe to prevent Marcus Day’s angled pass from the left-wing touchline presenting Howe with a sight of goal from the right of the Totton area.
Benny Read’s pass into the Manor Farm penalty area from the right-hand side was too far ahead of Taylor, the intended target, but the darting Tommy Wright almost latched onto it, Ben John coming off his line quickly to claim the ball. Growing in confidence and influence, Benny Read then won a free-kick on the right-hand edge of the penalty area after running at two defenders. Jack Masterton’s curling in-swinger had to be punched away by John, who did well to maintain his concentration with players from both sides rushing towards him under the flight of the ball. Masterton brought it down on his chest on the edge of the area and laid it square for Tomasso, whose shot was blocked.
GET SHORTY: Three Farmy Army defenders struggle to contain the energetic Benny Read, who produced arguably his best performance so far in an AFC Totton shirt in the 4-1 home win.
Tommy Wright won praise from the home support for his willingness to tussle for possession among multiple Manor Farm defenders. Then, Mason Winter did well to halt Ragguette’s progress down the left, after a neat one-two with Masterton, and Kingdon had to stretch to head away an in-swinging Taylor cross from the opposite flank.
Totton were now bossing possession all over the pitch, Manor Farm’s hopes of launching an effective counter-attack relying solely upon their ability to feed Marcus Day on the left wing, with the usually considerable goal threat of Owen Howe being well-marshalled by, primarily, Luke Hallett with able assistance from Charlie Kennedy at the heart of the Totton defence.
Another Ragguette-led incursion down Totton’s left-wing required Ford to lump the ball over the stand on the Salisbury Road side of the ground. Then, Ethan Taylor, who was struggling to impose his influence on the game, had to stretch for the ball as a result of his own lackadaisical touch, taking the man instead and acquiring a yellow card for his trouble.
From the halfway line, Lloyd Mills hit a high diagonal in search of Howe to the right of the D on the edge of Totton’s penalty area, with 62 minutes on the clock. This time, the forward managed to stay in front of Ragguette, but the ball dropped over him and onto Ragguette’s head, bouncing past the on-rushing Charlie Searle and, fortunately for the home side, narrowly wide of the right-hand post. Day’s high delivery from the corner was flicked away by Hallett, rising highest among a cluster of players bundled into the six-yard area. Manor Farm retrieved the ball on the opposite flank but Tomasso headed out and Masterton, from midway inside the Totton half, hooked the ball up to the centre-circle to release Wright into the green open space between him and the Manor Farm goal. With two defenders giving chase, Wright raced into the penalty area, and as The Hawks loanee striker appeared to be waiting for the ball to drop nicely onto his right foot, full-back Mason Winter shoved him from behind, causing Wright to topple over and the Referee to point to the spot.
COME ON, YOU STAGS: Mally's Corner herald another AFC Totton goal during the 4-1 Southern League Div.1 South victory at home to Bristol Manor Farm.
Between the foul and the penalty itself, the Referee had to deal with a plethora of complaints from the Bristol Manor Farm contingent, and some number of yellow cards were brandished in the general direction of red shirts. Mason Winter was booked for his foul and Steven Kingdon was also yellow carded, for dissent. There may have been others; Ben John got away with kicking the ball against Tommy Wright’s head when the forward was still in a prone position - it wasn’t hard enough to hurt him but the sheer unadulterated cheek of it was worth a yellow. Undeterred by the nonsense around him and have hit the post with his second spot-kick at Westbury last week, Scott RENDELL converted with ease to restore AFC Totton’s lead, before turning to acknowledge his family sitting at the top of the Wessex Heartbeat Stand (right behind your Long Read correspondent).
As they prepared to restart the match from the centre spot, Manor Farm lined up in a Hail Mary formation - to use an NFL term - but their attempt to apply pressure to the Totton defence with an aerial bombardment was ill-considered. An awkward bounce near the centre-circle caught out Masterton, who handled the ball. But Rendell got back to defend near the corner flag in the left-back area, conceding a throw-in that Totton subsequently defended.
Steven Kingdon was alert to the threat of Taylor, as he and Rendell developed an attack down the Totton right. Then, Wright utilised Benny Read’s eagerness to get forward to spread the play back to the right flank, enabling the full-back to play a one-two with Taylor and encroach upon the Manor Farm penalty area, before the red shirts crowded him out. Totton were quick to switch into pressing mode whenever an attack faltered, and Rendell did well to deflect an attempted clearance onto the top of the home dug-out to protect his defence.
Jayden Nielsen was penalised for a high foot, when Taylor tried to nod the ball away from him next to the right-wing touchline. Ben John did well to catch Masterton’s in-swinging free-kick, despite Kennedy bumping into him just as he caught the ball. Then, Ford managed to stop Wright going through by heading Taylor’s clipped pass back to his goalkeeper.
An enterprising dribble by Taylor was blocked on the Totton right, then Ragguette’s cross from deep on the left-hand side in the 69th minute veered slightly off-course, almost catching out Ben John as it dropped onto the roof of the net at the top-right corner.
Kennedy and Hallett continued to deal effectively with Manor Farm’s more direct attempts to get forward, heading whatever came their way back to whence it came. Wright received the ball on the left in the 72nd minute, midway inside the opposition half, evaded his marker and squared to Tomasso, whose short pass found Taylor on the right of the area. He surged infield onto his left foot before directing a daisy-cutter towards the bottom-right corner, the ball taking a deflection and going wide. The corner was knocked out to the edge of the area where Taylor retrieved it and played it back into the box. Hallett tried to flick the ball at goal with the outside of his left foot, striking a defender instead to prompt optimistic shouts of “Hand-ball!” Manor Farm half-cleared but a strong tackle from Carter won the ball back near halfway, and Benny Read took up the loose ball to advance upon the amassed red shirts lurking just outside the area. As they closed in on him, Read slipped the ball through to Taylor to the right of the penalty spot, and while the Manor Farm players were caught between appealing for a foul by Carter and claiming offside against the No.10, Ethan TAYLOR coolly dinked the ball over the on-rushing Ben John to make it 3-1 to AFC Totton.
DINK: Ethan Taylor lifts the ball over Ben John in the Bristol Manor Farm goal to put AFC Totton 3-1 up with his 14th goal of the season in all competitions.
Another goal brought with it another couplet of bookings, with the names of Joshua Ford and midfielder Frankie Artus in the No.8 shirt going into the Referee’s notebook, taking Bristol Manor Farm’s total to seven yellow cards.
Bristol’s next attack was brought to an abrupt halt by Hallett sweeping the ball forward from midway inside his own half, suddenly presenting Wright with another chance from the left corner of the Manor Farm penalty area after the ball dropped behind his marker. Ben John narrowed the angle and saved well with his left foot to divert Wright’s shot towards the bottom-right corner.
On 79 minutes, Mike Carter and Jack Masterton were withdrawn, to be replaced by the fresh legs of Conor Whiteley and Freddie Read. That was The Stags’ cue from the bench to keep the ball and manage the game through to the end. Ragguette’s cross from the left had John grabbing the ball at the second attempt, with Rendell closing in search of any scraps.
Conor Whiteley looked lively, exchanging passes with the brothers Read, before playing Benny into a crossing position from the right, John again having to dive to intercept before the ball could find its blue-shirted target.
With five minutes of normal time to go, Nielsen managed to turn sharply to escape Whiteley on the Manor Farm left, whipping in his cross before Benny Read could close him down. The ball flashed across the Totton goalmouth but there were no red shirts far enough advanced to apply a finishing touch. Then, Kennedy cleared another cross from the same side to relieve pressure on the Totton six-yard box.
The board went up to indicate seven minutes of stoppage time. Manor Farm substitute Evander Grubb curled a shot into the arms of Charlie Searle, after an initial attack had been pushed back by Totton. Then, impressive skills on the ball had Benny Read attempting a pirouette and drag-back inside the Manor Farm penalty area, as the home side appeared to be enjoying themselves.
Three minutes beyond the 90, another long period of Totton possession worked the ball back-and-forth and from side-to-side, with Bristol’s players only able to react to being pulled this way and that. A pass from the left found Rendell in a central position about 22 yards out. Wright’s movement bought him half-a-yard from his marker close to the penalty spot, and he pointed to where he wanted the ball. Rendell duly obliged with a short forward pass, perfectly-weighted for Tommy WRIGHT to sweep the ball into the net via the foot of the right-hand post.
MAKE MINE A DOUBLE: Tommy Wright fires home his second goal of the game in stoppage time to wrap up a Man of the Match performance.
Wright had one chance to complete his hat-trick before the final whistle. Whiteley and Benny Read combined on the right flank, before Whiteley picked out the marksman beyond the penalty spot at inside left. Wright tried to steer it towards goal with the outside of his right foot, but he couldn’t get enough power behind it to beat Ben John for a third time.
The full-time whistle followed soon after, ensuring The Stags will go into Tuesday night’s top of the table clash at Sholing unbeaten in the league since The Boatmen’s win at the Snows Stadium on the August Bank Holiday Monday, a run now amounting to 16 matches. There was cause for further celebration when the players learned that Sholing had been held to a 1-1 draw at home to Westbury United, further reducing the gap at the top of the table by two points, following a similar scenario last weekend courtesy of Lymington Town.
After the match, AFC Totton manager Jimmy Ball (pictured) said:
“I was pleased with our first-half performance in that we did exactly what you have to do when it’s not quite clicking; you move the ball and keep possession. We scored a good goal, then so did they.
“The manner in which we conceded was disappointing but it was an excellent individual goal by their player, so credit to him. Overall, though, I think we gave a very competent, professional performance in the first half that, by continuing to work hard all over the pitch, enabled us to go on and dominate the second half, and play our football the way we wanted to. We earned the right to play.
“Tommy Wright showed his class today, and I’m delighted for him after being out of the game with injury for a long time. But I can’t fault anyone in the group, I thought we were really good all over the park. Charlie Davis produced a solid first-half performance; bringing Adam Tomasso on was a purely tactical decision, and I think we found their weakness and were able to exploit them effectively.
“We now have Lewis Noice back to full fitness. It was a bad injury but he’s a tough lad. He’s worked hard and done everything he needs to do to get himself back into contention. We’re playing well and maintaining good form as far as results are concerned. It will be a tough game at Sholing on Tuesday night, but I’m looking forward it and hope to see a large Totton contingent in the crowd to cheer us on.”
NEXT UP: SHOLING vs AFC TOTTON
Southern League Div.1 South | Matchday 18 | Imperial Homes Stadium
Tuesday 07 February 2023 | Kick-Off 7:45pm
Latest Southern League Div.1 South league table
View AFC Totton’s fixture list for the 2022/23 season
By Ben Rochey-Adams
Images courtesy of Craig Hobbs Photography
