AFC Totton
EMIRATES FA CUP 1st ROUND QUALIFYING
Saturday 02 September 2023 | Snows Stadium, Totton | Att: 544
STAGS SAIL ON AS THE BOATMEN SINK OUT OF THE FA CUP
AFC TOTTON 5
Alfie Stanley 30mins, 47mins;
Leon Maloney 46mins, 61mins;
Scott Rendell 70mins
SHOLING 1
Wayne Robinson 35mins
AFC TOTTON MADE LIGHT WORK of despatching their nearest and dearest rivals Sholing from the First Round Qualifying stage of the 2023/24 Emirates FA Cup with a comfortable 5-1 victory at the Snows Stadium on Saturday afternoon (02 September 2023).
Despite dominating the first half and creating numerous goalscoring opportunities, The Stags had only one goal to show for their first-half efforts courtesy of Alfie Stanley’s finish from an Adam Tomasso shot that came back to him off the post. And the visitors initially mounted a spirited response by mustering an equaliser five minutes later to send the two teams in level at the break. But a whirlwind start to the second half had the hosts 3-1 up within two minutes of the restart with goals from Leon Maloney and Stanley’s second, and the cup-tie was over as a contest when Maloney scored again to make it 4-1 just past the hour. Scott Rendell completed the rout with a close-range finish against a by-then demoralised Sholing.
With skipper Mike Carter still missing from the midfield and last season’s Supporters’ Player of the Year Luke Hallett also out through injury, Jimmy Ball recalled Benny Read to his defence, after the right-back sat out the Bank Holiday Monday defeat at Basingstoke Town. AFC Bournemouth U21 loanee Ben Winterburn slotted into the holding midfield role, while Ethan Taylor was handed his second start of the season with Jake Scrimshaw dropping to the bench. Named among the substitutes was new signing Jordan Chiedozie, the 29-year-old son of former Tottenham Hotspur and Notts County winger John Chiedozie.
AFC TOTTON
Starting XI
1. Lewis NOICE
2. Benny READ
15. Sam MAGRI
5. Charlie KENNEDY
3. Jordan RAGGUETTE
8. Adam TOMASSO
14. Ben WINTERBURN
17. Leon MALONEY
10. Ethan TAYLOR
9. Scott RENDELL (Capt.)
16. Alfie STANLEY
Substitutes
6. Jordan CHIEDOZIE
7. Charlie DAVIS
11. Matty BURROWS
12. Josh CARMICHAEL
18. Jake SCRIMSHAW
19. Keane ANDERSON
20. Jordan HELLIWELL
Both teams took to the pitch wearing changed kits. Totton wore the same white-and-blue ensemble they wore at Basingstoke, while Sholing were decked out in black-and-white striped shirts with black shorts and socks.
The Boatmen were the first to launch an attack, but Totton defended it and Adam Tomasso won a free-kick on the edge of his own box for a late challenge. It was the hosts who mustered the first shot of the contest, when Ethan Taylor took aim but drove his shot straight at Ryan Gosney for a comfortable save.
Taylor received a loose ball on the Totton left when a Sholing attack broke down, and he found Alfie Stanley on the opposite flank with a cross-field ball, which left the striker isolated against the full-back Jake Flannigan. Stanley held the ball for a moment while teammates poured forward, then he cut inside and tried a left-footed shot from the edge of the area that was charged down. Ben Winterburn won the ball back in the centre-circle and Taylor took up possession once more, exchanging passes with Leon Maloney on the right before his shot was also blocked.
Totton looked comfortable on the ball from the early stages, and Jordan Ragguette got forward from his left-back berth in the 12th minute to drive a right-footed effort that struck a defender and rebounded to Taylor, whose finish was too close to Gosney.
FIRE ONE!: Ethan Taylor gets an early shot away during the FA Cup encounter with Sholing at the Snows Stadium.
Charlie Kennedy conceded one free-kick then won another as he and Sholing forward Wayne Robinson got to grips with each other. Then, when Taylor ran offside just inside the Sholing half, Gosney sent a free-kick to the far side of the penalty area where Dan Mason did well to control the ball on his chest to set himself up for a volley, but he scuffed his shot to send the ball looping over the bar above the right-hand post, as Lewis Noice kept a diligent eye on the situation to ensure it didn’t drop into the net.
In the 20th minute, Ragguette charged down the left wing, stepped inside TJ Cutherbertson’s challenge on his way to the byline and then fired in a low cross that Gosney was able to flick away with his hand at his near post. Maloney collected before the ball could exit the penalty area but with defenders in front of him, he squared to Taylor whose low cross-shot was back-heeled by Scott Rendell before Gosney recovered to save.
It was beginning to look like only a matter of time before The Stags would take the lead. Ragguette played a glorious pass into the inside-left channel, which Maloney took under control, checking out into a wider position to retain the ball before trying to clip one into the box but his delivery was too strong for Stanley, who still chased after it to concede a throw-in high up the pitch rather than a goal-kick.
Sholing’s Charlie Wagstaffe had a brief sight of the Totton goal, until Kennedy blocked his shot and the rebound bounced kindly to set Taylor away on the counter-attack. Two defenders gave chase and one of them stumbled in front of Taylor, forcing him to take the ball out to the left flank before changing direction and making a beeline for the near post, where is low shot was repelled by Gosney’s foot and cleared before Rendell could pounce.
Winterburn was in quickly in midfield to prevent Robinson instigating a Sholing attack. Then, strong hold-up play by Dan Mason gave Cuthbertson the chance to cross from high up the right-wing, but Taylor was back to get his body in the way.
Totton were racking up the missed chances, and they went close to taking the lead on 28 minutes when Rendell flicked Noice’s long kick on towards Stanley. With defenders in his way, Stanley played it back to Rendell who redirected the ball to Taylor 20 yards out, but once again his shot was too close to Ryan Gosney to beat The Boatmen’s keeper.
IN THE GOALS, AGAIN: Alfie Stanley helped himself to a brace against The Boatmen.
The home side finally went ahead on the half-hour mark. Ragguette’s high curling pass fed Stanley’s run down the left wing, where the striker was able to gather the ball close to the byline before fronting up to the Sholing defence. He dribbled infield before rolling the ball back to the penalty spot and into the path of the in-rushing Adam Tomasso, who stretched to direct his shot towards the right side of the goal. The ball struck the right-hand post and rebound back to the feet of Alfie STANLEY whose shot took a nick off a defender and squirmed past Gosney for the opening goal.
Totton quickly threatened to extend their lead, with plenty of white shirts in the middle as Taylor received possession high on the left wing, but his cross was too strong for anybody to connect with it. Then, Stanley came close to grabbing a second when he danced between a forest of legs on the right corner of the six-yard box with Gosney prone on the ground, before his shot was cleared off the line.
Despite Totton’s dominance, they were still struggling with the occasional final ball or cross to let Sholing off the hook, but the visitors had to rely on an offside flag to prevent themselves going two-nil down when Gosney saved from Taylor and Stanley converted the rebound on 33 minutes. Then, Maloney was played in down the right wing. With Sholing defenders running back towards their own goal, Maloney curled a low cross to Taylor at the far post who fired wide with the goal at his mercy.
The game took an unexpected yet predictable turn two minutes later. Dan Mason managed to get the ball down and turn about 10 yards outside the Totton penalty area, and he rolled a short pass forward to ex-Stag Jake Adams on the corner of the penalty area. He flicked the ball infield for Wayne ROBINSON to run onto and slot past Noice to level the scores.
Within a couple of minutes of the restart, Sholing were forced into a substitution due to an injury to their left-back Jake Flannigan, who was replaced by Tyler Edmondson. Totton resumed play with a right-wing corner, which Sholing defended and got forward on the counter-attack with Robinson, who was unceremoniously taken out by Charlie Kennedy at the expense of a yellow card. Then, Sam Magri made an important intervention at the edge of the Totton box to deny Dan Mason a shooting chance when he intercepted a loose clearance.
Byron Mason took a football to the face from Scott Rendell’s long-range shot, prompting optimistic shouts of “hand-ball!” from some sections of the home support.
MY BALL: Charlie Kennedy wins possession among a ruck of Sholing players.
Totton came forward again from a Lewis Noice goal-kick. Rendell took the ball under control on his chest and volleyed it into the path of Taylor, who took on the full-back and cut inside from the left to strike right-footed. Once again, though, a deflection off a defender took the weight off the shot and presented Gosney with a routine save. Then, Ragguette’s pass played Stanley into the final third. The striker had two defenders to contend with and when he cut inside onto his right foot, he hesitated for a moment and he was closed down before he could get his shot away.
Maloney stung Gosney’s palms with a well-struck angled shot from the right-hand side, which the goalkeeper did well to parry and take at the second attempt. Then, Ragguette and Taylor won a throw-in close to the left-wing corner flag. Ragguette threw the ball to Maloney at the byline, who picked out Taylor near the penalty spot but the finish was again too close to Gosney.
When the half-time whistle sounded to send the two teams in level at the break, there was a distinct feeling among the AFC Totton contingent that they could and perhaps should have been several goals to the good.
HALF-TIME
AFC TOTTON 1
SHOLING 1
Whatever Jimmy Ball said to his players during the interval, it certainly worked because within two minutes of the start of the second half, AFC Totton were three-one ahead.
First, the Sholing right-back Cuthbertson played the ball forward to the intersection of the halfway line and touchline, where two Sholing players were immediately set upon and dispossessed by a swarm of four white shirts, determined to claim the ball back and get on the front foot. Ragguette released Taylor down the left side of the visitors’ penalty area, where the winger checked back to avoid his marker before rolling the ball to the back of the D where Ben Winterburn was unmarked. He was within shooting range but with three defenders in his way, he pushed the ball further right to Leon MALONEY who took a touch at the edge of the area, jinked a little to wrong-foot the defender trying to close him down and blasted an unstoppable missile past Gosney and into the roof of the net at the goalkeeper’s near post.
MAN OF THE MATCH: Leon Maloney put in another impressive display.
Then, no sooner had the 544-strong crowd had time to draw breath before the impressive Winterburn claimed a bouncing ball in midfield and played a short pass forward for Taylor to set Totton on another sweeping left-wing move. Ragguette joined in from the touchline and carried the ball forward, before by-passing Taylor with a low angled pass to find Stanley further infield. Linking up with his fellow ex-Portsmouth Academy teammate Leon Maloney, Alfie STANLEY played a short one-two to go past the first defender before darting between another two and side-stepping Byron Mason to finish into the bottom-right corner.
Totton were relentless. Rendell played Stanley into space down the right flank, with Byron Mason did well to close down by sliding in to concede a corner. Taylor’s delivery was initially repelled by Totton retrieved possession, with Taylor’s next delivery having to be cleared from the penalty spot by the same player. And, the overworked Sholing skipper was at it again when Maloney exchanged passes with Benny Read, pushing up from full-back, to direct a cross into the middle that the No.8 headed away. Before the danger could be completely cleared, Tomasso took aim from 25 yards out but his shot was too high.
Taylor played the ball to Rendell in the middle, where he quickly closed down but Winterburn pounced on the loose ball inside the D where he was tripped. Maloney’s shot from the resulting free-kick struck the defensive wall and Sholing were able to clear.
MIDFIELD GENERAL: Adam Tomasso patrols the midfield for AFC Totton.
Dan Mason won a free-kick in the centre-circle, which his brother took and Sam Magri headed out for a corner on the Sholing left. Jake Cope crossed into the box where a left hook from Noice was enough to see off the immediate danger; when the ball came back across, Tomasso headed out for another corner. Cope took it again, this time sending it low to the near post where the bounce appeared to deceive Read and may have caught Byron Mason unaware as it bounced off his hip and onto the post, before Read hacked it away.
The dominance of Magri and Rendell prevented Sholing finding any joy with an aerial assault. Then, when Noice was drawn out of his goal to head clear one bouncing through-ball, Dan Mason’s attempt to catch him out with a long-distance shot faded well to the left.
With the Snows Stadium bathed in warm sunshine, Totton were content to retain possession and force Sholing back into their own half. Alfie Stanley was withdrawn by manager Jimmy Ball to make way for Jake Scrimshaw, who was soon involved by linking up with Winterburn and Taylor before Byron Mason got in the way of Taylor’s low cross.
A foul by Dan Mason on Adam Tomasso gave Totton a free-kick in the centre-circle, just past the hour mark. Magri rolled to the ball wide to Jordan Ragguette on the left. Rendell had dropped deep to lose his marker and he received Ragguette’s pass with time to turn and look up. Scrimshaw was being man-handled by Byron Mason but in the space behind the Sholing captain, Leon MALONEY raced away from his own marker to latch onto Rendell’s precise through-ball, taking a touch to control it to the left of the penalty spot and slot the ball under Gosney for Totton’s fourth goal.
TJ Cuthbertson had to go off injured, as part of a double-substitution by Sholing. Totton came forward again with Benny Read engaging in a one-two with Maloney from a throw-in close to the right-wing byline, from where he pulled back to Rendell whose shot was deflected wide for a corner. Taylor’s low cross was hooked away for another corner on the opposite flank. This time, Maloney curled an in-swinging cross into the six-yard box where it was allowed to bounce before Scott RENDELL bundled it home at close range.
WELL DONE, MATE: Sam Magri congratulates Scott Rendell after the centre-forward made it 5-1 to AFC Totton over Sholing in FA Cup 1st Round Qualifying.
Totton continued to twist the knife. Taylor and Rendell created another opening but Rendell’s shot was blocked on the edge of the area. Sholing were visibly tiring and they were reduced to sending the ball long where Magri and Kennedy were able to keep tabs on Dan Mason. When one up-and-under did briefly threaten the Totton goal, Read took charge of the situation to head back to the safety of Lewis Noice’s gloves.
Jake Scrimshaw received a pass through the middle and moved the ball on for Rendell to line up another shot, which Gosney parried. Then, Jordan Helliwell and Charlie Davis came off the bench to replace Adam Tomasso and Ben Winterburn.
Davis was unlucky not to win a free-kick when his one-two with Rendell was interrupted by a trip. Dan Mason tried a diving header from a Sholing left-wing cross but he couldn’t reach it. Then, Ragguette injected more urgency into proceedings by charging forward from left-back and trying to feed Scrimshaw, but Gosney came out of his box to clear.
A yellow card was waved in the general direction of a Sholing defender who tripped Taylor, about 22 yards out in a central position. Davis took a shot, which deflected off the wall and went wide for a corner on the right. Maloney’s cross flew past everyone in the box but Totton regained possession and worked the ball back to him; his second delivery was more menacing, flashing low across the face of the area without anybody getting a decisive touch.
Taylor and Maloney worked another opening from the right, as Sholing defenders failed to keep up with the speed at which Totton were able to move the ball around. Charlie Davis received the ball on the edge of the area and directed it wide of the bottom-left corner.
Dan Mason inexplicably escaped a straight red card for a two-footed tackle on Jordan Helliwell late on, close to the halfway line. Having checked that Helliwell wasn’t permanently damaged, the Referee seemingly took pity on the forlorn forward and issued only a yellow card. Unperturbed, Totton attacked again with Maloney and Read getting to the right-wing byline before Scrimshaw had to stretch to head the ball at goal, but it looped over.
Helliwell passed up an opportunity to let fly from distance when he picked the ball up in midfield and drove forward into the final third. Instead, he retained Totton possession by rolling the ball back to Maloney, prompting chants of “Olé! Olé!” from Mally’s Corner and Stags fans from around the ground.
The last few minutes were played out with Totton keeping the ball and Sholing occasionally clearing long. But the match was a long-time over as contest before Gosney was required to make two late saves, one to block Scrimshaw as he burrowed in from the right and another to turn over an angled shot from Ragguette on the left, before the Referee called time on the cup tie.
After the match, AFC Totton Manager Jimmy Ball (pictured) said:
“I thought we were exceptional on the ball. We attacked with real menace and aggression, in the way the players ran and worked to create overloads all the time. The lads were angry at half-time, not being well ahead after their first-half performance. I wasn’t too concerned but the players were demanding better of themselves. We spoke about the need to be more clinical, but I was very pleased with our overall play in the first half. I didn’t change anything - I know how good they are - and the lads came out and grabbed the game by the scruff of the neck within a couple of minutes of the restart, so full credit to them for their attitude and togetherness, and that desire.
“We know that Sholing were understrength today, but dealing with injuries is part of football - we are dealing with a few of our own, at the moment. We know they will be hurting from this result and they’ll no doubt be a very different proposition when we go there in mid-October. But we did a professional job today and can look forward to the draw to see who we get in the nest round of the FA Cup.
“You want to come and watch a game of football where, as a home fan, your team is attacking and they’re brave and committing bodies forward to make goals happen. But at times, the response from the crowd today was a bit nervous and jittery when we missed chances, and that can sometimes make its way onto the pitch. Even Manchester City don’t score from every attack they make, but these players always keep going and they keep on creating more chances for themselves and for each other, so my message to the fans is to stick with them and back them no matter whether we’re banging goals in for fun or missing several chances in a row. Back the lads and they will keep working their socks off to earn a result, and to keep on entertaining you in the way they have done today. A lot of these are young lads and it’s important that when things are not going our way, they don’t let their heads drop. The fans have a part to play in that and I encourage you all to keep being positive and keep encouraging them.”
In Monday’s draw, AFC Totton were drawn away to Gloucester City of the National League North. The tie will be played on Saturday 16 September 2023.
AFC Totton's Fixtures for 2023/24
Next Up: AFC TOTTON vs HENDON
Southern League Premier Division South | Matchday#7 | Snows Stadium, Totton SO40 2RW | Saturday 09 September 2023 | Kick-Off at 3:00pm | BUY TICKETS
By Ben Rochey-Adams
Images courtesy of Craig Hobbs Photography
