AFC Totton
SOUTHERN LEAGUE DIV.1 SOUTH 2022/23
MATCHDAY 10 - Saturday 12 November 2022
AFC TOTTON 5
Scott Rendell 4mins, 64mins; Matty Burrows 6mins;
Freddie Read 18mins; Conor Whiteley 90+2mins
WESTBURY UNITED 3
Charlie Walton 44mins, 52mins; Gary Higdon 66mins
AFC Totton came out on top in an eight-goal thriller at the Snows Stadium yesterday (Saturday), claiming all three Southern League Div.1 South points against a spirited Westbury United side who battled back from a first-half horror show to make a real game of it in the second period.
Suspensions to Ben Jefford and Mike Carter, and a flu bug that has been raging through the squad for more than a week, restricted Manager Jimmy Ball’s options when selecting his team for The Stags’ 10th league match of the 2022/23 campaign. Jack Seddon returned at right-back, after sitting out last weekend’s win at home to Evesham United. Charlie Kennedy was too ill to play, so Adam Tomasso lined up alongside Luke Hallett in the centre of defence. Freddie Read took Carter’s usual midfield berth, alongside last week’s debut hero Charlie Davis. New signings Conor Whiteley and winger Matty Burrows, on loan from Weymouth, made their AFC Totton debuts. Scott Rendell took the captain’s armband for the first time.
AFC TOTTON
Starting Line-Up
1. Lewis NOICE
2. Jack SEDDON
3. Jordan RAGGUETTE
4. Freddie READ
5. Adam TOMASSO
6. Luke HALLETT
7. Conor WHITELEY
8. Charlie DAVIS
9. Scott RENDELL (Capt.)
10. Ethan TAYLOR
11. Matty BURROWS
Substitutes
14. Brett WILLIAMS
15. Jake ADAMS
16. Yemi ODUBADE
17. Jack MASTERTON
18. Owen PELHAM
After what felt like 40 days and 40 nights of biblically bad weather in Totton, the sun was out as the teams took to the pitch to observe Remembrance with the players of both sides wearing black armbands. Then, the match got underway with Westbury United, who usually wear green, in their changed kit of white shirts, black shorts and red socks, with Totton in their traditional all-blue and white.
And within four minutes of the kick-off, The Stags were in front. The ball came to Jordan Ragguette on the Totton left, after a throw-in, and he send an out-swinging cross into the box which Charlie Davis nodded on. A moment’s indecision between a defender and goalkeeper Mark Bowden proved fatal, allowing Scott RENDELL to dart in and apply the finish to put the home side ahead.
And before Westbury could properly regroup, they were two-down. A straight pass long the ground freed Freddie Read into the inside-left channel where, from level with the six-yard box, he pulled the ball back. It eluded Ethan Taylor but rolled on to the penalty spot where Matty BURROWS arrived just before a sliding defender to sweep the ball through the legs of Bowden and into the net for a debut goal.
Westbury managed to pick themselves up by the eighth minute, mounting an attack down the left-hand side that resulted in a curling effort from outside the box striking the Totton crossbar. But then, just a few minutes later, Bowden had to be alert to tip the ball over the bar from his own player, who had stuck out a leg to block a low, bending cross by Burrows from the right-wing touchline, with Rendell rushing in behind him.
ON THE RUN: Jordan Ragguette in possession for AFC Totton.
An attack down the middle of the pitch by the visitors ended with Harvey Flippance flicking the ball up for Gary Higdon, who came off the bench to score on his Westbury United debut in the 5-2 Wiltshire Premier Shield defeat of Royal Wootton Bassett Town in midweek, attempting a volley which arced a long way over Lewis Noice’s crossbar.
Burrows came close to adding another for The Stags when Davis sent an in-swinging ball from the left towards the right-hand post, but a defender managed to knick the ball out for a corner. Totton didn’t capitalise on that set-piece, but won another on the opposite flank in the 18th minute that did prove somewhat more fruitful. Taylor delivered the ball beyond the far side of the six-yard box from where a rapidly back-pedalling Adam Tomasso did well to head back across goal, and with a flick of the finest fringe in Southern League football, the unlikely figure of Freddie READ popped up on the six-yard line to send a glancing header into the bottom-left corner, making it 3-0 to AFC Totton.
The Stags were enjoying themselves, playing expansive attacking football. Charlie Davis received the ball from the defence and, with Burrows making a run down the right wing, advanced upon the Westbury midfield who stood off him long enough to allow him to pick his pass. He curled the ball to Rendell, standing near the penalty spot, where the centre-forward, being marked by Stephen Hulbert, chested down to Conor Whiteley inside the D. He squared to Taylor, coming in from the left, who fired towards the far bottom corner, the ball taking a slight deflection off the busy Hulbert before Bowden made an excellent one-handed save, diving low to push the ball onto his left-hand post and away.
A strong challenge by Jack Seddon, high up the pitch, led to a Westbury United player having to receive treatment. Then, when play resumed, the visitors were awarded a free-kick inside the Totton half. They took it quickly, shifting the play from the left to the middle, presenting Joseph Stradley with the chance to shoot from just outside the box, but he couldn’t keep his effort down. Several Totton players then remonstrated with the Referee about the fact that Burrows had been left in a heap near the half-way line, although he was fit enough to continue.
Lackadaisical defending allowed Rendell to steal the ball in the middle. He played a short lay-off to the lively Conor Whiteley, who jinked one way and then the other to shake off his marker before driving a well-struck low shot narrowly wide of the left-hand upright. Ragguette then made a similar error from the left-back position for Totton, deep in his own half. Charle Walton emerged with the ball, manoeuvring to the edge of the penalty area but his curling shot landed comfortably in Lewis Noice’s midriff.
ON TARGET: Midfielder Freddie Read headed home The Stags' third goal of the game against Westbury United to open his account for the season.
Totton won a throw-in just in front of the visiting team’s dug-out. Rendell was pushed in the back as he prepared to receive the ball, and Davis’s free-kick was headed out by a defender. Ragguette wrestled possession back for the boys in blue in midfield, allowing Read to find Rendell again, who was promptly fouled for the second time in a minute, resulting in a Totton free-kick from about 22 yards out in a central position. Davis and Taylor both stood over the ball, before Davis fired high over the bar and into the netting behind the goal.
The home side swept forward again in the 35th minute, forcing a corner on their right-hand side. The cross was knocked out to the edge of the box where Burrows attempted a shot off the bounce that smacked into a sensitive part of Daniel Price’s anatomy, earning him the sympathy of every man inside Snows Stadium.
Whiteley tried to raid the left-wing byline but was stopped by strong defending from Jacob Hutchings. Then, Read picked the pocket of Hulbert and played Taylor in on the left. He picked out Rendell in the middle, but a gang of white shirts quickly descended to smother the chance.
With half-time looming, Matthew Morris found space to attack Totton from the Westbury left, with blue shirts overloaded on the opposite flank. Seddon did well to hold Morris up, to prevent him getting into the penalty area, and Read got across to track an overlapping run, which left a void in the middle that Morris exploited by turning back infield and laying the ball into the feet of Charlie WALTON, who stepped outside the recovering Seddon and fired past Noice into the middle of the goal.
As Totton came forward again, Stephen Hulbert complained that Rendell had infringed upon him in someway but the Referee wasn’t interested. So, as Rendell took possession near the left-wing corner flag with another defender at his back, Hulbert - in a move that surprised nobody, and least of all Rendell - took the law into his own hands by charging directly into the Totton striker, earning himself a predictable yellow card in the process. Davis’s free-kick led a corner, and the half ended with Totton over-hitting crosses and retrieving the ball from either flank to maintain attacking pressure.
HALF-TIME
AFC TOTTON 3
WESTBURY UNITED 1
The visitors took to the field for the second half with one change in personnel; Ryan Bole came on to replace Ashton Shanley.
Not much of note happened in the first five minutes of the second half, until Westbury won a corner on their right with a shot that was deflected over the crossbar. The cross dropped on the edge of the Totton six-yard box, sparking a goalmouth scramble from which the ball popped up for Charlie WALTON to send a looping header over the crowd and inside the right-hand post, doubling his own tally on the day and reducing Westbury’s deficit to one-goal.
Conor Whiteley was shown a yellow card for a late tackle on Walton, just in front of the Westbury United bench. Then, Price made a timely intervention to hook the ball back to his own goalkeeper with Rendell looking to steal in behind him.
Westbury had their tails up and were getting forward in numbers, only a temporary miss-control by Flippance preventing him from taking aim from an angle on the right after Totton found themselves outnumbered at the back. Then, Flippance was left remonstrating with the Assistant Referee on the far side of the ground from the Wessex Heartbeat Stand, claiming that Tomasso’s defensive header had gone straight out of play rather than rebounding off the Westbury No.9.
HUNTING IN PACKS: The two Stags debutants Matty Burrows (left) and Conor Whiteley (right) gang up to win the ball back against Westbury United.
On the hour mark, the two new Totton men doubled-up on the left-back Aaron Cockerill to take the ball off him. Whiteley sent a low cross into the six-yard box, where Rendell was arriving. Hulbert stuck out a foot and lifted the ball over the already price figure of Bowden, forcing the right-back to improvise further to hook the ball off the goal-line to prevent an own goal.
Walton received treatment after a coming together with Luke Hallett, for which the Totton defender was shown the yellow card in the 64th minute. Before play could resume, Jimmy Ball sent on Jack Masterton in place of Matty Burrows.
The Maestro made an instant impact. Receiving the ball in space on the left-hand side, just inside his own half, Masterton waved his magic left foot, curling a delightful pass around the defender and into the path of Scott RENDELL who got goal-side of his marker at the left corner of the penalty area, took a touch to wrong-foot the onrushing Bowden and slid the ball past the keeper and inside the near post, restoring a two-goal cushion for The Stags.
GREAT SCOTT: Rendell's second strike against Westbury United took The Sunburnt Assasin's tally for the season to 14 goals in all competitions.
But, it only took two minutes for Westbury to hit back again. From a throw-in on their left, Ryan Bole was afforded time and space to send a low, curling cross into the middle where Gary HIGDON slid in to poke the ball into the bottom-right corner, for his first Southern League Div.1 South goal since joining The White Horse Men from Corsham Town of the Hellenic League Premier Division.
Ethan Taylor won a free-kick 25 yards out, just to the right of centre. Rather than taking the opportunity to shoot, he slipped the ball to Masterton, who’d made a run to right of the defensive wall, and tried to chip Bowden into the far corner but got too much weight on it, the ball looping over the frame of the goal.
Whiteley picked the ball up on the left-hand side for The Stags, and drove forward towards the middle, with Taylor in support. He laid the ball off and Taylor took control, turning infield to set himself for a left-footed shot but, opting for power over precision, his attempt flew high and wide of Bowden’s goal.
Becoming seemingly impatient with a series of loose passes in front of him, after a period of Totton possession, Luke Hallett burst out of defence, continuing his forward run after passing straight forward to Taylor, who turned the ball out to the right. Read’s first-time pass found Hallett on the edge of the penalty area, with his back to goal. He spun a defender to strike left-footed, forcing Bowden to make a smart one-handed save low to his right, which Hulbert was able to get to before Whiteley to play out of defence on Westbury’s right flank.
Conor Whiteley took aim from the left corner of the box, sending the ball over the top, as Totton went in search of the goal that would put the game beyond Westbury’s reach, rather than trying to shut up shop and defend their one-goal lead. In that vein, Jake Adams was sent on to replace Jack Seddon, with Charlie Davis slotting into the right-back berth to enable Adams to operate in midfield.
A couple of poor touches in midfield had Totton fans on edge for a short while, and Lewis Noice chose an odd moment to showcase his dribbling abilities with a forward closing him down in the box, but The Stags emerged unscathed. Adams was keen to get on the ball, as ever, and won a free-kick shortly in advance of the centre-circle. Tomasso stood the ball up into the penalty area, where it was headed behind for a corner from the left. Davis crossed towards the edge of the six-yard box; Hallett was up well but couldn’t get the decisive touch and Whiteley’s attempt to turn the ball back into the danger zone from the edge of the penalty area was buffered back by the Westbury defence.
Totton were pressed back by a long diagonal ball that eluded Davis, enabling Bole to bring it down as he moved infield from the Westbury left onto his right foot. But the substitute took too long to get his shot away, having to settle for a corner, instead. The set-piece delivery was a good one, once again, but a near post flick-on travelled on across the Totton penalty area and to relative safety on the opposite flank.
HERE WE GO: Relative newcomers to the Snows Stadium, Charlie Davis (left) and Jack Seddon prepare to launch an assault on the Westbury United goal.
The Stags were holding on but not looking particularly comfortable, despite having scored four goals. Ragguette intercepted a pass in midfield in the 80th minute, and rolled the ball forward for Adams, who was tightly marked. With a flash of skill, Adams flicked ball past the defender to play himself into the left corner of the penalty area, before blasting his left-footed shot over the bar with Bowden rushing out to narrow the angles.
Westbury were not afraid to gamble, throwing men forward in search of an equalising goal, but Totton were able to repel crosses into the box. And when Price wrestled possession away from Adams in midfield, Masterton was quickly to the rescue, throwing his slight frame in the way to divert an attempted long-shot wide for a corner. The Stags dealt with the set-piece delivery and as Whiteley came away with the ball to begin a counter-attack, Walton tripped him to add his name to the Referee’s notebook.
Neat passing interplay between Read, Rendell and Taylor created an opening for Read to shoot from slightly to the right of goal, but there were too many bodies back for the ball to find a way through to goal. Then, Adams showed tremendous determination and tenacity to wriggle his way out of a full-Nelson hold to maintain Totton possession, as the dying seconds of normal time ticked by.
With three minutes to go, Ethan Taylor made way for Yemi Odubade. A throw-in was incorrectly awarded to Westbury, after the ball had gone out of play off the shin of one of their players. Walton received the ball and spotted Hulbert in space on the far side. His cross was lofted high into the box with two forwards showing interest, but Noice commanded the situation, claiming the ball confidently about 12 yards from his goal-line.
Westbury made a late substitution of their own, with Matthew Morris making way for Player/Co-Manager Ricky Hulbert. A loose pass by Read on half-way put his team on the back foot, the visitors flooding forward in numbers, but The Stags held firm to keep them out.
Yemi Odubade’s pace enabled him to get back and stop Cockerill exploiting space on the Westbury left-wing. Then, after Totton had successfully defended a corner, Rendell caught Hutchings in possession and - spotting Bowden off his line - attempted a long-range finish into the right-hand side of the goal, but his tired legs couldn’t muster the accuracy required to complete his hat-trick.
DEBUT GOAL: Former Sholing forward Conor Whiteley registered a goal against Westbury United in his first appearance in an AFC Totton shirt.
Westbury tried to come forward again but Totton intercepted hear half-way and fed the ball to Adams, in the middle of the Westbury half. With defenders and midfielders swarming back into position around him, Adams kept the calmest head in Hampshire, turning away from one drive-by challenge to roll a short diagonal pass towards the inside-left where Conor WHITELEY took a touch and then passed the ball into the far corner of the net, via the faintest deflection off Bowden’s outstretched left boot, matching Matty Burrows with a debut goal and finally putting the game to bed for The Stags at 5-3.
Westbury, to their credit, still tried to attack in what was left of the game, but Totton were a lot less frantic as they saw out the dying minutes until the Referee’s final whistle confirmed all three points would remain at the Snows Stadium.
After the match, AFC Totton manager Jimmy Ball (pictured, above right) said:
“It has been a very tough week with flu raging through the squad. There have been five or six of the boys really struggling to be fit for today. We started great, posing a real attacking threat, but I always knew that we might end up crawling over the line, given how sick some of these boys have been. Fair play to Westbury. They didn’t give in, they tried to get themselves back into it and posed us some problems.
“The first 30 minutes were electric from us, and if we can go on playing like that for the rest of the season, we’ll be alright. It was dynamic and enthusiastic, and we had two debut goals from two very promising and exciting young players who both played very well. We had to set-up to attack and then judge how much we needed to alter defensively, to deal with whatever the opposition could throw at us.
“We had a few players in unfamiliar positions but I expect them to be able to do that, when it’s required. The lads who were asked to do that today all performed like warriors - they showed real character and secured the win. That’s what we need every week.”
NEXT UP: CINDERFORD TOWN vs AFC TOTTON
Southern League Div.1 South | Matchday 11 | Causeway Ground
Saturday 19 November 2022 | Kick-Off 3:00pm
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
