AFC Totton
SERVIO HAMPSHIRE SENIOR CUP | THIRD ROUND
Wednesday 15 November 2023 | Snows Stadium, Totton | Att: 621
SEVEN STAR STAGS CANTER INTO QUARTERS OF HANTS SENIOR CUP
AFC TOTTON 7
Alfie Stanley 3mins, 49mins;
Owen Pelham 13mins, 23mins;
Charlie Kennedy 17mins;
Jordan Chiedozie 29mins; Joe Turner 36mins
EAST COWES VIC. ATH. 0
WESSEX LEAGUE DIVISION ONE outfit East Cowes Victoria Athletic were blown away and out of the Hampshire Senior Cup to the tune of a 7-0 defeat, which included teenaged midfielder Owen Pelham’s first senior goals for AFC Totton.
AFC TOTTON
Starting Line-Up
1. Lewis NOICE
2. Benny READ
6. Luke HALLETT
5. Charlie KENNEDY (Capt.)
3. Jordan RAGGUETTE
4. Owen PELHAM
7. Ashton PICKLES
17. Leon MALONEY
12. Jordan CHIEDOZIE
16. Alfie STANLEY
18. Joe TURNER
Substitutes
9. Scott RENDELL
14. Leo TAYLOR
15. Sam MAGRI
19. Sa-Sean LUTUMBA
20. Remus NIXON
The Stags wasted no time in stamping their authority on proceedings on a cold night at the Snows Stadium. Captain Kennedy pinged a pass down the left wing for Ragguette to race on to and deliver from a the byline. His low cross took Vics’ goalkeeper Alex Ram out of the equation; striker Alfie STANLEY arrived to tap home at the far post. Play resumed with Totton temporarily down to 10 men while Ragguette received treatment, having crashed into an advertising hoarding after crossing the ball.
NEW BOY: Debutant midfielder Ashton Pickles in possession for AFC Totton.
Read fed Maloney on the right and his low cross was pushed out of the penalty area by Ram to invite 17-year-old central midfielder Ashton Pickles to attempt a long-range strike on his debut, his effort flying narrowly high and wide of the top-left corner. Then, Turner’s defensive header from an East Cowes free-kick launched Stanley on a mazy dribble that took in half the pitch and took on half the red-and-white striped players until Ram nicked the ball away as the livewire striker was about to skip around him.
Totton doubled their lead on 13 minutes. A cross from the right into a crowded area was chested down by Turner and Owen PELHAM stepped forward to apply a cool, side-foot finish into the top-left corner to register his first Stags goal in senior football.
Charlie KENNEDY made it three a few minutes later, ghosting in and rising high at the near post to head Maloney’s left-wing corner inside the far post.
Totton tightened their grip on the cup tie still further on 23 minutes, when Stanley took aim with a shot that rebounded off a defender to Benny Read on the right flank. He delivered into the centre and there was Owen PELHAM to sweep home his second.
AMONG THE GOALS: Jordan Chiedozie struck his second AFC Totton to help The Stags into the Quarter-Finals of the Hampshire Senior Cup.
Stanley was again denied by Ram, when the ‘keeper got his body in the way of a shot on the turn from close to the penalty spot. Then, former Barking left-back Sa-Sean Lutumba stepped off the bench to make his competitive Totton debut as a replacement for Ragguette. His first contribution was to mop up a loose touch by Pelham in midfield to find Maloney in the middle. The playmaker ran at the defence before slipping a short pass to the left for Jordan CHIEDOZIE to turn sharply as he fired home Totton’s fifth.
The rampant Stags reached half-a-dozen nine minutes before the break. Overloading on the right-hand side, they worked the ball to Stanley who fired in a low centre. Ram pushed it out from the edge of his six-yard box where Joe TURNER was arriving. He smashed the ball back into a cluster of defenders and goalkeeper; the combination of rebounds that preceeded the ball trickling over the goal line probably means that it was technically an own goal but Joe’s shot was on target.
FOUR AGAINST ONE: Joe Turner takes on the East Cowes Victoria Athletic defence.
HALF-TIME:
AFC TOTTON 6
EAST COWES VIC. ATH. 0
Four minutes into the second half, Liam Newbold dwelt in possession about five yards outside his penalty area. Alfie STANLEY pounced to steal the ball away, stride to the edge of the box and nonchalantly place his shot beyond Ram to claim his ninth goal in all competitions since joining AFC Totton in the summer.
THE RACING LINE: Jordan Ragguette in a foot race with an East Cowes defender.
East Cowes fashioned their best opening when Raff Boyd-Kerr carried the ball a long way into Totton territory, before playing in Josh Neale. His angled shot was deflected over by Magri, whose fellow sub Nixon glanced his header wide from Maloney’s bending cross a few minutes later. Scott Rendell came on midway into the second half but for once, the Sunburnt Assassion was upstaged by the squad’s young bucks.
By Ben Rochey-Adams
Images courtesy of Michaela Cater
