AFC Totton
SOUTHERN LEAGUE PREMIER DIVISION SOUTH - Matchday#6
Monday 28 August 2023 | Winklebury Football Complex, Basingstoke | Att: 1,003
DEFENSIVE WOES COST STAGS DEAR IN BANK HOLIDAY DEFEAT AT 'STOKE
BASINGSTOKE TOWN 3
Daniel Rowe 39mins; Ben Cook 49mins;
George Reid 70mins
AFC TOTTON 2
Sam Magri 45+5mins; Alfie Stanley 50mins
A PATCHED-UP AFC TOTTON side endured a frustrating Bank Holiday Monday afternoon in North Hampshire during a game in which they fell behind three times, as much due to their own calamitous defending as Basingstoke Town’s attacking prowess.
Daniel Rowe put the home side in front against the run of play from a cleverly-worked free-kick on 39 minutes, but Sam Magri equalised on the stroke of half-time with a diving header to register his first AFC Totton goal. Ben Cook played on when other players stopped to sweep Basingstoke into an early second-half lead, but when Alfie Stanley restored parity with a drilled shot just a minute later, it looked as though there was only going to be one winner. But ‘Stoke took advantage of another lapse in Totton’s concentration to poach a third goal and then hung on for dear life as Totton bombarded the home end with crosses and shots that the stubborn defence valiantly repelled to hold out for a win.
Having lost Luke Hallett to injury during the match against Hanwell Town on Saturday, Jimmy Ball re-positioned ex-Basingstoke captain Charlie Kennedy into the back four alongside Sam Magri. Adam Tomasso made his return to the midfield, with loanee Ben Winterburn required to turn out for AFC Bournemouth’s U21s. Keane Anderson made his first AFC Totton start, with Alfie Stanley and Jake Scrimshaw both starting alongside Scott Rendell up front. Former Barnsley player Jordan Helliwell was also handed his full AFC Totton debut, replacing Benny Read at right-back.
AFC TOTTON
Starting XI
1. Lewis NOICE
20. Jordan HELLIWELL
15. Sam MAGRI
5. Charlie KENNEDY
3. Jordan RAGGUETTE
8. Adam TOMASSO
19. Keane ANDERSON
17. Leon MALONEY
9. Scott RENDELL (Capt.)
18. Jake SCRIMSHAW
16. Alfie STANLEY
Substitutes
2. Benny READ
7. Charlie DAVIS
10. Ethan TAYLOR
11. Matty BURROWS
12. Josh CARMICHAEL
Basingstoke got the game started on the 3G pitch at the Winklebury Football Complex, wearing their home kit of blue-and-yellow striped shirts with blue shorts and socks. Totton were in their changed kit of all white with blue sleeves. Jake Scrimshaw made an early foray down the right-hand side, only to see his low cross intended for Alfie Stanley stabbed away. Then, as if to demonstrate the extra bounce given to the ball by the artificial surface, Basingstoke goalkeeper Paul Strudley took a long kick that made its way up the other end of the pitch for his opposite number Lewis Noice to calmly pluck out of the air.
The visitors settled into possession quicker than their hosts, Totton passing the ball around with greater confidence and precision, and, when they did lose it, they were quick to harry and harass the players in blue-and-yellow stripes into making rushed passes and aimless clearances.
Keane Anderson clipped the ball into the Basingstoke area from deep. Stanley received and tried to shoot, but his effort was charged down from close range, and when Scrimshaw retrieved the rebound, his effort was also blocked.
Basingstoke were struggling to construct meaningful attacking moves in the early period, and when Stanley and Scott Rendell launched a counter-attack down the right flank, Anderson raced forward to join in but Stanley’s cross was deflected out of the midfielder’s reach.
Daniel Rowe was the first to threaten for the home side. A neat turn by George Reid on the left wing created space for Rowe to line-up a shot from about 20 yards that Noice saved diving low to his left.
Totton should have taken the lead when full-back Jordan Helliwell surged forward, bundling his way past a couple of challenges to get to the byline. Leon Maloney was demanding a pull-back but Helliwell spotted Stanley unmarked on the edge of the six-yard box and fed the striker with a square pass that he could only scuff wide with the goal at his mercy.
Anderson conceded a free-kick to prevent Ben Cook launching a counter-attack when Helliwell’s pass was intercepted near the halfway line with white shirts pouring forward. The ball was lofted into the Totton box, where Luis Le Paih got his head to it but couldn’t hit the target.
Scrimshaw’s ability to put himself about in search of lost causes saw the development of an interesting ongoing tussle between him and centre-back Nathan Smart, their coming togethers often a cacophony of errant arms and legs in the vague vicinity of a bouncing football. Helliwell was brought down on the right on 17 minutes, allowing Maloney to deliver from the free-kick. Smart headed away as far as Adam Tomasso, who played it back to Maloney. His low cross was flicked on target by Rendell, but Strudley’s reactions were sharp and he saved low to his right.
Basingstoke were still fighting a rearguard action as Totton maintained their early territorial advantage. A low clearance was intercepted by Tomasso, whose cross from the right arced over Rendell’s head before Stanley nodded wide at the far post.
Helliwell joined in the attack, again, linking up with Tomasso and Maloney to work himself into the right side of the penalty area before shooting over the crossbar from a tight angle. Then, Basingstoke’s Reid and Le Paih exchanged passes on their left to enable Le Paih to cross into the box. Jordan Ragguette headed out but the ball fell to Le Paih, who took aim from distance, curling his shot onto the crossbar for the game’s closest strike so far.
Anderson was given a talking to by the Referee for a foul near the centre-circle, but Basingstoke were not able to hurt Totton from the resulting free-kick. When Sam Magri cleared the ball upfield for Totton, Stanley’s work rate forced the defender into a back-pass that put Strudley in an unwanted foot race with Scrimshaw, which the goalkeeper won by a stride to clear the danger for the home side.
Totton were almost caught out during the transition from one clearance to another, but Charlie Kennedy made an important interception to prevent ‘Stoke taking advantage of their superior numbers in the moment. Then, Rowe spun away from Magri on the Basingstoke right and crossed low. Kennedy diverted the ball as far as Magri, who completed the clearance.
Nathan Smart brought the ball out of defence and looked to be gathering dangerous momentum as he crossed the centre-circle, until Anderson halted his progress with a strong tackle. Then, Reid tracked back diligently to stop Ragguette causing damage down the left wing.
An intricate passing move instigated by Le Paih ran aground when the ball clipped Magri’s heel. Helliwell took the loose ball and was shoulder-charged to win a free-kick. When Basingstoke came forward again, Bradley Wilson stumbled as he tried to go past Helliwell at the left-wing byline. Callum Winchcombe joined the attack from left-back and sent the loose ball into the box, where Wilson headed wide of the near post.
The home side were asserting themselves much more effectively by now, and when they attacked down their right on 39 minutes, Maloney was caught out by an opponent running from behind him. He grabbed the player’s arm and conceded a free-kick just off the right corner of the penalty area, as well as earning himself a yellow card. Cook and Reid stood over the ball, with a three-man wall in front of them. Reid curled a low cross around the wall and into the near side of the group of players lined up along the edge of the area. Noice was well-positioned and appeared to be about to collect it when Daniel ROWE stuck out a foot to poke the ball into the bottom corner, via the keeper’s flailing left hand.
A strong run from Le Paih and a pass to the left earned a corner for Basingstoke off Helliwell. The delivery was low to the near post, where Maloney steered it away from goal but then he and Helliwell collided while both trying to clear it, inadvertently conceding another corner, instead. From the second delivery, Smart had to reach back to get his head to it and Noice made a comfortable save.
Ragguette won a free-kick about 25 yards out, dribbling infield from the left before being knocked over. Maloney chipped the ball into the box and Tomasso stretched for it as he came in at the back post, but he couldn’t reach it and the ball drifted out for a goal kick.
Five minutes into stoppage time at the end of the first half, Maloney upped the urgency, dribbling swiftly between two defenders and luring Winchcombe into picking up a yellow card for a trip just off the right corner of the penalty area. Maloney took the free-kick himself. The cross was too high for the jumping Rendell but as it arced downward towards the far post, Sam MAGRI met it with a diving header into the bottom-right corner for his first AFC Totton goal since joining the club in the summer, to send The Stags in level at the break.
HALF-TIME
BASINGSTOKE TOWN 1
AFC TOTTON 1
There were no changes at half-time. Maloney and Kennedy combined to release the energetic Anderson down the right-hand side, but his low cross was taken by Strudley.
Four minutes into the second half, Basingstoke went back in front. Bradley Wilson fed the ball forward to the edge of the Totton area, where Kennedy’s challenge sent Reid to the ground. The Referee allowed play to continue, but from his prone position, Reid was prevented Kennedy from reaching the ball to clear. It rolled back to Ben COOK about 20 yards out and he just swept the ball into the left side of the goal, with Noice seemingly unsighted by the bodies in front of him.
It was a sloppy goal to concede and Totton restarted the game with the bit between their teeth, and it was no surprise to see them level within a minute. A long ball down the left-hand side had Scrimshaw tussling for the ball again, near the byline. He managed to wrestle possession from his marker and laid it back a short distance for Alfie STANLEY to drill a low shot across Strudley and into the bottom-right corner. Three players in white went to grab the ball and take it back to the halfway line to get the game restarted quickly.
’Stoke captain D’Andre Brown crossed from the right. Noice collected at his near post. Totton went forward down the left with Ragguette, who got to the corner flag and crossed. Maloney nodded down from the far side, but Basingstoke hooked it away. Ragguette retrieved the ball and played it short to Helliwell, whose shot was charged down but then it fell to Tomasso, who struck a curling effort that flew narrowly wide of the top-right corner.
Scrimshaw continued to unsettle the Basingstoke defence with his physical presence and insistent chasing. He burrowed his way to the right-wing byline and managed to find Stanley with a pull-back, but his fellow forward was crowded out by blue-and-yellow shirts. Ragguette made another raid down the left and crossed for Rendell, but William Upton headed away before the Totton No.9 could connect.
Helliwell exchanged passes with Scrimshaw on the right of the Basingstoke penalty area, taking the return pass and threading it into the path of Stanley at inside-right. Upton slid in to divert Stanley’s shot wide of the near post. From the corner, Maloney crossed to the near post where Stanley flicked on and Rendell missed it by a fraction at the back post.
On 63 minutes, Jimmy Ball withdrew Alfie Stanley and replaced him with Matty Burrows. A push on Scrimshaw gave Maloney a free-kick within shooting range from the left-hand side, but he curled his shot into the goalkeeper’s clutches. Totton then struggled to control the ball in midfield, and a well-timed interception by Ragguette prevented Basingstoke from exploiting an opening down their right.
Basingstoke manager Dan Brownlie replaced Luis Le Paih with James Clark on 69 minutes. And a minute later, the hosts went ahead for the third time in the match. An up-and-under pass from the left found right-back Marcus Johnson-Schuster in an advanced position on the Basingstoke right, with Ragguette covering him. Johnson-Schuster sent a lobbed cross to the far post where Wilson had stolen in unmarked. As Noice positioned himself to block a headed attempt on goal, he then had to readjust his feet for a looping header to the opposite post. Before the keeper could shuffle across, George REID was one of two Basingstoke players who came crashing in to bundle the ball over the line.
Totton went forward from the kick-off, and they won a corner on the left. Maloney’s cross dropped in the six-yard box, where Tomasso fell on the ball and the ensuing goalmouth scramble ended with the home side scraping it away.
Jimmy Ball decided it was time to shake things up, so he sent on Charlie Davis and Ethan Taylor in place of Leon Maloney and Keane Anderson.
Wilson managed to isolate Helliwell on the Basingstoke left, but his low cross was stabbed away by Magri. Then, a spell of head tennis in midfield threatened to put Winchcombe in down the left, but Burrows chased back to get his body in the way.
On 77 minutes, Basingstoke replaced Daniel Rowe with Kai Hobbs, which looked like a move to a more defensive formation judging by the position that Hobbs took up as he ran onto the pitch. George Reid was booked for a foul on Matty Burrows, who soon got his own back on the same player. Totton switched off and Wilson got in at inside-left from the free-kick, but Magri stepped across to take the ball from him and clear.
Davis sat deep in the midfield and sent a high ball forward towards Rendell, whose knock down gave Ethan Taylor a brief glimpse of goal but he was shutdown before he could shoot. Then, a loose touch from Taylor in the centre-circle gave the ball back to the home side, a situation that Tomasso addressed by committing a foul and taking a yellow card.
Ragguette got down the left again but his cross was headed out from under his own crossbar by Upton. From the corner, Magri met Taylor’s cross but steered his header wide. Then, Magri received a square pass from Tomasso near halfway and glided forward past two challenges, progressing as far as the edge of the area before firing narrowly over the bar.
Davis fed Burrows on the right and he tried to play Scrimshaw in. Upton diverted as far as Jordan Ragguette, who took aim with a fierce shot from outside the box that crashed against the post and crossbar at the top-right corner.
Burrows was the next to try his luck, latching onto Magri’s knock down but his shot was met by Basingstoke defenders throwing themselves into its flightpath. Ragguette hit another long shot shortly after, but this time it was high and wide of the target.
Seven minutes of stoppage time were indicated. Helliwell and Burrows progressed down the right wing, before working the ball over to the left flank via Magri and Kennedy. Ragguette chipped into the box and Upton headed out for a corner, again. Taylor took it, crossing to the far post where Burrows headed against a defender to win a corner on the opposite side. Davis sent it in from the left, but Basingstoke repelled the ball once more.
Totton’s attacking efforts were becoming ever-more frantic, while Basingstoke and their vociferous support took strength from every tackle, header, block and save. Burrows got into the area and hooked the ball towards Taylor, who looked as though he was about to try an acrobatic scissor kick, but with so many bodies in the box there wasn’t room enough to pull that off before a defender could just charge the ball down and clear.
Morrison Hashii came on as a late sub in place of George Reid, as Basingstoke tried to run down the clock. Rendell dropped deep to receive a pass from Ragguette, and he played Burrows into space on the right wing. His cross to the far post was headed behind for another corner. Davis crossed and the ball dropped in the middle of the area, where it was hacked clear before Totton could capitalise, summing up a frustrating afternoon for the travelling Stags.
After the match, AFC Totton Manager Jimmy Ball (pictured) said:
“We got what we deserved, today. They worked extremely hard, a little bit harder than us, and we didn’t do enough to earn the right to beat them. They deserved it much more.
“We were very good defensively last season, which takes the pressure off your forwards and puts you in a good position to win games. But we’ve given up goals far too cheaply in the last two games, in particular. All three today were down to horrible lapses in concentration on our part, and that needs to stop. We might have a few injuries and key players missing, but we have to defend better in those situations. We need to be sharper and more aggressive, and anticipate more effectively when and where to make the challenge to nullify the threat.
“Our play in possession was good in patches, but it was also too methodical and too one-paced at times. It was too easy to defend against, particularly towards the end of the game when all they had to do was to keep getting their bodies in the way. That’s something most teams at this level are able to do, if you give them the chance. The first 20 minutes, we looked like we were on top and maybe we just started resting on our laurels and started to think it was going to be easy. We have to learn from that, because we can’t let that happen again.
“Sholing in the FA Cup will be another big game on Saturday. We won’t change the way we approach the game, we will just strive to do it better and make sure that we’re better prepared and ready to go for that one - we know they will be. I’m sure they’ll bring a big following with them and I hope we get a big turnout as well, to make for a memorable cup tie. Big games like this are the reason we all want to be involved in football. We know they will make it difficult for us but we beat them well the last time we played and we’ll have to produce again if we want to get a similar result.”
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Emirates FA Cup 1st Round Qualifying | Snows Stadium, Totton SO40 2RW | Saturday 02 September 2023 | Kick-Off at 3:00pm | Save money by buying tickets online
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By Ben Rochey-Adams
Images courtesy of Craig Hobbs Photography
