AFC Totton
SOUTHERN LEAGUE DIV.1 SOUTH 2022/23
MATCHDAY #38 - Saturday 22 April 2023
EVESHAM UNITED 3
Kyle Belmonte 49mins (pen), 70mins (pen); Charles Wise 90mins
AFC TOTTON 2
Tommy Wright 9mins; Marcus Day 20mins
SOUTHERN LEAGUE DIV.1 SOUTH CHAMPIONS AFC TOTTON blotted their copybook with an unexpected and somewhat unusual defeat at Promotion Play-Off place-hunting Evesham United in Warwickshire on Saturday, in an archetypal game of two halves that brought the curtain down on the regulation 2022/23 league season.
The Stags went in at half-time leading by two goals without reply, with their hosts having also just suffered the red card dismissal of forward Alfie Dunn. But two second-half penalties, both successfully converted by Kyle Belmonte, and a late goal bundled in by captain Charles Wise saw the home side storm back to win the match and set themselves up with a Play-Off Semi-Final tie against Hamworthy United, which will take place at Dorchester Town’s Avenue Stadium on Wednesday night.
Benny Read was recalled to the right-back slot, with Leo Taylor dropping to the bench to make way. Mike Carter returned to the midfield, taking back the captain’s armband. With Luke Hallett out injured, Adam Tomasso continued at centre-back alongside Charlie Kennedy. Scott Rendell, who suffered an eye injury against Exmouth Town, was named on the bench, leaving a front three of Tommy Wright, Ethan Taylor and Conor Whiteley to lead Totton’s attack at the Spiers & Hartwell Jubilee Stadium, next to the A46.
AFC TOTTON
Starting Line-Up
1. Mack ALLAN
2. Benny READ
3. Jordan RAGGUETTE
4. Mike CARTER (Capt.)
5. Charlie KENNEDY
6. Adam TOMASSO
7. Marcus DAY
8. Jack MASTERTON
14. Tommy WRIGHT
10. Ethan TAYLOR
11. Conor WHITELEY
Substitutes
9. Scott RENDELL
12. Lewis NOICE
15. Leo TAYLOR
16. Charlie DAVIS
17. Ben JEFFORD
On a mild, breezy afternoon below the Warwickshire hills, Evesham United’s players took to the pitch first to graciously applaud their AFC Totton counterparts onto the pitch with a Guard of Honour, in recognition of The Stags winning the Southern League Div.1 South title. The home side, in their usual attire of red-and-white striped shirts with black shorts and socks, won the toss and got the game underway in front of a season-high crowd of 433.
With neither Luke Hallett nor Scott Rendell in the team, Totton were conceding a considerable height disadvantage against an Evesham United team with at least four players who were well in excess of six-feet tall. An early foray into midfield by one of them, central defender Charlie Wise, was cut short by Mike Carter’s intervention, which ended with the home captain fouling the away skipper and conceding a free-kick. Lewis Noice took it, releasing Tommy Wright, who was wearing the No.14 shirt despite being in the starting XI, straight down the middle of the pitch before Michael O’Regan got back to knock the ball out of the forward’s reach and back to his goalkeeper.
There were several long, straight punts up and down the pitch in the early stages. Charlie Kennedy made more than one strong defensive header to keep things tight at the back for the visitors. Evesham had the chance to send all their big men forward when they won a free-kick just past the halfway line on their left-hand side, but the delivery was too high for everyone except Totton goalkeeper Mack Allan.
When Totton finally got he ball down and played football, it was no surprise to see Jack Masterton instigating from the midfield to bring Jordan Ragguette into the game from his left-back berth. The ball was quickly worked across the back four to allow Benny Read to pick out Ethan Taylor in more advance position up the wing. He switched the ball to his left foot and tried to fire the ball to Wright on the far side of the penalty area, but his delivery drifted wide.
William Owens put the ball into Totton’s net in the eighth minute, after Jack Hallahan turned away from Conor Whiteley’s challenge in the centre-circle to play the ball into his teammate’s infield dash from the left wing, only for the offside flag to rule it out. From the restart, Totton kept the ball in their own half until a short spell of intricate play between Masterton and Whiteley saw them progress the ball down the middle of the pitch. Whiteley went down under a tackle but the ball landed at the feet of Masterton, so the Referee indicated play-on. Masterton’s short pass found Tommy WRIGHT with half-a-yard of space on the edge of the D and, with a measured stroke of his right instep, relying upon precision rather than power, the on-loan Havant & Waterlooville striker bent the ball beyond the reach of goalkeeper Christopher Dunn and into the bottom-right corner of the net. It was the former England C international’s fifth goal of his spell with AFC Totton.
EARLY OPENER: Tommy Wright got the goalscoring started with a ninth-minute strike from from just outside the Evesham United area.
Totton were soon back in possession and on the attack, again. Masterton directed a free-kick from close to the halfway line out to Marcus Day on the left wing. He jinked left and right before crossing to just beyond the penalty spot. Ethan Taylor tried to take it on the full volley but it was a little too high, the ball coming off his foot and spinning into the air before being headed out of the box by an Evesham defender. Ragguette intercepted and charged down the left side of the penalty area to then chip into the middle. Wright flicked it on with his head and Taylor looped his own header onto the roof of the net.
Conor Whiteley then exchanged passes with Wright through the middle, before spreading the play to the left for Day, once more. He beat his full-back again, but his cross, which was initially travelling towards Taylor, was deflected away to safely by a stretched Evesham defence.
Mack Allan was almost embarrassed when Kyle Belmonte interrupted a period of Totton defensive possession to close the goalkeeper down as he was about to clear upfield. The ball rebounded off the home forward and, to the relief of the young keeper, looped over the crossbar. Then, Alfie Dunn darted past Benny Read on the Evesham left to send in a low cross that Kennedy turned away from the edge of the six-yard box.
A swift counter-attack from Totton, started by Taylor nicking the ball midway inside the Evesham half and slipping it to Wright to the right of the D, resulted in a corner. Masterton’s cross was a fraction too high. Day’s pressing on the opposite touchline was enough to force a throw-in for the visitors.
William Owens had a brief sight of goal from inside the Totton box, after good work down the left from Dunn, but Mike Carter got back to hook the ball away from his opponent and return it to Totton possession.
Jordan Lymn made a crucial block to stop Day’s shot from the left corner of the penalty area reaching the goal, after Whiteley had ignored a trip on Taylor to take advantage of the home side’s temporary lack of defensive numbers. Then, Wright’s battling qualities prevented Wise from clearing and enabled Ragguette to curl in a low, dangerous cross to around the penalty spot; an offside flag saved the home team before Taylor could apply the finish.
A promising build-up down the Evesham left was let down by a poor delivery into the box in the 20th minute. Totton sprung forward on the counter-attack, with the ball being quickly directed out to the lively Day near the touchline. With one defender to beat, The Stags’ No.7 jinked inside and then outside on his way to the left corner of the penalty area before arrowing a low, left-footed strike into the far bottom corner of the net to double his team’s lead. It was Marcus DAY’S second AFC Totton goal since joining the club from Bristol Manor Farm in February, his first in the league.
CONSTANT THREAT: Marcus Day scored his first league goal for AFC Totton and posed a constant threat from the left wing.
Day continued to pose problems for the home side down the Totton left. Masterton was keen to pick him out with another precision pass and Ragguette got forward in support, before the move was eventually quashed under the weight of the number of Evesham players chasing back to fill up the gaps.
Lymn and Belmonte linked up down the Evesham right to elude Ragguette and put a cross in that travelled to the far side. Dunn sent it back across goal to Belmonte, who rode Day’s challenge before shooting for the near post. Allan was well-placed to catch the ball.
Read made a well-timed tackle at the touchline to prevent Dunn getting away from a high flick-on from the centre. Then, Kennedy headed one cross away, with Whiteley tussling in midfield to retain possession and complete the clearance for Totton. Similar battling qualities from the captain saw Mike Carter steal the ball from the toe of Belmonte, as he was sizing up another attack from a central position. A pass to the right-hand side found Benny Read in an advanced position, from where he was able to find Whiteley, who in turn fed Taylor inside the box. His spotted a gap at the near, right-hand post and went for it, Christopher Dunn getting down to push the ball wide, hurting himself in the progress with a knock that required treatment from the Evesham physio.
While the game was paused, attention was turned to four young Evesham fans walking around the stadium banging on drums to whip up the home support into chants of “Evesham! Evesham!” When play resumed, Benny Read proved too big an obstacle for Owens to get past on the Evesham left and, when the ball popped into midfield, Carter was solid enough to disrupt the home side’s attempted follow-up.
Read committed a foul shortly after, though, resulting in a free-kick about 22 yards out to the left of centre. Owens took it, directing his effort into the player on the left end of the Totton defensive wall and behind for a corner. Evesham players surrounded Mack Allan on the goal line, which in turn forced the Totton defenders to do likewise, but the cross was a bit too high and floated over the bar. Some of the home fans and players claimed that Allan had helped it on its way when he reached up to the bar, but the Referee gave a goal-kick.
Daniel-Ray Djurovic had possession in the centre-circle for the home side, until Day suddenly appeared from behind his left shoulder to take the ball off him. Whiteley held it long enough for Day to get back to his feet and fed a pass into the winger’s run, for Day to then cross towards Wright in the middle, but his header faded away from the goal before an Evesham defender cleared.
Read and Ragguette both cancelled out Evesham attacks down either flank. But Read was almost caught out trying to jockey the ball back to his goalkeeper who had stayed on his line, Read then having to react quickly to make a sliding tackle clearance into touch to prevent Belmonte bursting through to take advantage of the momentary breakdown in communication. The right-back’s battling performance continued, as he soon won a free-kick close to the touchline to enable his team to regain possession and settle things down, again.
Alfie Dunn tried to burrow his way into the inside-left channel, running aground against too many blue shirts, before his shot deflected kindly to land at Allan’s feet. Belmonte was then shown a yellow card for a foul on Ragguette midway inside his own half of the pitch, on the Totton left. After moving the ball around amongst the defenders, possession came to Ragguette on the left, once more, and he exchanged passes with Day to put the winger into the left corner of the area, where he pulled it back for Wright just outside the box in a central position, but his shot was charged down and Evesham got it away.
SWIFT HALF: Conor Whiteley's afternoon was ended prematurely when he found himself on the wrong end of a reckless challenge from an opponent.
Shortly before half-time, a Totton attack broke down and Conor Whiteley slid in to try and retrieve the ball, as Alfie Dunn came in from the opposite side. The two players collided and Whiteley came off much the worse, his teammates reacting angrily on his behalf before the Totton physio was beckoned onto the pitch by the Referee, who produced the red card to send Alfie Dunn off for Evesham. Whiteley was helped off the pitch to continue receiving treatment, while play continued. Masterton sent the free-kick towards the far post where Taylor headed back across goal. A defender knocked it out to edge of the area where Tommy Wright met it on the full volley, fizzing his effort narrowly over the crossbar.
The end of Conor Whiteley’s participation in AFC Totton’s Southern League Div.1 South campaign for 2022/23 was confirmed by his replacement by Charlie Davis, who was barely on the pitch for two minutes before the Referee blew the half-time whistle.
HALF-TIME
EVESHAM UNITED 0
AFC TOTTON 2
After an Evesham girls’ team had completed their penalty shoot-out competition with somebody wearing a massive Robin suit keeping goal, Totton came back out for the second half but had to wait a couple of minutes for their hosts to join them. Evesham returned having made two substitutions, with Jordan Lymn and Ricky Johnson making way for Ashley Sammons and Daniel Griffiths coming on, before Totton kicked-off the second half.
An early second-half foray had Ethan Taylor in possession on the right wing. But, with his forward progress halted, he chose to switch the play to Marcus Day on the opposite side of the penalty area. He couldn’t find an angle for a shot, so laid the ball back for Jordan Ragguette to launch into a run towards the left-wing byline, his angled shot going behind at the near post.
Four minutes into the second half, William Owens won a corner by running at Benny Read down the Evesham left. Owens took it himself, crossing to the far post where Belmonte headed the ball out to the right to be returned to Owens, now just outside the left corner of the box. His cross struck Benny Read’s right arm, which was positioned across his body, and the Referee responded to the home crowd’s appeals for a penalty by pointing to the spot. Kyle BELMONTE stepped up to drive the ball past Mack Allan into the bottom-left corner, to halve the deficit for the home side.
Totton tried to restore order by imposing their passing game upon proceedings. Read got forward down the right but was dispossessed midway inside the Evesham half by the ball being put out to touch. The Stags were unable to get into their rhythm again and were soon on the back foot, as a series of short, sharp, incisive passes by Daniel Griffiths, Ashley Sammons and Benjamin Hammett opened up the Totton defence until a momentary miss-control saw the ball bounce through to Allan. As he tried to kick the ball upfield, he miss-kicked slightly and Day’s attempt to get hold of the ball led to him conceding a free-kick near halfway. Evesham sent it straight back into Totton’s penalty area, where the big captain Charles Wise, up from the back, headed it down into the danger area before Carter cleared a nervy Totton’s lines.
THE ROBINS' NEST: The Spiers & Hartwell Stadium, photographed ahead of last season's 3-3 draw in the Southern League Div.1 South.
Charlie Kennedy was next to head the ball away, as Evesham continue to attack from the skies. This time, Totton managed to spring a counter-attack with Read scampering down the right flank before finding Carter in the middle, who turned the ball out to the left for Tommy Wright. The striker tried to set-up Ethan Taylor, who was arriving at pace in the middle of the penalty area, but his pass was just behind the Totton No.10, enabling Evesham to remove the threat.
Both Taylor and Wright went in with strong challenges for fifty-fifty tackles within a few seconds of each other, as the ball bounced around the midfield area. Then, a one-two between Charlie Davis and Wright had the midfielder moving swiftly through the midfield before he fed Day to run at Hammett, winning a corner on the Totton left. Davis swung the corner into the six-yard box, where Wise headed away from under his own crossbar at the expense of another corner on the opposite flank. Masterton’s cross was defended but Carter managed to force the ball back to him on the right. Read made an overlapping run, receiving Masterton’s short pass to drive in a low cross that Evesham cleared to their left wing, where Owens received and set off on a one-man raid on the Totton penalty area. Tomasso got back to stop his progress but Owens was still able to cross to ball into the middle - the Assistant Referee’s flag coming to Totton’s rescue before Belmonte could connect with just Allan to beat.
The visitors needed to stamp their authority back on the game. Davis and Day worked the left wing to create another opportunity for Ragguette to get forward, to force another left-wing corner. Davis sent a low cross to the near post where Kennedy first tried to improvise a back-heel flick and, when the ball bounced back to him, struck a half-volley that deflected behind again for another corner. This time, Davis played it short and Totton ended up going backwards before conceding possession in midfield; only a hoofed intervention from Adam Tomasso prevented Evesham from breaking away into an unpopulated Totton half.
Taylor managed to feed Day on the left-hand side, again, but when he tried to dribble infield and shoot, he ran into two red-and-white shirts and ended up conceding a free-kick in his frustrated attempt not to lose the ball.
Evesham made their third and final substitution in the 65th minute, sending on Christopher Knowles in place of Jack Hallahan. At the same time, Jordan Ragguette was receiving treatment on the pitch before the decision was made to withdraw him in favour of Leo Taylor. The teenager made his AFC Totton debut as a right-back against Frome Town in midweek and now slotted in at left-back as a direct replacement for Ragguette.
Mike Carter was, unusually for him, Totton’s furthest man forward to hassle goalkeeper Christopher Dunn into rushing his pass out from the back, during a period of Evesham possession. When the home side came forward, they thought they had a firm shout for a second penalty when Griffiths was left in a heap inside the box by Leo Taylor’s challenge. The Referee decided it was a fair tackle and allowed play to continue.
But, the home side were awarded a second spot kick within a couple of minutes when a high ball to the left-hand side enabled Owens to race into the inside-left channel where Charlie Kennedy came across to confront him. Owens got there first; Kennedy pulled up with his hands raised; there was contact and Owens went down, prompting another loud appeal from a cluster of home fans gathered behind Mack Allan’s goal. Again, the Referee pointed to the penalty spot and, again, Kyle BELMONTE finished into the bottom-left corner, despite Allan diving the right way and almost getting his hand to it. The goal levelled the scores at 2-2, with 21 minutes left on the clock.
Totton came forward down the left-hand side, where they were having a lot more joy than on the other flank. Leo Taylor received a square pass from the middle of the pitch from his older brother, Ethan, and fed Marcus Day further down the wing, whose cross had Wise stretching but still successfully heading away.
As the fightback to equalise had warmed the atmosphere among the home fans, the temperature in the Warwickshire air dropped quite dramatically with the downing of the sun, prompting people around the ground to put their coats and jumpers on.
LATE SUBSTITUTE: Southern League Div.1 South's joint top-scorer Scott Rendell came in during the second half in search of a winning goal for The Stags.
Marcus Day, who had undoubtedly given his best performance to date in an AFC Totton shirt, was substituted in favour of Scott Rendell. Then, clever play by Wright on the right flank saw him tunnel his way past two challenges before switching the ball to Ethan Taylor, just inside the left corner of the penalty area. He side-stepped his marker and shot for the near side corner, his effort striking a covering defender and going wide for a corner. Davis swung the cross into the box but Christopher Dunn made a clean catch under no pressure inside his six-yard box.
Leo Taylor headed away an Evesham right-wing cross. Benny Read was called up for a foul in midfield, then Rendell had to block a shot on the edge of his own area, as Evesham sent more players forward in search of a goal to ensure their participation in the end of season Promotion Play-Offs. A spot of cramp for one home player gave his team the chance to huddle around the dug-out for a brief chat with their manager, Mike Ford, while the Totton players waited out on the pitch, standing roughly in their allocated positions.
A foul on Carter outside the Totton box gave Mack Allan the chance to send the ball upfield. His kick found Tommy Wright on the right-hand side, and the striker encroached into the Evesham area before spooning his shot a long way over the bar.
Read and Rendell forced a corner on the right, which Masterton took. His cross sailed over the Totton heads, enabling Wise to flick it away. Davis retrieved the ball on the far side, laying it short for Leo Taylor to strike, but his effort flew wide.
Owens and Belmonte mounted another attack down Benny Read’s side of the pitch, but the Totton right-back’s determination was enough to win a goal-kick for his team. Then, Wise intercepted a through-ball that threatened to put Scott Rendell in behind him, with space between him and the Evesham goal. Totton were still probing, trying to find ways through the home defence and putting crosses in from both wings.
As full-time approached, Griffiths crossed from the Evesham right and Ashley Sammons forced a corner off Leo Taylor. Owens hung a high cross towards the near post area where a clutch of players from both sides competed for it in an unseemly bundle. Allan couldn’t reach over the mass of players in front of him and as the ball came off one of them, the young goalkeeper dove back towards his goal line to try and claw the ball away. The net rippled - probably the effect of a player falling into it just behind the right-hand post - and the fans behind that end began celebrating a goal. All eyes turned to the Referee, who in turn looked to the sideline where the Assistant Referee waved his flag to indicate “goal”. Totton players protested that the ball hadn’t crossed the line, while Evesham’s 10 men bundled over one another in celebration at having come back from two goals down to lead 3-2, with only stoppage time left, ensuring their qualification for the Play-Offs. The Southern League website credits the goal to Charles WISE.
Ethan Taylor went down just inside the left corner of the Evesham box, but the Referee waved it away. Totton regained the ball and played it out to Wright on the right flank, his cross drifting across the face of goal and wide of the far post. Two Evesham players hit the deck complaining of various ailments before play continued with Wise taking the goal kick on behalf of his goalkeeper, who had received treatment earlier. There was still time for Ethan Taylor to pick out Wright on the right corner of the Evesham area, but with two defenders in his way, he couldn’t find space for a shot and Daniel Griffiths hooked the ball high into the air, before the Referee brought AFC Totton’s 2022/23 league campaign to a close with the final whistle.
The Totton players made a quick exit, while the home team, led by Charles Wise, were showered with praise from their fans, including those young lads beating their drums in celebration.
After the match, AFC Totton boss Jimmy Ball (pictured, above right) said:
“I don’t want today’s result to take anything away from what these players have achieved this season. It was a physical game today and some people will ask whether we went a bit soft, weren’t quite on it. The truth is, after going in two-up at half-time, it then became a bitty, scrappy game in the second half. Two penalties is bad luck. The first one was for hand-ball; fair enough. But the second one, Charlie Kennedy has hardly touched him so I think that was dubious, to say the least. As for the third goal, I don’t know how the Referee can say he saw that cross the line and the linesman on the near side was also looking through a lot of players. We were excellent in the first half. But, fair play to Evesham, they’ve got themselves into the Play-Offs and I wish them all the best.
“We won the league by seven points in the end, and that’s no mean feat. The players will have a break now before the Cup Final against Sholing. These lads have been different class all season, we’ve only lost two league games in eight months. Everyone at the club has worked extremely hard this season; the staff, the volunteers and the players have all put the work in throughout a long, hard season and winning the league is a credit to everyone. The result today was irrelevant to us, in the end, and I thought the Referee lost control of it, at times.
“Congratulations to Evesham, I hope they enjoy their night. We saw two really well-taken goals in the first half, and we had a couple of players in today who haven’t played a lot this season. I’ve said all along it takes a squad to win a league, and those lads came in today and showed what they are capable of. I don’t put what happened in the second half down to them. I think the team’s performance was good overall, apart from some fatigue towards the end where we weren’t able to lift our game, again.”
NEXT UP: BERKHAMSTED vs AFC TOTTON
Champion of Champions | Chesham United FC
The Meadow | Saturday 29 April 2023 | 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
