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SOUTHERN LEAGUE DIV.1 SOUTH 2022/23
MATCHDAY 23 - Wednesday 15 February 2023


EXMOUTH TOWN                        1
Ethan Slater 77mins

AFC TOTTON                                   3
Charlie Kennedy 19mins; Luke Hallett 30mins; Ethan Taylor 68mins


AFC TOTTON TOOK ON Exmouth Town in Devon on Wednesday night, where they established a comfortable first-half lead with both central defenders scoring from set-pieces. A red card to Jordan Ragguette midway through the second period preceded a third Stags goal, before the hosts were also reduced to 10 men. Despite conceding one goal before the end, The Stags stood strong amid a late barrage to come away with a deserved win.

Jimmy Ball made two changes from the side that won at Paulton Rovers on Saturday. Fit-again goalkeeper Lewis Noice made his return to the AFC Totton starting line-up for the first time since suffering injury against Lymington Town on the day after Boxing Day. And Adam Tomasso replaced Matty Burrows, who dropped to the bench.


AFC-Totton-badge.pngAFC TOTTON
Starting Line-Up

1.  Lewis NOICE
2.  Benny READ
3.  Jordan RAGGUETTE
4.  Mike CARTER (Capt.)
5.  Charlie KENNEDY
6.  Luke HALLETT
7.  Adam TOMASSO
8.  Charlie DAVIS
9.  Scott RENDELL
10.  Ethan TAYLOR
11.  Tommy WRIGHT
Substitutes
14.  Conor WHITELEY
15.  Ben JEFFORD
16.  Freddie READ
17.  Matty BURROWS
18.  Jack MASTERTON


Totton began brightly, in a manner befitting their changed strip of fluo yellow shirts, black shorts and yellow socks. A quick breakaway down the left wing in the fourth minute had Ethan Taylor crossing to the far post where Charlie Davis arrived but couldn’t control his header, sending the ball over the top. Davis had done well to get so far forward, having started the move from the other end of the pitch when he received a sliced clearance from Jordan Ragguette down near Totton’s own right-wing byline.

Exmouth took advantage of a loose pass in midfield to get forward and cross from the left-hand side, but Ragguette was well-placed to head clear. On 9 minutes, Taylor sprung the offside trap to latch onto a high ball from Davis, but Town goalkeeper Robert Powell came sliding out to make an important interception.

Totton were awarded a throw-in deep in the Exmouth half, despite the fact the defender’s clearance had clearly struck Ragguette in the chest before looping onto the roof of the main stand alongside the pitch at the King George V Ground. Neither the Referee nor his assistant on that side were swayed by the Town players’ remonstrations, but The Stags were unable to take advantage of their good fortune.

Ethan Taylor posed the strongest attacking threat for either side in the early stages. Adam Tomasso spread the play out to the left winger from the centre-circle to launch another Totton attack. With two defenders tracking his progress into the inside-left channel, Taylor won a corner with a deflected shot past the near post. He and Davis played it short, but Exmouth got the ball away.

Charlie Kennedy-1_Walk-Out-3_Paulton Rovers vs AFC Totton_SLD1S-22_Sat11Feb2023.jpg

HEAD START: Charlie Kennedy's headed goal gave AFC Totton the lead against Exmouth Town at the King George V Ground in Devon.


When Totton came forward again, they won a free-kick on the right for a push on Tomasso. Taylor’s in-swinging delivery was knocked out for a corner on the left-hand side. Charlie Davis took it, hanging the ball up towards the back post where Charlie KENNEDY thrust himself between two defenders to head home from close range, the ball initially bouncing high into the inside-netting behind the right-hand post as Kennedy wheeled away in celebration with a flow of fluo yellow shirts in his wake.

The Stags roamed across the pitch at will. Tommy Wright raced onto Scott Randell’s headed flick-on, driving in a shot that was deflected away. Then Powell had to be off his line quickly again to beat the incoming Ragguette to a through-ball towards the left-wing byline. When Exmouth tried to construct a counter-attack, Tomasso was in to dismantle it just as quickly as Totton effectively throttled Exmouth in their own half.

Close to the half-hour mark, a foul on Benny Read brought another free-kick on the right-hand side, midway inside Exmouth’s half. With everybody lining up along the edge of the penalty area, expecting Davis to cross into the box, he played the ball short to Taylor, the two players then completing a quick one-two to manoeuvre Taylor into the right side of the crowded area. He squared it near to the penalty spot for Luke HALLETT, surrounded by blue shirts, to impudently back-heel past the surprised goalkeeper to double The Stags’ lead.

AFCT Luke Hallett.jpg
COOL HEELS LUKE: An impudent back-heel confused the Exmouth defence and brought Luke Hallett his third goal of the season.

There was no let up for the home side, who were struggling to contain their visitors, particularly down the Totton left. Ragguette came charging forward again, laying the ball off for Taylor to drill a cross into the middle that full-back Mark Lever hooked back out to the Totton No.10, before he was brought down for a free-kick. This time, another clever free-kick routine didn’t come off; the least written about it now, the more likely it might work at some point in future - but for the time being, it’s back to the drawing board with that one.

The underemployed Lewis Noice was called upon in the 34th minute, diving low to intercept a cross from the Exmouth left wing. Then, James Richards was shown a yellow card for a late foul on Davis, as he played the ball back to Noice from the centre-circle.

Thomas Gardner made a well-timed sliding block tackle on the edge of the area to prevent Taylor getting a shot away in the middle. Taylor received the ball again and forced a corner on the left. The cross from Davis was slightly too high for the stretching Rendell, but Taylor brought the ball down on the far side, found Tomasso outside the box, who steered it back to Davis to cross again. This time, the massed ranks of Exmouth defenders made the clearance.

Exmouth managed to build an attack down their left side. Winger Ben Steer got to the byline and centred to Jordan Harris, who stole half-a-yard from Hallett to drive in a low shot that Noice saved smartly down to his right.

Gardner clattered Rendell in the centre-circle, as the Totton centre-forward tried to bring down a high ball from The Stags defence. Taylor was spoken to for his dissent in response to the Referee deciding not to how Gardner the yellow card. Shortly after, Rendell snuck up behind Powell to pick the keeper’s pocket on the right side of the penalty area, but Rendell’s cross eluded Wright and Taylor in the middle, with defenders scrambling back to block and cover.

Adam Tomasso underlined his characteristic tenacity when, having conceded possession to Richards inside the Exmouth half due to slipping on the surface, he scampered back half the length of the pitch to make a recovery tackle against the same player, successfully reclaiming the ball and putting Totton back on the front foot, again.

Ragguette swept forward down the left flank and tried to pick out Rendell with a low cross that a defender scuffed wide of the far post. Taylor and Davis combined from the corner, before a Davis cross took a deflection that carried it into the arms of Powell.


HALF-TIME
EXMOUTH TOWN                                 0
AFC TOTTON                                            2


The busy Charlie Davis had the first strike in anger of the second half, hitting a long-range effort straight at Robert Powell from Tommy Wright’s lay-off in a central position about 30 yards out. Then, Taylor crossed from the left to produce a block by Powell who, having initially parried the ball, appeared to then have it kicked out of his hands by a covering defender.

Charlie Kennedy made three important defensive interventions in quick succession, first chasing back to intercept a through-ball into the inside-right channel to pass back to Lewis Noice; then, using his head to interrupt an Exmouth foray towards the right wing, again using his goalkeeper to transfer the ball into Totton possession. His third contribution was to turn away a corner from the Exmouth right, his defensive partner and fellow goalscorer Luke Hallett completing the clearance.

Then, Totton’s dominance suddenly came under threat when they were reduced to 10 men for a “professional foul” incident. A Totton attack was interrupted by a long clearance upfield, leaving Jordan Ragguette isolated with Ben Steer. While competing for the high ball, the winger went crashing to the ground, resulting in a red card for the St. Vincentian. Jordan Harris took the free-kick, firing narrowly over the crossbar via a deflection off the Totton defensive wall. Jimmy Ball responded by sending on the left-footed defender Ben Jefford in place of forward Tommy Wright, and instructing his players into a reshuffled formation. From the corner, Noice leapt high above a ruck of players to punch the ball away. It struck Tomasso on the chest, prompting the obligatory optimistic cries of “Hand-ball!” which the Referee ignored while Totton moved the ball forward.

Jordan Ragguette-1_Paulton Rovers vs AFC Totton_SLD1S-22_Sat11Feb2023.jpg
SEEING RED: Jordan Ragguette was shown a red card for a "professional foul" on Exmouth winger Ben Steer.

But Exmouth had their tails up, sensing they could still get something from the game, forcing The Stags to set-up camp in and around their own penalty area. A brace of looping headers out of Totton’s box gave Ethan Slater the chance to volley at goal, but Noice was equal to it. Then in the 63rd minute, Richards crossed from the left, encouraging Noice to come out and swat the ball wide for a corner on the far side. The cross was turned away to the edge of the area, where Slater attempted a snapshot that flew over.

Davis carried the ball forward, advancing from the right flank into the middle. Mike Carter took over and fed Taylor to the left, whose shot was diverted wide. Exmouth cleared the corner at the near post, but Totton came forward again when good work by Benny Read midway inside his own half enabled Davis to play Rendell into the right-wing corner, behind Lever whose attempt to intercept only helped to slow the ball down for Rendell to collect it. He took the ball infield into a more central position before picking out Ethan TAYLOR coming in from the left-hand side to side-foot home and extend The Stags’ lead to three goals without reply, despite the numerical disadvantage since Ragguette’s dismissal.

Shortly after that third goal, Taylor went through the middle only to be brought down by centre-back Tom Gardner, prompting the Referee to produce the game’s second red card. Davis struck the resulting free-kick from 30 yards, but it was straight at Powell in the Exmouth goal.

A flurry of substitutions broke the game up for a while, among them the replacement of Charlie Davis in the Totton midfield by Jack Masterton. And then the home side pulled a goal back on 77 minutes, when Noice came off his line to compete for a high ball. He managed to punch the ball away but it fell to Ethan SLATER just outside the area, who guided his shot through the massed bodies and into the net via at least one deflection. In his eagerness to grab the ball and race it back to the centre spot, Ben Steer unwisely picked a fight with Mike Carter in the Totton net, earning himself a yellow card into the bargain.

Exmouth bossed possession for the remainder of the game but Totton filled up the space in their defensive third, the likes of Kennedy and Carter communicating effectively to push and pull and encourage their teammates to keep the home side at bay. Several crosses and over-eager long-range attempts were dashed against the yellow wall. And when the chance came to counter-attack, Rendell’s flick-on put Ethan Taylor one-on-one with Powell through the middle. He lobbed the keeper but the ball bounced, struck the crossbar and rebounded back into Exmouth possession.

The home side came on strong, again. Carter had to clear from Aarron Denny’s cross. Then, a succession of corners had The Stags shuffling in and around their own penalty area to get in the way of any and all attempted deliveries of the ball into dangerous areas.

In the 84th minute, Steer retrieved the ball on the left-hand side from a half-cleared cross, shifted it to his right foot and curled a 22-yard attempt that clipped the top of the crossbar above the top-right corner.

Conor Whiteley came on to replace Ethan Taylor, while Charlie Kennedy implored his teammates to keep going with a loud shot of “Come on, dig in!”

Denny was allowed to carry the ball forward a long way from the left-hand side. Benny Read shepherded him infield, where Luke Hallett then joined in to squeeze the midfielder and rush him into spooning his shot over the crossbar, despite having several teammates up in support. Exmouth continued to probe but Totton kept their shape and stood firm, Adam Tomasso taking a late whack but getting back to his feet to help see The Stags over the line for another three points on the road.


Jimmy Ball_AFC Totton Manager_August2022.jpg

After the match, AFC Totton Manager Jimmy Ball (pictured), said:

“That was probably our best first-half display of the season. I swear, if we ever manage to convert 50% of the chances we create, somebody is going to get beat 10! We’ve travelled a long way on a Wednesday night to come and play against a tough side, and we’ve played them off the park.

“The red card was a shame, because it meant that we had to switch into a more defensive mode, where we had to concentrate on trying to destroy whatever they tried to build, to stop them finding a foothold in the game. The match became bitty, with us attacking on the counter rather than being able to dominate the ball. But, I thought the lads did that defensive side of the game very well, too. They showed those good qualities of being able to scrap to see a game out, which we will need to do again more than once between now and the end of the season.

“I didn’t think that either of the red cards were justified, in all honesty. Jordan had his eyes on the ball dropping out of the sky when he and their player made contact. And when their No.6 brought down Ethan, there was another defender nearby, so it wasn’t a last man situation. But, we coped well throughout the game and now we rest and look forward to taking on Melksham at home on Saturday.”


NEXT UP: AFC TOTTON vs MELKSHAM TOWN
Southern League Div.1 South | Matchday 24 | Snows Stadium
Saturday 18 February 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

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