AFC Totton
ISUZU FA TROPHY, THIRD ROUND PROPER
Saturday 09 December 2023 | The Camping World Community Stadium, Horsham | Att: 644
STAGS STUNG BY HORNETS IN FA TROPHY THIRD ROUND DEFEAT
HORSHAM 2
Jack Brivio 27mins; Jack Mazzone 90+1mins
AFC TOTTON 0
AFC TOTTON’S ISUZU FA TROPHY run came to an end at the Third Round stage following a largely frustrating afternoon at Horsham, during which The Stags were limited to few shooting chances and lost out to the better side on the day.
Adam Tomasso came into midfield to replace Joe Oastler, who dropped to the bench, and Jordan Chiedozie was named ahead of Alfie Egan, who was cup-tied from his time with Lewes FC at the start of the season.
AFC TOTTON
Starting XI
1. Lewis NOICE
2. Benny READ
6. Luke HALLETT
15. Sam MAGRI
3. Jordan RAGGUETTE
8. Adam TOMASSO
5. Charlie KENNEDY
17. Leon MALONEY
18. Joe TURNER
9. Scott RENDELL (Capt.)
12. Jordan CHIEDOZIE
Substitutes
4. Owen PELHAM
7. Joe OASTLER
10. Ethan TAYLOR
13. Nico TROJANOWSKI
16. Alfie STANLEY
19. Egli KAJA
20. Luke BENNETT
Totton started brightly, with Kennedy playing Chiedozie into an advanced position on the left wing. Full-back Bobby Price held him up but Chiedozie had Ragguette in support, whose curled cross was headed out. Then, Magri’s pass put Ragguette into a crossing position, again, but his delivery flew out for a goal-kick.
Read got forward on the opposite flank and from his cross from close to the right edge of the penalty area, the ball struck a defender’s arm to prompt optimistic appeals for a penalty, but the Referee deemed it a case of ball-to-hand and allowed play to continue.
Horsham’s No.10 Kadell Daniel got on the end of a pass to play him in behind Read, but his cross was too close to Noice. Then, the home side were awarded a free-kick in the Totton half for a foul by Hallett, but failed to take advantage with a poor delivery.
A heavy touch from Magri in defence presented the home side with a brief opportunity, with Noice out of his goal. But Tomasso closed the situation down to prevent a long-range shot while Noice scrambled back into position.
Read received a pass wide on the right and his low cross-shot was parried at the near post by goalkeeper Lewis Carey, the rebound bouncing agonisingly out of the reach of even Rendell’s telescopic legs before the Horsham defence cleared their lines.
A strong tackle by Tomasso on Price put the home side temporarily down to 10 men, but Lee Harding managed to dart down the right wing to force Magri to come across and clear into touch. Then both of the Jordans in the Totton team were wrong-footed by a neat turn by Harding as he cut inside and drove infield, but The Stags had enough players back to fill up the space before Horsham could fashion a shooting chance.
A long ball out of the Totton defence bounced ahead of Rendell on the 3G surface and was played back to his goalkeeper by The Hornet’s captain Jack Brivio. As Lewis Carey came out to kick clear, he struck the ball straight at Rendell, and was relieved to see the rebound harmlessly wide for a goal-kick.
Striker Jack Mazzone got the better of Ragguette on the Horsham right, but his pass to Harding, who was dashing towards the inside-right channel, was too hard. Then on 20 minutes, a foul on Ragguette gave Maloney the chance to lift a free-kick delivery from close to the left-wing touchline into the Horsham penalty area but Carey came out and, with a loud shout, confidently claimed the ball with a clean catch.
Ragguette and Hallett were both required to make defensive headers as Horsham began to warm to their task, despite the cold Surrey temperature. Then Magri had to do likewise to prevent Mazzone capitalising from some open space on the right.
Harding looked dangerous, showing neat feet in close possession. An overhit free-kick delivery from the Horsham left let Totton off the hook from one set-piece, but then Charlie Hester-Cook won the ball from Chiedozie and found Price on the right, whose cross was stabbed behind by the rapidly retreating Magri. Harvey Sparks sent in a high in-swinging corner, which Rendell knocked behind on the opposite side. Sparks took it short this time, exchaging passes with Mazzone, before being tripped by Ragguette for a free-kick, just off the corner of the penalty area on their left. James Hammond floated in the free-kick, which Magri could only help on towards the far post for the incoming Jack BRIVIO to connect with his left hip to steer across Noice and in via the left-hand post.
Hallett tried to get something going for Totton with a cross-field pass looking for Ragguette, but passes being hit too strongly was beginning to become a theme for the away side. Hallett made a well-timed sliding tackle on the Totton left to halt Harding’s progress, before Read was penalised for body-checking an opponent on the opposite side. The free-kick was sent into the Totton box and Brivio was again the target, but this time he could only glance his header wide.
Rendell, Maloney and Tomasso combined to create a half-chance through the middle, but Tomasso scuffed his effort. Tomasso then conceded a free-kick in the centre-circle, from which Jack Brivio was booked for taking too long to restart play. When he did take it, Magri was fortunate to get away with a shove on the player he was marking, which neither the Referee nor Assistant on that side appeared to notice.
Hester-Cook played Harding into the inside-right channel, where Magri made a strong tackle. The ball popped loose into the D, and Mazzone’s snapshot was deflected wide for a corner, which Rendell came back to defend for his team.
Daniel pulled Turner down to deny Totton a counter-attacking opportunity, and was fortunate to avoid a yellow card for his trouble. Turner received a forward pass from Magri and tried to dribble his way through the Horsham defence, but an unfortunate ricochet took the ball away from him.
Harding and Mazzone broke at pace but a foul by the latter on Hallett let Totton off the hook. Rendell then put his foot on the ball and found Turner who was fouled by Jack Strange, bringing the game’s second yellow card. Chiedozie took the ball down to the left of the area, where he won another free-kick for Totton. Maloney’s cross was poked wide for a corner on the right, and his corner was headed out by Strange.
Maloney then gave away a free-kick from a similar position that had produced Horsham’s opening goal. Kennedy headed out and Magri did likewise when Danny Barker tried to return the ball into the Totton box.
Rendell was pulled over by Hammond but the ball ran on for Ragguette to scamper to the left-wing byline and try to cross. He was being shoved by Price, who did enough to put him off balance without conceding a foul, and the ball flew wide.
HALF-TIME:
HORSHAM 1
AFC TOTTON 0
Neither side made any changes at the break. Strange took control of the situation when Rendell’s pass tried to put Maloney into a shooting position, before Carey cleared into touch. Read threw the ball to Turner, who passed short to Tomasso. His attempted pass to Rendell came back to him via a defender’s stabbed intervention, and he shot wide.
Kennedy was given a talking to for a foul on Daniel, after he had given Read the slip. Hallett then conceded a corner on the Horsham right, from which Sparks curled the ball to the far post where Strange headed back across goal. Daniel hooked it back into the middle and Brivio headed over with the Totton defence scrambling to track the flight of the ball.
Bobby Price had to receive treatment for the second time in the game, after a promising Totton attack had run aground due to a heavy touch from Ragguette on the left wing.
Turner made his frustration known to the Referee when he was fouled while trying a mount an attack down the left wing. He was then pressed into action at his own end of the pitch to cover behind Read and concede a corner. Sparks found Mazzone with the cross, but his header was straight at Noice.
Just past the hour mark, Jimmy Ball tried to inject some life into a disjointed display from his team with the introduction of Ethan Taylor - back from the injury he sustained in the home league defeat to Hungerford Town in early November - and Alfie Stanley, with Ragguette and Chiedozie making way.
A back-pass by Daniel put his teammate Sparks into a tricky situation, which the left-back resolved by punting the ball out of the ground before Totton could take advantage.
Totton shifted the ball around in their own half to try and pull the Horsham players out of their shape, but once again when the chance to pass forward arose, the delivery was over-hit. Turner then had to scamper back to correct his own mistake when a rare example of poor control almost gave Mazzone the chance to conduct another raid on Totton’s goal.
Magri headed over from Maloney’s left-wing corner. Then, a foul on Taylor on the Totton left led to a free-kick. A quick one-two maneuvered Maloney into the left corner of the area to send a cross to the far side. Tomasso laid it back to the edge of the area where Stanley skipped away from the first defender and let fly with a low shot that curled narrowly wide of the left-hand post.
Rendell dropped deep to help build the play down the Totton right. Read and Maloney carried the fight further forward and won a corner. Taylor’s whipped in-swinger had two players in white shirts flinging themselves at the ball at the near post in attempted diving headers. The ball was retreived on the far side and sent back over; Magri headed across goal but there was nobody there to apply the finishing touch.
Maloney tussled for a high ball and tried to slip Stanley in through the channels, but there were too many yellow-and-green shirted defenders back to deal with the situation.
Mazzone was the third player to receive a yellow card for a foul on Tomasso. With 10 minutes left on the clock, Luke Bennett was sent on to replace Read. Sparks attacked down the Horsham left and he had teammates queuing up in the middle for his low cross. The home side were guilty of over-playing with substitute Daniel Ajakaiye dwelling on the ball long enough to get crowded out by Totton defenders.
Rendell was fouled by Strange, and from Hallett’s long diagonal, Bennett was able to win a corner on the right. Taylor crossed but Turner couldn’t get himself under the ball, having instead to retrieve the ball and try to tee-up Maloney, who was quickly closed down by Barker’s sliding tackle.
Taylor almost ghosted in behind the Horsham defence from Hallett’s long pass, but the ball wouldn’t sit down for him. Then, Bennett controlled a similar pass from Kennedy but was dispossessed before he could deliver a cross.
Hallett came under pressure trying to steer the ball back to his own goalkeeper, and gave Horsham a corner on their left. With the clock reading 89 minutes, Sparks was happy to trot over to take the set-piece. His delivery was over-hit and Totton broke on the counter-attack. Maloney found Turner and quick passes between him and Rendell released Bennett on the right, but his first-time cross was turned away.
Horsham opened up Totton’s defence when sub Shamir Fenelon drifted through the centre-circle to go clean through. Noice came out to the edge of his area as Fenelon tried to go round him, opting to shoot mid-manoeuvre and bringing an excellent save from The Stag’s No.1.
But it proved to be only a temporary stay of execution. Carey caught Hallett’s long ball and quickly picked out Ajakaiye to go forward down the left, with Bennett tracking him. Ajakaiye twisted and turned, forcing Bennett back into his own box, before crossing to the far post for Jack MAZZONE to head Horsham’s second goal - confirming The Hornets’ passage into the Fourth Round of the Isuzu FA Trophy 2023/24.
By Ben Rochey-Adams
