AFC Totton
SOUTHAMPTON SENIOR CUP 2022/23
2nd Round - Tuesday 27 September 2022
RINGWOOD TOWN 0
AFC TOTTON 4
Jake Adams 26mins; Ethan Taylor 53mins, 64mins; Scott Rendell 56mins
AFC Totton began their defence of the Southampton Senior Cup with a comfortable 4-0 away win at Wessex League Division One side Ringwood Town at the Macra Community Stadium last night (Tuesday).
In a dominant display of fast, attacking football, a first-half goal from Jake Adams - the match-winner in Saturday’s FA Trophy success at home to Berkhamsted - a brace from Ethan Taylor and a trademark header from Scott Rendell ensured The Stags’ safe passage into the draw for the 3rd Round of the competition they won at St. Mary’s Stadium last season.
Jack Seddon, a 19-year-old former AFC Bournemouth Academy defender, came in for his AFC Totton debut following the confirmation of his permanent signing from Weymouth this week. Fit-again defender Ben Jefford returned for his first outing of the 2022/23 season, lining up alongside Charlie Kennedy - The Stags’ skipper on the night - in central defence. Seung-Woo Yang came into midfield, with Mike Carter rested. Teenager Owen Pelham was named on the substitutes’ bench.
AFC TOTTON
Starting Line-Up
1. Lewis NOICE
2. Jack SEDDON
3. Jordan RAGGUETTE
4. Seung-Woo YANG
5. Charlie KENNEDY (Capt.)
6. Ben JEFFORD
7. Ethan TAYLOR
8. Jack MASTERTON
9. Scott RENDELL
10. Freddie READ
11. Jake ADAMS
Substitutes
14. Owen PELHAM
15. Adam TOMASSO
16. Luke HALLETT
Totton got the match underway on a breezy night under the floodlights at the Macra Community Stadium, located in agricultural land about half a mile from Ringwood Town centre. The Stags were wearing their changed kit of fluo yellow shirts, black shorts and yellow socks. The home side were clad in all-red with white trim.
The visitors were straight on the attack when Jack Masterton pushed the ball out to Jake Adams on the left wing, who advanced upon two defenders on the corner of the penalty area before shooting straight at Liam Harris in the Ringwood goal.
Totton were a team in a hurry, knocking the ball around the pitch at pace to keep their hosts moving and trying to close down space. Ben Jefford found Jordan Ragguette on the left touchline, who played Adams into the left-wing corner for a first-time low cross that Scott Rendell slid in to meet at the near post, Harris doing well to grab the ball before the forward could convert the chance.
Seung-Woo Yang’s tenacity in midfield, snapping back to win the ball within a few seconds of having been dispossessed, typified Totton’s attitude on the night, not allowing Ringwood to come out of their own half while constantly pressing them back. Freddie Read saw a lot of the ball in the early stages, the central midfielder taking it upon himself to ensure his team exploited the full width of the pitch and any pockets of space that teammates were able to carve for themselves with incisive runs.
Masterton pounced on a loose pass in the Ringwood half to drive Totton forward, shifting the ball to the right for Ethan Taylor who forced a corner with a blocked cross. His delivery was uncharacteristically poor, and a second corner soon after, taken short, broke down in the Ringwood penalty area, allowing them to move the ball forward to the centre-circle. Joss Holford thought he saw Lewis Noice off his line and tried to lob him in the manner reminiscent of David Beckham vs Wimbledon from days of yore, but he got the execution wrong and missed the target by some distance.
Ringwood were having to double-up on Jake Adams every time the left winger ran at them. With his progress blocked, Totton worked the ball to the far side where Jack Seddon received possession in space and crossed towards the penalty spot. The ball dipped over two players, encouraging the right-back Ben Bradwell to stoop to head the ball narrowly wide of his own left-hand post with Adams closing in from the left. Read’s corner dropped on the edge of the 6-yard box, where it was volleyed clear by a red-shirted defender.
TWO-IN-TWO: Jake Adams found the net again for AFC Totton.
The home side made a brief raid into the Totton half when Masterton’s miscued header near half-way enabled Lee Vint and Charlie Hitchings to exploit space on their left-hand side. Hitchings got behind the Totton defence, who were appealing for offside, to latch onto Vint’s chipped through-ball, stealing into the inside-left channel with time to line up his shot, before dragging his effort wide of the far post, to Lewis Noice’s relief.
Totton tried to go direct for a while, aiming high balls towards the head of Scott Rendell, but Ringwood dealt comfortably with the aerial bombardment. Then, Masterton darted towards the left-wing byline to latch onto Adams’s pass, firing the ball across the 6-yard box where it was again cleared into touch.
A long kick from Noice found Read in the centre-circle, and his lobbed pass played Taylor in-between two defenders on the edge of the Ringwood box. His left-footed strike pulled a smart save from Harris, diving to his right to parry the ball wide for a corner, which Totton didn’t capitalise upon. Then, Jordan Ragguette attempted a cross-field pass from deep on the left-hand side, inside the Ringwood half. He miss-hit it and Harris had to be alert as the high-arcing flight of the ball briefly threatened to drop over him and into the right corner of the home side’s net, but the ball dropped just past the post and wide.
Totton had been dominant from the first whistle and they made their higher league superiority count in the 26th minute. Freddie Read won the ball near the centre-circle and played it square for Adams, who once again forced his defenders back by advancing upon them at pace. Clever running off the ball by Seung-Woo Yang caused a momentary distraction for one of the defenders, and that provided the half yard that Jake ADAMS needed to drive his left-footed shot between the red shirts and past Harris, into the bottom-right corner of the Ringwood net - a strike not dissimilar to Jordan Ragguette’s opening goal against Berkhamsted on Saturday.
The visitors were quick to win the ball back from Ringwood’s restart. Seddon got forward down the right flank to cross beyond the penalty spot for Yang to head the ball to Rendell, whose volley on goal was parried by Harris. Rendell regathered the ball, swivelled and went for power, blasting the ball over the crossbar from about 10 yards.
Ethan Taylor chipped the ball over Harris and into the back of the net, but has was ruled offside from Adams’s delayed pass. And Taylor had another ruled out in the 33rd minute, when he arrived at pace at the back-post to convert a precise, curling Adams cross from the left-wing. Adams remonstrated with the Referee for what he regarded as some trigger-happy flagging on the far touchline, and was given a stern talking to by the-man-in-the-middle.
Adams carried the fight for Totton again, leading another offensive from the left wing. Ragguette made an underlapping run and received Adams’s slide-rule pass into the inside-left channel, from where he flashed the ball across goal for Taylor, who couldn’t sort his feet out in time to make the most of the chance. He retrieved the ball before it could run out of play at the right-wing byline and pulled it back to Read in the middle, whose shot was charged down.
Another attack down the left was partially repelled, until Ragguette gained possession to skip inside his man and then unleash a strike from just outside the box that flicked up off a defender’s foot and forced Harris to dive down to his near-post corner to make the save.
POWERFUL RUNNING: Jordan Ragguette caused problems for Ringwood Town with incisive forward runs from left-back.
Adams and Ragguette were a nuisance for the home side. They combined again about five minutes before half time, creating the opportunity for Ragguette to play Masterton in with another lung-busting run towards the left-hand byline. His square pass was looking for Rendell to apply the finish, but Harris got something on it and, after a bit of Pinball Wizardry, the ball bounced out for a goal-kick.
Masterton’s clever running created more openings for his teammates. Another move to the left-wing byline enabled him to pull the ball back to Adams on the corner of the penalty area. Adams shot with his left instep, his effort curling away from the far post at the last, with Harris watching it fly across his goalmouth.
Ringwood were holding on and their resolve was tested still further when Masterton won a corner on the Totton left. Read’s high cross to the far post was headed back across goal by Jefford, the ball dropping just wide of the opposite post. Then, moments before the break, Taylor was released to run onto the ball on the right-wing. He played a low ball across for Adams, which was nudged behind by a recovering defender before Adams could pull the trigger.
HALF-TIME
RINGWOOD TOWN 0
AFC TOTTON 1
Ringwood kicked-off the second half but Totton were soon in possession again, Jack Masterton letting fly with a snapshot from the edge of the penalty to test Harris’s concentration, after the ball was played in from the left-hand side, as the game quickly fell back into the same pattern as the first half.
Ragguette cross high from a deep position on the left. Rendell knocked the ball down to Taylor, was appeared to be about to strike left-footed when he suddenly became distracted by Yang going for the same ball. A moment’s hesitation proved fatal, Taylor’s eventual shot looping harmlessly over the bar.
But Totton went further ahead in the 53rd minute when Rendell’s pressing inside the Ringwood penalty area forced an error in the shape of an under-hit clearance. The ball fell to Jake Adams in midfield, who threaded it into the inside-left channel for Ethan TAYLOR to run onto with the time and space to pick his spot in the far bottom corner.
Totton went in search of more goals and won a flurry of left-wing corners in quick succession, the delivery of which they varied between high crosses and short corners without seriously threatening another goal. They did extend their lead in the 56th minute, though. One attack broke down on the right-hand side but Freddie Read was quick to hassle the first red shirt to take possession and win the ball back for The Stags, laying it off to Taylor just outside the corner of the penalty area for the winger to float in a cross that invited Scott RENDELL to plant a firm header past Harris and into the right corner of the goal.
Rendell nearly repaid the compliment moments later, teeing up Taylor for a curling effort from the edge of the area that flew narrowly over the bar. Then, Ragguette demonstrated more of his powerful running ability, charging in from the left flank to play a wall pass off Rendell before going for the return to the left of the penalty spot, which Harris did well to claim at Ragguette’s feet.
BRACE: Man of the Match Ethan Taylor finished the cup tie with two goals.
Teenager Owen Pelham was then sent on by manager Jimmy Ball, in place of the industrious Freddie Read, just before The Stags put the tie well and truly out of sight in the 64th minute. Ben Jefford, playing his first AFC Totton match of the season, sent a long pass forward from half-way which Rendell was able to chest down on the turn to direct the ball into the path of Ethan TAYLOR, who thrashed the ball into the Ringwood net, despite Harris getting one hand to the ball on its way into his top-left corner.
Pelham got stuck in, making a sliding tackle inside his own half to prevent the reds mounting an attack down their right flank. Then, Rendell was the target for Adams’s cross from the left. Harris’s intervention amounted to a parry, that didn’t entirely remove the danger but it did wrong-foot Rendell who fell in the 6-yard box and then tried in vain to knock the ball over the goal-line from his grounded position.
Ringwood’s Harry Smith made progress in the inside-left area for the home side, until Kennedy stepped in and took the ball away. The Stags swept forward and within seconds, Taylor was scampering towards goal from the right, with Harris at his mercy. Taylor went for an early lob, to which Harris reacted quickly to make a smart one-handed save to direct the ball over his crossbar. The corner from the right was played short to Adams, who tried to move infield and line up a shot from the edge of the area, but he skewed his kick high and wide to the left, much to his own audible annoyance.
Luke Hallett then came on for Totton, with Jordan Ragguette making way. Hallett, who is usually a central defender, raised a few eyebrows among his teammates and the travelling Totton fans by taking up a position in The Stags’ frontline.
Ringwood rallied to some extent, and began to encroach upon the Totton defence. Jack Seddon recovered well in the right-back position after losing out in the initial challenge to reclaim the ball, earning enthusiastic praise from Charlie Kennedy, the Totton captain on the night. Another Ringwood foray on the opposite flank enabled them to work the ball infield for midfielder Joe Petty to line up a long-range shot that required a strong parry from Lewis Noice, diving low to his left.
Strong defending by Seddon enabled Taylor to turn away from three red shirts and advance down the right wing and into the penalty area. He rolled the ball across to Owen Pelham, who struck right-footed, only to see his shot deflect off the foot of a defender and against the underside of the crossbar to deny him his first senior goal.
Pelham’s spritely ability to take a pass on the half-turn brought out the frustration in the considerably more robust figure of Joss Holford, who kicked the teenager’s feet away to earn himself an obvious yellow card. Masterton floated the free-kick beyond the ruck of players in the middle of the Ringwood box for Hallett to head across goal. Taylor hooked it back from the left-wing byline to spark a scramble in the 6-yard box. Pelham forced the ball over the line but the flag went up for a foul on Harris.
The increasingly influential Pelham received the ball as Totton came forward again, passing back to Jefford who released Taylor down the left side of the Ringwood penalty area. Taylor’s first-time cross was met by Rendell, but a defender made a sliding block to divert the centre-forward’s effort wide.
About five minutes from full-time, Totton took a short corner from the left with Taylor playing it short to Pelham on the corner of the penalty area. His well-struck shot towards the near post corner was saved by Harris. Then, Kennedy hit a cross-field pass from right-to-left, which Rendell knocked down and Pelham kept alive by riding one tackle and passing to Hallett. The makeshift forward found Taylor on the right of the area who attempted a shot with his right foot, Harris thrusting his left arm into the air quickly enough to tip the ball over the crossbar.
Seddon tried his luck with an angled cross-shot that almost found the top-left corner of the Ringwood net, after an attempted through-ball was redirected to him on the Totton right. Hallett and Adams forced their way through on the left-hand side shortly after, Adams squaring the ball for Pelham to shoot left-footed to force another save from the over-worked Harris.
As the game ticked over into stoppage time, Ringwood mounted their best move of the match when substitute Tom Jarvis found a pocket of space on their left-wing and curled a cross into the near-post area for Smith to strike on the volley, directing the ball just wide of the post, to leave Lewis Noice’s clean sheet intact.
After the match, AFC Totton manager Jimmy Ball (pictured) said:
“It was another game where we were allowed a lot of the ball against a side that was well-organised and well-coached. They knew their jobs and it was just a question of could we find ways to break them down and score goals. Yet again, it’s another game where you can say that we created a lot of chances without having a stack of goals to show for it, but there was some good football, some excellent movement at times, and some very good goals
“We had the opportunity late in the game to have a look at a tactical option by playing Luke Hallett up front. There may be times this season where we need to roll the dice and come up with something unusual to find a goal, and he did well enough to provide food for thought - it was certainly a worthwhile exercise.
“All credit to Ringwood, who kept going all the way through the game and caused us a few problems near the end. Jack Seddon made an impressive debut at right-back having only just joined us, and Owen Pelham got more minutes in senior football and did well, too, which bodes well for the future.”
In the night's only match in the Southern League Div.1 South...
Sholing made it six wins from six with an away win at Bishop's Cleeve. Jake Cope scored two minutes into first-half stoppage time to give The Boatmen the lead, with Byron Mason adding a second in the 79th minute for a 2-0 win.
Latest Southern League Div.1 South league table
NEXT UP: MERTHYR TOWN vs AFC TOTTON
Isuzu FA Trophy | 3rd Round Qualifying | Penydarren Park | Saturday 08 October 2022 | Kick-Off 3:00pm
View AFC Totton’s fixture list for the 2022/23 season
By Ben Rochey-Adams
Images courtesy of Craig Hobbs Photography
