AFC Totton
SOUTHERN LEAGUE DIV.1 SOUTH
Matchday #36
SLIMBRIDGE AFC 1
Edjidja Mbunga 40mins
AFC TOTTON 3
Brett Williams 25mins; Jordan Ragguette 29mins; Ethan Taylor 82mins
AFC Totton’s lingering hopes of qualifying for the Southern League Div.1 South promotion play-offs were finally stamped out yesterday (Saturday) by a familiar foe, despite a routine 3-1 victory at Slimbridge AFC.
The Stags travelled to the village of Cambridge in Gloucestershire knowing they needed to beat the Swans in the last game of the regular league season, and hope that Winchester City would also win away, at fellow play-off contenders Bristol Manor Farm. And when Ethan Taylor scored with eight minutes remaining to make it 3-1 to the Stags, the Citizens were also ahead at the Creek and everything was going to plan. Then, enter stage left, Owen Howe - or as we in the AFC Totton Media team have come to know him, ‘The Stagslayer’.
Howe scored twice against Totton in the 2-2 draw at the Creek towards the beginning of the season, before transferring to Barnstaple Town for whom he cleared Sam Griffin’s shot off the line with the very last kick of the game to salvage a 0-0 draw at the Snows Stadium. He then returned to Bristol Manor Farm just in time to make his second debut for them as a late substitute and score the winning goal in a smash-and-grab away win. So, having personally denied the Stags five league points during the course of the campaign, he then popped up seven minutes from the end of it to put his side level at 2-2 to ensure the Farmy Army and Winchester take the last two play-off spots at Totton’s expense.
Amadeusz Skrzyniarz kept his place in goal, in place of the injured Lewis Noice. Harry Medway returned from suspension to join Ade Olumuyiwa and Pascal Kpohomouh in a back three, with Jordan Ragguette at left wing-back and Portsmouth loanee Issiaga Kaba making his first start on the opposite flank. Adam Tomasso retained the captain’s armband in the defensive midfield role, operating alongside Lewis Waterfield, with Ethan Taylor in the No.10 role. Brett Williams led the line, with Jake Adams operating on the left wing, in an asymmetrical formation.
Slimbridge’s Thornhill Park stadium is open on three sides, so despite the warm temperature at kick-off, there was a stiff breeze blowing in from the surrounding Gloucestershire countryside. The hosts wore all-blue, prompting Totton to switch to their changed kit of fluo yellow shirts, black shorts and yellow socks.
A straight pass out of defence by Ade Olumuyiwa in the second minute was brought down from waist-high by Ethan Taylor’s excellent first touch, enabling him to engage in rapid one-twos with Jordan Ragguette to play the latter in towards the left-wing byline, but a defender managed to block the cross. Totton looked comfortable on the ball early on, and Slimbridge were content to stand off them and fill up space in their own half.
But the home side got forward in the eighth minute and nearly opened the scoring. Ben McLean - a central midfielder who spent time on loan with AFC Totton from Birmingham City as an 18-year-old - spread the play out to Jordan Yeo, in space on the Slimbridge right. He carried the ball forward before over-hitting his cross, which Edjidja Mbunga had to retrieve on the far side, before skipping through a couple of challenges to get to the byline and pull the ball back to William Hawes. The Slimbridge skipper’s shot was blocked by Pascal Kpohomouh and in the ensuing scramble, Harry Medway managed to boot the ball clear.
FIRST START: Portsmouth loanee Izzy Kaba made his first start for AFC Totton in the final league game of the season at Slimbridge.
In the 12th minute, Totton moved swiftly down the right wing, freeing Issiaga Kaba to fire a low ball across the penalty area. With the ball slightly behind him, Brett Williams showed clever thinking by stepping over it to let it run to Ragguette on the left corner of the box, and his first-time shot was turned away by goalkeeper Lewis Adams from the foot of this right-hand post. Three minutes later, Lewis Waterfield’s speculative attempt from 25 yards flew high over the crossbar. Then, Taylor got on the end of a short passing move involving Kpohomouh and Ragguette to take aim from a central position on the edge of the area, but his shot was bravely blocked.
A weak header back to his goalkeeper by Olumuyiwa allowed Hawes to steal the ball and drive in a low, angled shot from the inside-left area, which Amadeusz Skrzyniarz saved to his left, parrying the ball into the middle of the penalty area where Medway got to the loose ball first, with Slimbridge players following up. Medway then got forward in the 20th minute, picking the ball up on the left flank near half-way and instigating a move with Jake Adams and Taylor that culminated in Adams cutting the ball back to Medway on the edge of the area. But the defender passed up the chance to strike with his right foot to shift the ball back to his left, costing him a valuable half-second in which the chance vanished and he ended up kicking his opponent a fraction after the ball was knocked away.
Totton had the ball in the Slimbridge net a minute later when Kpohomouh’s pass enabled Kaba to cross from the right wing, and Waterfield chested the ball down for Taylor to shoot with some power. Lewis Adams did well to parry the shot to his left, presenting Williams with an easy finish. But the Stags striker was flagged offside and the goal did not stand.
GET IN!: AFC Totton striker Brett Williams celebrates the opening goal with Ethan Taylor, whose skill an perseverance created the opportunity.
The Stags were not to be denied, though, and in the 25th minute they took the lead. After a brief spell of Slimbridge pressure, Totton countered and Jake Adams directed a pass into the path of Taylor, on a diagonal trajectory from left to right, mid-way inside the Slimbridge half. With central defender Ben Hands struggling to track Taylor and the bouncing ball at the same time, Taylor’s perseverance and a timely shove encouraged the defender to try a sliding tackle. He didn’t get close enough, only succeeding in grounding himself while Taylor scampered on to regather the ball on the right-hand side of the 6-yard-box, before turning and taking out the goalkeeper with a low centre to present Brett WILLIAMS with a tap-in from the middle of the goal.
Hawes tried to muster an instant response for his team with an angled snapshot from the Slimbridge left which sailed over. But Totton were soon on the attack again, with Taylor receiving Waterfield’s short pass 25 yards out with his back to goal. He tried to catch Lewis Adams out with a powerful shot on the turn, and the ball kicked up and hit the keeper in the chest, but he was able to reclaim it before Williams could take advantage.
On 29 minutes, the Stags went two-up with a well-constructed move. Jordan Ragguette brought the ball forward on the left-hand side, using a Cruyff-turn to escape the attentions of his marker and moving infield to go past a second Slimbridge player before poking the ball into the feet of Waterfield. The midfielder turned to shield the ball from the challenge of McLean and returned it to Ragguette, who controlled it just outside the D, left of centre. As the right-back Jack Spark moved in to tackle, Ragguette dragged the ball back and rolled the defender before playing a crisp one-two with Williams that put Jordan RAGGUETTE within firing range to the left of the penalty spot, and his low left-footed drive flashed across Lewis Adams into the opposite corner of the goal.
CONSTANT THREAT: Jordan Ragguette scored Totton's second goal and offered a considerable threat down the left-hand side throughout the match.
A vibrant Totton threatened to run away with the match when, just a minute after going two-up, Kaba won a header on the right to send Williams clear towards the byline. He pulled the ball back to the penalty spot where it sat up just before Jake Adams reached it, and his attempted side-foot finish soared over the top. Then, Kaba demonstrated his defensive capabilities to track the run of Myron Turner down the Slimbridge left, dispossessing the full-back and clearing upfield for the Stags.
Ben McLean’s 34th-minute effort from just outside the Totton box took a kind deflection from Skrzyniarz’s point-of-view, enabling the Polish goalkeeper to save comfortably. Then, there was a spell in which both sides enjoyed prolonged possession in midfield without hurting their opposition. McLean called an end to the truce on 40 minutes, though, when he received the ball near the centre-circle and threaded it into the feet of Hawes, in space in the inside-right channel. He turned inside Medway to shift the ball onto his left foot and really should have broken the net. But his effort was slightly scuffed and Skrzyniarz parried before one of his defenders put it out for a corner. Ben Hands took it, sending an in-swinging cross to the far post where Edjidja MBUNGA was unmarked to nod home from close range (the stadium announcer gave the goal to Hands, and the Southern League’s website credits it to him, but - prompted by the manner in which the two players celebrated the goal - I personally spoke to Mbunga in the car park after the match and he confirmed that he did in fact get the last touch).
The lively Mbunga was soon causing more trouble for Totton on the Slimbridge left, advancing to the byline and winning a corner, which was delivered to the far post and turned narrowly wide with the Totton defence temporarily at sixes-and-sevens. Having been cruising at 2-0, the set-back of conceding a goal seemed to rattle them. But they got their act together in time for one last assault on the Slimbridge goal before the break. Short, sharp passing between Jake Adams, Taylor and Ragguette enabled them to pick their way through a flock of blue shirts around the Swans’ penalty area. Ragguette crossed from the left-wing byline and Williams controlled under pressure to strike on the half-turn, his effort deflecting off a defender and then running under the foot of Taylor to go out of play to the right of goal.
HALF-TIME
SLIMBRIDGE AFC 1
AFC TOTTON 2
There were no changes at half-time but Adam Tomasso had good reason to wish he’d been substituted within a few minutes of the restart, when he took Luke Smith’s powerful shot in a very sensitive region. Physio Andrew Handley came onto the pitch to attend to him, but could offer little more than sympathy and a wry smile. Smith was in the action again when play resumed, slide-tackling Ragguette to prevent the wing-back setting off on another attacking run.
It took a while for the second half to get going. A foul by Ben McLean on his opposite No.8 Lewis Waterfield in midfield resulted in a free-kick to Totton and a talking to for the Slimbridge bench whose complaints were a little too vociferous for the Referee’s liking. Ben Hands had to intervene to break up a neat passing move between Waterfield and Williams, after Taylor played a dangerous diagonal pass into the Totton frontline. Hands was on deck again, shortly after, to head away Jake Adams’s corner.
CHARGE!: Jake Adams leads the assault on the Slimbridge goal during the second half.
Jake Adams came within a whisker of extending Totton’s lead in the 54th minute. Taylor put in a strong tackle high up the pitch to maintain attacking pressure on the home side, but it was a partially-grounded defender who actually kicked the ball square to Waterfield. With his forward progress blocked, the midfielder turned to his right to find Kpohomouh charging forward to offer support, to receive the ball and lay it off to Adams on the right-wing touchline, with the Slimbridge defence shuffling across to try and block his attacking angles. Adams quickly shifted the ball back infield to Taylor on the edge of the box who, despite two defenders in close attendance, back-heeled into the D, where Jake Adams had continued his run and struck a first-time shot past his stranded namesake in the Slimbridge goal and against the top of the crossbar at the top-left corner. It was a terrific, flowing attacking team move that deserved a goal.
Shortly after, Pascal Kpohomouh pulled up chasing the ball on the right-hand side and had to be replaced by Callum Baughan. Then, Slimbridge thought they had a penalty claim when Tomasso went in strong inside his own box to compete for the ball from Olumuyiwa’s header, but the Referee was nearby and gave the arm-crossing-and-uncrossing signal to indicate no penalty. The Stags’ skipper was called to the Referee soon after, though, for pushing in midfield. Olumuyiwa again got his head to the ball to prevent the home side benefitting from Ben Hands’ free-kick from deep. From the resulting corner, Skrzyniarz had to palm the ball away from his back post to stop an on-target header, Tomasso again getting involved to throw himself in front of the ball and smother the follow-up chance.
Taylor did well on the edge of his own box to deflect McLean’s attempt off-target, before the resulting corner was overhit. Slimbridge kept on coming, though, and Skrzyniarz came off his line to jump between two forwards to punch Yeo’s cross away.
On 67 minutes, Totton manager Jimmy Ball sent Shaquille Gwengwe on in place of Izzy Kaba on the Totton right. A big clearance downfield by Hands brought Skrzyniarz a long way out of his penalty area. An awkward bounce briefly threatened to embarrass him but he managed to readjust his feet and boot the ball away.
INFLUENTIAL: Midfielder Lewis Waterfield delivered another impressive display to maintain his fine run of form since returning from a loan spell at Lymington Town.
Jake Adams received the ball from Callum Baughan’s right-wing throw-in and, stretching to keep it in play at the byline, he knocked the ball into the path of Gwengwe whose fierce shot from the angle of the 6-yard-box was blocked by the buttocks of defender Joel White. Slimbridge defended the corner and went on the counter-attack. Taylor tripped his man to prevent him exploiting the speed of their breakaway but the Referee opted to play the advantage. By the time Ragguette had come across to clear into touch, it wasn’t clear where the advantage was supposed to have been; Taylor was shown the yellow card but play continued with a Slimbridge throw-in, which they couldn’t capitalise upon.
With 20 minutes to go, Gwengwe was able to isolate the left-back Turner from the half-way line, using his pace, strength and determination to attack the space behind him. Although Turner appeared to have the better of him at one point, Gwengwe forced the ball infield to Taylor, on the edge of the box. He set himself on his usually reliable left foot but ballooned his shot high and wide to the left of goal.
Slimbridge were deliberately sending the ball high into the Totton half, aware that the combination of the high bounce from the hard surface and the swirling winds above the Thornhill Park stadium were causing the Stags some problems. Olumuyiwa was caught out by once bounce but Skrzyniarz was out quickly to deal with it.
When Gwengwe won a free-kick with 10 minutes to go, it was notable that Olumuyiwa stayed back rather than going forward in search of another goal, as Totton were edging close to a play-off qualification spot. The kick was taken short before Adams delivered into the box, but Williams was called up for a push on the keeper.
TAYLOR MADE: Ethan Taylor running through the Slimbridge defence on his way to setting up Brett Williams's opener.
Baughan’s tackle on half-way dispossessed Slimbridge substitute Romaine Campbell to prevent the home side launching a counter-attack. Jake Adams then popped up on the left-hand side to drive a low shot across goal, which Lewis Adams pushed wide for a corner on the opposite side. Jake Adams went over to take it himself, laying the ball short to Taylor who passed it straight back to him on the touchline, before receiving the return pass and dancing between two defenders on his way back across the edge of the penalty area from the right-hand side. As White came out to meet him, he laid the ball off to Medway inside the D, whose first-time pass found Brett Williams. A deft back-heel from Williams wrong-footed Hands and returned the ball to Ethan TAYLOR on the penalty spot to skip around the goalkeeper and roll the ball home for the goal his overall performance deserved. Slimbridge argued that Taylor was offside on the final pass and the Referee went over to discuss the matter with his assistant on Totton’s right flank, before confirming the goal would stand and showing the yellow card to William Hawes for dissent.
In that moment, Totton were 3-1 up with eight minutes remaining, while Bristol Manor Farm were trailing to Winchester City by a scoreline of 1-2, which - had it remained the same - would have put Totton into the play-offs. But, within a few minutes, news filtered through that Owen Howe had equalised for the Farmy Army and - certainly among the fans, if not the players who were likely still unaware of events at the Creek - there was an air of resignation that it wasn’t going to be Totton’s day, after all.
Adam Tomasso’s high forward pass down the centre brought Lewis Adams out of his box. The Referee had no problem with the manner in which Brett Williams shrugged him off and actually knocked him over, but the veteran striker’s finish was pulled too far to the left, with defenders getting back around him. It didn’t make any difference at that point and when the Referee blew the final whistle, the result at the Creek was also confirmed. AFC Totton will remain in the Southern League Div.1 South for at least another season. Their final game of the 2021/22 campaign will be the Southampton Senior Cup final against Folland Sports on 05 May.
Elsewhere, congratulations to Plymouth Parkway who sealed the title and automatic promotion with a 3-0 home win against Cinderford Town. Frome Town secured 2nd place with a 5-0 thrashing of Lymington Town at the Lymington Sports Ground, ex-Stag Jonathan Davies notching a hat-trick. Two goals from Benjamin Whitehead at the end of the first half were enough to ensure that Cirencester Town also finished the regular season on a win, 2-1 at Paulton Rovers for whom Leighton Thomas scored to take his season’s total in the league to 27 goals.
Another former Stag, Craig Feeney had put Winchester ahead at Bristol Manor Farm before Kye Simpson equalised to put the teams level at the break. Oliver Bailey nudged the Citizens ahead again in the 76th minute but Owen Howe’s goal seven minutes from time ensured a 2-2 stalemate. Sholing’s Daniel Mason, who scored the winner against Totton at the Snows Stadium on Easter Monday, was on-target again with the only goal of the game at home to bottom club Barnstaple Town, who are relegated along with Mangotsfield United. Cinderford Town will be in a promotion/relegation play-off.
In relation to league goals only, Leighton Thomas of Paulton Rovers finishes the season as the division’s top scorer on 27. Owen Howe’s 24 goals, split between Bristol Manor Farm and Barnstaple Town, put him second, with AFC Totton’s Hisham Kasimu - absent today - finishing third on 21.
The final Southern League Div.1 South table, season 2021/22
Match Report by Ben Rochey-Adams
Images courtesy of Craig Hobbs Photography
