AFC Totton
SOUTHERN LEAGUE PREMIER DIVISION SOUTH - Matchday#4
Saturday 19 August 2023 | Charters Community Stadium, Winchester | Att: 378
WINCH WHACKED BY SIX-GOAL STAGS IN EMPHATIC DERBY AWAY WIN
WINCHESTER CITY 0
AFC TOTTON 6
Matty Burrows 22mins; Leon Maloney 26mins, 37mins;
Scott Rendell 61mins, 65mins (pen), 72mins
AFC TOTTON STAMPED THEIR AUTHORITY on their first Hampshire Derby of the season with a one-sided away victory at Winchester City’s Charters Community Stadium yesterday (Saturday 19 August 2023), hitting half-a-dozen goals without reply to quell one of their traditionally noisiest neighbours and lift themselves to fourth in the fledgling Southern League Premier Division South table.
Effervescent winger Matty Burrows got the ball rolling with his second goal of the season in the 22nd minute. Midfield maestro Leon Maloney, who pulled the strings from the middle of the park all afternoon for the away side, opened his AFC Totton goalscoring account with two strikes before the break - the first one possibly fortuitous; the second, a sublime long-range pearler. Despite several other Stags players coming close and keeping Winchester goalkeeper Jasper Sheik in permanent employment for the full 90 minutes, the only name to be added to the scoresheet after the interval was that of captain Scott Rendell, who plundered a second-half hat-trick to kickstart his 2023/24 goals tally.
Jimmy Ball’s charges made the short trip up the M3 still without the services of midfield pairing Mike Carter and Charlie Davis, with Josh Carmichael considered only fit enough to be named on the bench. Charlie Kennedy continued to deputise in the holding midfield role, alongside Adam Tomasso, meaning Sam Magri partnered Luke Hallett in central defence in a Starting XI that was unchanged from the midweek win over Poole Town. Aldershot Town loanee Keane Anderson was joined on the bench by Ben Winterburn, an 18-year-old defensive midfielder who was signed on loan from AFC Bournemouth on Friday afternoon.
AFC TOTTON
Starting XI
1. Lewis NOICE
2. Benny READ
15. Sam MAGRI
6. Luke HALLETT
3. Jordan RAGGUETTE
5. Charlie KENNEDY
8. Adam TOMASSO
17. Leon MALONEY
11. Matty BURROWS
9. Scott RENDELL
18. Jake SCRIMSHAW
Substitutes
10. Ethan TAYLOR
12. Josh CARMICHAEL
14. Ben WINTERBURN
16. Alfie STANLEY
19. Keane ANDERSON
With dark grey cloud surrounding the stadium on all four sides but a mercifully bright sky immediately above, AFC Totton got the match underway wearing their changed kit of gun metal grey and bright yellow. Tommy Wright, one of three former AFC Totton players in Winchester’s starting line-up, had the first sniff of goal, until Luke Hallett snuffed out the chance by heading back to his goalkeeper Lewis Noice.
Scott Rendell spread the play wide to the right to enable Matty Burrows to run at ex-Stags defender Callum Baughan, well known to his former teammates as a right-back but operating at left-back, perhaps in a deliberate tactical move to nullify Burrows’ threat. The winger won a throw-in high up the pitch, from which Benny Read was eventually able to curl a cross into the box which Winchester cleared.
The next time Burrows and Baughan came up against one another, with just four minutes on the clock, the full-back was beaten for pace right in front of the Assistant Referee and mistimed his sliding tackle badly enough to earn himself the first yellow card of the game. Leon Maloney delivered the free-kick into the area but defender Robert Jamison did enough to lift the ball beyond Rendell’s reach.
Despite a few bumps in the playing surface, Totton were getting into their stride and Benny Read pushed forward from right-back, gliding inside to evade Simba Mlambo’s challenge before letting fly from 30 yards with a well-struck effort that Jasper Sheik parried and then grabbed at the second attempt as Rendell closed in.
OPENING GOAL: Matty Burrows scored the first goal go the game as AFC Totton put six past Winchester City without reply at the Charters Community Stadium.
Jake Scrimshaw harried his marker into conceding a corner on the Totton left. Maloney curled a high one, which bent around the far post and out of play, with Sheik seemingly having it covered should Rendell or Hallett managed to get their head to it.
Winchester won a free-kick about 15 yards into Totton’s half for a push by Sam Magri on Wright. Oliver Balmer clipped the ball into the visitors’ area where Mlambo had stolen a yard but he couldn’t sort his feet out quickly enough to make a solid connection. Then, a bobble got the better of Charlie Kennedy inside his own half, but Read was able to tidy up before the home side could take advantage.
Sheik was required to come rushing out of his goal to head the ball away from Adam Tomasso’s punt forward in the 10th minute, to prevent Burrows latching onto it. Then, Patrick ‘Pip’ Nolan, the third ex-Stag in the Winchester team, had to guide the ball back to his keeper to stop Burrows receiving a Leon Maloney through-ball.
Winchester were already creaking under the weight of Totton pressure, exemplified when their captain Jamie Barron conceded a free-kick for a routine foul on Rendell near the halfway line but then gave the Referee no choice but to show the second yellow card of the game by kicking the ball away. Sheik did well to collect Maloney’s delivery amongst the bodies in the box.
Another loose pass from Kennedy gave the ball to Winchester, but Magri was well-positioned to head the ball away from Archie Wilcox’s right-wing cross. Then, Noice struck a long diagonal ground kick out to Jordan Ragguette on the left-wing, who made his way to the byline before his cross was turned away by the men in red-and-black.
Benny Read tested Sheik from distance again, when Rendell teed up the right-back for another strike that appeared to be gathering pace on its way to goal. Sheik did well to parry once more and ensure the ball rebounded away from the incoming players in gun metal grey.
Maloney’s pass in midfield was intercepted and Winchester sprung forward, with Warren Bentley overlapping Mlambo to get forward down the left before Hallett turned the low cross away into midfield. Rendell redirected out to Burrows on the wing and Baughan resorted to bodychecking his opponent. Already on a yellow card, the full-back was understandably pensive when the Referee beckoned him but he was allowed to get away with a final warning. From the free-kick, Hallett lifted the ball towards the far side of the penalty area where Rendell leapt high to head across goal. Nolan headed out for a corner.
Maloney’s cross was too hard but Burrows retrieved it on the opposite flank and, after jockeying with a defender for a moment, stood a cross into the box that Magri got his head to without much power behind it. Maloney pulled the ball back to Tomasso, who clipped it back to the right of the defensive ruck where Hallett was still in an advanced position to head on, looking for Rendell. Sheik snatched the ball away before the centre-forward could adjust his position.
Winchester attacked Totton in the 22nd minute, with Wright taking a cross-field pass at the left-wing byline and whipping the ball into the box. Ragguette headed the ball away and when it was returned, Hallett lifted it forward to Rendell in the centre-circle. He chested the ball down and Scrimshaw released Burrows to attack down the right flank, with Baughan and Nolan both in attendance for the home side, the situation seemingly under control. With a flurry of his feet and a shimmy to the right 20 yards from goal, Matty BURROWS made enough room to squeeze his shot between the two defenders, across the goalkeeper and into the bottom-left corner of the net to open the scoring.
Within a few minutes of the restart, Rendell was involved in a tussle for possession near the halfway line and when the ball popped loose to Tomasso, Jamie Barron brought him down. Like Baughan, he was already on a yellow card and was fortunate to find the Referee in a patient enough mood not to earn his marching orders. The free-kick was just over midway inside Winchester’s half, close to the left-wing touchline. Leon MALONEY took it, sending a high curling ball over the first tranche of attackers and defenders to bounce on the edge of the six-yard box. Having no doubt anticipated a header from somebody in front of him, Sheik reacted a fraction too late to the bounce and could only help the ball into the bottom-right corner of the goal with his left hand. It was Leon Maloney’s first AFC Totton goal.
There was no respite for the home team. Read and Burrows combined down the right flank, forcing Mlambo to chase back and charge Burrows’ cross out of play for a corner. Burrows took the corner, which Baughan could only direct upward with his defensive header. Winchester scrambled the ball half-clear, before Tomasso fired over the crossbar from outside the box.
A strong tackle from Jordan Ragguette halted Winchester’s progress down their right-hand side, close to the halfway line. Then, Mlambo got to the left-wing byline and pulled the ball back to Wright, whose effort was blocked by Magri, resulting in a corner on the Winchester left. Hallett headed the cross out and Wright’s volley from about 20 yards out sent the ball a long way over the crossbar.
Winchester created their best opening of the first half when Balmer took on Ragguette at the right-wing byline and chipped the ball to belong the far post where Simba Mlambo had peeled away to direct a firm header back across goal but narrowly wide to the right.
Rendell and Scrimshaw hassled the Winchester defence into a mistake, but they lived to tell the tale and Mlambo was briefly through on goal before Hallett strode across to shutdown the situation, before the game had to be stopped so Jasper Sheik, the Winchester City goalkeeper, could receive some treatment.
MAN OF THE MATCH: Two-goal Leon Maloney scored a spectacular goal and pulled the strings from midfield on a productive afternoon for The Stags in the Hampshire Derby.
If there was more than a hint of good fortune about Leon Maloney’s first AFC Totton goal, his second was a strike of pure genius. In the 36th minute, Scott Rendell went across to the left-hand side to bring a high ball under control. Having dragged two defenders towards himself, the captain had the presence of mind to hook the ball to his team’s No.17 in a pocket of space further infield. As Maloney received possession about 40 yards from goal and turned to survey the situation in front of him, Burrows made a dart for the right wing and loudly demanded to be played in behind the beleaguered Baughan. But Leon MALONEY had already made his mind up and with a wave of that magic wand of a right foot, he bent a glorious long-range shot over and beyond the outreached hand of Sheik and into the postage stamp space in the top-right corner of the Winchester goal, tripling AFC Totton’s advantage with a genuine contender for Goal of the Season.
If it had been a boxing match, the Referee probably would have ended it there and then. But a punch-drunk Winchester had no choice but to continue and it wasn’t long before Totton were probing their defences, again. Burrows was fouled but the Referee waved play on as the visitors quickly switched the play to the left, where Ragguette got to the byline and centred, winning a corner. Maloney tried a low cross but that was dugout and cleared by the defence.
Ragguette took a throwing from the left, hurling the ball infield to enable Rendell, on the edge of the D, to knock down behind the defence for Scrimshaw to hit a snapshot which Sheik saved. Then, a loose pass from Balmer presented the ball back to Maloney, who picked out Ragguette on the left and he charged forward before being bodychecked by Callum Baughan, who had switched to right-back in a bid to free himself from torment at the hands of Burrows. All 378 people in the ground expected to see the former Stag to be shown his second yellow card, but the Referee instead gave him a final, final warning.
Maloney played the free-kick short to Ragguette on the left. He scampered to the byline and crossed to the near post, where Rendell got across his man but headed wide. Play was called back anyway; the ball was already out before Ragguette crossed it.
Sheik came a long way out of his goal to block Rendell’s attempted shot, as the big centre-forward had to wait an age for the ball to drop from the sky. Midfielder Daniel Jones tried to force his way through the middle of Totton’s defence, but Magri kicked the ball against him to win a goal kick for the visitors.
Four minutes of first-half stoppage time were indicated. Mlambo managed to isolate Magri in an awkward position until Noice cleared the ball the length of the pitch. Then, Read lobbed the ball forward down the right. Burrows nipped in between Nolan and Sheik, who’d come rushing out again, but Nolan did enough to prevent Burrows aiming for goal while his keeper retreated. Read made an underlapping run into the inside-right channel, bustling into the box to take Burrows’ pass and drive a powerful angled shot at Sheik. The keeper blocked and when the ball fell back to Read, he could only blast it over the top.
Magri had to stretch to stop Wright getting away into space on the Winchester left. Then, a lapse in defensive concentration by Ragguette allowed Mlambo to get in a cross from the right wing that Wright met close to the near post but could only stab wide.
Just before the half-time break, Scrimshaw kept a lost cause in play at the right-wing byline, pulling the ball back for Burrows to cross. Rendell met it in the middle with a firm header that Sheik was well-placed to save.
HALF-TIME
WINCHESTER CITY 0
AFC TOTTON 3
Winchester City Manager Craig Davis did the sensible thing by withdrawing Callum Baughan before he could be sent-off, replacing him with Trevor Caborn, who lined up on the right wing as part of a tactical reshuffle from the home side.
No doubt on the wrong end of a rollicking from their manager during the break, Winchester came out with their tails up. Magri made an interception to prevent one through-ball releasing Mlambo, but Bentley took aim with a long shot towards the bottom-right corner, which Noice saved by diving low to his left. Then, Ragguette misjudged the bounce of a diagonal ball across the Totton defence, but the attempted through-ball that followed was too far ahead of Wright.
Five minutes into the second half, Aldershot Town loanee Keane Anderson was given his AFC Totton debut when he came off the bench to replace Adam Tomasso in midfield. Shortly after, Matty Burrows was shown the yellow card clipping Nolan’s heels after losing out in the initial tackle. Totton defended the free-kick and got forward, again; Scrimshaw played a one-two with Maloney to work his way into the box at the inside-left channel and then crossed to Burrows on the right, whose header went up rather than at goal. Winchester cleared and tried to counter, but Magri was well-placed once more to intervene.
Burrows was brought down inside Winchester's half. The free-kick was taken quickly by Maloney, putting Rendell through at inside-left. He advanced into the area and struck a left-footed shot that Sheik pushed over the bar. From the right-wing corner, the ball was headed into midfield where Keane Anderson took possession and redirected it to Burrows on the right, via a deflection off a defender. Burrows bent a cross to the far side of the six-yard box where Luke Hallett’s header bounced passed Sheik to leave Scott RENDELL with an open goal to nod home his first goal of 2023/24.
Before play could restart, Jimmy Ball was shown his third yellow card for something that happened in or around the dugout (new rules have been introduced this season concerning manager and coach behaviour and who can stand where in certain situations, but when the officials consider those rules to have been transgressed, they don’t communicate the what, when and why of it to the watching crowd).
Tommy Wright was fighting a losing battle as Winchester’s lone striker, though he may have had a call for a penalty when he was prevented from challenging Noice for a high ball by Hallett tugging his arm.
The Stags went five-nil up on 61 minutes. Ragguette took a throw-in from the left, finding Scrimshaw who hooked infield to Rendell. The captain played Burrows into the inside-right channel, and as he tried to shimmy his way past his marker, he momentarily got the ball stuck between his feet before side-stepping a challenge that sent him to ground. The Referee pointed to the penalty spot and Scott RENDELL, who had a spot-kick saved against Poole Town on Wednesday night, made no mistake this time to double his tally.
Jimmy Ball then replaced one Ben with another by substituting the right-back Read with AFC Bournemouth loanee midfielder Winterburn, for his AFC Totton debut.
INDUSTRIOUS: Striker Jake Scrimshaw's work rate posed problems for the Winchester City defence in Totton's 6-0 away win.
Archie Wilcox surged forward for Winchester with Jake Scrimshaw in hot pursuit. Magri got the ball away but The Citizens came again with Trevor Caborn drifting in from the right to hit a left-footed shot that Noice reacted well to parry before Magri hacked away for a corner. From the cross, Scrimshaw headed the ball away before Mlambo could reach it. Barron sent over another corner from the Winchester left, which Noice pushed away from within a crowd of bodies. Magri headed clear from the next corner.
Matty Burrows was somehow flagged offside despite being in his own half of the pitch. Then, an intricate passing move through the middle by Winchester ended with the ball coming out to Caborn on the right and his cross being smashed over the bar by Wright.
Scrimshaw’s hard work almost paid off when Rendell teed him up for a strike at goal from 18 yards, but Sheik made a good save low to his right. Then, Totton extended their lead still further on 69 minutes. Burrows continued to be a persistent nuisance for the Winchester defence; like a wasp at a picnic, every time they thought they had swatted him away, he came buzzing back for more. He worked his way to the right-wing byline and, with two defenders between him and the goal, he pulled the ball back to Maloney on the left of the penalty spot. He feinted one way and jinked the other before stabbing the ball square for Scott RENDELL to swing his right foot and complete his hat-trick via the inside of the left-hand upright.
Tommy Wright’s race was run; he came off to be replaced by Conor Lynch, with Warren Bentley also going off for IK Hill. Alfie Stanley came on for Totton, with Jake Scrimshaw making way.
Stanley was soon into the action, linking up with Rendell to work the ball out to Burrows via Maloney. Burrows drove in a low cross-shot that Sheik took at his near post.
Ragguette scuffed his clearance and then conceded a free-kick in his attempt to rectify the situation, earning himself a booking in the process. Ollie Balmer, who scored directly from two free-kicks for Winchester in a 2-2 draw at the Snows Stadium two years ago, curled his left-footed effort two feet over the bar.
Caborn fired into the side-netting behind the right-hand post, after being played in behind Ragguette by Mlambo. Then, IK Hill’s cross from the left was cleared over his own bar by Hallett. Noice caught the cross. When Caborn tried to get his motor running down the Winchester right, again, Ragguette was in quickly with a well-timed sliding tackle midway inside the Totton half.
Stanley, Burrows and Kennedy worked a tight space down the right-hand side before Stanley fired across goal and out of play. Then, Ben Winterburn showed tidy feet while intercepting a pass in midfield and trying to thread one into the path of Maloney, but he slightly over-hit the pass and the ball ran through to Sheik.
Burrows inability to give up on a lost cause almost caused embarrassment for Wilcox, who had his pocket picked by the winger, who slipped the ball short to Anderson. He found Rendell who in turn played Alfie Stanley in at the inside-left with just the goalkeeper to beat. He did the hard part, squeezing his shot beyond Sheik to the near side, only to see the ball bounce back off the left-hand post.
A strong shoulder charge by Mlambo knocked Magri off the ball. The Referee allowed it but Anderson and Ragguette both converged on the forward before he could capitalise. And Mlambo was presented with Winchester’s best chance of the day shortly after, when Trevor Caborn took on Ragguette and fired in a cross that Mlambo direct over from six yards. The pace at which the ball had come at him made it a difficult chance to control.
Shortly before the end, Maloney took a boot to the face when the ball popped up between he and IK Hill. Then, Stanley tried to make progress down the right before a defender got in his way and the ball bounced invitingly for Matty Burrows to try an angled, long-range volley that flew across goal and narrowly wide.
After the match, AFC Totton Manager Jimmy Ball (pictured) said:
“It was an enjoyable afternoon, for a change. I thought we got the mentality exactly right against Poole Town on Wednesday and we did again today. Young Leon Maloney showed us what a very, very good footballer he is. He has bags of talent and he put in a real shift today that shows he can do it in men’s football, which was very pleasing.
“Keane Anderson has had to be patient but he got his chance today and did well. We took off a good player in Adam Tomasso but we didn’t look any weaker for it, and I thought Keane equipped himself well and Ben Winterburn also looked solid when he came on. We have the kind of environment where players never rest on their laurels; we were three goals up at half-time and there were some players who were still unhappy in the dressing room during the break because they wanted the ball playing in a certain way, and the lads have worked together to produce a thoroughly professional performance against what we know is a good side. I thought we were very good from the first whistle to the last, not just in forward areas - as you’d expect on a day when we’ve scored six - but the defence barely put a foot wrong all game, as well, one or chances conceded aside.
“As a manager, I probably enjoy a 1-0 win like Wednesday night against Poole a little more than a big score like this. But these players are capable of producing results like this when they are all on their game and the stars align. We know Winchester are a good side but when our lads are in this kind of form, they make themselves very difficult to live with.
“Our focus is already on the next game, now. We don’t have a midweek game this week,, so we’ll have two training sessions with the players and look to take this positive momentum into the home game against Hanwell Town next weekend. The support here today was incredible, so I want to thank the fans for showing up in their numbers. The players love having them at away games and I think they were treated to an enjoyable afternoon’s football today.”
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Next Up: AFC TOTTON vs HANWELL TOWN
Southern League Premier Division South | Matchday#5 | Snows Stadium, Totton SO40 2RW | Saturday 26 August 2023 | Kick-Off at 3:00pm | BUY TICKETS
LIVE Commentary on StagsRadio on 'X' Spaces
By Ben Rochey-Adams
Images courtesy of Craig Hobbs Photography
