AFC Totton
Photo courtesy of Ben Brees
By Josh Cole
Next up for AFC Totton is a home game in the Enterprise National League South against Kent-outfit, Ebbsfleet United!
Last time out the Stags grinded a 2-1 win on home soil against Maidenhead United. Click here to recap and read the match report.
You can also re-watch the interviews with Jimmy Ball and Matt Hall and hear what they had to say following that win and looking ahead to this game.
EBBSFLEET UNITED – THEIR SEASON SO FAR:
Before this game, The Fleet are sat in 11th position in the league table, on 22 points from 14 games.
After relegation from the National League last campaign, Ebbsfleet started this season hot, with three wins out of their first three games against Dagenham & Redbridge (0-2), Chippenham (1-0) & Chelmsford (1-0), without conceding a goal in those games.
But their form didn’t carry as they then went winless in their next three, losing away at Slough 2-0, drawing at home against Bath City, 1-1, and losing away at Hampton & Richmond 3-2.
Then came another two draws in the league but against good opposition in 3rd placed Hemel Hempstead and 1st placed Hornchurch.
In their first FA Cup game they beat Ashford Town (Middx) 5-0 to progress into the third qualifying round to which they beat Faversham Town, 2-1. Sandwiched in between those Cup games was a league loss at Plainmoor to Torquay (1-0).
Ebbsfleet’s league form continued to suffer, with a 2-2 draw at home against then bottom of the table Eastbourne Borough. However, their Cup form continued to be good as they beat Cray Valley 1-4 in the Kent Senior Cup, and then beat National League opposition in Solihull Moors in the FA Cup 4th qualifying round, 2-0.
League form for the Kent side picked up, with two wins in three to round out October. Then came their first round proper match away at EFL league two side Grimsby, to which despite taking the lead and leading 0-1 at half-time, unfortunately for Ebbsfleet they did end up conceding three and losing the match.
In their last outing on Tuesday night it was a solid 1-0 win against Maidstone which leaves them in 11th place as of right now.
LAST FIVE: AFC TOTTON (Most recent result first)
Vs Maidenhead United | Home | ENLS | Won 2-1
Goalscorers: Joe Oastler 24’ & Christie Ward 70’
Vs Macclesfield FC | Away | FA Cup 1st Round Proper | Lost 6-3
Goalscorers: Tony Lee 9’ & Scott Rendell 17’ 27’
Vs Chelmsford City | Home | ENLS | Won 2-1
Goalscorers: Tony Lee 3’ & Christie Ward 20’
Vs Bath City | Away | ENLS | Lost 2-0
Vs Hemel Hempstead | Home | ENLS | Won 2-1
Goalscorers: Tyler Cordner 10’ & Ash Clarke 27’
LAST FIVE: EBBSFLEET UNITED
Vs Maidstone | Home | ENLS | Won 1-0
Goalscorer: Ronny Nelson 59’
Vs Grimsby | Away | FA Cup 1st Round Proper | Lost 3-1
Goalscorer: Charlie Seaman 34’
Vs Salisbury | Home | ENLS | Won 2-0
Goalscorers: Jake Hessenthaler 54’ & Maxx Manktelow 90+6’
Vs Enfield Town | Away | ENLS | Lost 3-1
Goalscorer: Dominic Samuel 90’
Vs Dorking Wanderers | Home | ENLS | Won 2-1
Goalscorers: Ben Chapman 60’ & Dominic Samuel 76’
COMPARING THE STATS (all comps)
|
AFC Totton |
Ebbsfleet United |
|
|
20 |
Matches Played |
19 |
|
35 |
Goals scored |
30 |
|
28 |
Goals conceded |
19 |
|
+7 |
GD |
+11 |
|
4 |
Clean sheets |
8 |
MY OPPOSITION PLAYERS TO WATCH:
DEFENCE: Max Ehmer
German-born centre-back who arrived at the Kuflink Stadium in summer 2025 having played almost 600 senior games, with nine of the last 10 seasons at Priestfield, making him the record appearance holder this century for the Gills. Ehmer came through QPR’s youth system, making his Championship debut in 2013.
Before that, he had gained plenty of loan experience elsewhere in the EFL with Yeovil Town in 2010/11 and later Preston North End, Stevenage and Carlisle United. Team captain at the Gills from 2017, he was a permanent fixture in the side for a decade.
He had a season at Bristol Rovers in League One in 2020/21 but returned to skipper the Gills once more after that.
MIDFIELD: George Moncur
Signed in January 2025 from Leyton Orient on a loan deal to the end of this season. The attacking midfielder has made almost 400 appearances in the EFL after coming through the academy ranks at West Ham United where his father John played for nine years.
After departing the Hammers, he signed for Colchester United and was a regular feature for the U’s in League One for two seasons. He followed that with a move to Barnsley in the Championship, staying at that level in subsequent seasons with Luton Town and Hull City.
He made the switch to East London with Leyton Orient ahead of the 2022/23 season, winning the third promotion of his career and scoring nine goals as the O’s finished as League Two champions.
He was a regular starter for Orient last season in League One before appearing 15 times for Southend United on loan earlier in 2024/25.
ATTACK: Kwesi Appiah
Seventeen years on from emerging from Fleet’s youth academy, Kwesi Appiah returned to re-sign for the club from Boreham Wood in June 2025. He fired 24 league goals last season to help take the Wood back into the National League at the first time of asking, ending 2024/25 in second place in the division’s scoring charts.
Appiah, a Ghana international who played in the 2015 African Cup of Nations Final, first played for the Fleet in 2007 and he scored in his home league debut in the Conference.
He was signed by Peterborough United in October 2008 before time back in non-league football that included prolific spells with Kings Lynn Town (nine goals in 10 games) and at Margate in 2011/12 where he scored 35 goals in 34 games. That earned him a move to Crystal Palace in 2012, and he played six times in the Championship for the Eagles while also finding the back of the net on loan elsewhere in the EFL for the likes of Yeovil Town, Cambridge United, Notts County and Reading.
Appiah ended a five-year stay at Selhurst Park with the short move to AFC Wimbledon in 2017 which began three seasons in League One. Meanwhile, he had made the first of 15 caps for Ghana, scoring his first international goal in the AFCON.
After leaving Wimbledon in 2020, Appiah had a short stay in the Indian Super League before representing Crawley Town, Colchester United and for the past two seasons Boreham Wood, where he enjoyed success last year with one of the most prolific returns of his career.
MATCH OFFICIALS:
Referee: Steven Swan
Assistant: David Morey
Assistant: Imran Khan
Fourth Official: Paul Barber
GO STAGS
