AFC Totton
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"ONCE MORE UNTO THE BREACH, DEAR FRIENDS..."
AFC TOTTON AND SALISBURY will do battle in their 44th game of the Southern League Premier Division South season at the Snows Stadium on Bank Holiday Monday, when they face-off in the Promotion Play-Off Final for a coveted spot at Step 2 of the English football pyramid in the National League South.
The Whites triumphed on their last visit to Totton’s ground in just the second game of the 2023/24 campaign, when their captain Sido Jombati converted two penalties to give Salisbury a 2-0 away win. But The Stags took the spoils when the two sides met in the return fixture at the Raymond McEnhill Stadium, when a Scott Rendell spot-kick made the crucial difference.
Salisbury finished the regular season in third place, just two points behind The Stags in the Runners-Up spot. They matched Totton’s total of 23 wins, and while their 70 goals scored were 19 fewer than Totton’s, their defensive record was comparable having only conceded one more than Totton’s 45 goals against, making them the joint-third meanest defence behind Gosport Borough and Totton, and alongside Champions Chesham United.
Salisbury’s impressive early-season form, which included a run of seven consecutive wins from mid-October to the end of November, meant The Whites were in around the title hunt and the play-off picture throughout the 2023/24 campaign, despite a sticky patch of form over the Christmas and New Year period that saw them claim only eight points from a possible 27. But a 3-0 home win over Sholing and two wins over Poole Town less than a fortnight apart – the first an epic 5-4 away victory, the second a 2-0 home win – put the rails back on the tracks.
A surprise 0-2 defeat at eventually-relegated Harrow Borough on 13 April cost The Whites dearly in contrast to Totton’s impressive form during the run-in, but they have since recorded three consecutive victories, by far the most important of which was their 2-1 Play-Off Semi-Final win on Wednesday night over a Gosport Borough side that many had fancied to win the title and take automatic promotion after their decent early-season form.
With the game having been goalless at the 70-minute mark, Boro’ centre-forward Daniel Wooden put the away side in front, but Salisbury’s former Didcot Town attacking midfielder Joshua Hedges equalised with three minutes to go of the regulation 90, setting up a stirring finish to the knock-out tie. Two minutes into injury-time, Salisbury were awarded a penalty and top scorer Noah Coppin stepped up to end Gosport’s season and send The Whites through to the Bank Holiday Monday Final at the Snows Stadium.
There is a strong sentiment among those in the Southern League know – expressed by both Lee Hobbs after watching The Stags dismantle his Plymouth Parkway side 3-0 at Bolitho Park on Monday 22 April, and by Tom Killick after his Dorchester Town side were picked apart to the tune of 4-0 at The Avenue Stadium on the last day of the regular season – that had AFC Totton begun the season with the squad of players they have now, they would have pushed Chesham United all the way and possibly come away with the Southern League Premier Division South title and back-to-back automatic promotions.
Totton come into the Play-Off Final in a rich vein of form, looking to make it nine wins from 11 games, having only dropped points in the goalless draw at Poole Town on Easter Saturday and a 0-1 defeat at Hungerford Town. Bracknell Town pushed The Stags all the way on Wednesday night, equalising late through Gary Abisogun after former Poole striker Tony Lee had put the home side ahead with a ferocious free-kick midway through the second-half. Ethan Taylor’s scrambled winner may have been less aesthetically pleasing for the football purist but it meant everything to the Totton fans, whose team are now only one step away from playing Step 2 football for the first time in the club’s 138-year history.
STRONGER TOGETHER: AFC Totton players celebrare Ethan Taylor's extra-time winner against Bracknell Town in the Southern League Premier Division South Promotion Play-Off Semi-Final.
After the match, AFC Totton Manager Jimmy Ball said:
“I don’t think we were at our fluid best but credit to Bracknell for that, who came and played an all-or-nothing game of football. We were a bit cagey in the first half and at half-time, we asked the players to be a bit braver on the ball. Nobody ever wins anything by being afraid of losing. We were very good in the second half and created chances.
“We were disappointed to concede with just four minutes to go, especially as we should have dealt with it earlier in the phase. But we kept our heads and regrouped, and when we needed a moment of calmness and composure, fortunately the ball fell to Scott Rendell who was able to put it on a plate for Ethan Taylor.
“Tony’s was some goal. I was standing right behind it; I blinked and it was in the net. Ethan’s was a bit scrappier but they all count the same in the end. The lads worked incredibly hard and deserved to win, against a Bracknell Town team that have impressed me every time we played them this season. They are a really good side - they should be proud and I’m sure they will build on that. It’s tough but somebody has to win; we did and we get to do it all again on Monday.”
By Ben Rochey-Adams
Image courtesy of Pat Fitzgerald
