AFC Totton
ROBINS STEAL THE SHOW IN SECOND HALF
Evesham United 6-0 AFC Totton
Attendance – 219
The Stags went into this game high on confidence, having beaten Larkhall at home in mid-week and also having won 3 out of their last 4 league games. Unavailable for Steve Hollick today was the suspended Jake Burgess and the injured Jack Simpson (ankle). Patrick Wilson – a centre back signed from Wimborne, also made his debut for Totton.
It was the hosts that got the game underway, shooting from right to left of the main stand. It was also the hosts that had the first sight at goal after 4 minutes. Adam Mann created himself the time and space to be able to deliver the ball across for Clayton Green, who fired at goal, but Stags stopper Steve Mowthorpe was on hand to push the ball away. Unfortunately, just 3 minutes later, Evesham were in front. With some good persistence, Adam MANN managed to get away from his man and finish beyond Mowthorpe and into the far corner. The Stags battled their way back into the game and had opportunities either side of a missed sitter from Lance Smith. Firstly, Neil Williams picked up the ball and charged forward, before feeding the ball to Nathaniel Sherborne, who miscued his attempt under high pressure from 2 red shirts. Secondly, Nick Watts broke away from midfield before attempting to put Williams through on goal, but the pass was a tad too heavy, although the signs were good for The Stags.
Just after the half hour mark, Totton perhaps had their best opportunity of the half. A good move, involving Jack Alexander and Watts, allowed Sherborne to have a shot at goal, but it went just a few inches wide. Although Evesham had a few dangerous corners and freekicks, they didn’t really trouble Mowthorpe for the remainder of the first half. HT 1-0.
The Stags kicked off the second half and were full of intent and straight on the attack. Williams again, with one of his scampering runs from midfield, tried to find Sherborne, that was blocked by Matt Sysum, but the rebound fell to Mike Gosney, who put the ball well over with his weaker right foot. Shortly afterwards, Watts made a good run down the right hand side, playing the ball off Nick Stanley to win a corner. Gosney delivered the ball in and Sherborne met the cross with a glancing header, but it was around a foot or two wide. From the resulting goalkick, Totton came straight back at Evesham, with Jack Alexander trying to find Sherborne with a cross from the right hand side of the penalty area, but Robins keeper Kevin Sawyer was able to claim the ball first.
Then came Evesham’s second goal, totally against the run of play in the second half. With 53 minutes on the clock, Lance SMITH was played through in a one on one situation and he coolly rounded Mowthorpe to finish off. It was harsh for Steve Hollick’s men, who looked as though they were just about to come into the game and make a scrap of it. As the hour mark came and went, perhaps inevitably, Evesham began to dominate proceedings. Steve Mowthorpe had to make 2 real decent saves to keep Totton in the game, the first from debutant Lewis Powell – and the second from substitute Jacob Sloggett. But there was nothing Mowthorpe could do about The Robins’ 3rd goal. As the game entered the final 20 minutes, Lewis Powell was the provider with a decent diagonal ball for Lance SMITH, who still had to control the ball, before finally finishing off into the top left hand corner.
Things then went from bad to worse for The Stags as Evesham then dealt a sucker punch, just 4 minutes later. This time it was a role reversal, as Smith played in POWELL this time and he took the ball wide of Mowthorpe, before slotting the ball home. Evesham were then comfortable for the remainder of the game, but still weren’t done there, as they added 2 more, to pile on the misery for the travelling contingent. With 2 minutes of normal time to play, Sean Wood went across and delivered in a corner, which was met with a volley by the hosts captain Matt SYSUM.
Evesham added a 6th and final goal in injury time to complete a second half to forget for The Stags. Clayton Green, who’d been a menace all afternoon, got away from his marker and crossed in for Lance SMITH to head home and complete his hat-trick. That was more or less the last action of the game as the referee blew the whistle, just seconds after The Stags restarted the game. FT 6-0
It’s strange to say that ‘we did well’ after losing 6-0, but for the first hour of the game, that’s exactly what Totton did. Although they’d gone behind, they kept themselves in the game and came out in the 2nd half looking to cause Evesham problems. However, the home side got their goal against the run of play and from there on in, The Stags struggled to have an impact on the game and Evesham were given more and more freedom to do so as the second half drew to a close.
The 2 new lads – Mitch Hunt and Patrick Wilson stepped in and looked good, until the former was substituted and the latter suffered from an in-form Lance Smith. There’s still positives to take from the first hour or so of the game, but naturally, will need to improve on the final half hour, if they are to get anything next Saturday 28th November (3pm) in a tough game against play-off hopefuls Taunton Town.
Stags Lineup: Mowthorpe, Hunt*, Diaper, Williams, Rolls, Wilson, Watts, Hibberd (c), Sherborne***, Alexander, Gosney**.
Subs: Rawkins**, Silvestre, Edwards***, Knight*.
