AFC Totton
STAGS CHALK UP 1st WIN OF THE SEASON
AFC Totton 2-1 Yate Town
Attendance – 307
The Stags were at home for the 1st time in 2 weeks as they hosted visitors from Gloucestershire, Yate Town. Missing from Totton’s squad today were notably Roden, Watts, Gosney and Rolls.
Yate managed to get the upper hand in the opening moments of this match, but were unable to break the deadlock. First, Monelle cut in from the left hand side and shot from distance, but his effort went harmlessly over the bar. The visitors surged forward again, targeting an early goal, but Stags keeper Steve Mowthorpe was on hand to deny them, after 8 minutes, Kane Ingram cut inside and fired a shot, this time on target, towards the far post and was palmed away well by the Stags stopper. Totton then got themselves going and began to grow into the game.
Just after the half hour mark, there was a great exchange of passes between Neil Willams and Nathaniel Sherborne, that had that ‘Bluebells’ defence backtracking in panic and won themselves a corner, which unfortunately Yate keeper Martin Horsell rose to claim. Moments later, The Stags had the ball in the net, only to be adjudged offside. The move began when Stags captain Liam Hibberd, broke down a Yate move with a good challenge and then had the freedom of the centre of the pitch to run into, before playing in Feeney who slotted home, only for the linesman to raise his flag. Totton were well on top now, closing down in numbers and working extremely hard to win and keep the ball from the visitors and the good football continued as Sherborne nodded the ball on for Feeney from a high ball, he then flashed the ball across the six yard box, but there wasn’t a blue shirt close enough to get on the end of it.
Just before half time, it was a Sherborne and Feeney combination again, as the former found the latter with a hooked pass forward and Feeney only had the opportunity to shoot on his left foot and scuffed the shot which ran through to Horsell, perhaps via a deflection off an retreating defender. HT 0-0
The Stags absolutely burst out of ten blocks in the second period and within 2 minutes, they’d got themselves a goal infront. Following on from a corner that had been temporarily cleared, Williams picked up on the loose ball and threaded a nice pass through for FEENEY, this time the flag stayed down and The Stags top scorer of last season, opened his account for this campaign, coolly taking his chance as the keeper advanced. Perhaps inevitably, Yate began to prove for an equalizer, but Totton managed to weather that storm, as substitute’s Camen Harvey’s attempt at a through ball evaded everybody and ran behind for a goal kick.
The Stags went back on the attack when Sherborne burst away down the left hand side with a great run and won a corner. The ball was delivered in by Jake Burgess and went straight to Williams who headed narrowly over the bar. Yate sub Camen Harvey was in the thick of the action again, moments later, as his effort cracked the crossbar after a nice ball over the top of the defence by the spritely Ingram. Yate began to pile on the pressure after the hour mark and The Stags managed to cope and defend really well, including the fantastic save by Mowthorpe from an Ingram effort, which kept Totton in the lead at an important time in the game. This seemed to relieve the pressure for the rest of the team and on 71 minutes, it showed. Feeney was sent off on one of his scampering runs down the channel and had to fight hard to cut the ball back into the area for SHERBORNE, who curled a calculated effort into the far corner to double The Stags lead.
The goal had come at a great time, given the Bluebells pressure beforehand. Credit to Yate, they continued to press and as the game entered the final 10 minutes, Neil Williams tracked back and worked hard to break down a counter attack. But in the end, Yate managed to get their goal, Kane Ingram again causing trouble down the left hand side, got to the edge of the area, before squaring for another Yate sub Jake JACKSON who slammed his effort home from close range. Although there were a few nail biting moments towards the end of the game, Yate were unable to mount any serious danger and The Stags claimed their 1st and well deserved 3 points of the season.
Stags Lineup: Mowthorpe, Manning, Diaper, Williams, Dempsey, Simpson, Burgess*, Hibberd(c), Feeney***, Sherborne, Lilley**.
Subs: Attrill, Greene, Rawkins*, Allen***, Edwards**.
