AFC Totton
Sherborne strike ends Stags points drought
Attendance – 230
IT was always going to be a tough ask on Saturday afternoon for Totton caretaker boss Andy Darnton, and a 1-1 draw against Yate Town is an improvement, but could have been so much better.
The New Forest club would have settled with a draw at the beginning of play after Manager Steve Hollick left on Thursday, but two injuries in the second half ended the Stags’ chance of leaving the Testwood Stadium with all three points.
Totton made a positive start early on, settling in after a torrid week on and off the pitch, but couldn’t quite find the decisive pass to break the deadlock. The Stags’ best chance coming from a Mike Gosney free kick 40 yards out, Jack Vallis’ header just wide of Jonathon Brown’s goal.
But there were worrying moments for striker Nathaniel Sherborne with 20 minutes gone – a seemingly innocuous challenge left the Stags ever-present clutching his knee, but after treatment, battled on to finish the game.
On the half hour mark, the game began to even up, Yate creating more promising chances for the Totton defence to handle. The Bluebell’s stand-out player, Kyle Thomas, was at the heart of all the attacking passes and his dangerous free kicks were regularly testing Stags ‘keeper, Steve Mowthorpe.
Totton’s attacking mindset finally paid off with just five minutes of the half remaining: Nick Watts with a reverse turn to trick his defender and play a through-ball to Sherborne, whose shot trickled into the far bottom corner, leaving Brown wrong-footed and no option but to watch as his side went behind.
Just moments later, Yate were back on the front foot, hoping to cancel out the opening goal before the half time whistle. Josh Morgan-Williams chipped the ball from outside the penalty area, forcing Mowthorpe into a fingertip save to keep the score line 1-0 at the break.
Darnton’s half time team talk worked wonders, with the home side starting with the same level of intensity as the first half, but Yate were pushing for an equaliser and found an opening on 58 minutes.
A Totton corner quickly turned into a Bluebell’s attack, leaving Mitch Tippins free on the right wing to side-foot the ball past a diving Mowthorpe.
The home crowd nearly had another goal to cheer about as Watts’ in-swinging corner found Vallis, but a clash of heads with the outcoming goalkeeper, Brown, cutting his head and needing medical treatment (and a bandage like John Terry!) which ended his game for the day.
However, as Vallis was receiving treatment on the sidelines, Totton were struck down by another injury: Ashley Jarvis pulled what looked like his hamstring and immediately hobbled before collapsing to the ground.
As the Totton medical team were already indisposed, a moment of true sportsmanship was seen by the crowd – the Yate Town physio stepping in to treat the stricken Jarvis, who looks to be out for a number of weeks.
It was to be an explosive end to the game, with both sides pushing furiously to snatch the win in the dying minutes.
On the stroke of full time, Watts had one more effort in the box after finding space, but agonisingly smashed the crossbar to end the game on level terms.
Totton have managed to put their 6-1 defeat to Wimborne and leaving of their coach behind them to show a much improved performance, but a midweek clash with local rivals Winchester will be a more difficult test.
Totton starting line-up: Mowthorpe, Hibberd, Oliver, Williams, Wilson, Vallis*, Watts, Munday, Jarvis**, Sherborne, Gosney.
Substitutes: Haynes, Web, May**, Roberts, Rolls*.
Report by Talia Jones.
