AFC Totton
Our bonus game this season... A head-to-head with the winners of the Southern League Division One Central. The game will be played at a neutral venue - Chesham Utd. We need you Stags fans to come along a cheer Jimmy and a lads on.
Away travel details - call 0754 0124719 now to book your seat.
EARLY BIRDS BERKHAMSTED were the first team to claim a Step 4 league championship this season, and subsequently book their place in the Champion of Champions Play-Off match on Saturday 29 April.
The treble-chasing Comrades have already achieved a League & Cup Double, combining the Southern League Div.1 Central title with the Hertfordshire Senior Cup. Meanwhile, Totton – having already banked the Southern League Div.1 South gong – will have to wait until Wednesday 17 May to face Sholing in the Southampton Senior Cup, so the upcoming Champion of Champions Play-Off will form the second leg of a potential treble for The Stags.
Berkhamsted’s title success was built on two runs of consecutive wins. The first stretched for eight games from early-October to mid-November; the second ran all the way from Boxing Day to Tuesday 21 March. By the time they lost at Hertford Town’s Hertingfordbury Park, they had already put themselves out of reach of the chasing pack, Biggleswade FC, Didcot Town, Walthamstow and Ware all struggling to keep up.
They scored four or more goals in a single game on 13 occasions throughout the campaign, with the biggest win coming with a 6-1 home win over FC Romania in January, perhaps as a mark of revenge for the 1-2 defeat suffered against the same opponents in just the third game of the season.
The period from March into April brought some indifferent form, when A 0-2 loss at Ware ended a sequence of four league games without a win. In the meantime, though, a penalty shoot-out victory over Hitchin Town saw The Comrades lift the Hertfordshire Senior Cup for the first time in the club’s short history, having been founded as recently as 2009, after Berkhamsted Town – who had won the trophy on two occasions – folded. Normal service was resumed when Highworth Town, who were with Totton in the Southern League Div.1 South last term, were put to the sword on Saturday 15 April with an emphatic 5-0 win. A 4-2 success at AFC Dunstable this past Thursday night was followed by a 2-1 victory at Walthamstow on the final day of the season on Saturday, to see Berkhamsted sign-off their 2022/23 league campaign with three straight wins.
Their top goal-scorers are Jonathan Lacey and Ryan Blake, who have 22 and 19 league goals to their names, respectively. The Central division only had 19 teams this season, following the mid-season withdrawal of Harlow Town, which led to their results being expunged from the record and the total number of matches each team in the division had to play being reduced from 38 to 36.
CHAMPIONS: Surrounded by his teammates, AFC Totton captain Mike Carter lifts the Southern League Div.1 South shield at the end of the 2022/23 campaign.
Both AFC Totton and Berkhamsted finished the season on 88 points, which left Berkhamsted ahead in terms of the average points per game comparison used to determine which team gets to host the Champion of Champions Play-Off. Some maintenance work at Berkhamsted’s Broadwater Stadium led to the AFC Totton Board offering to stage the match at the Snows Stadium, instead. But the Hertfordshire-based club preferred to retain home advantage, so they arranged to stage the tie at The Meadow, the home of nearby Chesham United.
The Generals have just finished fifth in the Southern League Premier Division South and are consequently about to take part in a Play-Off of their own at Bracknell Town, in the hope of also overcoming the winner of the tie between Truro City and Poole Town to achieve promotion to the National League South.
LATE WINNER: Jake Adams celebrates scoring the winning goal against Berkhamsted in the Isuzu FA Trophy tie at the Snows Stadium in September.
Berkhamsted have already visited Totton once this season, though, in the Isuzu FA Trophy on Saturday 24 September. Jordan Ragguette opened the scoring for the home side with a solo run and powerful shot on 18 minutes. The Comrades levelled from the penalty spot through their top scorer Jonathan Lacey, but they were later reduced to 10 men when Ben Walter was shown a second yellow card for hand-ball in the 71st minute. Jake Adams won it for The Stags, with a dip of the shoulder and a rasping drive into the roof of the net with just four minutes left on the clock. The Champion of Champions Play-Off will be only the second meeting between these two clubs.
By Ben Rochey-Adams
Image courtesy of Craig Hobbs Photography
