AFC Totton
All the away travel bus tickets have sold out, however, Jimmy and the lads would love to see our fans turn up in numbers again for the final league game of this campaign.
VENUE: The Spiers & Hartwell Stadium, Cheltenham Road, Evesham, Worcestershire WR11 2LZ
Scroll to the bottom of the page to see a road map.
WHEN AFC TOTTON TRAVEL to the Spiers & Hartwell Stadium in Worcestershire on Saturday to take on Evesham United, both teams will be coming into their final game of the regulation season with something to play for.
The Stags are due to face Berkhamsted in the Champion of Champions Play-Off on Saturday 29 April, with the hosts to be determined according to whichever team ends the season with the highest points per game average. At the time of writing on Thursday afternoon, The Comrades are due to play at midtable AFC Dunstable tonight and at Walthamstow on Saturday, who have already qualified for the Southern League Div.1 Central Promotion Play-Offs. Totton only have the match at Evesham United left in the league, having already sown up the Division One South title, before the play-off and, to round off the season, the Southampton Senior Cup Final against Sholing at St. Mary’s Stadium on Wednesday 17 May.
At the moment, there is very little to choose between the two Step 4 Champions in the points per game comparison. But the team from Hertfordshire have a slight advantage and a win in either of their last two matches will require Jimmy Ball’s men to triumph at Evesham on Saturday to have any chance of entertaining Berkhamsted for a second time this season, having beaten them 2-1 in the Isuzu FA Trophy back in September.
The same fate befell Evesham when they visited the Snows Stadium in the league in early-November. Scott Rendell pounced on a defensive error to put the home side ahead in the 14th minute. The Robins equalised with 13 minutes to go, when Daniel Griffiths headed home at the back post from a free-kick delivery. But The Stags won it in stoppage time when Charlie Davis announced himself to the AFC Totton fans, latching onto Brett Williams’ blocked header to strike with a last-gasp goal from the edge of the area on his debut.
Evesham’s play-off bid has been bolstered by a recent upturn in form, ending a run a five game without a win by stringing together back-to-back-to-back away wins in the Battle of The Robins at Bideford AFC – feathers flew that day – Bristol Manor Farm and Willand Rovers. All three of those opponents are destined to finish deep in the lower half of the table. Jimmy Ball’s newly-crowned Southern League Div.1 South Champions represent an altogether different proposition, as long as they maintain their professionalism and bring their typically competitive attitude with them on the three-and-a-half-hour trip to Worcestershire.
DON'T YOU FORGET ABOUT ME: Jake Adams, currently on loan at Bashley, takes on an opponent during AFC Totton's 1-0 home win over Evesham United in April 2022.
Evesham currently sit in fifth position in the league table, putting them in pole position for the last of the Play-Off berths. Frome Town’s failure to win at Totton on Tuesday night leaves them needing a rather convoluted set of results to go their way if they are to gazump Evesham at the death. Tavistock could still sneak it, if they beat Frome at home and Evesham were to lose; a draw for Evesham would leave The Lambs needing a cricket score – a winning margin of at least six goals – to steal fifth place on goal difference. Sixth-placed Bashley are tied with Tavistock on 55 points, but The Bash’s superior goal difference means that even a 1-0 victory at Paulton Rovers on Saturday would be enough to overtake Evesham, if the only manage a draw against Totton, to set-up a local Promotion Play-Off derby Semi-Final with Sholing. Evesham can only control what they do in their own matches, so they will be seeking to inflict what would be only Totton’s fourth defeat of the 2022/23 league campaign to seal their own place in the Play-Offs.
Last season’s encounter at the same venue was a ding-dong 3-3 draw, in November 2021. Brandon Smalley put the home side ahead after just four minutes. But a thunderous strike from distance by left-back Ben Jefford levelled the scores shortly after the half-hour mark, and Ethan Taylor gave Totton the lead seven minutes into the second half. Jordan Straten equalised five minutes later, but Totton went back in front when Taylor scored his second of the game in the 69th minute. One minute from full-time, the big centre-forward Michael Symons, who now plays for Cinderford Town, grabbed a late leveller to ensure the points were shared. The match was also memorable for the sight of Callum Baughan, who had suffered a head injury, wearing a white bandage around his head. In combination with the blue-and-white hooped shirt that Totton were wearing to commemorate Remembrance, the right-back resembled Mr. Bump from the Mr. Men books.
Evesham have the better of the historical record, from 16 meetings dating back to the 2011/12 season. The Robins have beaten Totton on seven occasions, while The Stags have won five times. There have been four draws. Evesham’s most recent win was a 4-3 success on their own ground in the 2018/19 season, which completed a double following their 3-1 win at the Snows Stadium in September 2019, when midfielder Marley Thomas, now of Slimbridge AFC, gave a Man of the Match display for The Robins.
By Ben Rochey-Adams and Malcolm Tombs, Club Historian
Image courtesy of Craig Hobbs Photography
ROAD MAP TO EVESHAM UNITED:
The Spiers & Hartwell Stadium, Cheltenham Road, Evesham, Worcestershire WR11 2LZ
