AFC Totton
VENUE
Badgers Hill, Berkley Road, Frome, Somerset BA11 2EH
And on Bank Holiday Monday
AFC Totton vs Sholing at the Snows Stadium - 3:00pm kick-off
When it comes to feeling like last season was a missed opportunity to gain promotion to the Southern League Premier Division South, Frome Town may have even stronger grounds for complaint than AFC Totton.
The Robins lost only four times in the regular 2021/22 league campaign, six fewer than the Stags, to finish runners-up behind Champions Plymouth Parkway. They went into the end of season play-offs as many people’s favourites to win promotion at the second attempt, only to then surprisingly fall at the first hurdle with a 1-3 defeat at home to Bristol Manor Farm.
Like most clubs in the division, Frome have seen a few comings-and-goings over the summer period. Among those arriving at Badgers Hill are Jamie Adams, a 30-year-old defender or midfielder who was voted Players’ Player of the Year at Premier Division side Yate Town last season, where he was Club Captain. He is joined at Badgers Hill by his ex-Bluebells teammate Luke Hopper, a striker who scored on his second league outing for the Robins in 3-3 draw against Willand Rovers on the same Tuesday night that Totton travelled to Hamworthy.
Manager Danny Greaves has also recruited a pair of Former Paulton Rovers defenders who spent their formative footballing years in the academies of the two rival professional Bristol clubs. 21-year-old Alfie Clarke was released by Bristol Rovers in 2020 before landing at the First4Pools Stadium. Full-back Ben Withey returns to Frome Town after three seasons away. He came out of Bristol City’s academy in 2016 to sign for Mangotsfield United before his first stint with the Robins, then moving to Paulton in 2018.
Another former Mango has also joined Frome. Exciting attacking midfielder Owen Humphries came through the ranks at Cossham Street before signing for Larkhall Athletic in December of last year. The 19-year-old has reportedly had trials with Sheffield United, Sheffield Wednesday and Birmingham City.
The Robins began their 2022/23 campaign with a home win over Evesham United, George Rigg leaving it late to score the only goal of the game on 90 minutes. They went 3-2 up against Willand Rovers with just three minutes to go through Laurent Davis-Wilson, only for Joshua Baker to score his second on the night to salvage a point for the Devon All-Whites. Last weekend, Frome booked a place in the FA Cup 1st Qualifying Round with a comfortable 3-0 away win at Western League Premier side Buckland Athletic.
STOP THAT: Ethan Taylor strikes for goal during the Southern League Div.1 South meeting between AFC Totton and Frome Town at the Snows Stadium in December 2021.
Although the Stags finished four places further down the league table, AFC Totton seemed to have the hex over the Robins last season. The first scheduled meeting in the Southern League Div.1 South had to be re-arranged to accommodate an FA Trophy 1st Round encounter between the same teams at Snows Stadium on Saturday 13 November. An early red card for goalkeeper James Carey for bringing down Ethan Taylor required manager and former goalkeeper Greaves to sub himself on to don the gloves, but he could do little to prevent Jack Hoey converting the crucial penalty in the shoot-out after the match itself ended 2-2.
The re-arranged league game took place at the same venue on Tuesday 14 December when the Stags put in one of their best performances of the campaign with two goals from Hisham Kasimu and one from Taylor seeing the Stags on their way to a handsome 3-0 win. Then, in the return match at Badgers Hill in early-February, Harry Medway’s 14th-minute header gave the Stags the lead and Kasimu’s rocket-shot of a penalty made it 2-0 and a league-and-cup treble over Frome.
Despite those results, central defender Sam Teale and ex-Totton attacking midfielder Jonathan Davies impressed over the course of the three encounters and both players have remained at the club for the 2022/23 campaign.
In 18 meetings since the 2009/10 season, Totton just edge it on the head-to-head comparison with 8 wins to Frome’s 7, with 3 draws. Ethan’s father James Taylor scored for the Stags in the 1-1 draw at Frome in 2010. Stefan Brown and AFC Bournemouth loanee Bailly Cargill, now of Forest Green Rovers, scored the goals in the 2-0 home win in 2013.
An emphatic 5-0 away win for Frome in the first meeting of the 2013/14 season began a series of six consecutive wins against the Stags for the Robins, which ran until 2020/21.
By Ben Rochey-Adams
Image courtesy of Craig Hobbs Photography
