AFC Totton
Save money by booking your tickets online.
SOUTHERN LEAGUE DIV.1 SOUTH matches will come thick and fast over the next month, as the 2022/23 season draws to what is sure to be its dramatic conclusion – none more so than for Jimmy Ball’s AFC Totton, who still have four games in-hand with which to try and overtake the season-long league leaders Sholing in top spot.
A fortuitous combination of results on Saturday from The Stags’ point-of-view – with both Totton and Sholing being held to 1-1 draws at home while also having key players sent-off in the process of conceding second-half penalties – means that a win by any margin against Paulton Rovers at the Snows Stadium on Tuesday night will take AFC Totton to the summit of the league table for the first time since Jimmy Ball took on the role of Stags boss in March last year.
Currently standing in their way are 12th-placed Paulton, who were also held to a 1-1 draw at home on Saturday by an out-of-sorts Wimborne Town, putting an end to a sorry sequence of five consecutive defeats for The Rovers while still extending their run without a league win to six games. Such poor recent form has all but put the kibosh on any hopes they may have had of making the Promotion Play-Offs, but with a nine-point margin between themselves and Cinderford Town in 19th place, Paulton should already have enough points in the bank to prevent them being drawn into the relegation dogfight.
Totton triumphed by a single Scott Rendell goal when the two sides met at the First 4 Pools Stadium on Saturday 11 February. After knocking Yeovil Town’s U23s out of the competition to reach the Semi-Final of the Somerset Premier Cup three days later, The Rovers went to Wiltshire that following weekend and came away with all three points when Edward Butcher scored the only goal of the game at Westbury United.
However, a 0-2 loss at Sholing kickstarted their poor run, which was compounded by back-to-back home defeats at the hands of fellow midtable dwellers Bishop’s Cleeve and Melksham Town. Willand Rovers interrupted their own dire run of form to record a rare 2-1 win at Paulton’s expense at Silver Street on Wednesday 15 March, and the 1-2 defeat at local rivals Larkhall Athletic will have hurt more than most negative results.
But, last Tuesday, a 1-0 win over Bridgwater United of the Western League Premier Division saw Paulton book their place in the Somerset Premier Cup Final, and the feelgood factor extended to Saturday’s draw with Wimborne when a Nicholas Hewlett goal on the stroke of half-time cancelled out Jez Bedford’s strike for The Magpies just five minutes earlier, to ensure a share of the spoils and an end to that nasty run of consecutive defeats.
RAGING BULL: The powerful Jordan Ragguette leads a left-wing raid for AFC Totton during the 1-0 win at Paulton Rovers in February.
Both of this season’s scheduled matches between AFC Totton and Paulton Rovers have had to be re-arranged due to cup commitments and bad weather. This encounter at the Snows Stadium was to take place on Tuesday 10 January only for a waterlogged pitch on the day to force a postponement. Consequently, the Matchday Programmes that were prepared for that match were already printed and delivered to the ground – and it will be those editions, prepared during the week leading up to 10 January, that will go on sale when the match finally goes ahead this midweek.
Edward Butcher has nine league goals to his name, so far this season. Fellow forward Kyle Tooze began the season in fine goalscoring form, racking up 10 league goals including a hat-trick in the 4-1 win over Lymington Town on the opening day of the campaign, but he left Paulton before Christmas to join Southern Premier Division South outfit Yate Town.
Of the 17 occasions these two teams have met, AFC Totton have run out as winners 8 times, with 5 draws and 4 wins for The Rovers. Paulton were the first visitors to Testwood Stadium after its unveiling in February 2011, in a match The Stags won by a healthy 5-1 scoreline. Last season, Paulton grabbed a surprise 4-2 win in December, despite a penalty from Hisham Kasimu and a Callum Baughan goal. The return match at the First 4 Pools Stadium was Jimmy Ball’s third game in charge. The match ended goalless, despite The Stags creating several chances to win it.
By Ben Rochey-Adams and Malcolm Tombs, Club Historian
Image courtesy of Craig Hobbs Photography
