AFC Totton
Wimborne Town are the next visitors to the Snows Stadium for a midweek encounter in the Southern League Div.1 South. This is an intriguing time to be taking on The Magpies, who are now under the recently installed management team of former Hamworthy United boss, Tim Sills.
Since their establishment in 1878, Wimborne had never experienced relegation until last season when, hamstrung by self-imposed financial management restrictions, they finished bottom of the Southern League Premier Division South table with just four wins to their name, leaving them 22 points adrift of safety.
Under then-Manager James Stokoe, the Dorset-based outfit began the 2022/23 season by alternating wins and losses for the first five games, which included a 3-1 win at Moneyfields in the Emirates FA Cup Preliminary Round and a 5-1 thrashing of Lymington Town at the club’s New Cuthbury stadium, which was opened in December 2020.
An FA Cup Dorset Magpies derby required a replay, with Dorchester Town triumphing with the only goal of the tie. Wimborne were eliminated from the Isuzu FA Trophy by Bristol Manor Farm in their next match before continuing to blow hot and cold in the Southern League Div.1 South, resulting in James Stokoe losing his job in early-October.
Former Aldershot Town and Torquay United striker Tim Sills, who guided Hamworthy United to a 2-1 victory over The Stags in our second match of this season, was installed as the new boss, bringing his management team and The Hammers’ former Totton goalkeeper Shane Murphy across Dorset with him.
Sills suffered defeat by a single goal at Willand Rovers in his first match in charge. But a 3-2 win at home to Paulton Rovers on Saturday, in which debutant Asa Phillips got his name on the scoresheet, has The Magpies hovering in midtable with 12 points from 9 games, a point behind AFC Totton who have played two matches fewer.
JACK IN THE BOX: Wimborne's attacking midfielder Jack Hoey scored 14 goals in all competitions for AFC Totton last season.
Inevitably for a relatively local club, there are some familiar faces in the Wimborne ranks. Jack Hoey scored 14 goals in all competitions for Totton last season, usually from midfield but also as a forward on some occasions. His last Totton appearance was as a second-half substitute in the Southampton Senior Cup Final at St. Mary’s Stadium in May. Goalkeeper Shane Murphy was a Stag from 2017-2019, winning praise for the quality and consistency of his performances. He suffered a horrific head injury playing for Totton in a match at Horndean but, having made a full recovery, he is now among the most highly-rated shot-stoppers in the division. Striker Lewis Beale had a loan spell at the Snows Stadium while he was rising through Eastleigh’s ranks. He contributed Wimborne’s second goal in the 5-1 win over Lymington at the end of August.
Wimborne are among Totton’s most frequent opponents over the last 35 years. According to our records, the two sides have met each other 62 times since the 1986/87 season. Wimborne have the better of the head-to-head with 30 wins to their name, while Totton have been triumphant on 15 occasions; there have been 17 draws.
The biggest winning scoreline in that sequence has been 6-1, with Wimborne twice putting half-a-dozen goals past The Stags. The first was at Wimborne’s original Cuthbury Stadium in early-January 1994 and the second was at the Snows Stadium in September 2016. Totton’s biggest wins over Wimborne are a pair of 4-1 victories; the first was in the Wessex League Cup in 1991/92, while the second was a 2010/11 league match at Wimborne in which Nathaniel Sherborne’s hat-trick and a goal from Stefan Brown put The Magpies to the sword.
By Ben Rochey-Adams
Image courtesy of Craig Hobbs Photography
