AFC Totton
PRE-SEASON FRIENDLY #7
Saturday 29 July 2023 | Snows Stadium, Totton | Att: 323
TOTTON ROUND-OUT PRE-SEASON WITH HOME WIN OVER HAMMERS
AFC TOTTON 4
Josh Carmichael 20mins; Tony Rolls o.g. 67mins;
Scott Rendell 76mins, 85mins (pen)
HAMWORTHY UNITED 1
Eddie Hodge 38mins
FOUR GOALS FROM AFC Totton saw them round-out their pre-season programme with a handsome home win over last season’s beaten Southern League Division One South play-off finalists Hamworthy United at the Snows Stadium, yesterday (Saturday 29 July 2023).
Of the team that started against Yeovil Town last weekend, skipper Mike Carter, Adam Tomasso, Sam Magri and Alfie Stanley all came out of the Starting XI, with Josh Carmichael, Charlie Davis, Scott Rendell and a trialist coming into the team for some valuable pre-season minutes. Charlie Kennedy took the captain’s armband.
AFC TOTTON
Starting XI
1. Lewis NOICE
2. Benny READ
5. Charlie KENNEDY (Capt.)
6. Luke HALLETT
3. Jordan RAGGUETTE
12. Josh CARMICHAEL
7. Charlie DAVIS
19. Trialist A
9. Scott RENDELL
10. Ethan TAYLOR
18. Jake SCRIMSHAW
Substitutes
4. Mike CARTER
8. Adam TOMASSO
11. Matty BURROWS
14. Leo TAYLOR
16. Alfie STANLEY
17. Conor WHITELEY
20. Owen PELHAM
Taking league and cup matches into account, Hamworthy United were the only Step 4 team to beat AFC Totton in the aggregate last season and, decked out in their waspish yellow-and-black hooped away strip, they held their own during the early stages of the game.
An early right-wing attack had Charlie Kennedy lifting the ball over his own crossbar to prevent a whipped cross finding its target in the middle. From the resulting short corner, Eddie Hodge was able to work his way along the byline and sting Lewis Noice’s palms with a shot that was heading just inside the near post. Totton tried to play their way out but Jake Scrimshaw lost out to Rhys Taylor near the half-way line, who then clipped the ball into the Totton box. Noice was off his line quickly to intercept the ball near the penalty spot.
A clever combination down the Totton right between Ethan Taylor and the trialist enabled them to work the ball into Hamworthy’s box. Taylor laid it off for Scott Rendell to try a low, angled blast that cannoned off a defender. Then, Taylor had the ball in the net, after controlling a long, cross-field pass from deep by Charlie Davis, but the winger was ruled offside.
TINKER TAYLOR: AFC Totton winger Ethan Taylor brings the ball under control during the friendly with Hamworthy United at the Snows Stadium.
During a period of untidy possession from both sides, an under pressure Luke Hallett was forced to loop the ball back to his goalkeeper from the Totton right, giving Noice no option but to improvise a volleyed clearance upfield.
An offside flag came to Totton’s aid in the 16th minute, when Josh Carmichael was caught in possession inside his own half and Sean Wright ran away with the ball before slipping Will Fletcher into the inside-right channel to go one-on-one with Noice. Fletcher, though, had moved a fraction too soon. Then, Hodge was able to isolate Davis, covering at left-back while Jordan Ragguette had been caught further upfield, before sending in a fierce cross that Benny Read hooked out at the back post, before a forward could connect.
Totton were struggling to impose their normal passing rhythm on the game, and Scrimshaw found himself having to drop deep to tussle with Hamworthy midfielders in his own half of the pitch. Read’s ability to skip forward from right-back provided a useful outlet, which Rendell and the trialist combined to take advantage of, earning Totton a right-wing corner in the 20th minute via Cam Munn’s well-executed sliding tackle. Ethan Taylor sent a high, in-swinging corner towards the back post and Josh CARMICHAEL put his height to good use by nodding the ball into the bottom-left corner.
Drew Scott Young tried to mount an attack for the visitors just after the restart, but two strong challenges from Jordan Ragguette in quick succession scuppered that idea. Then, Read did well to prevent a high cross-field pass reaching Max Buckler on the corner of the Totton box.
Rendell’s deft touch briefly had Taylor in goal-side of the Hamworthy left-back, but his low crossed fizzed across the box without finding a blue shirt. The home side retained possession, though, and began to move the ball around the midfield. A quick give-and-go between the trialist and Davis wrong-footed a defender to put the trialist in at inside-right. With Rendell rushing towards the left-hand post, it wasn’t clear whether the trialist took a shot or tried to find the centre-forward, who couldn’t convert despite sliding in and stretching out that long left leg, as the ball flashed past the post and wide.
Some sloppy passing by Totton in midfield gave Hamworthy a chance to send a high cross into the box, which Noice dealt with comfortably. Then, an offside against Taylor, bringing down another high, cross-field pass, had his manager raging on the touchline, particularly given Rendell’s ideal position goal-side of his marker ready to finish an easy cross.
SHOTS AWAY: Alfie Stanley takes aim at the Hamworthy goal from the edge of the box.
Jake Scrimshaw rushed The Hammers’ goalkeeper Kai Sturr into a miss-kick on the edge of his own penalty area, but the ball squirmed too far towards the touchline for the home side to punish the error. Then, it was the turn of the Hamworthy bench to display its frustration when an opportunity to counter-attack was spoiled by a poor pass that simply handed possession over to Charlie Davis in the centre-circle.
Taylor and Scrimshaw made promising progress on the right corner of the Hamworthy penalty area, until a breakdown in understanding between the two new teammates saw the striker dart one way while the winger slipped the ball to his opposite side.
Hamworthy levelled in the 38th minute. Lewis Noice came out towards his left-wing touchline to deal with a loose ball up the wing, but seeing that Kennedy was coming across to deal with the situation, The Stags’ keeper thought better of it and began to retreat towards his goal. But Kennedy immediately found himself surrounded by two yellow-and-black shirts, one of whom nicked the ball off his toe before it could run out of play, and Eddie HODGE received the ball in enough space to move infield and curl a left-footed shot into the uncovered portion of the goal.
Totton restarted the game with a sense they had been the architects of their own undoing. Davis sprayed another high, cross-field ball out to the right, where fine control by Read fed Taylor about 20 yards from goal. He tried to skip around his marker but the defender got his foot in to poke the ball away. Taylor won a free-kick just outside the area to the left, when he was tripped trying to latch onto Ragguette’s pass up the wing. Davis took the set-piece, rolling the ball square for the trialist to take a touch and then bend a right-footed shot narrowly wide of the far post, as defender rushed towards him.
The first half ended with Scrimshaw applying more pressure on Sturr in the Hamworthy goal, but the keeper’s rushed kick bounced off the forward for a goal-kick.
HALF-TIME
AFC TOTTON 1
HAMWORTHY UNITED 1
Jimmy Ball made four changes during the break, with Carmichael, Davis, Ethan Taylor and Scrimshaw all coming off to make way for Mike Carter, Adam Tomasso, Matty Burrows and Alfie Stanley.
Read’s advance down the right-hand side was interrupted, so Totton quickly switched the play to the opposite flank where Ragguette was able to fire in a low cross that Rendell laid back for Alfie Stanley to fire narrowly wide of the left-hand post from about 20 yards.
With the captain’s armband restored to his left bicep, Carter was a vociferous presence in the midfield, cajoling his team into maintaining the kind of high standards that brought such success last season. Burrows was already making a nuisance of himself for the Hamworthy defence, lulling Ecott Young into tripping him near the left-wing byline. The trialist clipped the ball into the box but Steve Walker headed clear for the visitors.
With Totton in possession around the halfway line, Kennedy’s angled pass put Stanley through in the inside-left channel. A defender tried to track him but Stanley twisted and turned while still advancing forward, working enough space for himself to unleash a left-footed shot that Sturr could only parry across his goal, Rendell again throwing his body full length in a vain attempt to finish the rebound. The ball went out for a corner on the Totton right; the cross bounced on the edge of the six-yard box before a defender booted it clear.
CHARGE!: Winger Matty Burrows (left) and full-back Benny Read (right) launch another attack for AFC Totton during the 4-1 home win over Hamworthy United.
Ragguette then set Burrows on a run, which ended with the winger being tripped just outside the corner of the area. The trialist went for goal from the free-kick, forcing Sturr to repel the ball with a double-fisted punch.
Burrows was caught in possession on his own left-wing byline, but his blushes were spared when the delivery into the middle failed to find a Hamworthy player. They retained the ball on the far side and were eventually able to hang a high cross into the box, where Fletcher got up well but couldn’t get enough strength behind his header to trouble Noice.
A short through-ball by Carter had Burrows racing in behind the defence and towards goal on the hour, but a heavy touch enabled Sturr to claim it. Then, Burrows got on the end of Stanley’s low, fizzed cross from the right, after Rendell and the trialist had put the forward in down the wing. A defender got across to block Burrows’ shot.
Totton were turning up the heat, just as it was starting to rain at the Snows Stadium, passing the ball with more assuredness. Carter muscled Sean Wright off the ball near half-way and the blue team were soon on the attack again, Burrows trying to sneak along the left-wing byline towards goal. The ball went out of play and the Referee gave a goal-kick, despite several home protests that it should have been a corner.
Ragguette’s quick one-two with Stanley, who was on the left-wing touchline, enabled Ragguette to charge forward and cross. The flight of the ball eluded Rendell in the middle, but as Hamworthy tried to come forward down their left, Read intercepted the ball close to the halfway line and returned it to where it had come from, freeing Matty Burrows to dart in behind the left-back with another defender trying to shield the path to goal. Burrows aimed a fierce, low cross into the middle and as it came past the near post, ex-AFC Totton defender Tony Rolls was helpless as the ball struck him on the knee and ricocheted past Sturr into the top-right corner of the net for an OWN GOAL.
UP IN SUPPORT: Leo Taylor gets forward from left-back to supply a cross to the middle.
As the rain began to fall, Burrows continued to tease the Hamworthy defence, winning a free-kick on the Totton right wing by dancing between two defenders who were slow to close the gap. But, rather than take the opportunity to deliver another set-piece into the opposition box, Totton preferred to play it short and resume their metronomic passing routine across the midfield.
Crosses by the trialist from the left and from Read on the right eluded Hallett and Burrows, respectively. Then, the trialist intercepted the ball near the centre-circle from a defensive header, before slipping the ball into the run of Stanley. The former Pompey striker advanced into the inside-right channel with a defender trying to keep up with him. When he took his shot towards the far corner, he scuffed the ball slightly and dragged his effort wide.
In the 74th minutes, Benny Read, the trialist and Jordan Ragguette were all withdrawn, to be replaced by Conor Whiteley, Owen Pelham and Ethan Taylor’s younger brother, Leo, who took up the left-back berth vacated by Ragguette. His first significant contribution to the game was almost a calamitous one, playing a strange back-pass across his defence to present Cam Munn with the chance to take a snapshot from about 20 yards, with Noice running back towards his goal. The shot was too high and curled over the bar.
But Totton were three-one up within another minute. Stanley held the ball up mid-way inside the opposition half, before feeding Owen Pelham, who sprinted from the centre into empty space on the right-hand side of the penalty area. The teenager took the ball under control and picked out Scott RENDELL with a low cross to enable the centre-forward to mark his return to the team with a goal, after a week away coaching a youth team to third place at the prestigious Gothia Cup tournament in Gothenburg, Sweden.
WELL DONE, SON: Veteran centre-forward Scott Rendell thanks teenager Owen Pelham (No.20) for his assist in the 4-1 win over Hamworthy United.
Leo Taylor and Charlie Kennedy both got their bodies in the way to block a cross and a follow-up shot, as Hamworthy tried to get themselves back in the game. Then, Whiteley and Burrows advanced to the left corner of the penalty area, before Burrows got crowded out as he tried to shift the ball onto his right foot to put himself within shooting range. Then young Taylor, again, and Pelham both scuppered more attempts by Hamworthy to mount meaningful attacks on the Totton goal.
The Stags put the result beyond all doubt in the 85th minute. Conor Whiteley, who has demonstrated in the past he has something of the Dennis Bergkamp in him, played a clever flick to shift the ball from a crowded space to the feet of Rendell, before latching onto the return pass in the inside-right channel and squaring for Alfie Stanley near the penalty spot. Stanley’s shot was charged down by the unfortunate Tony Rolls, who was ruled by the Referee to have used his arm at the expense of conceding a penalty kick. Scott RENDELL slotted the ball home comfortably to make it four-one.
Matty Burrows turned on the style, taking Lewis Noice’s long kick from the edge of his area under control at the intersection of the half-way line and the left-wing touchline to then flick the ball over the defender’s head and race clear into the space behind him. Another defender was able to come across on the cover, so Burrows passed infield to enable Taylor to continue the forward momentum. His low cross ricocheted between Stanley and his marker, before popping out towards the back of the penalty area where Rendell arrived to fire a shot narrowly past the top-right corner.
Hamworthy made a few late forays into the Totton half, mostly from their right-hand side, but Leo Taylor and Kennedy retained the upper hand until the Referee blew the final whistle.
After the match, AFC Totton Manager Jimmy Ball (pictured) said:
“Hamworthy represented the perfect test for us today, as I fully expected they would. Of all the teams we faced in the league last season, they gave us the most problems over the home and away matches, proving the most difficult team to break down. Knowing they were the only team we never managed to get the better of was a splinter I wanted to pull, and I feel we did that today by finding the answers to the difficult questions they posed for us.
“They are very well coached, very well organised, and they made it difficult for us to begin with. But we were patient and made a few alterations, and found a way to impose ourselves on the game and, ultimately, win. Scott Rendell came back in with two goals; he kept himself fit while he was away, like the good pro that he is, so I don’t have any concerns about him.
“We will have a week of light training now, ahead of the first league game of the season at Harrow Borough on Saturday. We’ll be nursing one or two back to full fitness but we’re in very good shape overall after what I consider to be a very successful and useful pre-season programme. Harrow will be a strong side, no doubt keen to do well in front of their own fans on the opening day. We expect it to be tough and we will approach it in the right way.
“We’re the new kids on the block at this level, so it’s important that we adopt the right attitude and go about our work properly. Every team at this level is going to have something about themselves, so we have to respect them and expect every game to be a battle. Having said that, I am looking for us to make a serious challenge and with six league matches before the end of August, I want us to make a better start than we did last season. I certainly don’t want to be 15 points behind the leaders in November!”
Next Up: HARROW BOROUGH vs AFC TOTTON | Southern League Premier Division South | Earlsmead Stadium, Earlsmead, Harrow, London HA2 8SS | Saturday 05 August 2023 | Kick-Off at 3:00pm | BOOK AWAY TRAVEL TODAY (match tickets available on the gate on the day)
By Ben Rochey-Adams
Images courtesy of Craig Hobbs Photography
