AFC Totton
AFC Totton’s new Manager Jimmy Ball was in bullish mood on Monday afternoon, speaking ahead of the second part of his team’s Southern League Div.1 South double-header with Bideford AFC.
The new Stags boss saw his team come close to throwing away a three-goal lead against the Robins at the Snows Stadium on Saturday, before goalkeeper Lewis Noice denied Craig Duff his hat-trick with a spectacular penalty save that swung the momentum back in the home side’s favour, prior to substitute Shaquille Gwengwe securing a 4-2 win and all three points with his 14th goal of the season, seven minutes from time.
The LONG READ: AFC Totton 4-2 Bideford AFC, Southern League Div.1 South #30
Despite witnessing his team concede two goals during four frantic second-half minutes, Ball was happy with what he saw from his new charges:
“I was pleased with the amount of new information the players were able to take in during the limited time we had together last week,” he explained. “It wasn’t perfect and we didn’t start the game quite as I wanted, but the players stuck with the plan and they built a performance as the game went on. Our work in training was mostly centred on attacking play and it was good to see them putting into the practice the ideas we worked on.”
Far from being discouraged by Bideford’s second-half fightback, Ball is keen to accentuate the positives:
“I’m actually glad that we had that little wobble because it showed me that the players have enough about them to not capitulate under that kind of pressure. Bideford had worked us out, to some extent, but working us out is one thing and stopping us is another. Even if they had scored the penalty, I still think we would have gone on to find that extra goal to win the match.”
HAT-TRICK DENIED: AFC Totton goalkeeper Lewis Noice makes the save that prevented Bideford's Craig Duff levelling the score at 3-3 during Saturday's match at the Snows Stadium.
The boss was also impressed by his team’s work rate:
“Their willingness to run and fight and continue playing good football was also pleasing,” he said. “At any level of the game, you have to be prepared to do that much – that’s non-negotiable – and the players have shown me that they can. In a way, that first match was like having another training session with me but I know that we can be better and there is a lot more to come.”
Today, the Stags will make the 288-mile roundtrip to The Sports Ground in Bideford, North Devon for the return fixture with the Robins, in a match that was originally scheduled to take place on Saturday 18 December before being rearranged to make way for Totton’s visit to Larkhall Athletic in the 3rd Round of the Buildbase FA Trophy.
Having spoken to trusted football contacts in and around the Devon area, Ball has a good idea of what to expect from the Robins and their playing surface, and he is confident of making it a successful journey.
“The players you have in your squad determine the formation you can play, and we know enough about Bideford and how they’ve been playing all season to judge how they’ll set-up for this game. They seemed to work us out and made some changes during the home match on Saturday, but they still couldn’t beat us. They’ll test us on Tuesday night and find ways to pose different problems for us to solve, so we will have to be alert to deal with that and find other ways to unlock them – to beat them in a different way.”
Preview to last Saturday’s home encounter with Bideford AFC
Current Southern League Div.1 South table
Produced by Doug Webber and featuring video from cameraman Harrison Read with lead commentary from StagsRadio regular Benjy Rees, AFC Totton TV will begin their broadcast at 7:15pm.
This FREE to attend special trial AFC Totton Fanzone event has been made possible thanks to the kind co-operation of Bideford AFC and through the generous sponsorship of local company, Agile Carpentry.
Join AFC Totton Fanzone to Watch The Stags at Bideford – LIVE
The doors of the Straker’s Bar will be open from 6:00pm. And food will be available from The 1886, including this mouth-watering Pie & A Pint offer:
Pie Options (all served with Chips):
Steak & Ale Pie
Chicken & Mushroom Pie
Cheese & Onion Lattice (V)
£7.00 with a Draught Pint – Carling, Coors, Atlantic, Thatchers or Guinness;
Or £5.50 with a Soft Drink – Coke (pint), Diet Coke (pint), Lemonade (pint), Tea, Coffee or Hot Chocolate.
Order your deal exclusively from the bar on the night, tonight.
We look forward to seeing you there!
By Ben Rochey-Adams
Images courtesy of Craig Hobbs Photography
Kit illustrations courtesy of Bolid74
