AFC Totton
Southern League Chairman David Martin presents AFC Totton Chairman Stephen Snow with the Pitching In Southern League Div.1 South Club of the Month award for February 2023.
AFC TOTTON’S EXCELLENT RECENT FORM has seen them claim the Pitching In Southern League Div.1 South’s PST Club of the Month award for February.
The accolade, which is awarded separately across all four Southern League divisions, goes to the team who accumulate the best set of results across the calendar month. The Stags began February with an impressive 4-1 home win over relegation-threatened Bristol Manor Farm, courtesy of two goals from on-loan Havant & Waterlooville striker Tommy Wright and one each from the team’s two top scorers, Scott Rendell and Ethan Taylor.
Three days later, despite dominating possession throughout the match, Jimmy Ball’s team suffered a rare defeat at title rivals Sholing, who had their No.1 Ryan Gosney to thank for an outstanding goalkeeping display that meant Brad Targett’s first-half finish off the underside of the Totton crossbar was the only goal of the game. The Stags bounced back with back-to-back away wins at Paulton Rovers and Exmouth Town, before beating Melksham Town 3-0 at home with another dominant performance.
They rounded out the month with another success on the road, overcoming Willand Rovers in Devon by a 2-1 scoreline despite going down to 10 men after just 16 minutes with the dismissal of left-back Ben Jefford. Ethan Taylor, who had given The Stags the lead in the 23rd minute, showed terrific composure to fire home a match-winning penalty five minutes into stoppage time at the end of the game to ensure AFC Totton kept the pressure on at the top of the Southern League Div.1 South table.
Although the result was not included in the award evaluation, Totton also found time in February to progress their defence of the Southampton Senior Cup by overcoming the challenge of Alresford Town in the Quarter-Final. They have since gone on to beat Hamble Club in the Semi-Final, to set-up a showdown with Sholing at Southampton’s St. Mary’s Stadium on a date yet to be confirmed.
This is the second time AFC Totton have won the monthly award this season, having also been the division’s most in-form team in December. The prize is sponsored by PST Sport, who design and build world class artificial grass pitches. Their work can be seen around the outer perimeter of the Snows Stadium pitch where the previously worn grass has been replaced by artificial turf that buts against the natural grass football pitch.
The Southern League’s Vice-Chairman David Martin attended the recent midweek home match against Paulton Rovers to present AFC Totton Chairman Stephen Snow with the award, before taking his seat to watch The Stags romp to an emphatic 7-0 victory, in which Scott Rendell and Ethan Taylor both helped themselves to hat-tricks, taking their all competitions goal tallies for the season so far to 27 and 21 goals, respectively. Energetic midfielder Charlie Davis got in on the goalscoring act in the last minute, with his fourth strike since joining the club in November.
Following that seven-goal mauling of Paulton, AFC Totton also picked up the Pitching In Team of the Week award for the Southern League Division 1, coming top of a poll conducted on Twitter that combined the South and Central divisions into one voting category. The Stags won 43% of a total of 370 votes to beat Hendon, Cinderford Town and Hertford Town to be recognised as this week’s outstanding team.
Of course, the prize everybody at the club really wants is the Southern League Div.1 South title. The win over Paulton Rovers put AFC Totton top of the table for the first time under Jimmy Ball’s management, and the team will be hoping that the rain holds off tonight and tomorrow morning to ensure their trip to Wimborne Town can go ahead so they can consolidate their position by extending their unbeaten run in the league to 10 matches with a valuable away win.
By Ben Rochey-Adams
Images courtesy of Craig Hobbs Photography
