AFC Totton
The Stags are a step closer to silverware as they take the short trip along the M27 to face Wessex Premier League side Hamble Club in the quarter Final of the Southampton Senior Cup.
Venue:
HAMBLE CLUB FC, The Abbey, Beaulieu Road,
Hamble-le-Rice, Southampton SO31 4JL
Jimmy and the boys would love to see Stags fans turn out to support them. The weather is forecast to be a little warmer and no rain, so get along and cheer them on.
After recent away journeys to Bideford in North Devon and Paulton in Somerset, the Stags’ next match is mercifully nearby as they make the short trip to Hamble-le-Rice on the other side of the city for the Quarter-Final of the Southampton Senior Cup against Wessex Premier League outfit Hamble Club.
Located within a wind-assisted drop-kick’s distance of the Royal Victoria Country Park, Hamble Club play their home matches at The Abbey, a 1000-capacity community stadium where the Monks have enjoyed mixed fortunes in the Wessex Premier this season. Eight defeats from 18 home games leaves them slap-bang in the middle of the table as it stands, with little hope of closing the seven-point gap on 10th-placed Alton with just three matches to go in their league campaign.
Hamble entertained Alton this past weekend but the game was overshadowed by a bad injury suffered by the Hamble forward, Lewis Nagle. According to comments on Twitter, the response of Alton’s players, staff and fans was impeccable, seeing to it that the player quickly received the help he needed. AFC Totton join both clubs in wishing Lewis a full and speedy recovery.
Drawn at home to Infinity FC in the 1st Round of the Southampton Senior Cup, the Monks were granted a walkover after Infinity lost their groundsharing arrangement with Hythe & Dibden and were consequently forced to withdraw from the Wessex League, with the aim of rejoining the Hampshire Premier League next season. A 2-1 away win at AFC Stoneham in the 2nd Round led to another away tie at Blackfield & Langley, in which the Monks triumphed 3-1 to set-up this Quarter-Final encounter with the Stags.
Hamble Club were Wessex League Division One Champions in 2016/17 and they won the Hampshire Premier League in 2014/15, to add to their Hampshire League Division Three title of 1996/97.
HAMBLE CLUB: LAST 5 RESULTS – All Competitions
Thu 10 Mar Blackfield & Langley A Southampton Senior Cup, Rnd3 W 3-1
Sat 12 Mar AFC Portchester A Wessex Premier League D 1-1
Sat 19 Mar Portland United H Wessex Premier League L 0-2
Tue 22 Mar Moneyfields H Wessex Premier League L 1-3
Sat 26 Mar Bournemouth FC A Wessex Premier League W 5-1
Sat 02 Apr Alton H Wessex Premier League Match Abandoned
AFC TOTTON vs HAMBLE CLUB – Previous Meetings
We only have one match on-record between AFC Totton and Hamble Club, when the two sides met in the 1st Round of the Russell Cotes Benevolent Cup on 18 October 2016. Although a number of senior players were rested for this away cup-tie – among them Neil Williams, a tough-tackling midfielder, Charlie Gunson and Jack Vallis – there was no excuse for a lacklustre performance that saw the Stags get trounced 1-4.
Dougie Rowe started the ball rolling for the Monks with a 6th-minute opener, closely followed by Coby Wilson who doubled their lead on 8 minutes. Rowe added his second goal on 34 minutes to give Hamble a 3-0 half-time advantage.
Callum Hellyer pulled one back for Totton on 53 minutes, just a minute after coming on as substitute. However, Liam Crook (who went on to make 5 appearances for the Stags in the 2018/19 season) wrapped it up for the hosts with their fourth goal on 56 minutes, Hamble Club comfortably seeing out the remainder of the match.
By Ben Rochey-Adams and Malcolm Tombs, Historian
