AFC Totton
FORMER WEYMOUTH U23s striker Connor Bent has joined AFC Totton after impressing while on trial at the Snows Stadium.
Bent began his footballing life as an 11-year-old in Yeovil Town’s youth academy, where he remained until The Glovers shut down their entire youth programme.
He was part of the Holt United side that won the Dorset Premier League title in 2022/23, and had unsuccessful trials with West Bromwich Albion and Sheffield United, before being enrolled into The Terras’ U23 squad.
Also referred to in some online stories as Connor Dunesby-Bent, he signed a dual-registration deal with Portland United and helped The Blues to a seventh-place finish in the Wessex League Premier Division table last season.
Although he predominantly plays as a central striker - and identifies his ability to run off the shoulder of the last defender as one of his strongest qualities - Bent can also operate from either flank. When prompted to pick the well-known professional footballer whose style of play most closely resembles his own, Bent initially plumps for new Tottenham Hotspur striker Dominic Solanke, then quickly changes his choice to Ollie Watkins, whose stunning last-minute goal saw England triumph over The Netherlands in their recent European Championships Semi-Final in Dortmund.
“I’m made up to be coming to AFC Totton,” enthused Bent.
“The way the club is run is really encouraging and I’m really looking forward to working with Jimmy Ball and some of the senior players we have here. I can only learn good things from working closely with somebody like Scott Rendell, and he’s already shown me a couple of things during training that have helped me to think about my game.”
Bent featured regularly during AFC Totton’s pre-season campagin, coming off the bench in the draw at Banbury United and starting the 3-1 home win over Brockenhurst, as part of a youthful Stags line-up in which he was partnered up front by Remus Nixon. He was a second-half sub in the victory over Eastbourne Borough, and played the full 90 minutes in the Under-23s’ pre-season run-out at Downton before helping them to make a winning start to their Hampshire Combination & Development Football League U23 Premier Division campaign at AFC Stoneham earlier this week.
Connor Bent in action against Brockenhurst during the pre-season friendly at the Snows Stadium.
“I know that I’ll be starting out in the AFC Totton U23s this season, and maybe I’ll be going out on loan at some point, but my ambition is to work my way into the first team and get as many first team minutes under my belt as possible.
“I’m ambitious and want to play at the highest level I can, and that means scoring goals and helping the team to be successful. That’s what I’m here to do.”
Stags boss Jimmy Ball said:
“Connor is a talented 19-year-old centre-forward with a lot of experience already for such a young man. He’s won the Dorset Premier League and was unfortunate to have been at Yeovil when they closed down their academy.
“Their loss is our gain; I’m excited to have this opportunity to bring him into the football club and to help him develop and become the very good player that I believe he can be.”
By Ben Rochey-Adams
Images courtesy of Sayers Sports Photography
