AFC Totton
CITY OF SOUTHAMPTON SUNDAY FOOTBALL LEAGUE DIV.1
Matchday #4
BOUJEE PINT CF 0
AFC TOTTON SUNDAY 4
Own Goal 20mins; Nathan Gray 30mins; Josh Carey 58mins; Luke Cron 90mins+1
A late change to the fixture schedule meant that AFC Totton Sunday's mouth-watering head-to-head with the other in-form team in the City of Southampton Sunday Football League Div.1, Chamberlayne Athletic Sunday, will have to wait for another day.
Instead, the Stags were pressed into action at the Southampton Sports Centre this morning against familiar foes Boujee Pint CF, who they beat 4-1 just two weeks ago and are yet to win a point so far this season.
AFC TOTTON SUNDAY
Starting Line-Up
1. Mitch COLEMAN
2. Tom MUNDAY
3. Simon ROWSON
4. Tom RAFFERTY
5. Dan GAIN
6. Gary BAGLEY (Capt.)
7. Lewis GUNDRY
8. Jay BRADING
9. Matt HARRINGTON
10. Nathan GRAY
12. Leon TATAVOSSIAN
Subs
13. Jordan CANNING
14. Luke CRON
16. Josh CAREY
After the near colour clash in the first meeting between these two sides, Totton switched to their changed kit of fluo yellow shirts with black shorts and yellow socks, lining up with Tom Munday at right-back in place of Luke Scouler, with Leon Tatavossian coming in to start at left midfield. Jordan Canning, recently returned from injury, and Luke Cron were named among the substitutes, marking their first involvement in the squad this season.
The first chance of the match fell to Leon Tatavossian, coming in from the left-hand side to latch onto an angled pass from Matt Harrington to strike across the Boujee Pint goalmouth and wide of the far post. And Tatavossian was involved again on 5 minutes, collecting the ball on the left touchline and feeding Nathan Gray in the centre, who found Jay Brading in open space to the right of the penalty spot, but Kiaran Hall, the Boujee goalkeeper, got both hands in the way to parry the shot wide. Then, Gray and Tatavossian combined well again in the 8th minute, creating space for Gray to send in a low shot from distance but Hall got his body behind it.
Strong determination from Tom Munday, usually a midfielder but redeployed today at right full-back, thwarted the attacking plans of Boujee's left winger JP Alexander. But he could do nothing to prevent Alexander sending over a free-kick, shortly after, which was headed on by a Boujee attacker and deflected off the head of Dan Gain; Mitch Coleman was alert in the Totton goal and saved low to his left-hand side.
Totton were most productive down their left wing, where the trio of Simon Rowson, Tatavossian and central midfielder Lewis Gundry were able to combine to good effect. On the 13th minute, such a move presented Gundry with an opening. The former Yeovil Town man took possession about 30 yards out and advanced a couple of strides before hitting a right-foot shot narrowly over the crossbar. Then Gray sent in a free-kick from just off the left corner of the penalty area and Dan Gain leapt high but couldn't connect, Hall doing well to maintain his concentration on the flight of the ball to make a clean catch.
Boujee Pint were struggling to deal with direct angled passes, with the hold-up play of Matt Harrington and the pace of Nathan Gray presenting too many problems for them to deal with at once. Tom Rafferty clipped one from just shy of the halfway line to find Brading in space on the right flank. The winger lobbed his cross over Gray, enabling Tatavossian to take advantage of the high bounce to steal in behind the defender - as several of Totton's party on the touchline loudly appealed for handball - and direct the ball at goal, but Hall managed to get his left hand on the ball before grabbing it out of the air at the second attempt.
Totton were dominating possession, able to throttle Boujee attacking moves at source and hit their opponents on the counterattack with pace and purpose. And on 20 minutes, the Stags took the lead. Munday took a throw-in from the right touchline and Matt Harrington read the bounce of the ball to spin away from his marker before sending a menacing-looking cross into the penalty area. With Gray and Tatavossian both descending upon him, a Boujee defender panicked and struck the ball past his own goalkeeper to make it 1-0 to the visitors.
Boujee tried to hit back immediately, building an attack down their right-hand side, but Munday read the situation well, stepping out of his position to smother a shot at the edge of the penalty area after a clever pull-back had momentarily opened up the Totton defence.
Only a brilliant save by Kiaran Hall prevented Totton from going two-up in the 23rd minute, when Gundry launched a counterattack with an angled pass to Harrington on halfway and he quickly sent Gray scampering down the right wing, free of any Boujee defenders. His low centre was met by a strong effort from Tatavossian, coming in from the left, but Hall got his knees behind it to divert the ball away.
The Boujee keeper was called upon again when Gary Bagley's throw-in from close to the right-wing corner flag was flicked on first by Harrington and then by Brading to present Gray with a chance to head at goal, but Hall got down to save on the line, in the middle of his goal.
The Stags deservedley doubled their lead on the half-hour mark. Simon Rowson got forward from left-back to link up with Tatavossian before passing infield to Nathan GRAY, who rolled his defender to shift the ball onto his right foot on the left side of the D, striking a hard, low shot past Hall and into the bottom-left corner to make it 2-0.
Tom Rafferty almost put Gray in again, taking possession inside his own penalty area and advancing to half-way before sending the striker through on goal. Hall came out, sweeper-keeper style, to clear his lines. Then Dan Gain just failed to connect his head with an in-swinging corner from Tatavossian's left foot.
Boujee Pint's Jack Hynes was booked for dissent and sin-binned for 10 minutes when he felt his side should have been given a throw-in. And Totton almost capitalised on their numerical advantage when Gundry picked out Tatavossian with an accurate pass over the full-back, but Tatavossian once again sent his effort across the face of goal.
The home side's No.9, Adlam, tested Coleman's reflexes with a snapshot from the edge of the penalty area. The keeper saved comfortably but, when trying to block the shot, Tom Rafferty stepped into a divot in the pitch and strained his ankle, necessitating an early substitution. Josh Carey came on to play up front, with Harrington shuffling into midfield and skipper Gary Bagley slotting into the centre of defence.
Adlam showed neat control and dribbling skills on the stroke of half-time to work the limited space in front of the reorganised Totton defence, but his left-foot shot failed to trouble Coleman, who once again showed good positioning and safe hands to maintain his clean sheet.
HALF-TIME
BOUJEE PINT CF 0
AFC TOTTON SUNDAY 2
Sam Conway encouraged his team to continue their solid performance, to maintain control of the ball and dictate the tempo in the second half, as they had done for much of the first. And he decided to bring Jordan Canning on for his first appearance of the season, to replace Jay Brading on the right wing.
Nathan Gray fires home at the near post in the match at Empire FC (image courtesy of Pete Humphry Photography).
In the first meaningful attack of the second 45 minutes, intricate skill from Simon Rowson at left-back had Boujee chasing shadows near halfway, as the ball was shifted infield to Harrington and then out to the right-hand side where Gray snuck in behind the defence to pull the ball back from the byline, but a defender managed to stab the ball away with Carey lurking.
Gray caused more problems for the Boujee defence on 52 minutes, reading a high bounce to bundle his diminutive frame past a defender and put himself through on goal, forcing his opponent to make a last-ditch slide that brought him down inside the penalty area. The referee pointed to the spot and booked the offender. But Josh Carey let the home side off the hook by smashing the ball against the crossbar, as a relieved Kiaran Hall looked on.
Carey tried to redeem himself by getting on the end of Jordan Canning's clipped through-ball, but Hall came out to snatch the ball away. But Carey got his goal on 58 minutes, when Leon Tatavossian charged the ball down to prevent a Boujee counter and regain possession for Totton in an advanced midfield area. He slipped Gray in with a short pass between two defenders to the inside-left position and Gray fired a low cross into the centre where Josh CAREY was able to sort his feet out just in time to stab the ball home from close range.
Boujee Pint struggled and strained but they couldn't gain a foothold in the match, courageous defending from Dan Gain and then Lewis Gundry typifying Totton's refusal to give an inch, despite a three-goal lead. The Boujee No.10 JP Alexander, a stand-out performer in the previous meeting between these two sides, tried to instigate attacking moves from his position on the left flank, but even when he was able to take on Totton players and create openings for his teammates - as he did with one buffeting run through midfield in the 64th minute - they failed to seriously threaten Coleman's goal.
Sam Conway made his third and final substitution in the 68th minute, introducing Luke Cron into midfield in place of Gary Bagley, which meant that Matt Harrington - centre-forward at kick-off - shifted further back into central defence, alongside Dan Gain.
The Totton triumvirant of Gundry, Rowson and Tatavossian continued to torment the right side of Boujee's defence and midfield. On 72 minutes, a lapse in concentration from a Boujee player who thought the ball had gone out of play allowed Tatavossian the time to pick out Nathan Gray in the middle, about 25 yards out, the striker firing in a low shot that eluded the diving Hall but smacked against the foot of the left-hand post and harmlessly away.
Tempers flared on the touchline when Dennis, a Boujee defender, kicked the ball away in a fit of frustration after conceding a free-kick - the infamous slopes that surround the football pitches at Southampton Sports Centre meaning that loose balls travel much further away from the pitch than anyone wants to have to run and fetch them. Amid accusations that he had been spat at, Sam Conway was shown a yellow card, though no action was taken against Dennis.
Lewis Gundry committed a foul about 30 yards from his own goal, left of centre, after being caught in possession. The right-footed Alexander tried his luck but his shot was too high and wide to the right to concern Coleman. Then, Jordan Canning fired one over the Boujee crossbar with a snapshot from right of the spot in a crowded penalty area. Josh Carey should have made it 4-0 when he found himself unmarked in the centre, 6 yards out, as Munday worked his way to the right-wing byline and chipped the ball in. But Carey's header lacked conviction and sailed wide of a grateful Hall's goalpost.
Canning was growing into the game and his cross from the right earned Totton a corner, from which Boujee managed to block shots from both Gray and Carey. Then, fast footwork by Tatavossian drew a foul on the left-hand side; Nathan Gray curled his free-kick over the wall but into the keeper's arms. Gray came close again with just one minute of normal time to play; Tatavossian played the ball to him down the left-hand side and Gray came back beyond the retreating defender to turn his man and set himself up for a right-footed curler that bent around the far post.
There was still time, though, for Totton to grab another goal in injury time. A long ball forward down the centre was initially headed out by the Boujee defence, but Luke CRON was the quickest to react in midfield, battling to claim the ball back from an opponent before letting fly from 30 yards with a powerful low shot that flashed past Hall on its way to his bottom-left corner.
4-0 to the Stags and that was the last significant action before the referee called time on proceedings, to confirm AFC Totton Sunday's 100% record from four matches, that sees them maintain their position at the summit of the City of Southampton Sunday Football League Division One table.
Man of the Match: Matt HARRINGTON and Simon ROWSON
AFC Totton Sunday would like to thank our sponsors Gentlemen's League Barbers and Hurst Auto Assistance for their invaluable ongoing support.
Match Report: Ben ROCHEY-ADAMS
