AFC Totton
SOUTHAMPTON DIVISIONAL F.A. CUP
SUNDAY SENIOR CUP, 1st ROUND
BOUJEE PINT 1
Jake Small 45mins
AFC TOTTON SUNDAY 5
Dan Gain 5mins; Luke Scoular 25mins; Matt Harrington 48mins; Tom Munday 75mins, 78mins
Fresh from their exhilarating 5-0 victory over CoSSFL Div.1 title rivals Chamberlayne Athletic Sunday last weekend, AFC Totton Sunday turned their attentions to the Southampton Divisional FA Cup today (Sunday) with a short trip to Fleming Park in Eastleigh to face familiar sparring partners, Boujee Pint.
The Stags had already beaten Boujee home and away in the league this season, but needed to guard against complacency to keep their hopes of a multiple trophy-winning campaign alive.
UP-AND-RUNNING: Centre-back Dan Gain opened his goalscoring account for this season to set AFC Totton Sunday on the road to victory in the Southampton Divisional F.A. Cup, this morning (Image courtesy of Pete Humphry Photography)
AFC TOTTON SUNDAY
Starting Line-Up
1. Mitch COLEMAN
2. Luke SCOULAR
3. Tom MUNDAY
4. Tom RAFFERTY
5. Dan GAIN
6. Jason CALCUTT
7. Lewis GUNDRY
8. Michael McLEOD
9. Matt HARRINGTON
10. Nathan GRAY
16. Josh CAREY
Subs
13. Leon TATAVOSSIAN
14. Luke CRON
Goalkeeper Mitch Coleman recovered from a hand injury to make his return between the sticks, meaning that stand-in keeper Leon Tatavossian dropped back to the bench as midfield cover. Left-back Simon Rowson was unavailable, so Tom Munday was redeployed in the defensive line with Michael McLeod, a goalscoring substitute on his AFC Totton Sunday debut last week, making his first start in midfield alongside Lewis Gundry and Jason Calcutt, as manager Sam Conway experimented with a 4-3-3 formation. Forward Josh Carey was among the starting XI despite wearing the No.16 shirt - presumably because the No.11 doesn't fit him.
Totton, in their change kit of fluo yellow shirts and black shorts, had an early opportunity to take the lead when right-back Luke Scoular sent a long diagonal pass in search of the head of Matt Harrington. A Boujee defender tried to head clear but only succeeded in sending the ball high into the air, allowing Harrington to take the ball on the drop and shoot narrowly wide of the left-hand post.
Boujee, undeterred by previous defeats at the antlers of the Stags this season, were bright in their early attacking play and Coleman, Dan Gain and skipper Lewis Gundry had to demonstrate calm under pressure to retain possession as the home side pressed Totton back into their own penalty area.
Totton put the ball in the net in the 4th minute, Scoular and Harrington combining to play Nathan Gray through down the middle, but he was flagged offside as he stroked the ball into the net. It proved to be a short-lived reprieve for Boujee. Gray sent a right-wing corner to the back post area where the unmarked Dan GAIN jumped high to put the visitors in front with a thumping header into the top-right corner.
The Stags were finding their stride and almost doubled their lead when a long ball by Gain, from his position as centre-back, was flicked on by the head of Harrington for Josh Carey to steal in from the right-hand side and lob his shot just within reach of Kieran Hall in the Boujee goal, who pushed it over. From the resulting corner, the ball was headed out to the edge of the area from where Gundry took aim but shot narrowly over.
Good control of the football, despite an occasionally uneven playing surface, and teammates providing the man in possession with plenty of passing options enabled Totton to deal with Boujee's attempts at pressing, and even when they did manage to make in-roads down either flank, full-backs Tom Munday and Luke Scoular were able to shutdown the home side's attacks. Totton survived a penalty shout when Boujee's No.5 Morris went down as he tried to twist his way through a cluster of Stags defenders in a crowded area.
Harrington had a shot smothered wide for a corner in the 16th minute, from which Jason Calcutt got a glancing header onto Gray's cross but a defender managed to clear off the goal-line at the far post. Then, Gain and McLeod both had to make defensive clearing headers as Boujee continued to probe for a way to Totton's goal.
Strong bustling midfield play from Lewis Gundry enabled the Totton skipper to release Scoular down the right-wing but Hall did well to save the cross-shot at the near post. Then, diligent tracking back through the centre of midfield by McLeod saved Scoular's blushes after a heavy touch near the half-way line presented the ball to Boujee left winger Rhys Lock. Gundry conceded a free-kick near the centre-circle but Dan Gain headed away the long high delivery, with Tom Rafferty dealing with the follow-up, as Totton held firm to protect their lead.
Tom Munday tracked the Boujee right winger to the byline and appeared to get a decisive defensive touch, but inadvertently diverted the ball to centre-forward Al Adlam to the right of goal, 8 yards out. He turned and aimed for the inside far corner but dragged his shot wide of the left-hand post, with Coleman exposed.
And Totton made their hosts pay for that profligacy in the 25th minute. Dan Gain's free-kick from close to half-way was originally too long, dropping over his forwards to an area from which Boujee could have cleared their lines. But dithering in possession followed by an underhit back pass to the goalkeeper presented Josh Carey with the ball at his feet, left of the 6-yard box. He stood the ball up to the back post, taking Hall out of the game in the process, and Luke SCOULAR rushed in and leapt high to meet it on the side-foot volley, sneaking the ball in under the crossbar of an unguarded net to double the Stags' advantage.
Morris tried to hit back for Boujee Pint with a 25-yard left-foot snapshot, but Coleman was well-positioned to make the save. Then, Totton's top scorer for the season so far, Nathan Gray, latched onto Harrington's pass in the inside-right channel, but the ball wouldn't sit down for him as he advanced and Hall was able to gather bravely at the forward's feet.
Dan Gain used his huge frame to good effect to block a Boujee effort from their left-hand side, after a free-kick from a deep position. Tempers flared a little as first Sam Conway, on the touchline, and Nathan Gray were spoken to by the referee, the latter for his part in an altercation with his marker in the centre-circle. Mike McLeod's presence, particularly when tenaciously closing opposition players down in midfield, ensured that Totton did not suffer the absence of their usual captain, Gary Bagley. Harrington, Scoular and Gray linked-up again to play the latter through the centre, but Hall reacted quickly to scoop the ball up at the edge of his penalty area.
An incisive direct diagonal pass from Morris played Lock in between Scoular and Gain, in the Boujee attacking inside-left channel. He controlled the ball on the run and struck with the outside of his left foot but Mitch Coleman made an impressive reaction save at full stretch, low to his right to push the ball away for a corner, which was subsequently delivered directly into the side-netting.
Tom Munday played a low cross into the Boujee box from the left-wing and Carey managed to flick it goal-ward, but Hall managed to get himself in the way. Then, on the stroke of half-time, the home side cut the deficit in half. A corner from the right was headed at goal from the far post by Jake SMALL and, from his position covering that post, Scoular stuck out his arm. Amid instant calls for a penalty and a red card, the referee initially gave the spot-kick, until his assistant on the far side confirmed that the ball had already crossed the line. The goal was given and Scoular lived to fight the second half.
HALF-TIME
BOUJEE PINT 1
AFC TOTTON SUNDAY 2
CAPTAIN MARVEL: Lewis Gundry (right) led from midfield as AFC Totton Sunday triumphed in the Southampton Divisional F.A. Cup, this morning (Image courtesy of Pete Humphry Photography)
Leon Tatavossian came on for the second half, replacing Nathan Gray on the left of the AFC Totton Sunday attack. Kieran Hall had to have his wits about him to deal with Matt Harrington's header from a long punt downfield by Mitch Coleman. Then, Scoular made a strong block tackle on the edge of his area to prevent the home side from capitalising on a misplaced pass from Gundry.
Three minutes into the second half, Josh Carey took possession midway inside the Boujee half and sent an angled pass out to the right wing. Matt HARRINGTON took the ball under control and strode forward before firing past Hall at the near post, high into the net to make it 3-1 to AFC Totton Sunday.
Carey was the provider again a few minutes later, chasing a lost cause to the left-wing byline and lobbing the ball across goal where Tom Munday headed wide, much to his own visible annoyance. Then, strong midfield play from Boujee's Matt Holdaway, wearing the No.77 (seventy-seven) shirt, preceded a long-distance strike that Coleman caught above his head. The home side began to play with more confidence and a neat two-touch move involving three players was brought to an abrupt end by Tom Rafferty's brave block challenge. And Boujee's Aaron Dennis was similarly robust to halt Munday's progress at the right-wing byline. Tatavossian's corner dropped in the middle of goal, 8-yards out. The ball hit an unsuspecting defender and fell to Tom Munday but his shot struck Hall's ankles and bounced clear.
Dan Gain was left standing by a tight turn and run by Morris but the covering Scoular slid in to block the cross. Then, a left-footed sideswipe from Luke Cron, 20-yards out on the left-hand side, had the local wildlife diving for cover, shortly before Tatavossian curled a 30-yard free-kick over the crossbar.
Boujee came close to scoring from a right-wing attacking raid, though it would have been ruled out for offside. Then, a mistake by Kieran Hall, as the Boujee keeper drop-kicked the ball directly into one of his own defenders while aiming to send it out to the wing, gave the ball to the ever-lively Gundry in midfield. He found Munday on the right wing and went for the return pass, sliding in to make a tackle as a defender came across on the cover, at which point the referee gave a free-kick for a foul.
A goalmouth scramble at the other end saw Coleman beat the ball away and then react quickly again to claw Adlam's flick back from the goal-line. Then, Hall dropped Tatavossian's left-wing corner at his back post but Totton couldn't take advantage. A few minutes later, substitute Luke Cron arrowed in a low cross to which Carey applied the finishing touch - from an offside position. No goal.
Seemingly coasting at 3-1 against a team they have beaten twice before, Totton's levels of application appeared to drop midway through the second half, as tiredness also became a factor. Lewis Gundry rallied to encourage his teammates to continue putting in the effort, asserting his dominance in midfield with several strong challenges and short passing sequences to ensure his team retained possession. Munday won a tough 50-50 on the right and, as several of the home side players waited for the whistle to award them a free-kick, Totton played on with Josh Carey attempting to round the keeper before laying it back and Cron's shot was deflected wide. Carey met Tatavossian's corner in the air but couldn't keep his header low enough to threaten Hall's goal.
In the 75th minute, Gundry took the ball in the centre-circle and played it to the feet of Carey, in the centre-forward position. He fed Munday on the right but slightly overhit the pass. Munday scampered over to the touchline to keep the ball in play, then cut inside sharply to evade the full-back, before meeting the attempted sliding block tackle by the centre-back with equal strength. With the ball still in play by the byline, Tom MUNDAY sprung back to his feet and shot beyond Hall into the far side of the goal. A determined solo effort from Munday to make it 4-1.
Hall came out quickly to beat Cron to Tatavossian's through-ball down the left, after a clever move orchestrated by McLeod. Then on 78 minutes, Tatavossian and Cron linked-up again down the left-wing, with Cron laying the ball back for Leon Tatavossian to curl a cross from deep into the opposite side of the 6-yard box where Tom MUNDAY stooped to head home from close range, with Hall struggling to get across goal quickly enough.
Boujee kept attacking, as much as they could, but determined defending by Luke Scoular prevented them from gaining any late consolation goals, Coleman proving equal to a 20-yard strike when the ball did finally fall kindly for the home side. And Scoular was penalised for a late foul.
The referee's final whistle confirmed AFC Totton Sunday's passage into the 2nd Round of the Southampton Divisional FA Cup. And they are on cup duty again next week, taking on local rivals Windsor United in the Hampshire Cup.
Man of the Match: Matt HARRINGTON
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
