AFC Totton
Swindon S’marine 2-0 AFC Totton
Attendance – 211 (approx. 20 Totton)
The Stags travelled to Swindon this afternoon, high on confidence after a very good 5-1 win at Burnham last week and looked to build on that result at the Webbswood Stadium.
Totton got the game off to a very lively start as they took the game to Swindon. The first sight at goal for The Stags came after 9 minutes, when Neil Williams received the ball from a Mike Gosney through ball and as the angle narrowed, he could only fire straight at Matt Bulman in the ‘Marine goal.
The hosts then went straight down the other end for their first opportunity, but Steve Mowthorpe was alert to the danger before Ashley Edenborough could pounce.
Totton were unlucky not to have taken the lead after 13 minutes, as Marc Diaper’s shot from the edge of the area ricocheted off a blue shirt and fell to Tony Rolls, who swiped a shot towards the bottom left hand corner of the goal but Bulman pushed it around the post with an outstretched arm.
Steve Hollick’s men began to play some really good football, highlighted, when Gosney picked out a superb switch ball to find the run of Nick Watts on the opposite flank. As Watts cut inside, he looked to shoot, but the ball cannoned away off a defender and the chance was gone. However, the build up play was brilliant.
Again Totton came forward and looked really threatening. Gosney again in the thick of the action, this time slipping away from his marker and firing a shot goalwards, but it was just a few inches the wrong side of the post. As the first 20 minutes came and went, Totton kept coming forward, having really flustered the hosts. Following a clearance, Neil Williams battled away in the right hand channel to get away from 2 defenders, but his shot trickled through to Bulman as his markers both were putting him under extreme pressure.
The game then somewhat settled for a long period, with neither side really having a noteworthy attempt on goal. That was until 5 minutes before the break, when The Stags came forward with Gosney making headway down the left wing, but his cross just evaded Williams at the back post as he tried to connect with the delivery. It was Totton’s last effort in what was a solid first half performance. HT 0-0
Swindon made 2 changes at the break, Shephard and Schuster coming on for Jake Simpson and Luke Hopper. The substations and the half time team talk seemed to invigorate the hosts and just a minute into the half, Ashley Edenborough tried an audacious lob from the right hand side of the penalty area, but it went harmlessly over the bar. However, Edenborough and Supermarine weren’t to be denied for long. As Totton seemed to be taken aback by the hosts start to the second period, just as Swindon had been by The Stags in the first period, ‘Marine mounted the pressure, although, it was a long clearance from the back that found it’s way directly through to EDENBOROUGH, who struck home calmly beyond Mowthorpe.
Swindon then came to life and began to flex their muscles as the complexion of the game began to change. Steve Mowthorpe was called upon twice in as many minutes to deny Edenborough and then Josh Morse to keep The Stags in the game. But eventually the 2nd goal came for Swindon with 67 minutes on the clock, when Morse quickly interchanged with Bradley Gray on the edge of area and GRAY did the rest, slotting the ball into the corner of the net.
The game then went from bad to worse for Totton, as just 6 minutes later, Jake Burgess was sent off for a second bookable offence. It looked as though the challenge that incurred the 2nd yellow was a ‘something and nothing’ challenge, but the referee spotted a bookable offence and the sending off was so.
All credit to The Stags, they didn’t stop there and kept battling away and they nearly gave the travelling support a goal to cheer, when Nathaniel Sherborne was put through on goal, but was unlucky to see his effort come back off the bottom of the post, as Totton’s chances were becoming rarer, having been reduced to 10 men. Those 10 men became 9 in the last minute of the game, when an apparent over zealous tackle by Jack Alexander, landed himself a straight red card, although most people in the ground didn’t seem to think it deemed a red card, especially given that the game was drawing to an end. That was indeed the last action in a game that Totton will come away from with their heads held high. FT 2-0
The Stags had an absolutely brilliant first half today and were perhaps unlucky not to have gone in a goal to the good at half time. Supermarine came out and did what they had to do in the second half to get the job done. But take nothing away from Totton, they worked hard and battled away, especially when going down to 10 and then 9 men. There’s also no doubt that the officials played their part this afternoon, with both red card decisions being extremely debatable. Even commented upon by Swindon’s official Twitter page.
Hopefully the management team and players will come away with confidence, because if they continue to produce performances like that, they will certainly win more games than they will lose.
Stags Lineup: Mowthorpe, Hibberd (c), Diaper, Williams, Rolls, Simpson, Watts, Burgess, Sherborne, Alexander, Gosney.
Subs: Silvestre, Roden, Rawkins, Edwards, Brewer.
