AFC Totton
PEACOCKS PUNISH STAGS AFC
Totton 0-2 Taunton Town by Adi Rose
Attendance – 229
The Stags entertained Taunton Town at the Testwood Stadium today and went into this game on the back of a 6-0 defeat away at Evesham United last weekend.
Taunton were quickest out of the traps and their first chance came after 3 minutes, when Craig Veal managed to get in an advanced position down the Stags right hand side, but his attempted cut back was cleared away by James Roden. The game proceeded to be fairly even, with Totton having an effort through Nick Watts that went harmlessly wide from distance. It was Taunton that picked up the initiative eventually and they began to put Totton under some pressure and Stags keeper Steve Mowthorpe was called into action. The first of 3 decent saves in as many minutes came, as Veal was denied at close range with a superb double save. Then, following another Taunton build-up, involving Ollie Chamberlain, who laid the ball off for Jordan Rogers, but Mowthorpe again pulled off a good stop to keep the scores level. The Stags did foray forward now and then, but ultimately were lacking on dangerous efforts on goal. Although their link up play looked to be in good shape, a move involving Jack Alexander and Neil Williams, set Watts free down the right wing and able to run at Nuno Felix. This enable Watts to win Totton a corner, but that was eventually cleared upfield.
Taunton were soon back on the offensive, with Ben Carter firing over from a freekick. It seemed as though The Stags defence were comfortable to withstand the pressure until half time and looked to be coping. With 39 minutes on the clock, Dale Evans put across a corner and following a mini scramble in the area, Jordan ROGERS was on hand to smash home for ‘The Peacocks’. There was another flurry of action just before half time, as yet again, Steve Mowthorpe made a superb save from Taunton’s Jamie Short. The last action of the half saw Nathaniel Sherborne let fly at goal, but his shot was simple for Lloyd Irish in the visitors goal. HT 0-1
The second half began with Totton really looking to get at Taunton and cause them a few problems, however, a combination of organized defending and a few wayward passes on The Stags part, meant that a few good looking moves were unfortunately broken down, without any danger on Lloyd Irish’s goal.
Then, 10 minutes in to the half, Taunton doubled their lead and effectively put the game to bed. After a build up between Short and Evans down the right side, the ball broke lose on the left edge of the area for Nuno FELIX to drill the ball home back across goal and into the side netting, which in truth, was a tidy finish from the advanced full back. The Stags had a few opportunities to carve a way back into the game, but none of them came into fruition. Watts forced Irish into a good save from a freekick on the hour mark, before shooting wide from the edge of the area. Totton had the lions share of the play for the final 15 minutes or so of the game, but couldn’t make any of it tell, as Taunton held on comfortably to claim all 3 points. FT 0-2 Stags
Lineup: Mowthorpe, Hibberd (c), Diaper, Williams, Roden, Wilson, Watts, Burgess, Sherborne, Alexander, Rawkins*.
Subs: Hunt, Silvestre, Dempsey, Gosney, Knight*.
