HAMPSHIRE COMBINATION & DEVELOPMENT FOOTBALL LEAGUE
UNDER-23s PREMIER DIVISION | Matchday#07
Wednesday 16 April 2025 | Cams Alders Sports Ground, Fareham | Att: ~100

YOUNG STAGS BATTLE BACK FROM ADVERSITY TO CLAIM A POINT

FAREHAM TOWN U23s           2
Kai Moth 35mins;
Jamie Truckel 39mins

AFC TOTTON U23s                     2
Own Goal 76mins;
Remus Nixon 78mins

AFC TOTTON U23s came through a tough test of character at second in the table Fareham Town, coming back to claim a point after finding themselves two-goals down and reduced to 10 men following the dismissal of Leo Taylor for a second yellow card.

Illness and injury, coupled with the busy Easter weekend schedule placing extra demands on the first team squad, meant Harry Brookwell once again had only thirteen players to choose from for the first meeting of the season against Totton’s closest challengers for the Hampshire Combination & Development Football League Under-23s Premier Division title.

AFC TOTTON U23s: 1. Max EVANS; 2. Runo AGBERHIERE; 3. Sa-Sean LUTUMBA; 4. Zachariah EARLEY; 5. Harley STRANGE; 6. Leo TAYLOR; 7. Sam GORDON; 8. Dylan ANDREWS; 9. Hugo RAWLINGS; 10. Owen PELHAM (Capt.); 11. Remus NIXON. Substitutes: 14. Jack GOOD; 20. Jack McGIVNEY. Substitutions: Rolling. Red Card: TAYLOR (2nd Yellow Card).

Returning captain Owen Pelham earned Totton an early corner on their right, which he took. His cross was headed out of the six-yard box by Fareham defender Dan Haynes and fell to Dylan Andrews on the edge of the penalty area, but the midfielder’s volley flew high and wide to the right. Pelham delivered another set-piece from the same side — this time, a free-kick about 25 yards out; the ball arced over everyone lined up in the middle but what should have been a routine clearance at the far post was miss-kicked, prompting goalkeeper George Bonney to swipe the ball away from his near post corner before it was cleared.

Fareham raced forward down their left flank, and a low cross flashed across the Totton goal too quickly for any of The Creeksiders’ forwards arriving in the middle to apply the finishing touch. Then, back at the other end, Leo Taylor headed wide from another Pelham free-kick from the Totton right.

Taylor received the ball inside his own half and drove forward, deep into opposition territory while Fareham defenders backed off. A heavy touch caused the ball to run away from Taylor and, as a defender stepped forward to challenge, the Totton No.6 flew into a sliding tackle that caught his opponent and brought an angry reaction from several home players and supporters. Taylor was shown the yellow card and given a lengthy talking to by the referee.

On 35 minutes, the home side took the lead. Winning the ball inside their own half, a pass out to the right flank found Harry Hatherley with the time and space to control the ball, look up and spot the run of his teammate towards the back post. Hatherley bent a well-measured low cross around the first defender to present Kai MOTH with the chance to fire high past Marcus Evans, and into the top-left corner of the net.

Remus Nixon almost levelled immediately for Totton, darting into the inside-right channel to latch onto a straight, forward pass and lobbing Bonney towards the far post, before the ball dropped wide of the far corner.

Taylor’s criticism of the referee’s decision to award a throw-in to Fareham had him testing the match official’s patience, again. Then, Pelham had a half-chance to equalise when the ball fell to him to the left of the D on the edge of the home side’s box, but he rushed his shot and it veered away to the right.

Within four minutes of going ahead, Fareham doubled their advantage. A long ball from deep was helped on from within the centre-circle and bounced up invitingly for The Creeksiders’ No.10; spotting Evans standing off his line, Jamie TRUCKEL struck a 25-yard lob that dipped over the Totton ‘keeper and under the crossbar to hand Fareham a two-goal lead.

Totton were rocked, and Fareham had a golden opportunity to increase the damage when a low cross from their right-hand side somehow threaded between two Totton defenders and two red-shirted attackers, before it was smuggled out for a corner on the far side.

Nixon was able to chest the ball down on the edge of the Fareham box but, like Pelham before him, rushed his shot and ended up stretching to make a proper contact, sending the ball over the crossbar.

Fareham exposed a gap on the right of Totton’s defence but the visitors scrambled back in time to divert the ball wide for a corner, and held on at two-nil down until the break.

HALF-TIME: FAREHAM TOWN U23s 2-0 AFC TOTTON U23s

As though being two goals down away from home against fellow title challengers wasn’t tough enough, Totton’s evening went from bad to worse early in the second half when Leo Taylor was shown a second yellow card for a heavy challenge on Hatherley just outside the Totton box. Taylor protested his innocence, claiming — with some justification — that he had won the ball, but the referee issued his marching orders. Possibly believing he was only being sin-binned for 10 minutes, Taylor made his way towards the dug-out, but the referee quickly re-directed him towards the changing room on the other side of the pitch, confirming that his dismissal was to be permanent. Hatherley picked himself up to strike the free-kick high towards the Totton goal; Evans reacted by palming the ball over the bar.

Totton struggled to adapt to being down to 10 men, and it didn’t help their cause when a promising attack instigated through the middle by Pelham came to an abrupt halt when the ball bounced up and struck Rawlings on the hand, as he was in the middle of executing a turn and shot from the edge of the box. Manager Harry Brookwell issued new tactical situations from the sidelines, and midfielder Dylan Andrews began to make his influence felt, driving through several challenges before winning a free-kick in the centre of the park.

Truckel and Moth combined on the Fareham left for the former to bend in a low cross that was only a fraction too far ahead of Lewis Shann, who was arriving into the danger area at pace. Then, Rawlings demonstrated strong determination and a willingness to keep battling when he tried to latch onto Nixon’s headed flick-on to the right-wing byline, before a defender managed to usher the ball over the line for a goal-kick.

Evans’ distribution from the Totton goal became more of a feature in the game, particularly when he was able to aim his kicks towards Nixon, the one Totton forward with the size and strength to go up against the Fareham central defenders. Evans was also kept busy from Fareham’s set-pieces. Truckel and Moth linked up again to win a corner on the home team’s left, and Evans punched away the delivery; the ball fell to Will Bourne, whose square pass set-up Shann to shoot left-footed, forcing Evans to parry wide of his left-hand post. This time, the corner was partially cleared and, when the ball was lofted back into the Totton box, Truckel headed wide.

Totton halved the deficit on 76 minutes, when Sa-Sean Lutumba released Nixon down the left wing. The forward delivered a well-struck, low centre into the six-yard box, and as a defender tried to clear it from just past the near post, he only succeeded in slicing the ball past Bonney and into the bottom-left corner for an Own Goal.

With their tails up and belief newly-restored, The Young Bucks pulled themselves level just two minutes later. A long kick down the middle of the pitch pitted the relatively short Pelham up against much taller central defensive opponents; the Totton captain jumped to challenge and did enough to at least cause the clearance to stray from its intended target and land in the centre-circle, where Jack Good knocked it square for Zach Earley to put Remus NIXON through at the inside-left channel; the striker left his marker for dead and maintained his composure to slot the ball under Bonney to make it two-two.

Now it was Fareham’s turn to rock on their heels. Evans punted another long ball forward, which took a deflection off a defender for a Totton corner on the right, but the home side defended it well.

Lewis Shann got in again from the right to test Evans at his left-hand post, the ‘keeper once again parrying. It was hooked away but quickly came to Will Saki-Ofei, whose long-range effort was more comfortable for the Totton shot-stopper to deal with.

Pelham tried to battle through two challenges on his way into the right side of the Fareham box; he managed to force his way through but the ball ran away from him at the last moment and Bonney was able to scoop it up.

Totton were awarded a free-kick for an innocuous challenge to the left of the D. Pelham and Nixon both stood over it; the latter stepped up to shoot, his attempt striking the defensive wall and going wide for a corner. Pelham’s cross was over-hit and eluded everyone before going out for a goal-kick on the opposite side of the goalposts.

Undying endeavour from Earley on the left-wing touchline enabled the cultured midfielder to pick out Rawlings in the box. The forward was crowded out by two defenders stepping into his path, and the ball dropped invitingly for Jack McGivney, whose left-foot strike soared past the near post and into the reverse side of the goal netting via an advertising hoarding.

With reduced numbers, cramp began to set in for a couple of Totton players. Pelham and Rawlings tried to work their way through the heart of the Fareham defence before the door was firmly shut in their faces. Totton ended the game defending more set-pieces, with Marcus Evans strongly commanding his penalty area to ensure The Young Bucks left Cams Alders with a point.

Next Up: AFC TOTTON U23Es vs HAMBLE CLUB U23s
Hampshire Combination Under-23s Challenge Cup | Quarter-Final | Snows Stadium, Salisbury Road, Totton, Southampton SO40 2RW | Wednesday 23 April 2025 | Kick-Off 7:45pm