AFC Totton
HAMPSHIRE COMBINATION CHALLENGE CUP | SEMI-FINAL
Miller Park, Salisbury Road, Totton | Thursday 01 May 2025 | Att: ~200
AFC TOTTON U23s 0
HAMBLE CLUB U23s 0
(Hamble Club U23s won 4-2 on penalties)
AFC TOTTON UNDER-23s suffered a penalty shoot-out defeat in the semi-final of the Hampshire Combination Challenge Cup, losing 2-4 on spot-kicks to Hamble Club after a goalless draw at Miller Park.
AFC TOTTON U23s - Starting XI: 1. Max EVANS; 2. Jack GOOD; 3. Sa-Sean LUTUMBA; 4. Zachariah EARLEY; 5. Cruz WRAGG ; 6. Will KEITA; 7. Jack McGIVNEY; 8. Dylan ANDREWS; 9. Connor BENT; 10. Owen PELHAM (Capt.); 11. Remus NIXON. Substitutes: 12. Dylan BIRKS; 14. Hugo RAWLINGS; 20. Runo AGBERHIERE. Substitutions: Rolling On/Off. Yellow Card: ANDREWS (Foul).
The Young Bucks had an early chance when captain Owen Pelham charged through a couple of challenges in midfield before playing a short pass into the path of his central midfield partner Dylan Andrews, whose first touch was good but he neglected to strike from the edge of the box with his second and the chance was gone.
A loose pass by Andrews across his own box put his team under pressure; Max Evans rescued him with a fantastic flying save, reaching high towards his top-left corner to push well-struck effort over the bar for a corner. The ball was played in towards the near post and Will Keita reacted quickly to charge down a shot, deflecting the ball wide for another corner. This time, the delivery provoked a series of ricochets before the ball fell to a Hamble striker to the left of goal, whose powerful shot flashed past the post.
Hamble had a few senior players in their line-up, giving them an advantage in terms of strength and experience, making it difficult for Totton to assert themselves early on. Keita made another telling block and Evans was called into action again to pluck a high cross out of the heavens amid a crowded Totton penalty area.
But for all their early threat, Hamble almost shot themselves in the foot when a back-pass to Harvey Doe gave Connor Bent the chance to charge down the goalkeeper as he tried to kick the ball upfield. The ball rebounded of Bent and flew narrowly wide of the right-hand post, to let the visitors off the hook with a stark warning.
A long ball into the left corner enabled Remus Nixon to steal the ball off the Hamble right-back and prod it to Pelham, arriving at the left byline, who then fired across goal and narrowly wide of the far post. At the other end, Evans continued to rule the skies, taking another high cross into his box under pressure from two opposition forwards.
Keita read a swift Hamble attack and got across to the left to make a well-timed sliding tackle, at the expense of a corner. Once again, the ball into the box pinballed off a couple of Hambe heads before Evans grabbed it. Then, Dylan Andrews was booked for a late tackle on the Hamble right-back close to the halfway line.
Bent forced a corner on the Totton right. Pelham’s cross eluded Doe’s reach but was a fraction too high for Keita to head on-target. A defensive intervention only succeeded in directing the ball to Nixon, whose powerful strike from an angle to the right of goal was bravely blocked by a defender before Hamble scrambled it away.
Andrews played an incisive pass to inside-right. Bent was originally second-best, but he managed to wrestle the ball from his marker at the byline and came back to make an angle for a low, left-footed shot which Doe saved. Then, a foul on Nixon led to a Totton free-kick 25 yards out, to the right of centre. Pelham’s curling shot bent around the defensive wall but Doe was well-placed to catch, as the half-time whistle sounded.
Totton began the second half brightly, Bent running onto an Andrews through-ball to the left of the Hamble box and pulling a one-handed save from Doe. The Hamble ‘keeper was then left needing treatment after clashing with Jack McGivney in a tackle.
Bent had his best chance of the game when he worked himself some space in the middle of the Hamble box to receive Jack Good’s pass from the right byline; a badly-timed bobble made the ball sit up and the striker blasted high over the crossbar.
Good and midfielder Zach Earley both made important defensive contributions to nullify the Hamble threat in and around the Totton box, before the visitors went close to taking the lead with a 20-yard shot that soared over the bar from a partially-cleared corner. Then, a Keita foul gave The Monks a free-kick within range, but the shot was too high.
A high right-wing corner delivery by Pelham saw Bent out-jump a cluster of Hamble defenders at the edge of the six-yard box. The striker thumped a firm header at goal but Doe was equal to it, reacting sharply to push it over the bar.
Pelham did well to retain possession despite two challenges before he slipped a short pass into the Hamble box, inviting Nixon to take aim. The forward took a touch and then fired a deflected shot into the side-netting.
Hamble appealed for hand-ball when a shot from the left struck Jack Good; the referee turned them down but their wish for a spot kick was nevertheless granted as the full-time whistle took the cup-tie directly to a penalty shoot-out.
The visitors went first, and Max Evans (pictured) gave Totton the ideal start by making a save low down in the middle of his goal; but Earley couldn’t take advantage, as Doe parried to keep the scores level: TOT 0-0 HAM. Hamble’s next penalty was confidently coverted; Hugo Rawlings dragged his shot wide of the left-hand post: TOT 0-1 HAM. The Monks next two kicks found the back of net, as did Keita and Nixon to keep The Young Bucks in the contest: TOT 2-3 HAM. But the home side never got to take their fifth spot-kick; Hamble’s No.12 fired into the top-right corner to put his team through to a final showdown with Fareham Town: TOT 2-4 HAM.
By Ben Rochey-Adams
