AFC Totton
Stags get sweet revenge over Winchester in Hampshire Derby
Attendance – 392
AFC Totton celebrated their finest victory of the season with a comprehensive 2-0 win over local rivals, Winchester City, who were 2nd in the league.
The Stags have now won three games in a row, scoring 13 goals and only conceding one in their best run of the campaign so far.
It was a very open first half, with tackles flying in from the outset, and a yellow card for each side just 20 minutes into the game.
Paul Master’s side had the best chance to take the lead after Warren Bentley’s sizzling cross left Charlie Smeeton with a tap in, but couldn’t quite reach with an outstretched leg.
With deadlock at the break, the second half was to be jammed-packed full of belated Christmas cheer for the home side. After two one-on-one chances between forwards and Winch goalkeeper, Brendon Norris (first Dylan Knight, then Nathaniel Sherborne), Totton finally got their first present in the 56th minute.
Nick Watts crossed a delightfully dangerous ball into Sherborne’s path, and the prolific striker had no problems in burying the ball past Norris to bag his 11th goal of the season, but he wasn’t finished there.
Less than 10 minutes later, Mike Gosney put a promising through-ball to Sherborne to leave him one-on-one with the Winchester keeper once more. The Stags forward rushed to the ball first to strike the ball home, leaving the inconsolable ‘keeper stranded and two goals down.
The home side were flooding men forward in every attack for the last quarter of the game but still looked defensively solid. Patrick Wilson won almost every header in the match to help Totton secure yet another clean sheet.
Meanwhile, a maximum nine points in three games has catapulted the Stags to 13th in the table with ever-improving performances. The Stags next game is away to Wimborne and is another local derby, on Saturday 2nd January 2016, 3pm kick off.
Totton starting line-up: Mowthorpe, Hibberd, Oliver, Williams, Roden, Wilson, Watts**, Allen, Knight*, Sherborne, Gosney.
Substitutes: Hunt, Silvestre, Burgess, Joryeff**, Lilley*
