AFC Totton
HAMPSHIRE CUP
1st Round
WINSOR UNITED 1
Tom Rafferty o.g. 80mins
AFC TOTTON SUNDAY 2
Matt Harrington 13mins; Sam Conway 70mins
A ROY OF THE ROVERS-style substitute cameo performance by Player-Manager Sam Conway saw AFC Totton Sunday through a hard-fought Hampshire Cup tie at the Redbridge Community School, against local rivals Winsor United on Sunday morning.
A combination of accumulated injuries and unavailability due to non-footballing commitments had the Sunday Stags management team press-ganging the partially wounded and otherwise occupied into putting on a blue shirt and giving their best for the team that is unbeaten in all competitions, so far this season. Simon Rowson came back in at left-back after missing last week's trip to Boujee Pint. In the absences of Leon Tatavossian, Nathan Gray, Luke Cron and Jay Brading, former Southampton and AFC Bournemouth youth academy prospect Sam Conway named himself on the substitute's bench, as a purely precautionary move.
STRENGTH IN NUMBERS: Totton centre-forward Matt Harrington (No.9) drops deep to get stuck into the midfield battle.
AFC TOTTON SUNDAY
Starting Line-Up
1. Mitch COLEMAN
2. Luke SCOULAR
3. Simon ROWSON
4. Dan GAIN
5. Tom RAFFERTY
6. Jason CALCUTT
7. Lewis GUNDRY (Capt.)
9. Matt HARRINGTON
11. Tom MUNDAY
15. Michael McLEOD
16. Josh CAREY
Substitutes
13. Jordan CANNING
14. Sam CONWAY
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Mitch Coleman was called into early action to stop a 25-yard strike, as Winsor, who brought with them a flavour of Portugal across the Redbridge Flyover in their red shirts, green shorts and red socks, made a bright, energetic start to the match. But the AFC Totton Sunday keeper almost got his own name on the scoresheet with a long punt upfield that bounced high enough to cause his opposite number Gareth Schultz difficulty in catching the ball over his own head, with Stags centre-forward Matt Harrington lurking with intent to strike.
Solid defending from Simon Rowson blocked the home side's path down their right wing but by retreating slightly, Winsor managed to make space for a cross that bounced awkwardly off Tom Munday's left knee and out for a throw-in by the corner flag. Winsor's Will McNamara - The Human Trebuchet - then demonstrated the first of several long, high throws into the danger area, which would become a prominent feature throughout the match; Coleman came out to make a strong catch, on this occasion, despite the presence of several players inside his 6-yard box.
The early exchanges of the game were at a frenetic pace, prompting captain Lewis Gundry to implore his team to put their foot on the ball and to start asserting control in midfield. And the Stags responded when a flick by Josh Carey from centre-field sent Munday racing down the left wing. He checked to wrong-foot his marker and crossed into the penalty area, the ball bouncing up invitingly for Michael MacLeod to attempt a hook shot that dropped wide of the right-hand post. And Munday came close with an effort of his own, soon after, again checking onto his right foot from the left of the penalty area before firing a warning shot across the bows of Winsor.
Totton were beginning to find their rhythm, negotiating a bumpy pitch to impose their eclectic style of short sharp passing to create spaces on the overlap or via the third-man runner, with direct angled passes to exploit Harrington's signature aerial threat. Carey engaged in a quick one-two with Gundry to attack the inside-right channel, stealing half a yard to escape the recovering defender before pulling his shot narrowly wide of the far post.
And it was with a similar move that Totton took the lead in the 13th minute. Tom Rafferty stepped out of the defensive line to play a firm, low pass down the centre to Josh Carey, mid-way inside the Winsor half. With his back to goal, the big frontman laid the ball off to MacLeod in space on the right wing, and his pearler of a curling cross was met in the air by Matt HARRINGTON with a downward header that angled away from the keeper on its way to nestling into the bottom-left corner.
Winsor were back-peddling again within minutes. First, Coleman tested Schultz's reflexes once more, with another drop-kick from his own penalty area. Then, a precise angled pass from Gundry found MacLeod near the right-hand touchline. He fed a low pass to Harrington on the edge of the area and, with a defender right behind him, he laid the ball back for the incoming Lewis Gundry - who'd made up 30 yards - to blast just wide to the right.
The home side are going well in the CoSSFL Div.2 this season, so it was no surprise to see them gain some possession and find ways to attack Totton. A cross-field pass from the left-wing presented an opportunity for Eadie to attempt a spectacular volley from the inside-right channel, but his shot was well wide. Then a whipped, low cross from the left-wing eluded the Winsor striker by mere inches, much to Coleman's relief, with the Totton back four momentarily stretched.
Around the half-hour mark, Tom Munday's corner picked out Carey who got above his marker at the back-post to nod firmly for goal, the ball striking the right-hand upright and rebounding out of harm's way. Then a Winsor attack down their right was initially seen off with a strong tackle by Gundry on the edge of the area, but the ball broke to a Winsor midfielder whose shot was well-saved by Coleman.
The Reds of Winsor were beginning to enjoy the lion's share of possession through midfield, and they would have levelled the scores when a lob from the right wing area beat the on-rushing Coleman - but Tom Rafferty swooped to the rescue on the cover, at the expense of a corner, from which Coleman then saved from a 6-yard header. Then a brilliantly-timed sliding tackle by Rafferty stopped Winsor dead in their tracks, as they were preparing to overload down the left-hand side.
McNamara's hurled throw-ins continued to cause problems but the aerial strengths of Dan Gain, Jason Calcutt and goalkeeper Coleman managed to deal with everything he could - literally - throw at them. Then, Winsor showed their ball-playing skills with a patient build-up down the left, followed by a strong, angled drive out to Eadie on their right-wing, but the Winsor winger's header was high and wide as he came under pressure from Munday.
Shortly before half-time, Jason Calcutt won an aerial duel at half-way, near the right-wing touchline, but he landed awkwardly and later said that he "felt something pop." With an already threadbare squad and another injured player on the substitute's bench, manager Sam Conway chose to take to the field himself for his first match in more than two years - a decision he no-doubt regretted within two minutes when he collided with an opponent and landed face-down in the turf. But he picked himself up and carried on, and recovered enough energy to flick the ball on to Tom Munday, whose header looped over the crossbar.
HALF-TIME:
WINSOR UNITED 0
AFC TOTTON SUNDAY 1
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During the half-time moratorium of the walking wounded, it was clear that AFC Totton Sunday - who had conquered all before them so far this season - were facing a different sort of challenge. The players were asked to give everything they had and fight their way through what they knew would be an energy sapping second half.
Conway, playing up front alongside Josh Carey with Harrington dropping into midfield, showcased his silky repertoire by meeting a long ball with a deft back-heel volley - you can take the boy out of the Southampton Academy - to free Tom Munday in behind the Winsor defence, the midfielder shooting wide. Then, a dogged determination to gain ground across the football pitch saw Luke Scoular carrying the fight down Winsor's left-side, winning a corner with his one-man assault on the home team's defences.
Winsor carried a threat of their own, though. A neat four-man passing move freed Pattison down the inside-left, causing Coleman to come out and block bravely at the forward's feet. Then, at the other end, strong hold-up play by Harrington gave him enough space to squeeze a snapshot just wide of the right-hand post.
McNamara's aerial bombardment continued; some situations were dealt with more comfortably than others, but Totton stood their ground and managed to cope. And when the home side got the ball down and played, of which they were more than capable, stoic defending by Dan Gain thwarted their attacking ambitions.
Around the hour mark, incisive link-up play between MacLeod and Munday presented the latter the chance to let fly with a left-foot curler, which Schultz did well to catch. Then, Winsor's centre-forward Jamie Betteridge glanced a header wide when he had the whole goal to aim at. MacLeod's ability to bring teammates into the game has been a feature of his short tenure so far with the Sunday Stags, and his collaboration with Conway down the right-wing garnered a corner, from which Totton almost extended their lead but for two defenders smuggling the ball wide at the far post with Gain and Harrington both trying to connect with MacLeod's cross.
Then, it happened. The moment upon which future grandfathers will endlessly opine to grandchildren not yet born.
On 70 minutes, Winsor United were attacking down Totton's left flank but Rafferty intervened and picked out Tom Munday, on the touchline. The midfielder attempted to find Harrington on the attacking side of the centre-circle, but as he was closed down by a defender, the ball flicked off one of them and into the space vacated by the covering left-back. Schultz, seeing that his teammate was losing the footrace against the effervescent Conway, was tempted to come out and narrow the angle - and Sam CONWAY did not need to be invited twice to sail a 40-yard chip over the stranded keeper's head and inside the right-hand post for a glorious second Stags goal.
THAT'S THE WAY TO DO IT: A beaming Sam Conway wheels away in delight after scoring the winner that knocked Winsor United out of the Hampshire Cup.
It was a moment the entire Totton contingent enjoyed, but they soon went down to 10-men when Micheal MacLeod found himself on the wrong end of six studs and had to limp off. Winsor looked to exploit their numerical advantage, and a combination of Gain and Rafferty had to smother an effort from the home side at the near-post.
There were flashes of temper and aggression throughout the match, as two physically competitive teams tried to test one another's resolve in search of any kind of weakness. Gundry and Conway were both spoken to by the referee after one contentious moment, the latter earning a yellow card for dissent.
And on 80 minutes, Winsor pulled a goal back to set up a barnstorming last 10. Once again, Will McNamara wound up his arms close to the left-wing corner flag, and flung the ball across the Stags penalty area, arcing it towards the back-post. A clutch of players from both teams jumped to engage in the aerial dogfight; the ball looped over Dan Gain and hit Tom Rafferty on the back of the head, rebounding across Coleman and into the bottom-left corner for an OWN GOAL that halved the deficit.
Winsor, already enjoying superiority of numbers, rubbed it in by sending on fresh legs to tackle a tiring 10-man Totton team. But the Stags gritted their teeth and fought for every inch. With the ball at his feet, the dynamic Munday undertook the work of two men, charging at the Red waves like a football-kicking King Canute. And Conway continued to roll back the years, diving into the muck and bullets of the midfield battle to inspire his charges, Josh Carey going close with a snapshot that soared narrowly wide.
As time ran out, those Red waves crashed ever closer to the Totton goal. Deep free-kicks were headed away, crosses and through-balls blocked, stopped, defended and repelled, as the gutsy Gain and resolute Rafferty dug in for the win.
Inevitably, McNamara would be integral to the final moments of the game, aiming another Howitzer for the near-post area where Winsor goalkeeper Schultz had come to join the attack. Heads, arms, elbows and hopes of staying in the Hampshire Cup were all up in the air as the ball descended upon a crowded 6-yard box, though who exactly got the final touch mattered not when the ball was dropped over the crossbar and onto the top of the net and the referee immediately signalled the end of the match.
A rowdy post-match spat amounted to little more than handbags at twenty paces, as a rag-tag Totton collapsed into the changing rooms for a well-earned rest and a chance to contemplate a season in which they have maintained a 100% record from 7 matches, and will fight on in the Hampshire Cup.
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Man of the Match: Sam CONWAY
AFC Totton Sunday would like to thank our sponsors Gentlemen's League Barbers and Hurst Auto Assistance for their invaluable ongoing support.
Match Report: Ben ROCHEY-ADAMS
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