LACKLUSTRE STAGS SLUMP TO DEFEAT North Leigh F.C. 2-1 AFC Totton AFC Totton travelled to Oxforshire last night to face an inconsistent North Leigh side at Eyensham Hall Park. The Stags were looking for a boost after last Saturday’s 1-0 reverse at home to Stratford Town, so the hope was that they could make an immediate return to winning ways. Steve Riley was missing top scorer Craig Feeney who was away due to work commitments, this meant a return to the starting eleven for Nathaniel Sherborne. Jamie Blackburn also returned to the side, which meant that Drew Bridge dropped to the bench. It soon became apparent that Kyle O Brien was playing in a wider role than he is used to with Nathan Hurst playing as more advanced midfielder behind Sherborne and Mouland. The game started at quite a pace with neither side able to string more than a few passes together. It wasn’t until the 5th minute that a chance was created. When that chance came, Zac Mouland picked up a pass out on the left hand touchline, he then skipped past his marker and cut in towards the box, Zac then let fly from 20 yards out, the only problem was that North Leigh keeper Matt Bulan stuck out an arm to push the effort wide of his right hand post. Northe leigh then had their 1st chance when Matt Woodley picked up another misplaced Totton pass in midfield before shooting just wide of Steve Mowthorpe’s right hand post. The fact was that Totton’s sloppiness in giving the ball away cheaply was allowing North Leigh to keep putting them under pressure and this was the pattern for the remainder of the half. Brian Bowles tried his luck from fully 30 yards, but Steve Mowthorpe was hand to save his effort. Aarron Woodley was causing all sorts of problems down the left and you felt that if North Leigh scored again it would probably be supplied from that side. Brian Bowles had another shot on goal after Jamie Blackburn again gave away possession cheaply, fortunately for the Stags, Bowles effort was a few feet wide. The Stags were lucky not to concede on 22 minutes when a low cross from Ingram was met with a late run into the box by Callum McNish, the former Southampton player. McNish had stolen into the box totally unnoticed. The Stags didn’t get so lucky a few moments later when Kieran SANDERS tried an unbelievable shot from around 40 yards out and his effort flew over Steve Mowthorpe and into the net. North Leigh continued to dominate as half time approached with Bowles who had a shot a few feet wide, Woodley had a shot a few feet over the bar and Ingram, whose header went just wide. There needed to be a major improvement after the break because if North Leigh were going to be continually allowed to have efforts on goal, like they have been in the 1st half, then the chances are they will start to hit the target. Half Time 1-0 North Leigh. The 2nd half saw no changes from either bench and there seemed to be no change in Totton’s play as they seemed to be unable to hold onto possession for long enough to allow themselves to create anything. On 51 minutes North Leigh’s No9 Ingram picked up a ball 30 yards from goal, inside the Totton half, about 10 yards in from the left hand touchline. Ingram twisted, then turned and unleashed a shot that flew inside Steve Mowthorpes right hand post giving the Oxfordshire side a deserved two goal advantage. There seemed to be a little more impetus from Totton for a little while and On 55 minutes they were handed a golden opportunity to reduce the deficit when Nathaniel Sherborne went down in the box, after a challenge from North Leigh centre half Andy Gunn. The referee pointed to the spot and Liam GILBERT stepped up to plant the ball inside the right hand post. The hope was that Totton would kick on from here, then on the hour mark Liam Gilbert seemed to be kicked from behind by Osborne Ricketts. The referee took a moment then he showed the North Leigh No10 a red card. Facing 10 men for the final half an hour would surely allow the Stags to go on and get something from the game. Disappointingly Totton’s performance stayed at the same level and watching the game you would not have noticed that North Leigh were a man down. The Stags made a double substitution on 57 minutes with Edwards coming on for O Brien and Bridge coming on for Blackburn. Shortly after the goal Liam Gilbert did put a right wing free kick over the bar, but apart from that the Stags created very little. Callum McNish did whip in a cross come shot on 69 minutes that went wide of the far post. Tottons only chance of not came on 72 minutes when Mouland played the ball to Edwards just inside the box and Edwards’s shot was tipped wide by Matt Mulan. Full Time 2-1 to North Leigh To sum this up I would describe the Totton performance as ‘Lacklustre’. After such a promising start to the campaign the performance this evening was a million miles away from the performances against Evesham and Sholing for eg. There were a couple of players out of position and Craig Feeney was missing, but even allowing for that the performance was a major disappointment to the Totton fans in last nights crowd. Why do we keep lumping the ball forward? We are not the biggest team in the league! We need to quickly put last nght’s performance to bed by coming out and beating Swindon Supermarine in the FA Cup on Saturday. The performance level needs to go up considerably after this very disappointing performance. Att 124 Mowthorpe, Hibberd, Blackburn, Onoufriou, Flooks, Gilbert, Bullpit, O Brien, Mouland, Sherborne Hurst. SUBS White, Maxwell, Edwards Jennings, Bridge
Posted on: Thu, 11 Sep 2014 11:52:14 +0000
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