Totton Town V Netley Central Sunday

The last predicted hot weekend of the summer marked the opening day of the season for the Southampton Sunday Football League. Newly established Totton Town began the campaign at their home of the Concorde against Netley Central Sunday who have recently been tipped for the title. Ross Baker's first game in charge marked a highly successful day for the club. The game was played at fast pace with Totton Town creating countless chances but continued seeking the killer instinct in front of goal. Chairman Glenn Baker began to turn up the vocals from the sideline and Totton Town calmed down and started playing all the football in the first half. Center back Aaron Froukhians shone providing the water tight back line along with his brother the captain and natural born leader Mat Froukhians, and the ever reliable Simon Cook. Totton Town immediately started to work away at the Netley defense with penetrating runs from deep by the midfield wizard Daniel Gain and the wing backs Danny Hanlon and Rob Smith who provided great outlets on the flanks. Adam Mallet and Leathen Hanlon did their jobs picking up the pieces in the center and broke up Netley's build up play. Both Charlie and Matt ''Paigner'' looked so strong they could fight crime. The pairing proved too much for Netley who were struggling with the raw pace of both strikers. Half time soon came with nothing to show for all Totton's possession.
Netley took Totton Town by surprise in the second half and Totton had their backs up against the wall. Hillsey and Ben came on for Rob and Aaron and fitted into the team without any disruption. Liam began to show why manager Ross Baker rates him as the best keeper in the league as well as one of the most dangerous offensive outfield players. However Ross knows Liam cannot be in two places at once and in this game Liam's goalie attributes were much needed for Totton Town with a few shaky moments but nothing the highly versatile player couldn't handle. It was looking like Totton Town would never score but when Dan Gain scored from inside the six yard box the game looked like theirs for the taking. Suddenly Totton stopped talking and Netley looked more likely to score. The goal came from Netley soon enough from a set piece. Totton's confidence appeared to be draining and after countless chances in the second half they failed to come up with any answers. Totton seemed to look depleted after 1 goal to show for their superior efforts. Something special was needed for Totton to walk away with all the points and thankfully it came in the slender form of Daniel Gain. The player with the never say die attitude put the ball down for a free kick 35 yards out. Dan Gain, ''Crouchy'' struck the ball with his trade mark inside right foot and the ball swerved quite beautifully into the top right hand corner. Totton Town had arrived in junior 2.

Managers Man of the Match: Leathen Hanlon