Sholing 0-3 AFC Totton

Scorers : Scott Rendell 11 (pen) 27, Ethan Taylor 70

Date: Wednesday 17 May 2023, 7:30pm – Southampton Senior Cup Final

Venue:  St Mary's Stadium  Attendance: 2,055

Sholing : Ryan Gosney, TJ Cuthbertson, Marv McLean, Charlie Wagstaffe, Rob Flooks, Leon Baker (Sami Makhloufi 60), Brad Targett (Wayne Robinson 69), Byron Mason ©, Dan Mason, Lee Wort, Jake Cope (Owen Roundell 85).  Unused subs : Josh Batt, Theo Widger

AFC Totton : Lewis Noice, Benny Read, Jordan Ragguette, Mike Carter ©, Charlie Kennedy, Luke Hallett, Jack Masterton, Adam Tomasso, Scott Rendell, Ethan Taylor, Tommy Wright.  Subs : Ben Jefford, Conor Whiteley, Charlie Davis, Jake Adams, Owen Pelham

Sholing were defeated in the Southampton Senior Cup Final at St Mary's.  The Boatmen weren't able to play with the intensity that has seen them previously defeat Totton 4 times in a row and the Stags finally showed what they were capable of in the Southampton Derby to lift the Cup.

Team News : Dan Miller remained on the sidelines with the only change from the play off final two weeks ago, being Leon Baker coming in for Rob Nicholls.

A good crowd of over 2,000 at St Mary's, appeared to be evenly split between those supporting the red & whites and the blue & whites.  The immaculate pitch was basked in evening sunshine as the game got underway.

Totton started the better, with Gosney soon into action to come quickly off his line, but he and his teammates were soon scratching their heads in disbelief when Totton were awarded a penalty on 10 minutes.  There seemed the minimal amount of contact between TJ & Taylor, but the forward went down and the penalty awarded. Scott Rendell scored from the spot.

You could tell it wasn't to be Sholing's night when 2 minutes later, Brad Targett connected with a half volley from the edge of the box, with the ball curling against the inside of the post and bounced onto the line, but not over it before being cleared.

Totton were continually exposing the gaps between the Sholing back line & our midfield and it was no surprise when they extended their lead on 27 minutes.  An angled shot was palmed out by Gosney, but Scott Rendell was following in for a simple tap in.   Sholing were struggling to get D-Dan & Worty involved as Totton remained in control.  HT 0-2

For the first 5 minutes of the restart, we looked like our normal selves, putting Totton under pressure and having two efforts kicked off the line.  Firstly Byron's header from a corner was hacked off the line, with a follow up effort looking more over the line, but the officials were unmoved.

Sadly, we weren't able to continue with the momentum and Totton took back control, with former Boatmen, Mike Carter, running the show in midfield.

The game was over on 70 mins when Sholing went to sleep from a short corner and in an attempt to keep the ball from going out, Gos could only palm it to a Stag's player who squared for Ethan Taylor to sweep into the unguarded net.

Apart from a Rob Flooks header that went just wide and a good diving save from Gosney, there was little else of note in the remaining 20 minutes.

Congratulations to AFC Totton on a thoroughly deserved win. It looked like one game too far for Sholing after the draining nature of two high tempo and emotional play off matches. FT 0-3

Many thanks to all our supporters for coming along to St Mary's to back us, hope to see you all after the summer break when we start a new adventure in Step 3 for the first time in our history!   Lots of news on & off the pitch will be revealed in due course in the next two months, so keep watching our social media & website.

It's been a brilliant season for Sholing, can't wait for the next one!

Dave Diaper spoke to Radio Solent : Click here to Listen to the interview with Diaps

Photos courtesy of EspieJaz, swipe to view pics :