Midweek football round-up: Five-star AFC Totton seal semi-final as Hythe & Dibden lose close contest
In an quiet round of midweek football, AFC Totton cruised to a routine five-goal hammering of Royal Navy FA, while Hythe & Dibden lost to AFC Portchester.
The Stags breezed past the Royal Navy to earn a Servio Hampshire Senior Cup semi-final after a one-sided rout at the Snows Stadium.
The Stags took an early lead through Remus Nixon, who spent time at Totton & Eling, in the first half after the young attacker prodded a loose ball into the corner.
Soon after the hosts doubled their advantage from the penalty spot. Leon Maloney showed tricky feet on the right side of the box before getting clipped by the full-back, and the forward dusted himself off and made no mistake from twelve yards, smashing the ball across the goalkeeper.
Totton went into the interval two goals to the good and swiftly added a third early in the second half through Ethan Taylor’s clever header into the corner.
The Stags, who recently dropped points against Hendon and Swindon Supermarine deep into injury time, were keen to avoid any repeats and did not relent.
Luke Hallett added a fourth before the hour mark after he stabbed home into an empty net, putting the game beyond reasonable doubt.
The comfortable nature of the match allowed Jimmy Ball to rest some players, using all four of his substitutions and resting critical first-team players.
Maloney doubled his tally and put the icing on the cake shortly after, thumping an effort into the roof of the net following some unselfish play from skipper Scott Rendell.
The Stags return to league action this Saturday when they host Plymouth Parkway at the Snows Stadium at 3pm.
Hythe & Dibden took on a team that has enjoyed a very different season than themselves – Hythe sits fourth from the bottom, while AFC Portchester are second – but they left with their heads held high after a 1-0 loss.
Keeper Luke Deacon took an early whack while going for a ball, but he could carry on after some treatment.
However, when Josh Benfield fired home minutes, some wondered if the shot-stopper had fully recovered.
Hythe played daringly, pressing their opponents, and they were unlucky to see several decent efforts go unrewarded before Deacon made a spectacular double save to keep it at 1-0.
Down the home stretch, the tide turned, and Hythe had to dig deep while looking to counter, but no further goals arrived, and the visitors had a happy journey home.
