AFC Totton 2-0 Hanwell Town

A goal in each half condemned Hanwell to a 2-0 defeat at high-flying AFC Totton.

After a 4-2 win in the London Senior Cup at Glebe on Wednesday, manager Chris Moore restored his usual starters into the side.

The hosts created the first opportunity of the contest as Sam Beasant made a good save to deny former QPR striker Charlie Austin. Had the frontman scored, it would not have counted as the offside flag was up.

The Geordies had a golden opportunity to take the lead on 18 minutes as Dwayne Duncan was adjudged to have been fouled in the penalty area. Jordan Edwards stepped up but his effort was saved by Josh Gould, diving to his left.

That miss was to prove pivotal as, 10 minutes later, Totton took the lead after they worked the ball down the right flank. The ball came across goal and Austin was unmarked to fire home past Beasant.

Having taken the lead, the hosts started to slow the game down and chances were at a premium for Hanwell as they went into the break trailing.

The Geordies kept knocking on the door but couldn’t find a way through the Totton defence and they doubled their lead in fortuitous fashion. The Stags launched a counter attack and the ball took an unlucky deflection off Rudi Pache and Ash Clarke had time and space to slot the ball home.

Austin should have made it 3-0 but his free header was straight at Beasant and that sparked Moore into ringing the changes.

Zeeks Coker, Emmerson Sutton, Chris Regis and Elliot Benyon came on and replaced Alfie Pendlebury, Cameron Rohart-Brown, Kameron English and Joe Wilson on 70 minutes with Rod Orlando-Young coming on for Edwards seven minutes later.

Totton looked the most likely to score but Tony Lee, when clean through, went down in a fashion that would make Tom Daley cringe and the unimpressed referee issued the Stags’ frontman a yellow card. Marcel McIntosh also was penalised when he had an open goal to aim at; but missed anyway.

Even with 10 minutes added on, Hanwell were unable to find a way back into the game and made the trip back to London with nothing to show for their efforts. It’s a quick turnaround with Basingstoke visiting the Powerday Stadium on Tuesday night.

Hanwell: Beasant, Wilson (Benyon 70), Rohart-Brown (Sutton 70), Duncan, Pache, Hall, English (Regis 70), Woodcock, Pendlebury (Coker 70), Edwards (Orlando-Young 77), Carr

Substitutes: Regis, Sutton, Benyon, Orlando-Young, Coker.