Flooks off as Totton bow out of FA Cup

THE writing was on the wall for AFC Totton before Saturday’s FA Cup tie against Swindon Supermarine had even kicked off.

You couldn’t help but suspect a tough afternoon lay ahead for the Stags when Liam Gilbert, their driving midfield force, swapped his boots for dark sunglasses having taken a poke in the eye at North Leigh in midweek.

And, come the end of a depressing 2-0 defeat for Steve Riley’s men, it was hard to deny that Gilbert, who sustained a torn cornea and a scratch on the iris, had been sorely missed against a pumped-up Supermarine side anxious to atone for last month’s 6-1 league humiliation at the Testwood Stadium. You couldn’t exactly accuse Totton of lacking battling qualities in Gilbert’s absence.

The problem was that headstrong skipper Rob Flooks overdid it, sent off in the 77th minute for foolishly leaning in with his head in retaliation against Marine’s Ryan Stanners.

Both players were yellow-carded but, unfortunately for Totton’s former Fawley, Eastleigh and Gosport centre-back, it was his second bookable offence in the space of 15 heated min¬ utes, meaning a red card swiftly followed.

Marine quickly capitalised on their man advantage as Chris Taylor teed up Sam Morris to slide home the decisive second goal with ten minutes remaining.

Until that point Totton, though not playing particularly well, had always had a faint of hope of repairing the 15th-minute damage inflicted by Harry Etheridge when he converted Josh Morse’s far-post cross.

But, in truth, a happy ending seldom looked on the cards on what turned out to be a costly afternoon for the club.

Aside from Flooks’s upcoming suspension, they missed out on £3,000 from the FA Prize Fund and, to cap it all, lost top scorer Craig Feeney to a painful body blow with just over half-an- hour played.

In manager Riley’s book, the 23rd-minute incident that brought about Feeney’s injury was the turning point of the game.

Getting to the ball a split second ahead of keeper Sam Worrall, the Totton No9 duly lobbed him.

But while most eyes were following the ball as it bounced agonisingly back off the post, Riley’s were trained on Worrall who caught Feeney in the immediate aftermath.

“How their keeper stayed on the pitch, I don’t know,” he said.

“He kneed Craig in the side. The ref thought he’d got a touch on the ball, but how he’d get a touch with the ball lofted 20 feet in the air, I don’t know.

“If he’d red-carded him and given a penalty to us, it would have been a different story.”

Totton also hit the woodwork through Bridge, but Riley accepted there were flaws in the performance as his former Southern One South & West leaders crashed to their third defeat in a row.

“I thought we were the better side in the first half, but we switched off for the goal and Drew (Bridge) held his hands up and admitted he was ball watching,” he said.

“Their tails were up after that and they made it a bit of a nig¬ gly game. They frustrated us more than anything. “I’m disappointed for the players, the fans and for the chair¬ man Andy Straker who has done so much hard work. Any non- League club needs the money (from a Cup win) and on days like this you feel really gutted.

“But it’s at times like this when things aren’t going well that you find out who your good players are. You want winners, leaders, players who don’t hide.

“I’ve told the boys they can’t sulk, they’ve got to stand up and go again.”

The Stags will have a point to prove tomorrow (Tuesday, 7.45pm) when Winchester City come calling in the Hampshire FA Senior Cup.

*Winchester booked their ticket to the FA Cup second qualifying round with a comfortable 3-0 win over Sydenhams Premier rivals Bemerton Heath – Mike McEnery and two-goal Chris Mason the scorers.

Folland Sports – 1-0 winners at Longwell Green Sports – are also through, along with Blackfield & Langley, who saw off Sherborne Town 3-2 at Gang Warily, and Newport IoW who triumphed 1-0 at Horndean.

*More FA Cup news in tomorrow’s Echo.

AFC Totton: Steve Mowthorpe, Liam Hibberd, Jamie Blackburn (Joe Maxwell, 59), Chris Onoufriou, Rob Flooks, Zac Mouland, Jamie Bulpitt (Kyle O’Brien, 53), Nathan Hurst, Craig Feeney (Taylor Edwards, 33), Nathaniel Sherborne, Drew Bridge. Subs(not used): Ellis White, James Jennings, Steve Hollick.

Referee: M Lawrence.

Attendance: 254