AFC TOTTON surged back from behind to win 4-1 at Bemerton Heath Harlequins last night in their penultimate pre-season game.

The Stags, who were without new signing Marc Diaper due to a calf injury, fell behind on 13 minutes after Mark Lilley had had an early penalty shout turned down.

It took them until almost half-time to get back on terms and it was Neil Williams, an ex-Bemerton player, who was the architect of the equaliser. Taking possession just inside the opposition half, he played a lovely diagonal ball for top gun Craig Feeney to score.

With widemen Nick Watts and Mike Gosney coming to the fore, the Stags’ early second-half pressure eventually told when ex-Sholing man Watts made it 2-1.

Skipper Liam Hibberd then starred at both ends for Totton, first making an outstanding tackle to deny Heath a decent scoring opportunity and then cutting in from the left before letting fly with a stunning right-foot swerver for 3-1.

With four minutes remaining, Watts and Gosney combined to open up Bemerton’s defence again, leaving Williams the easiest of tasks to poke home from close range.

Manager Steve Hollick will have taken plenty of positives from the game as his team prepare for their final friendly at Steve Claridge’s Salisbury on Saturday (August 1, 3pm).