AFC TOTTON’S alarming habit of conceding early goals continues.

Didcot Town were the latest beneficiaries as, for the third game running, the Stags gifted the opposition a two-goal start at the Testwood Stadium on Saturday.

The difference this time was that the Stags pulled back to 2-1 and, with Dave Allen hitting the bar, looked capable of getting something from the game.

But they conceded late to stumble to a third straight defeat, 3-1, dropping them into the Southern One South & West bottom two with just one point from five fixtures.

New loan signing Jack Simpson, a young AFC Bournemouth defender, came into the side and Totton welcomed back Mike Gosney and Marc Diaper after injury, but they were without James Roden, Chris Manning, Rhys Ferguson, Luke Dempsey, Dan Beckles and Mark Lilley.

Disaster struck five minutes in when Didcot’s Matt Woodley had time and space on his hands some 30 yards out and launched a screamer into the top corner.

The Stags’ response was much better than in previous two games – until an error in the 18th-minute doubled their despair.

Goalkeeper Steve Mowthorpe came out to deal with a long ball over the top, but succeeded only in heading it straight to the advancing Lance Williams who gleefully stroked it home.

Gosney went off after aggravating his back injury and his replacement Jake Rawkins had an immediate impact, starting a move from which Nathaniel Sherborne tested Didcot keeper Leigh Bedwell.

Allen then struck the underside of the bar from distance before Totton halved the deficit on 32 minutes – young Rawkins setting up Sherborne to curl home.

Mowthorpe made a fantastic fingertip save onto the woodwork from another rasping long-range effort to keep it 2-1 at half-time, and the Stags went on to dominate long periods of the second half.

But, in striving for an equaliser, they left themselves vulnerable at the back and, four minutes from time, sub Jack Powell broke to make the points safe for the Railwaymen.

Totton boss Steve Hollick sighed: “It was the curse of the early goals again.

“Credit to our lads, they dug in for the rest of the first half and we had the momentum going into the second half, but we just couldn’t get it clicking and they caught us on the counter.

“It was a good game of football, but we can’t keep giving teams a two-goal advantage, it’s just not good enough. Individual errors are killing us. We’re just defending well enough.”