ONCE upon a time AFC Totton had a nasty habit of shipping early goals and never recovering.

Yesterday the boot was on the other foot as Nick Watts fired them into a second-minute lead at Tiverton Town.

But, alas for Steve Hollick’s men, they failed to cling onto that advantage as two second-half strikes condemned them to a 2-1 defeat – only their second loss in the last 11 Southern One South & West outings.

“We put Dylan Knight back up top in place of Mark Gamble and he caused all sort of problems,” said Hollick.

“We rode our luck a bit at times first-half, but the lads really grafted to go in 1-0 up at half-time.

“Unfortunately, Tiverton broke us down in the second half with two relatively soft goals.

“I can’t knock the effort, but sometimes we let ourselves down with a bit of naivety and rash decision-making.

“The lads have to learn that if we want to do well next year, these are the sort of games we’ve got to convert into results.

"If you go a goal up somewhere like Tiverton, you’ve got to come away with at least a point.”

Knight was instrumental in Totton’s quickfire opener, picking out Watts with a perfectly weighted pass with just 90 seconds gone.

The former Sholing wideman did the rest, darting into the box and tricking a defender before slotting the ball into the far corner.

It was almost 2-0 to the Stags on seven minutes, but Watts headed Mitch Hunt’s floated cross inches over.

Tiverton keeper Joe Perry then denied Nathaniel Sherborne twice in ten seconds, first beating away a 30-yard beauty and then gratefully collecting a scuffed follow-up.

Totton No1 Steve Mowthorpe produced an equally-stunning one-handed save to prevent a looping header finding the far corner and, as Tivvy turned up the heat, Owen Howe and Levi Landricombe passed up chances before the break.

With no Marc Diaper or Pat Wilson available, Totton’s makeshift defence began to flag as Tiverton’s attacks went from strength to strength in the second period.

It took the Devon outfit less than ten minutes to level matters when Howe chested Mike Williams’ cross past Mowthorpe and, after several scares for the visitors, Howe captalised on a defensive error to win the game with a quarter-of-an-hour to go.

Totton, who host North Leigh this Saturday, have been boosted by 'keeper Mowthorpe and wideman Mike Gosney signing year-long contract extensions at the Testwood Stadium.

“They’re the first two and, hopefully, others will follow,” said Hollick. “The indications are that a lot of the lads are keen to stay and keep this group together.”