LOUIS Langdown didn’t need to point out the error of AFC Totton’s ways following yesterday's 3-1 home defeat to play-off chasing Tiverton Town in the Southern One South & West.

The Stags boss is beginning to feel like a broken record.

“I’m tired of saying it and the players are fed up hearing it,” he sighed.

“It’s the same old story.

“We’re creating chances, but we’re not quite good enough to take them and we’re making silly mistakes at the back.

“Tiverton are second, but they weren’t that good and we battered them second half.

“We played most of the football on that pitch, whereas they had players going down all the time, trying to stop our momentum.

“Our right-hand side was excellent today (courtesy of on-loan AFC Bournemouth duo Connor York and Curtis Young) and Alfy Whittingham had a good game.

“We’re having good spells in games when we match these sides, but ultimately we have to get results.”

Third-to-bottom Totton provided the highlight of a cold, grey afternoon courtesy of a Le Tissier-esque strike from player/assistant boss Adam Wilde.

Found by Young just outside the area, he flicked the ball up and, in one majestic movement, looped a superb left-foot strike out of reach of goalkeeper Joe Perry.

It should have been a goal to cherish but, alas for Wilde, his stroke of brilliance was not enough to negate the catastrophic events of the opening nine minutes.

Embarrassingly for Totton, they conceded with just 15 seconds gone when Levi Landricombe’s shot went in off the post, and soon found themselves 2-0 down when Tivvy again hit the woodwork and Nick Hurst was quickest to react.

Wilde’s lavish 21st-minute response heralded a decent spell of Totton pressure, but poor defending again let them down on the stroke of half-time as Mike Williams made it 3-1 against the run of play.

Totton had the better of the second half and were convinced Dave Allen’s far-post header from a corner was kept out by a defender’s hand.

It said a lot about the pressure the Stags exerted that Tivvy voted keeper Perry as their man-of-the-match.

Ultimately, though, Totton lacked the firepower to ward off their 19th league defeat of the season and, to make matters worse, second-to-bottom Wantage beat Barnstaple 2-1 to trim the gap to eight points.

It heaps pressure on the Stags to get a result next Saturday when they visit 18th-placed Yate Town.

Responding to the Wantage win, Langdown said: “People have got to understand that these teams are not going to throw the towel in. It’s up to us to take today’s second-half performance into the Yate game. We have to turn losses into draws and draws into wins.”

AFC Totton: Charlie Searle, Connor York, Ian Oliver, Neil Williams, Dave Allen, Harry Medway, Curtis Young, Charlie Gunson, Nathaniel Sherborne (Ashley Jarvis, 78), Alfy Whittingham, Adam Wilde. Subs (not used): Jack Vallis, Nick Watts.

Referee: Colin Hubbard.

Attendance: 272