AFC Totton were beaten, battered but never gave up in a game were the result did not reflect the game.

The eyes of the nation were on AFC Totton as a packed Testwood Stadium welcomed League Two Bristol Rovers for an FA Cup Second round tie, Saints might well have had a stall outside the ground selling merchandise given the amount of Saints gear on show, but all bar 350 in the ground were there to get behind Totton and hopefully see an upset.

Certainly the Stags started brightly and got at the visitors, however the opening 13 minutes saw Rovers hit three thumping strikes that put the game beyongd Totton before they had even started, perhaps the first could have been defended better, but it was still a great strike but the following two were even better.

Still Totton kept going and had four penalty shouts in the first half, one was an appallling dive, but the other three were nailed on in my opinion and that could have changed the game a little.as could have a strage decision by the ref to penalise Totton for ex Saints keeper Scott Bevan dropping the ball, replays showed it was his own man who impeded him and likewise Rovers were relieved to see the ball hacked off the line with Bevan well beaten, it was 3-0 at the break in truth it could of and should have been 3-2.

After the break Totton went for it, but a combination of great keeping from Bevan and poor finishing meant that they never looked like really giving Rovers a tricky final 20 minutes even after pulling a goal back to make it 4-1 and seeing Rovers down to ten men.

the final score of 6-2 was very harsh on Totton, I cant say they desreved to win but they did deserve to see a closer scoreline, still it was a good day for the club who saw not only a big pay day but some of theor promotion rivals slip up the day before.       

Photo: Action Images

msc009 added 11:53 - Dec 5 Game unfortunately ended 6:1... although completely agree. The stags never deserved to lose by soo many! Bristol will never score such brilliant goals again, and 3 inside 5 minutes in their existence!
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withers77 added 17:11 - Dec 5 What a one sided report! Certainly Totton played some nice football. As for the first half penalty shouts I must have been watching a different game?? Apart from the one off the line Totton were lucky not to be 4-0 at half time, it really was a wonder save from the Totton goal keeper. Clearly the author of the above report is a little sore after expecting an upset! Yes the scoreline was very harsh, lets be honest a very average and injury hit Rovers team always had more gears to click through if needed. Good luck to Totton for the remainder of their league campaign, they actually play more football than my beloved Bristol Rovers!!

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SaintNick added 17:16 - Dec 5 Why was it one sided, I called it as i saw it and i felt that at least two of the four first half penalty claims were nailed on, one was 50/50 maybe and one was a blatant dive. The author wasnt sore at all because he is a Saints supporter hoping for a totton win not demanding it Bristol Rovers took their chances very well but the first three could have gone anywhere to be blunt, but this time they flew in, Bevan made a few saves second half as well when poor finishing let totton down, faie score would have been 6-4

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withers77 added 17:36 - Dec 5 Got the hump slightly because of these first half penalty claims that didnt exist and surely football is all about taking your chances. Surely shots going anywhere could apply to any standard of football! Yes I agree the score flattered Rovers but the report makes it sound that Totton were robbed. Applying could of should of to the game it could of should of ended 3 - 7. Rovers did have more chances to add to the six they scored. God knows what a confident Rovers team with a full first team would have done.

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geezershoong added 11:05 - Dec 6 BR were all over 'em, if they fought I didn't see it. Lots of hoofing to nowhere.
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