Totton and Eling 1-2 Wyvern FC

On a freezing cold morning Totton and Eling welcomed bottom of the league Wyvern FC to Testwood school, looking to test Wyvern's capabilities against their strong position of third in the table.

The game kicked off with both sides looking to compete for the ball and warm themselves up. The game started evenly but Totton seemed to settle in more quickly pushing Wyvern deep and taking some shots at goal. The shots were not a challenge for Wyvern’s goalkeeper, Taylor, but they were a warning.

Wyvern’s defence then became a little scrappy giving Totton a boost. This then came to pass when Totton’s attacker had a pocket of space and took the shot well as the ball found itself in the top corner leaving Taylor no chance. 19 minutes in and Totton were up by 1.

The game became a little more stretched as Wyvern attempted counterattacks but they came to nothing in the final third giving away opportunities straight back to Totton.

There was one chance for Wyvern as a corner, taken by Oli, was swung into the box being met by Toby’s head leaping up from the back and forcing a good save from Totton’s goalkeeper who managed to keep it in his grasp.

Totton had a final first half chance when Wyvern couldn’t deal with the cross from a winger after getting past Joey and Fraser. The ball played to a Totton player in the box, who hit it with his left foot directly at Taylor, giving him quick reactions to palm it away. The ball rebounded to the same player but he didn’t get the connection he wanted as it sailed wide of the post.

Going into the break Wyvern were feeling a little dejected but some snacks and a team talk from their head coach would hopefully boost them up for the second half of the game.

Heading into the second half, play was fairly steady as Totton appeared to sit back confident in the retention of their lead for the full 70 minutes. In the first 10-15 minutes Wyvern struggled to get the ball clear from their half, but luckily for them Totton didn’t take the chances that they were given very well. Perhaps they were still too complacent and were just trying to see out the game? Wyvern had a couple of chances for their own though as a few speculative efforts were taken but they were all straight at the keeper.

Wyvern then found themselves with a maiden big chance as their corner was put in towards the back post by Charlie, where Evan took on a great volley to the far corner that was brilliantly diverted away off the line by a Totton player.

With the last 6 minutes of the game remaining and Totton presumably thinking they were over the line, Evan had other ideas as he pinged a superb ball over the top of Totton’s defence from his own half. He found Oli in on goal for Wyvern's biggest and possibly final chance of the game. Oli took a couple of touches bearing down on goal forcing the keeper to come out for a big save but he couldn’t help the rebound falling straight to Joey’s feet while leaving the goal empty. Joey took his chance and bringing the scoreline to 1-1. You wouldn’t have predicted it!

A draw looked almost certain at this point and Wyvern would have been satisfied with this as a final result however, with the upper hand on morale they pushed for another. With 3 minutes of the game left Oli made a run in behind…… the ball was on his stronger left foot …. He opened up his body and from a tight angle took a shot …….. the Wyvern parents and players erupted. Oli had managed, against all odds, to bring Wyvern into the lead.

Full time score Totton and Eling 1-2 Wyvern FC.

By Leon Whalley