There was little to talk about in the first 20 minutes until a rainbow appeared in front of us. A moment later, Laverstock won a corner and when the ball was swung over from the far side, a couple of shots were blocked on the line - the final one being a clear handball from the defender. There seemed to be some confusion whether the referee was going to award a penalty or give a goal but after some discussion with the assistant on the far side, the goal was awarded.
5 minutes later and it was 2.0. A cross came in from the left which was missed by all of the defence and allowed a striker to move in from the far side and score from a tap-in. Paul and I had just got out of the car as the rain subsided but the conditions weren't helping the players. There were a number of sliding tackles missing the ball and the Totton keeper had a number of difficult backpasses to deal with, one of which he missed completely (luckily for him the ball went wide of the goal!). In the final minute of the half, Totton managed to put the ball into the net but it was disallowed for offside.
The second half started much better than the first, with the ball flowing from end to end. The Totton players were unhappy with some of the decisions that were going against them and the decisions that the referee was making - only giving a booking for a handball on the last man (which the assistant explained to the bench was the correct decision). Both teams had chances from free kicks but both were hit straight to the keeper. On 49 minutes McGregor (ex Salisbury City) had a clear chance but hit the ball over from 8 yards when it seemed easier to score.
On 60 minutes Laverstock extended their lead to 3. As the ball was played forward into the channel, the defender challenging from the ball slipped and fell over, allowing the striker to take the ball unopposed into the penalty area and shoot along the ground, across the keeper and into the back of the net. Three minutes later and it looked like McGregor was going to be in on goal only for the last defender to wrestle him to the ground. McGregor reacted badly to this and got up and tried to push the defender down. This multiplied as players ran into assist their team mate and started their own scuffles. The referee managed to calm the situation and gave the original protagonists a yellow card each for their troubles. Totton then tried to get McGregor to react again - 3 players surrounded him with the ball and one slid in with a deliberate attempt to play the man instead of the ball. McGregor kept his cool but there were a couple of other flash points before the end of the game that could have seen him sent off if his teammates hadn't pulled him away in time.
Laverstock finished the game off on 86 minutes with another well taken goal. A long ball from the middle of their half found a striker who then ran past 2 defenders before shooting past the keeper.
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