WHITES TAKE A HARD LINE
SALISBURY boss Brian Dutton says his team won’t be bullied out of a place in the National League by big-spending AFC Totton.
Ambitious Stags chairman Stepehen Snow has made no secret of his intention to reach the EFL and has spent heavily to bring the likes of Scott Rendell, Joe Oastler and Sam Magri to the club.
Though unable to catch title-winners Chesham, Totton steamed into the Premier South play-offs with a succession of thumping wins and will start tomorrow’s final at the Testwood Stadium as hot favourites after edging out Bracknell Town 2-1 in Wednesday’s semi-final in extra-time.
Dutton, though, says his team will not be intimidated and can draw inspiration from a 2-0 victory at Totton back in August.
“We all know what Totton are about,” says the 39-yearold, who made almost 200 appearances across two spells as a player at Salisbury and has been in charge at the Ray Mac since replacing Steve Claridge in 2022.
“They have made it clear that they want to be in the EFL before too long and that’s obvious from their financial outlay. They’ve signed some very serious players, so it’s no surprise that they’ve bullied a lot of the league.
“But I’m really confident in our group. We’re not a team who can get bullied by anyone. We played them at their place and beat them 2-0. It was one of our best performances of the season in terms of playing through a team, taking risks and showing your quality.
“They couldn’t handle us on the day so we’ve got nothing but positive vibes going to Totton. I’m confident we can get a result.”
Perversely, that confidence is fuelled by a distinctly iffy semi-final showing at home to Gosport Borough, who led 1-0 and dominated throughout, only to be defeated by two late goals – the second a 92nd-minute penalty from top scorer Noah Coppin in front of a crowd of over 2,200.
“That kid’s got some spunk,” says Dutton, whose side finished third in the regular season, two points behind tomorrow’s opponents. “He’s full of grit. I don’t worry for a moment about whether Noah Coppin will buckle under pressure. He’s one of those special players where the more pressure and the bigger the occasion, the brighter he shines. He was the man for the job, alright.
“To be honest, though, we got lucky on the night. Gosport should be through. Our performance was so flat and we couldn’t get anything going. I was already conducting the post-mortem on 85 minutes.
“But the group have shown time and again this season that they are the kings of late goals, and that’s not luck.
“It’s testament to the character in the group and all the hard work they do in terms of fitness.
“When you have that kind of match, you roll into the next one almost nerveless. I don’t want to say it’s a free hit, but you almost feel bullet-proof.
“That’s not to sound complacent or nonchalant. But you’ve been through the mill and now it’s a bit like ‘Okay, let’s just have a go at it’. We’re buzzing for it.”