A goal on the stroke of half-time from Totton forward Ethan Taylor gave the home side the lead going into the break. 

It was Edji Mbunga who got the Swans back into the game as he sent Totton keeper, Lewis Noice, the wrong way and buried his second-half penalty down the middle following brilliant play from Jack Holmes to win the spot-kick.

A superb all-round display from Tom Speers’ side meant the game would be decided by a penalty shoot-out. 

With saves from both keepers and misses from both sets of players, it moved on to sudden death. As Noice denied Jacob Geddes, Totton substitute on the night, Jireh Oyebamiji sent the Stags into the next round of the Isuzu FA Trophy.

As for the first half, it was the home side who maintained the best of the possession and caused a threat with an effort from Swung-Woo Yang forcing Lewis Adams into a save. 

The first attacking threat from the Swans came following Ben Hands’ looping ball over the Stags defence finding Ethan Dunbar who did well to gain a yard on his defender and deliver a cross into Mbunga who wasn’t quite able to get contact on the ball.  

Edging towards half-time, it was the home side who opened the scoring after Brett Williams headed Taylor in on goal, the forward made no mistake slotting the ball home. Plenty of offside shouts from the Swans followed but with the linesman keeping his flag down, the goal was given.

Brad Bevan had the chance to equalise early in the second half after he was slipped in one-on-one with the Totton keeper who came out quickly and was able to save Bevan’s effort. 

Despite the home side enjoying the majority of possession it was the Swans who made their chance count as midfielder Jack Holmes stormed into the penalty area and was fouled by Adam Tomasso. 

Mbunga stepped up to take the penalty and drove it straight down the middle sending Noice the wrong way. 

Following the equaliser, it was Totton who came the closest to winning the tie as Taylor saw his long-range effort curl onto the crossbar and then just moments later Adams was forced into making a superb double save. 

The full-time whistle blew, and it was the travelling Swans who made their voices heard, praising their side following a brilliant performance, matching the Stags for 90 minutes. 

The subsequent penalty shoot-out saw three saves and two misses as Oyebamiji decided the tie in sudden death. 

Followingthe game, Swans manager Tom Speers was proud of his player's performance.

“It was a difficult ending but again, proud of our boys, we are proud of them for a different reason tonight. 

“In possession, I don’t think we were as good as we should’ve been, especially on this pitch. I think the first half they smothered us, they were very good but what they didn’t really do is create any clear-cut opportunities and I thought we showed grit and determination. Our shape, it’s hard to keep moving when you don’t have the ball, so the first half I was pleased with our shape.” 

Speers was encouraged by how his side matched Totton during the 90 minutes, “We are in a good place, we just need a little bit of the rub of the green. We are competing with these boys, (Totton) it’s important that we keep this momentum and start competing with everyone else like this.” 

Up next for the Swans is a trip to Bashley on Saturday, as we continue our domestic campaign. 

Team: Adams, Shutt, Prictor, Turner (Sunley ’56), Geddes, Lawrence, Dunbar (Lewis ’75), Hands, Mbunga, Holmes, Bevan (Thomas ’75)

Goalscorers: Mbunga ‘63