AFC TOTTON continued to enjoy a happy New Year by beating Southern One South & West strugglers Wantage Town 3-1 at the Testwood Stadium this afternoon.

It was the Stags fifth straight victory of 2015 scoring 18 goals in the process.

The Stags began with all the zest of a side on a winning streak and were unlucky not to race into a second minute lead.

Craig Feeney chested the ball down into the path Nathaniel Sherborne who was denied by a great double save by keeper Gareth Tucker at his near post.

From Mike Gosney’s corner Rob Flooks thumped a header forward and Zac Mouland stuck out a boot and just nicked the ball wide of Tucker’s left-hand post.

Tucker had to be alert again to divert Sherborne’s fierce low drive out for another corner and then smother Gosney’s free kick as it cleared a clutch of players queuing up to meet it.

There was plenty of chat from Wantage both on the pitch and from the dug-out as they looked to keep Totton at bay and, when the visitors did finally break into the Stags’ area, referee Ben Cobb waved away penalty appeals as Nick Thorne went down after going shoulder to shoulder with Stuart Mott.

Having see little of the ball in the opening stages, Wantage began to grow into the game and the Stags appeared to be somewhat fortunate when the decision went their way after Flooks appeared to shove Stuart Cattell in the back inside Totton’s six-yard box.

When it came, Totton’s 36-minute opener was as soft as they come. Jamie BLACKBURN delivered a barmless looking diagonal ball from the left and, after Town’s Adam Lovegrove had stuck out a leg and missed it completely, the crowd watched on in amused disbelief as the ball by-passed Tucker and trickled into the net.

The Stags then went for the jugular and keeper Tucker had to divert Feeney’s close-range header over after Flooks had nodded Gosney’s corner back across goal.

The home pressure continued and, with Wantage unable to clear their line, it became 2-0 in the 43rd minute when Tucker half-saved Sherborne’s strike and FEENEY pounced to bury the loose ball.

Two became three just after the break when Totton were awarded a penalty for handball by Dan Warne as Wantage struggled to cope with another Gosney delivery.

FEENEY did the honours with a dinked finish into the bottom right-hand corner.

Wantage responded with a couple of chances of their own – home keeper Steve Mowthorpe carrying Mark Janes crisp shot from inside the area before Adam Lovegrove’s strike drifted over.

Jake Johns was the next to test Mowthorpe with a clever chipped effort towards the far corner, but the Totton keeper – anxious to keep a third clean sheet running – again proved equal to it.

There was a comical moment on 75 minutes when Stuart Mott’s blast from the edge of the area deflected through to Flooks inside the six-yard box.

As the big defender shaped to shoot, Tucker dived to nick the ball of his toes, but the flag had been raised for off-side in any case.

With Totton looking comfortable, Gosney fed substitute Joe Maxwell on the left of the area. He delivered into the six-yard box where Tucker managed to dive on the ball before Feeney arrived on the scene.

The Stags came within inches of a fourth on 85 minutes when Gosney hit a sublime, 30-yard free-kick which came back off the upright.

There was a bizarre finish to the game when Mowthorpe seemingly made sure of preserving a clean sheet when he clawed a Karl Roberts effort out from under the bar.

But, in the depth of stoppage time, he went to punch another awkward high ball but missed it under pressure from Lovegrove and the ball went in for a late Wantage reply.