January 2022 (Page 2)

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Lawson D’Ath – Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz

Yeovil Town have confirmed the re-signing of Lawson D’Ath until the end of the season.

The midfielder, who has been a popular addition to the BBC commentaries this season (sorry, Ben!), will finally be back on the pitch, after rehabilitating at the club for nine months.

Speaking to the club website, D’Ath said: “I’m absolutely buzzing to be back involved and available again for this club, but also for the gaffer who I have huge respect for. I can’t wait to play for him again, a manager that will go right to the top! 

“It’s been a long tough nine months and I’m so lucky to have great people in my life who’ve allowed me to keep the dream going. So, a massive thank you to my family, gaffer, Terry, Craig, Scott, Adam, Martin, Simon, and my teammates past and present. 

“The hard work starts now though. We will give it everything until the end of the season. With your support, who knows what can happen?”

Lawson D’Ath suffered a knee injury in the final game of last season.

Darren Sarll said: “Of all the players we could have signed this year Lawson was the one I wanted the most. 

“He has been with the club since my appointment, and he has seen the very best and worst during his time. He has remained loyal when he could have drifted away, and nothing pleases me more than to have him back involved with the squad. 

“There is no one I trust more. A wonderful player but an even better person. He will lift us from now until the end of the season.”

Speaking in August, Sarll made no secret of his desire to sign D’Ath when the opportunity arose, he said: “I am desperate for Lawson to get back in our shirt and play because at the end of last year I saw a different Lawson, there was a maturity to him. He is a very good player, so Scott (Priestnall, the club chairman) if you are listening, I want Lawson for January!”

Welcome back Lawson, we can’t wait to see you back on the pitch!

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Yeovil Town forward Tom Knowles believes playing as part of a front three generated “some of the best attacking football of the season” against Wrexham last weekend.

The forward was paired alongside Charlie Wakefield and Sonny Blu Lo-Everton in that match and put his side ahead with a stunning first half opener.

Tom Knowles, who has five goals so far this season.

Speaking to the Gloverscast ahead of tomorrow’s trip to Woking, Knowles said: “I think we played some of our best attacking football last weekend, we created a lot of chances, we just needed to score a couple more.

“I played predominantly on the right last week which was nice because I had been playing mostly on the left this season.

“I think we complement each other nicely up there and whoever it is playing in those attacking positions, we have to create and score as many as possible.

“I enjoyed playing up there with Chaz and Sonny, but Reubs (Reid) and Adi (Yussuf) have qualities, so if I get my chance I know I have to do my best whoever I am playing alongside.”

Both Reid and Yussuf started on the bench last weekend and manager Darren Sarll admitted that playing the three young forwards up front together was something he had been thinking about for a while.

He said: “Even when we had Joe (Quigley), we had not scored enough goals and there was something there that I had been thinking about for a while, but we had Joe in good form or Adi in good form.

“Sonny is only going to get better if he is rolled out, he has an extraordinary talent, he works so hard and has a brilliant attitude.

“Knowles is the form player and Wakefield is probably first name on our team-sheet, he has been brilliant for us.”

Knowles praised the impact that striker Reuben Reid, who sits next to him in the Huish Park dressing room, has had in improving his performances so far this season.

The 23-year-old’s goal against Wrexham was his fifth goal of the season in and is hoping to add to that tally at Woking this weekend, having  already scored twice in Yeovil’s two encounters with the Cards this season.

He said: “The senior lads have helped all of the young lads, even Litts (Mark Little) and Reubs (Reuben Reid) were injured they have still come in and helped us.

“Reubs has been massive for me, he’s helped me on and off the pitch, sitting next to him in the changing rooms has been really good.

“Even just learning off the older players, you have to work it our yourself because you are still going to be playing when they are not.”

He revealed he is behind his own goal-scoring target for the campaign so far as he looks to improve on the eight he got in 38 appearances last season.

Knowles said: “I set myself (goal) targets every season and I am slightly behind where I want to be but there’s still a lot of games to play.

“The main thing is the team and the club are in a position to achieve what we want as a team rather than as individuals.”

The former Cambridge United player is one of a number of players – well, everyone except defender Morgan Williams – who is out of contract come the end of this season.

Asked about his long-term future, he said: “That’s up to the club and the manager, I can only do what I can to help myself and put myself in the best position possible to earn a contract.

“Nothing is given to you, that is given to you and I have to go out and earn it, so all I can do is go and do my best and if that is enough to earn a new contract then I will be very happy.“

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Josh Staunton is expected to be missing for Yeovil Town‘s next three games through injury, manager Darren Sarll has confirmed.

But, the Glovers’ boss has said he expects captain Luke Wilkinson to be available for this weekend’s trip to Woking.

Josh Staunton.
Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

The loss of Staunton, who limped off in last weekend’s 2-1 home defeat to Wrexham, comes on top of an injury to central defender Max Hunt who is expected to be out for “a couple of months” with an injury picked up in training at the end of last week.

Speaking ahead of the weekend, Sarll spoke highly of new signing Ben Barclay who joined on a one-month loan deal from National League leaders Stockport County on Friday.

The manager said: “Ben has some really good attributes and he helps us in a time where we have not got Hunt and Staunton.

“He gives us a more mature figure in comparison with what we have had to recruit in younger, inexperienced players and the one position you don’t want inexperience is the centre of defence.

“Ben is a good athlete, attacks the ball very well, he’s committed, and he’s here for the right reasons.

“Sometimes the reasons can be not in the interests of the loan club which is not a winning mentality, but he’s here for the right reasons.”

If Staunton is unavailable for the next three games, he will miss Saturday’s trip to Woking, the derby at home to W*ymouth on Tuesday and next weekend’s home match with Solihull Moors.

The manager added that left-back Jordan Barnett will have scan on an ankle injury ahead of the trip to Surrey where the Glovers are trying to end of six successive defeats.

In the manager’s press conference, the manager also said:

  • He was “drowning in names” of players who could be new recruits to his squad and admitted that the absence of an assistant manager since the departure of Terry Skiverton has made that tough.
    Sarll said: “Normally Terry and I would split that role, so there have been some long days.
    “It’s been a tough week with recruitment drive and it’s important that we acquire people within our means and try and get the best players we can.”

    Terry Skiverton, who joined Charlton Athletic at the start of last week.
  • On the number two vacancy, the manager said he has spoken with people about the position, but has not been able to focus on it this week due to the need to bring in new players.
    But, he admitted he would not be able to replace Skiverton, who left to join League One Charlton Athletic last week after nearly 23 years with the club.
    Sarll said: “You can’t replace like for like. Terry has individual qualities, I have to try and whittle down the minimum requirements and work from there.
    “But, we are talking a three months job in the South West of the country and they are not going to get rich from it.
    “When I got here I brought in Andrew Crofts as a player-coach (who promptly left to take up a role at Brighton), I was not going to have an assistant because of the budget at the time.
    “But even that (senior player) market is not great, there’s not a raft of Carl Dickinson’s and alike out there.”
  • Sarll described speculation linking him with the vacant manager’s job at National League rivals Eastleigh as “unfounded.”
    The Hampshire side sacked Ben Strevens in the week, igniting rumours on social media that Sarll’s name was in the frame to replace him.
    He said: “If I had to comment on everything social media threw out, I would not do anything other than comment on them.
    “My dressing room is the best I have ever had, so for me to disrespect them for talking about that. It’s unfounded. I would prefer to just get on with my job.”
  • Sunny Gill, the referee who took charge of last weekend’s defeat at home to Wrexham got a “one out of 100” rating from the manager for his performance.
    The boss criticised the official for not stopping play which led up to the Welsh side’s equaliser with Glovers’ midfielder Dale Gorman on the floor with a head injury.
    Sarll said: “It was a head injury in the middle third, the game should have been stopped. Does the referee lose his job? He got 1 out of 100.
    “Did the clear and obvious (lack of a decision) impact the course of the game? Absolutely.
    “What more important job does a referee have than to command the environment so players health and safety is at the forefront of the situation?”
    He had a discussion with the Referees’ Association today (Friday) having submitted a significant report in to Mr Gill’s report for his performance.

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The departure of former Glovers’ loanee Tahvon Campbell is the talk of the town (well, Woking town) ahead of the visit of Yeovil Town this weekend.

Tahvon Campbell in action for Yeovil Town in 2016. Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

The striker, who scored 14 times in 22 appearances this season including at Huish Park in December’s FA Trophy tie, joined League Two Rochdale for an undisclosed six-figure fee on Thursday.

Cards’ chief executive John Katz said the 25-year-old had rejected a new contract offer “which would have made him the club’s top earner” and with his deal up in the summer, Woking decided to cash their chips.

Campbell was “not available for selection” for the 1-0 defeat at Bromley in midweek sparking transfer speculation which did not take long to come to fruition.

That was their sixth defeat in the past nine games albeit they picked up a 2-0 win on their last outing at Kingfield beating Wealdstone last weekend with another former Yeovil loanee, Jamar Loza, on target.

The other win saw them edging out bottom-placed Dover Athletic on home soil between Christmas and New Year – something Yeovil Town didn’t achieve.

 

FROM THE MANAGER

Woking manager Alan Dowson said he believed that his side were “on the right lines” despite a midweek defeat away at Bromley on Tuesday night.

The Cards’ boss said he thought his side’s second half performance should have seen them go away from Kent with all three points.

He said: “I thought the performance was very good, we were camped in their half for the second half.

“We should have had a goal, we should have had a penalty, it was a freak of a goal, we should have cleared it but then it rebounds off somebody and trickles in the net.

“Apart from that I can’t remember Craig (Ross) having to make a save.

“I thought we were the better team, it’s just those fine margins, but I think we are going in the right direction and the players are battling very hard for each other.

“There’s little tiny things that could have got us the result, we were excellent in the second half and I feel we are on the right lines.”

 

TEAM NEWS

Woking’s big injury worry from the midweek defeat against Bromley was star midfielder Max Kretzschmar who limped off with a recurrence of a hamstring injury after an hour.

The hosts will certainly be pushing to get the former Wycombe Wanderers man back having found the net nine times this season.

Speaking about Kretzschmar on Tuesday night, manager Alan Dowson said: “He keeps coming off with his hamstring, it’s when he gets tired it’s a weird injury but hopefully he’ll be alright for Saturday.

“He’ll be everything he can to try and get back, it’s a shame because when you have him on the pitch its a goal-scoring threat.”

Definitely out is on-loan Blackburn Rovers’ central defender Louie John Annesley who was sent off for two yellow cards at Bromley.

Defender Josh Casey and midfielder Jermaine Anderson have not featured since the home defeat to local rivals Aldershot Town on January 2 due to COVID-19, but are expected to be available.

FOOT IN BOTH CAMPS

Tahvon Campbell and Joe Quigley are two players we can scrub off the list of players on the current staff with connections between both sides since the last time we met at the end of December.

However, Woking striker Jamar Loza is another between the clubs. He played five times on loan from Norwich City in 2015 and returned for his third spell at Woking last season.

He started the last two matches on the bench but did come on to score the Cards’ second in a 2-0 home win over Wealdstone last weekend.

Rohan Ince, who made two Yeovil Town appearances in a two-month stint on loan from Chelsea in 2012, arrived from Maidenhead in the summer returned to the line-up at Bromley in midweek as he makes his way back from injry.

A few other players with connections with both clubs include:

  • Tahvon Campbell
  • Joe Quigley
  • Josh Neufville
  • Jake Gray
  • Kieran Murtagh
  • Nathan Ralph
  • Kevin Betsy
  • Steve Thompson
  • Matt Hayfield
  • Chris Giles
  • Warren Patmore
  • Colin Fielder
  • Kevan Brown
  • Robbie Carroll
  • Richard Nugent
  • Andy Clement
  • Dave Piper
  • Steve Stott
  • Tom White
  • Shaun Donnellan
  • Jamie Pitman
  • Luke Oliver

There are probably more. If you think of any, let us know and we’ll add them to the list.

 

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It’s been the quietest week in a while, Dave, Ben and Ian talk about what’s been going on in the National League, look ahead to Woking and take your questions.

Thanks for listening!

Remember to add Gloverscast.co.uk to your favourites and check the website daily for the latest news from Huish Park.

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If you want to take part in the quiz, have an idea for the website or just want to send us a message, email ian@gloverscast.co.uk

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Yeovil Town have announced the loan signing of central defender Ben Barclay from National League leaders Stockport County.

Barclay, 25, joins the Glovers on a short term deal for a month and will be in the squad for the match against Woking.

Ben Barclay who has joined on a one-month loan from Stockport County.
Picture courtesy of Stockport County.

Speaking the club’s official website, the former Brighton youngster said: “It’s all happened relatively quickly, I spoke to the manager a few days ago, he showed interest and I was open to coming out on loan and playing some football. I got here yesterday (Thursday) and I’m ready to go today (Friday). 

“I’ve seen that the club has done well during the start of the season, obviously there’s been a little bit of a blip recently, but I want us to get back on track and climb back up the table.”

Barclay played the first half in Stockport County’s 3-0 defeat at the hands of the Glovers earlier in the season, but hasn’t featured in any games since County lost 1-0 to Rotherham in the FA Cup back in early December.

The Cup defeat is the only match he has started since Dave Challinor took over from Simon Rusk in Greater Manchester. Rusk and Barclay had worked together in the youth set-up at Barclay.

Indeed, it was Rusk who brought him to Stockport in the summer following his release from League One side Accrington Stanley, where he made 36 appearances in a two-season spell.

When Yeovil manager Darren Sarll faces the media this morning, we hope to receive an update on the fitness of captain Luke Wilkinson, who it is hoped will be back from a hamstring strain to for the trip to Woking, and midfielder-turned-defender Josh Staunton, who limped off in last weekend’s home defeat to Wrexham.   

Welcome to Huish Park, Ben!

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Yeovil Town 1 Northampton Town 0 – Tuesday 12th February 2008

Following the unexpected Playoff Final of 2006/07, Russell Slade’s second season in charge of Yeovil turned out to be much more of a challenge. The core of the team – Mildenhall, Skiverton, Forbes, Jones, Guyett, Barry, Stewart – remained the same, and those who moved on seemed to see like for like replacements. The biggest loss was undoubtedly Chris Cohen, the player of the season sold for £1.2 million with Arron Davies to Nottingham Forest. Out also went Terry, Kalala, Morris, and Gray. In to replace them came Lee Peltier, Marc Bircham, Gary Dempsey, Paul Warne and Lloyd Owusu. Slade brought in Bircham and Dempsey to replace Kalala and Cohen in midfield, but both of them spent the first half of the season injured. Bircham, probably the biggest profile signing of the summer after playing over 150 times for QPR, did not work out and would make only 13 starts in two years at the club. Marvin Williams, a winger/striker signed from Millwall to replace Davies, was also injured early in the season and made very few appearances before moving on to Brentford. The other midfield signing, Ritchie Jones on loan from Manchester United, failed to make much of an impact.

The Glovers endured an uneven start to the season characterised by a new fragility at the back and a tendency to concede very late goals. Goals in the last few minutes against Tranmere, Leeds, Bristol Rovers, Millwall, Swansea and even bottom club Cheltenham all cost points in the first half of the season. The foundation of the team’s success in 2006/07 had been their resolute defence and ability to sit on a one goal lead. On only two occasions did Yeovil draw after scoring first (both early in the season), and they did not once lose in the league after scoring first, but in 2007/08 it became a recurring theme even though the defence was the same – the only difference was that Lee Peltier came in at right back in place of the numerous right backs needed to cover Mark Lynch’s serious injury in 2006. The key to the Glovers’ solidity appears to have been the two spoilers in midfield, Terry and Kalala, who were both gone. Matthew Rose was very capable in that role when fit, which wasn’t very often. I seem to recall him being known as Mr Glass at his previous clubs due to the frequency with which he was injured. To add to the injury problems, Steve Mildenhall suffered two extended absences to injuries sustained during games, both of which led to outfield players having to go in goal (Skiverton against Leyton Orient and Alcock against Walsall) due to there being no reserve keeper at the club. Three loan keepers were brought in at various times, all of them playing in the No. 31 shirt.

Despite these numerous injury setbacks, Yeovil were 8th at Christmas. With Gary Dempsey finally fit and available, winger Zoltan Stieber on loan from Aston Villa and striker Andy Kirk arriving from Northampton, things seemed to be looking up with the Glovers still in play-off contention, but it was all downhill from there. A 2-1 win at home to Brighton at the end of December was followed by a run of eight games without a win, as Yeovil slid from 8th down to 15th. With several key players still absent with injury, the squad became a revolving door of loan signings with players like Simon Church, Liam Bridcutt, Jean-Francois Christophe and Aidan Downes coming and then going again.

Without a win in 2008, the Glovers were getting desperate for any kind of result ahead of the visit of Northampton in February. A game fairly low on chances but which the home side had slightly the better of ticked into injury time, and with their last chance of the game an Anthony Barry corner was partially cleared, falling to Captain Fantastic Terry Skiverton who lashed home the ball with his left foot to secure a dramatic winner. It did not signal a change in fortunes but did halt the slide, as Yeovil limped on to the end of the season finishing in 18th, securing League One status by surprisingly spoiling the promotion party at Champions Swansea.

It was not the first time that Skiverton would pop up with a dramatic late goal. He scored a lot for a centre half, 44 in total at Yeovil. Not all of them with his head either, although he did injure himself more than once while scoring with a header. Memorable for most people would be the dramatic 89th-minute strike from outside the area to give Yeovil the 5-4 win in the FA Trophy replay at Doncaster. However he also scored many other crucial goals – in 2005, with the Glovers struggling to hold on to top spot in League Two, he scored both goals in a 2-1 win at Boston. In 1999, he scored the first two in a 5-1 demolition of Rushden at Huish Park. In 2002/03, he was the leading scorer for a time at the start of the season, as the Glovers tried to recover from the loss of Adam Stansfield on the first day. He scored 7 goals in his first 13 games, including a crucial injury time equaliser on the first day to complete a comeback from 2-0 down against Gravesend, and a late winner at Kettering a couple of weeks later, before celebrating the delayed return to Huish Park with another. My own personal favourite memory was when Yeovil went into the game against Doncaster in 2006 needing a win to avoid relegation, and Skivo scored in the 8th minute to send us on the way to a comfortable 3-0 win with a sublime shot from the edge of the area, off the inside of the post. What would turn out to be his last goal for the club was also a cracker – very similar to the one against Donny, the only goal in a 1-0 win over Tranmere in 2008. His best goal-scoring seasons were 2002/03 with 9, 7 in 1999/2000 and 6 in 2005/06.

He didn’t only play in defence either – in 2000/01, due to Warren Patmore’s troublesome hamstring and Barrington Belgrave’s suspension, he was deployed as an emergency striker at the end of the season as Yeovil attempted to chase down Rushden, donning Patmore’s No. 9 shirt at least twice. In one of his last seasons as a player he even had a go in goal, coming in to cover after Steve Mildenhall was injured against Leyton Orient as there was no keeper on the bench. The game was lost 1-0, but to be fair Mildenhall was injured in the process of conceding and Skivo did keep a clean sheet for the 30 or so minutes he was in goal.

Team that day: Scott Flinders, Lee Peltier, Nathan Jones, Scott Guyett, Terry Skiverton, Matthew Rose, Anthony Barry, Liam Bridcutt, Jaime Peters (sub. Marvin Williams 75), Lloyd Owusu (sub. Simon Church 68), Andy Kirk. Subs not used: Craig Alcock, Zoltan Stieber, Paul Warne

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The Football Associations of England and Wales have announced a Wales C v England C game for March 30th, played at Caernarfon Town FC

The England C side has been known in previous incarnations as the ‘England Semi Pro XI’ or ‘National Game XI’ but is now mostly made up of full time professionals from the National League system

Yeovil Town have famously been well represented at international level during our previous stint in Non League but due to obvious reasons these games haven’t take place since the 2019/20 season.

England C Manager Paul Fairclough, who has managed Barnet no fewer tha five times, including last year will announce his squad soon, which could, in theory, include some Glovers.

The last squad, back in 2019 included no one over the age of 25 and had such names as former Yeovil players Kabongo Tshimanga and Brandon Goodship in.

They were captained by Laurence ‘Brother Of’ Maguire and were held to a 2-2 by their Welsh league counterparts

Anyone who fancies seeing Charlie Wakefield, Tom Knowles or Jordan Barnett wearing the Three Lions needs to start the “Are you watching Paul Fairclough” chants pretty soon!

 

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Chesterfield have appointed former Yeovil Town striker Danny Webb as temporary manager after suspending manager James Rowe over allegations of misconduct.

Danny Webb, assistant manager at Chesterfield.

The National League leaders suspended boss pending an investigation on Monday and issued the following statement: “Chesterfield FC can confirm that James Rowe has been suspended pending an investigation into allegations of misconduct.

“Danny Webb will take charge of the team.

“As the matter is subject to an investigation, the club is unable to make further comment until that investigation is complete.”

Webb, 38, had an 18-month spell at Huish Park when his father, David, was executive chairman until the end of the 2006-07 season.

The Spireites travel to Eastleigh next weekend and host Yeovil on February 26.