March 2022 (Page 4)

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Adi Yussuf trains with Tanzania ? @TanFootball

Yeovil Town striker Adi Yussuf claimed his fourth international cap by starting for Tanzania against Central Africa.

Kick off was meant to be at 4pm UK time, but a delay put that back to 4.50pm with social media suggesting that the visitors objected to a home official being used.

Young midfielder Novatus Miroshi gave the Taifa Stars a first half lead in the 10th minute.

The hosts made a number of changes at the break including replacing Yussuf with Joshua Mwakasaba.

The game ended 3-1 to Tanzania, Adi and his team have two more friendly games in this international break before his return to Huish Park

Huge congratulations to Adi 

 

Yussuf lines up with Tanzania ? TanFootball

 

 

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Reuben Reid. Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

Two goals and a win at Huish Park. We don’t see that very often. Honourable mentions to Lawson D’Ath for his first goal since returning from his injury and for Josh Staunton for quite obviously playing through the pain barrier. We try not to get too high with the highs, but after the last few outings at Huish Park, there’s some positivity in Ian’s conclusions from last night’s 2-1 win over Bromley…

This was some turnaround from the last time I was at Huish Park. It was important that we got going early and didn’t repeat the mistakes of the Dagenham and Grimsby games and we couldn’t have started any differently. Lawson D’Ath’s 10th minute opener got us going, but we’d had two or three shots before we’d scored. We had 14 shots at Bromley’s goal last night, which has to be a high for this season. Tom Knowles, Charlie Wakefield, Reuben Reid and D’Ath were all purring when we were on the front foot. Recent standards haven’t been high at Huish Park, but last night we saw a determined team who left everything out there to get past Bromley.

Where did that Reuben Reid performance come from? We’ve not even seen hints of that quality since Reid re-joined the Glovers in January 2021. Had he scored, and he deserved to, it would have topped off his most complete performance in this spell. He held the ball up, had plenty of efforts at goal and Bromley’s defence struggled to handle him. It was the display of an experienced-pro, the likes of which need to become the rule, not the exception.

Ted Cann had a rollercoaster game. Our new loanee keeper made a routine first stop but somehow let the ball through his grasp to gift Bromley their equaliser. His save before half time was huge, though. A save with his legs after making himself has big as possible for the oncoming George Alexander. He had a couple of shaky moments with the ball at his feet but on this night the game was won. Hopefully he’ll grow off the back of this and as those relationships build with the defence we’ll see a more composed, comfortable keeper.

Tom Knowles in action for Yeovil Town.
Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

It was great to see Josh Neufville back at Huish Park. Our star of last season returned to great effect last night. He’s a totally fearless footballer who plays like a kid who’s having fun when he’s on a football pitch. He’s so direct with the ball at his feet and his celebration in front of the Thatchers Stand showed how much it meant to him to set up Tom Knowles for the match winner. It’s too late to make a miraculous dash for the playoffs (isn’t it?) but I feel like were going to get a let of joy watching Neufville tangle up defenders for the rest of the season.

Tom Knowles looks to be back on form. We saw the version of Knowles that was full of running and getting shots away with his right foot and his left. He left Bromley’s left back for dead and delivered a great cross for D’Ath’s opener. He can’t go through a match without a couple of whacks where you think that’s his match over, but his resilience is impressive. His match-winner rounded off a great performance which makes you hope the necessary work is being done on renewing that man’s contract.

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Lawson D’Ath. Pic YTFC

Yeovil Town midfielder Lawson D’Ath said the team is “buzzing” after a 2-1 home win over Bromley.

Speaking to his former BBC colleague Sheridan Robins having scored the opener in the victoryon Tuesday night, he was pleased, not just for himself but also for his team-mates.

“Buzzing, really happy to get the goal and we won which is the main thing, it’s a much better feeling for us to be on the winning side, hopefully we can keep this run going and push on and see where it takes us.

“We haven’t won in a while here, so it’s a good feeling and one we need to keep doing and keep this home form good.”

D’Ath had a special word on the returning Josh Neufville who, like D’Ath, has recovered from a serious injury.

“It was brilliant, I was buzzing when he came on and set the goal up as well, I’m delighted for him, because I know what he’s gone through, it was tough for me, I know that for a fact and I bet it was for him too.”

D’Ath and Neufville will earn their rest over the next couple of days with both of them hoping to be involved in the important games coming up.

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Sarll on media duties

Yeovil Town manager Darren Sarll was delighted with his side’s performance against play-off chasing Bromley.

The Glovers won 2-1 to record back to back wins after Saturday’s victory at bottom club Dover Athletic.

Speaking to BBC Somerset’s Sheridan Robins, the manager was full of praise for a number of his players:

“They were good you’ve got to give credit where credit is due, they looked so energised, engaged, motivated, all the great things you want to see in a team, I actually thought tonight we got to see a glimpse of the future”

“(Tom) Knowles looked like himself, I thought Lawson (D’ath) was great tucked in on the left, Matthew (Worthington) looked like a Football League player rather than a National League player.”

“Really good performances all round, we will work again Thursday because this new attitude is quite enjoyable to watch at the moment.”

Goals from Lawson D’Ath and Tom Knowles sandwiched a Bromley equaliser that came as a result of an error from loanee Ted Cann in goal, Sarll was delighted with the way his team bounced back and was happy with Cann’s overall performance.

“I was really pleased with Ted, you come to a club like Yeovil and it’s not easy… I said to Ted at the end there, ‘when you woke up this morning, what did you want us to achieve?’ he said ‘for us to win’. I said, ‘job done’…

“I said you made a brilliant save at the end of the first half at 1-1, you took three or four really good crosses… for a 21 year old, who has made a bad call in the first half to then come again I thought that showcased his character splendidly.”

Reuben Reid. Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

There was further praise for Reuben Reid, who made only his second start of the season and was key to everything the Glovers did going forward.

“He takes a lot of criticism does, Reuben, but at times I thought he unplayable at times tonight… I thought our attacking play was excellent, but it was excellent because Lawson had a good game, Tom Knowles had a very good game and Reuben was untouchable with the ball at his feet.”

Yeovil have now scored four goals in two games something which the gaffer hopes can be taken into the weekend’s game against Southend United and for the rest of the season.

“The fact that we have scored four goals in the last two games is good for us, it lifts everyone, it makes them believe in their attacking play a lot more, it’s probably the most amount of shots we’ve had here for a long, long time, that was really pleasing”.

Yeovil host the Shrimpers this Saturday, with their visitors losing against Maidenhead United on Tuesday night despite taking the lead.

 

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Bath City booked their place in the Somerset Premier Cup final with a 2-1 semi-final win at Frome Town on Tuesday night.

Yeovil Town take on Bath-based Odd Down in the other last four tie at Huish Park on Tuesday, April 5.

A double from striker Coady Cooke saw the National League South side lead 2-0 at the interval at Badger’s Hill.

Rex Mannings pulled a goal back on the hour mark but former Glover Jerry Gill’s side held on to book their place in the final.

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Venue: Huish Park
Tuesday, March 22, 7.45pm kick-off

Conditions: Clear, cool night
Pitch: Continues to be a credit to the groundsman, held up well

Attendance: 1,732 (53 away supporters)

Scorers: Lawson D’Ath 11 (1-0), George Alexander 24 (1-1), Tom Knowles (2-1) 71

Bookings: 

Yeovil: Knowles 45, Worthington 83
Bromley: Webster 53, Vennings 55

Referee: James Durkin


Yeovil Town : (4-3-3)

Ted Cann

Mark Little, Josh Staunton (for Wilkinson, 75), Ben Barclay, Morgan Williams

Matt Worthington Dale Gorman  Lawson D’Ath (for Josh Neufville, 68)

Charlie Wakefield (for Olomola, 86) Reuben Reid Tom Knowles

Substitutes:  Jordan Barnett, Alex Bradley.

Bromley: Balcombe, Partington, Coulson, Arthurs (for Bloomfield, 76), Cheek, Whitely, Vennings, Alexander (for Alabi, 56), Webster, Cawley, Parsons (for Trotter, 46). Substitutes: Wagstaff, Forster.

Match Report

A stunning winner from Tom Knowles saw an impressive Yeovil Town turn up at Huish Park with a long-awaited winning performance in front of the home faithful.

The three points was nothing less than the Glovers deserved against a Bromley side who (at the start of the game, at least) still considered themselves in the hunt for a play-off place in the National League.

Lawson D’Ath opened the scoring after just ten minutes before a mistake by on-loan goalkeeper Ted Cann gifted Bromley’s George Alexander an equaliser on 24 minites.

It was a superb team goal after 71 minutes which won it, starting from a great pass by Cann to Reuben Reid, Dale Gorman and then substitute Josh Neufville whose delicious delivery found Knowles who made no mistake.

Here’s how Ian saw it from his position at Huish Park……

 

First half

Team news saw Darren Sarll replaced the absent Adi Yussuf, who had received a call-up by Tanzania, with Reuben Reid, only his second National League start of the season which he missed the first half of through injury.

Lawson D’Ath replaced Jordan Barnett in midfield for the other change with captain Luke Wilkinson returning on the bench having missed out of the squad in recent week.

The 2-0 win at Dover Athletic at the weekend seemingly sparked the Glovers in to life with a fast start and had two decent efforts inside the first five minutes. Reid drew a save from the keeper and from the resulting corner Dale Gorman‘s effort was parried away by on-loan Brentford keeper Ellery Balcombe.

In the hosts’ goal, Ted Cann, playing his second game since joining on-loan from West Bromwich Albion at the end of last week, was called into action with a low save shortly after which he dealt with comfortably.

Five minutes later the home side deservedly took the lead. Tom Knowles turned his full-back inside out and delivered a brilliant low cross which was turned in by Lawson D’ATH with 10 minutes on the clock.

That was the first goal seen by the Huish Park crowd since Adi Yussuf’s equaliser (yes, it was an own goal but the record books show it was Adi’s) in the 1-1 draw with W*ymouth at the start of February.

Reid was definitely in the mood and got another decent effort away which had to be dealt with by Balcombe.

The Glovers were not shot-shy in the first half and a typical Knowles strike from distance was matched by Balcombe, although the referee thought it hit the post. The visiting stopper was keeper his side in this.

Bromley his back in calamitous circumstances in the 25th minute. A low cross somehow snuck through Cann and put in the empty net by George Alexander.

Reid showed his back to goal credentials with a smart turn and shot which Balcombe was equal too.

Cann redeemed himself before the break with a good low stop from Alexander who was bearing down on goal.

Yeovil made a good account of themselves in the first half and offered a vast improvement on their previous Huish Park performances.

Half time: Yeovil Town 1 Bromley 1

Second half

Bromley came out for the second half the stronger, putting the pressure on their hosts who had some nervy moments, however, there was little in the way of chances for either side.
The first opportunity came fell to Yeovil on 58 minutes when good play between Reid and Wakefield got behind the visitors defence, but Gorman’s effort went over the bar.
Two minutes later, Balcombe was in action again with Josh Staunton having an effort turned over the bar from the on loan keeper and Michael Cheek was on hand to hack it away.
On 69 minutes, a lovely moment as those inside Huish Park rose to acknowledge the efforts of D’Ath and welcomed back Josh Neufville, who made only his second appearance in front of fans after making such an impact in front of empty stadiums last season.

Tom Knowles. Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

Great distribution from Cann (see the comments of Ed Turnbull in Gloverscast #154) found Reid with what was definitely a pass not a clearance, he controlled it beautifully and linked up with first Gorman, then Neufville did unbelievably to feed Tom KNOWLES to drill one home.

Two goals in a game for the second consecutive match and it came at home. This. Is. Not. A. Drill.

If Knowles needed more energy, that gave it to him. On 77 minutes, the human dynamo burst forward and he was brought down as close to the edge of the box as you can get – was it a penalty? The Thatchers End thought so. The resulting free-kick came to nothing.

With seven minutes remaining, a long throw by Cawley was missed by a wild punch from Cann and if a Bromley player could find it, it would only take a smashed effort to find an equaliser. Luckily it was Luke Wilkinson, on for Josh Staunton moments earlier, who was there to clear.

Neufville flashed an effort wide soon after before Cann came roaming outside of his box and was very lucky to be saved by the assistant’s flag. Having been saved by a similar decision at Dover at the weekend, it’s a bit of worry.

Wakefield was replaced by Olomola with four minutes of the game remaining, as Bromley turned the screw knowing that their play-off push is coming off the rails.

And it did. Two wins in a row, more than one goal scored in two games. We’re claiming this as a run of form.

Full time: Yeovil Town 2 Bromley 1

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Ruben Reid comes on vs Bournemouth


Reuben Reid – “the best back to goal striker in the National League” (D. Sarll, 2022) – replaces Adi Yussuf in the starting line-up for tonight’s visit of play-off-chasing Bromley at Huish Park (7.45pm kick-off).

The change was one of two with Lawson D’Ath, who was a substitute for the 2-0 win at Dover Athletic at the weekend, coming in for Jordan Barnett.

Josh Staunton remains in the heart of defence alongside on-loan centre half Ben Barclay with skipper Luke Wilkinson only fit enough for the bench.

There’s still no place for Sonny Blu Lo Everton with Josh Neufville and Olufela Olomola the attacking options among the substitutes.

Yeovil Town: Ted Cann, Mark Little, Josh Staunton, Ben Barclay, Morgan Williams, Lawson D’Ath, Dale Gorman, Matt Worthington, Tom Knowles, Reuben Reid, Charlie Wakefield. Substitutes: Luke Wilkinson, Jordan Barnett, Alex Bradley, Josh Neufville, Olufela Olomola.

Bromley: Balcombe, Partington, Coulson, Arthurs, Cheek, Whitely, Vennings, Alexander, Webster, Cawley, Parsons. Substitutes: Alabi, Bloomfield, Wagstaff, Trotter, Forster.

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Adi Yussuf. Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

Yeovil Town striker Adi Yussuf has been called up for international duty by Tanzania for games against Central African Republic, Botswana and Sudan.

The call up means he will miss tonight’s National League fixture at home to Bromley and this weekend’s visit from Southend United to Huish Park.

Yussuf, who has five (ish) goals for the Glovers this season, joins up with Kim Poulsen’s side ahead of the games on Wednesday 23rd, Friday 26th and Tuesday 29th ruling him out of at least two Yeovil games in the process.

Yussuf was born in Zanzibar, an autonomas region of Tanzania and has made three appearances for the Taifa Stars without scoring, most recently playing the full 90 minutes of a 0-0 draw with Rwanda in October 2019.

All three games are set to be played at the Benjamin Mkapa stadium which can hold up to 60,000 people and we’ll bring you news of his ventures when we can!

Good luck (or should we say, ‘bahati njema’) Adi!




		


	







	


		
		


			

				
			


			
			
 
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Yeovil Town return to Huish Park following their first league win in ten on Saturday and welcome play-off chasing Bromley to town on Tuesday night.


The Glovers overcame Dover Athletic 2-0 at the weekend with goals from Ben Barclay and Dale Gorman whilst Bromley were holding the Hollywood boys of Wrexham to a goalless draw.


In terms of stats, Bromley’s form isn’t actually that good, draws against ten-man Torquay and Weymouth were sandwiched inbetween defeats at the hands of Stockport and Halifax.


They are still in the FA Trophy with their semi-final against York City scheduled for early April and currently sit 9th in the table, four points behind Notts County in 7th and 11 points ahead of the Glovers.


Yeovil won the reverse fixture 2-1 back in late November as part of that incredible run which had us all dreaming of our own crack at the top seven for a while; goals from Tom Knowles and Charlie Wakefield either side of a Michael Cheek penalty bringing all three points back to Somerset.


On that day, the Glovers could only name four subs including goalie Max Evans and youth prospect Ollie Haste.


Dan Moss (loan ended), Grant Smith and Luke Wilkinson (both injured) were all part of that impressive back line on the day and will all be missing this time around.


Since that game in November, the Ravens have added James Vennings, a young midfielder on loan from Charlton and Ali Al-Hamadi on a temporary deal from Wycombe, he will be expecting to start a third successive game alongside Michael Cheek in attack.


They could also have a new goalkeeper with on loan Brentford stopper Ellery Balcombe between the sticks, regular ‘keeper Mark Cousins hasn’t featured since the draw with Weymouth back in February.


FROM THE MANAGER


Bromley manager Andy Woodman is not expecting an easy game against Yeovil Town


Asked about the trip to the Glovers after Saturday’s 0-0 draw with Wrexham, he said:


“We have got to build on this (result v Wrexham) now, that’s the real important thing, a clean sheet against Wrexham, a good performance against Halifax although we didn’t get the result, we have got to keep plugging away at this stage of the season”


“It wont be easy, I don’t think any game is easy, we are all seeing that, we will prepare for that one and hopefully we can come back with the points”




TEAM NEWS


Michael Cheek will almost certainly lead the line for the Ravens, with three goals in his last three games against the Glovers he’ll be hoping for more of the same.


Former Glovers captain Omar Sowunmi hasn’t featured in either of the last two Bromley games.


 




A FOOT IN BOTH CAMPS


Two former Glovers defenders are currently in the Bromley squad, Wembley hero Byron Webster and Omar Sowunmi


Defender Omar Sowumni.
Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.


The giant 26-year-old defender spent four years at Huish Park having been signed from from Lowestoft Town by Paul Sturrock who infamously said he believed he could make the ex-Ipswich Town striker “the next Kenwyne Jones”.


Suffice to say, despite some impressive performances, Omar’s time at Huish Park will be remembered for captaining the side which whimpered out of the Football League in 2018-19.


In the Yeovil Town camp, Charlie Wakefield will be looking to show his old employers what they have missed out on.


The former Chelsea youngster was released by Bromley in the summer having made just four starts after joining in January last season.


Other players with a foot in both camps include Courtney Duffus, who it appears did not appeal to Woodman having been ignored for much of last season and then shipped out to Morecambe.


Winger Iffy Allen is another, having had a pretty iffy 12 match spell at Huish Park in 2015-16, before spending the 2017-18 campaign at Bromley.



		


	







	


		
		


			

				
			


			
			
 
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Ben Barclay
Pic: YTFC Youtube


Yeovil Town’s on loan defender, Ben Barclay has been names in the official Vanarama team of the week after scoring his first goal in green and white in the 2-0 win over Dover Athletic on Saturday.


With a clean sheet and a goal in the bag, Barclay is named alongside Grimsby’s Andy Smith and Woking’s Tom Champion in the mythical back three with a certain Patrick Madden also in the team for Barclay’s parent club, Stockport County.


Good work, Ben.