August 2022 (Page 9)

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Will Buse. Picture courtesy of bcfc.co.uk.

Yeovil Town have confirmed the addition of Bristol City goalkeeper Will Buse ahead of the season opener against Scunthorpe.

Joining on a season-long loan, the keeper will challenge Grant Smith for the number one spot following the temporary departure of Max Evans on loan to Larkhall Athletic.

Speaking about the departure of Evans and Buse, manager Chris Hargreaves said: “Both these loans are crucial for the development of each individual. 

“Firstly with Max, he is at a stage where he needs to be out there playing games on a consistent basis. He can only learn so much on the training pitch, so this loan is the next stage in his development. 

“We all think very highly of Max and know he will return an even better player.

“Obviously with Max departing, there is a need for another goalkeeper in the squad. Will arrives as the perfect candidate to bolster the goalkeeping department.

“As a local lad, his connection to the club was a huge draw, but more importantly, he is a very good goalkeeper as those who watched our friendly against Taunton saw.

“He is strong competition for Grant Smith and will go into the squad for Saturday’s game.”

Buse, played against the Glovers in pre-season for Taunton Town, where he was expecting to spend the season, but after being recalled is now a Yeovil player.

Will, is a direct relative of Matt who has spent the summer on trial at Huish Park, but at time of writing hasn’t been given a deal.

Welcome to Yeovil, Will.

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Captain Josh Staunton has urged his Yeovil Town team-mates to use their increasing physical presence as the National League season gets underway.

With the arrivals of strikers Malachi Linton (5’9″) and Alex Fisher (6’3″) up front and 6’4″ defensive team-mate Ben Richards-Everton who arrived at Huish Park last week, the skipper wants to ensure the Glovers make the most of their increased threat.

Yeovil Town captain Josh Staunton.
Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

Speaking about Richards-Everton ahead of the opening game against Scunthorpe United on Saturday, Staunton said: “He’s a big lad, Ben. He’s a good talker, aggressive aerially and is what you’d expect from a centre half of his experience.

“He’s a good addition to the club which gives us a good, experienced option in an important area of the pitch.

“It gives us another option because this year we are a massive team, you look around the team and you think you we are going to be a big team.

“We have to utilise that and dominate teams aerially, especially at set pieces because we definitely did not do that enough last season.”

Last season, our defensive players managed just six goals throughout the entire season with Morgan Williams top scoring with two of them, and Staunton has targeted adding more goals to his game in the coming campaign.

His only strike came in the opener in a 2-0 win at big-spending Wrexham, the only defeat the Welsh side suffered on home soil last season.

Staunton said: “It’s important we take the responsibility (of scoring goals) as well and don’t just point the finger and say ‘they should be scoring, we’re doing this’ because we are a team.

“If someone else is chipping in with goals, it takes pressure off the strikers and they will play with more freedom and that is when good things come.

“That makes us a more dynamic and diverse teams which is harder to defend against when you have one 30-goal a season man and rely on that one person to put them in.”

With goals at a premium last season and the same issue rearing its head throughout pre-season, goals from other positions may be a necessity for Chris Hargreaves’ men.

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Glovers’ Ollie Haste
Pic From @yeovilcollege

Yeovil Town have confirmed that youngsters Toby Stephens and Ollie Haste have joined Truro City on ‘short-term’ loans.

We brought you the new last week that Stephens represented Truro as a trialist in their defeat to Torquay, but Haste was also involved and will be joining Paul Wotton’s side alongside the midfielder.

Speaking to YTFC.net Chris Hargreaves said: “Toby and Ollie are both young lads we think very highly of, who need consistent minutes to improve.

“The step up from U18’s into the National League is never easy, so having a loan move with a fantastic club like Truro will help them bridge that gap and see them return as better players.”

We will do our very best to keep you updated on their progress.

All the best at Truro, lads.

 

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We here at the Gloverscast have done the leg work for you and scoured the internet (well, Instagram) for some of the previews and predictions for the upcoming season and here’s what we found.

Four Four Two Magazine
Yeovil Town Prediction – 11th

Ok, solid start, slightly above midtable which seems reasonable.
The magazine’s season preview pull out suggests a “low-key” start to the summer recruitment offers little inspiration towards a more positive outcome.

 

 

Racing Post – Big Season Preview Pull Out
Yeovil Town Prediction – Urm… Not mentioned

We assume this means ‘somewhere in midtable’ as we clearly aren’t in the reckoning for promotion or relegation.

They do suggest, Wrexham will win the league, Torquay will get promoted with them, Dagenham and Woking both also making the top seven.

@NL.HUB on Instagram
Yeovil Town Prediction – 12th

The first of our prediction table has the Glovers finishing slap bang in the middle of the division with Chesterfield (and that man Quigley) winning the league.

Notts County are the side that have going up via the play-offs with Scunthorpe set for the double drop.

 

 

 

 

 

@NLBible1 on Instagram
Yeovil Town Prediction – 19th

Time for anothe 1-24 now and this time, we’re not happy. 19th!? Nineteenth!?

Not sure many will be happy with a relegation scrap that ends that close… but again, Wrexham aren’t winning the league here either.

It’s the end of the road for Dorking, Aldershot, Maidstone and Gateshead.

 

 

 

 

Edward Walker – Podcast Host D3D4Football
Yeovil Town Prediction – 14th

Yet again Wrexham aren’t winning the league, but again, unfortunatley it’s the bottom half of the table for the Glovers…
Another preview where Scunthorpe sit dangerously close to the drop zone.

 

 

 

 

 

Tom Williams (@tomhwilliams23 / @notts_stats on twitter)
Yeovil Town Prediction – 23rd

Ok, now we are getting silly – the full preview can be read HERE

The overall thoughts of the author read “I believe they have one of the weakest squads in the divison” Behave.

I didn’t read the rest of the preview.

 

 

 

There’s probably more out there, so feel free to point them in our direction.

But, as you can see, no-one has a clue what the season will look like at Huish Park, Play-offs, Mid table, and apparently, second-from-bottom are all possibilities…

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Somerset Premier Cup Winners 2022 ? SomersetFA

We here at the Gloverscast always like to get the views of opposition fans and so we’ve been sliding in the DMs of fellow National League fans for their opinions. We asked them all the same five questions;
Who will win the National League this season?
Who will go up through the play-offs?
Who will finish bottom?
Where will your side finish?
Where will Yeovil finish?

… and here’s what they had to say.

Dagenham & Redbridge – @9Men

Dagenham

Who will win the National League this season?
I would expect Notts County, Solihull and Wrexham to be battling it out. Wrexham are obviously big favourites with the bookies and will not stop spending, but will they have enough heart to go all the way? Solihull for me.
Who will go up through the play-offs?
Probably Notts County.
Who will finish bottom?
There’s plenty of sides in trouble this year, and the gulf between the bottom few and the top few looks as big as ever. I think several of the promoted sides will struggle. Eastleigh could end up bottom – they had a terrible second half of the season and I can’t see much changing.

Where will Dagenham finish?
I think we can improve on last season and squeak into seventh. Relative to the other contenders, I don’t think we’ve done enough to go beyond that.
Where will Yeovil finish?
Sorry to say, I don’t like the look of the summer business done by the Glovers. I’d expect you to remain relatively solid at the back but struggle for goals again. Maybe 14th?

Maidstone United – @JPonComms

Who will win the National League this season?
I think Wrexham will win the league because anything else is going to strongly be considered failure. With the money and expectation around Wrexham it’ll be a tough case to argue otherwise. With signings such as Elliot Lee who has dropped a number of divisions, you can see Wrexham have assembled debatably their strongest team yet especially going forward. However chesterfield will be a close second for me considering the strengthening they’ve done throughout the squad by bringing in players such as Armando Dobra from Ipswich who is by all accounts a fantastic signing.

Who will go up through the play-offs?
Building from the last question, I think Chesterfield will be the team to go up should they not win the title directly. Big squad, big budget, great manager in Paul Cook and topped off with some good signings at the moment. It really boils down to luck, mentality and consistency when considering the playoffs, so it’s anybody’s guess as we saw Chesterfield bail out of the playoffs when it mattered last season.

Who will finish bottom?
Maidenhead United – having lost their number one forward Josh Kelly to Solihull, with nobody coming in to replace him as of writing. It will be tough to score goals considering he scored almost 1/3 of their goals past season. I am a fan of the signing of Eweka as someone with potential but for me the other incomings have not been up to a necessary standard. They could however see someone like Koby Arthur perform very well and create opportunities, but with the loss of a finisher in Kelly that could prove difficult.

Where will Maidstone United finish?
16th – I think Maidstone do have a chance of finishing in vastly different areas of the table this coming season. Generally fans are very much undecided on our prospects with many thinking we will struggle to survive and others backing us for a playoff push. For me, smack bang in the middle of these opinions is where we will finish. The club has lofty ambitions, but as the new boys on the block we have to try and secure survival before regrouping next season and aiming higher. With Joan Luque injured and many of our new signings and wider squad unknown quantities in the national league we may take a little while to get going. However, I think we will become more consistent as the season continues and push up to 16th for a comfortable avoidance of a relegation fight by the end of the season.

Where will Yeovil finish?
17th – A Club who for me should be aiming much higher than their recent finishes. The new boss has come in and will have to implement his style within the squad. As for outgoings, Dale Gorman was someone who I thought could offer something to Yeovil this season despite being somewhat underwhelming last year, he has some quality for sure but has since departed. Furthermore the loss of Wilkinson to Woking could prove to be an area of concern, 32 games played last season and his experience going with him will obviously spell some sort of shuffle around at the back. At the end of the day, to move to the upper mid table and playoff spots squad depth is going to be key. As it stands the Yeovil squad isn’t quite big enough and another few additions throughout the squad will benefit them over the next couple weeks. At the moment, 17th for me.

Torquay United – @TORQUAYTALK (Danny Burnell)

Who will win the National League this season?
Anyone other than Wrexham would be a surprise. Must have been embarrassing for them not getting promoted last season.
Who will go up through the play-offs?
Can see a few being in the running. Chesterfield and Notts should be up there. Woking have made some very good signings. The usual suspects like us and Yeovil should be in and around it. I’ll opt for Southend.
Who will finish bottom?
Gateshead. No reason why. It’s miles away.

Where will Torquay finish?
Seventh.
Where will Yeovil finish?
Eighth – pipped to the last play-off place. See answer above.

Woking – @1887Cardinals (Jacob Greenwood)

Who will win the National League this season?
It’s hard to see past Wrexham. However, being such strong favourites can bring its own challenges. Playing Wrexham will be everyone’s cup final this season, whether they like to admit it or not, and that can make it difficult. That said, with limitless amounts of money and an already star-studded squad, my pick would have to be Wrexham.

Who will go up through the play-offs?
Southend started very poorly last year but once they stabilised they looked a decent side. I don’t think they’ll have enough to win the league but I can see them getting in the play-offs. They might be an outsider but I wouldn’t be surprised to see them go under the radar and then win promotion.

Who will finish bottom?
I think all the promoted sides will have enough momentum to avoid last place. A lot of the sides that finished in the bottom half last season have improved their squads but someone will have to finish last. I fear for Barnet. Although their fans seem to think they are doing good business in the transfer window, I think they were poor last season and a lot of their signings hint at a relegation fight rather than a play-off one.

Where will Woking finish?
This season is a fresh start for Woking with only a few players being kept on from last season. At the time of writing I don’t think we’ve replaced the goals scored by Kretzschmar, Effiong and Campbell, and it is for that reason I think we will struggle to meet expectations. I predict we’ll finish 10th.

Where will Yeovil finish?
I can see a similar outcome to last season, maybe a couple of places lower. So I will say 13th.

Wrexham – @RobRyanRed

Who will win the National League this season?
Got to say Wrexham, haven’t we? Another summer which has brought investment and Phil Parkinson has upgraded on those he let go in a bid to provide the squad depth that was missing at the back end of last season. A full season of Paul Mullin and Ollie Palmer promises to bring goals, goals, goals (we hope, anyway). Trying to be optimistic here…

Who will go up through the play-offs?
Let’s go with Solihull Moors. They were mightily unlucky to miss out last season and in keeping Joe Sbarra and Andy Dallas, plus making some very clever signings such as Josh Kelly from Maidenhead, they will be a force to be reckoned with again in 2022-23. Few teams go to Solihull and get much out of them and we expect that to continue. Likely to be run close by Chesterfield in the PO race

Who will finish bottom?
Bottom is always a prediction that can bite us – and it was easy last season going with Dover. We’ll go with Maidstone United. Hakan Hayrettin’s side are going to come up against sides – like us – that have huge budgets for this level and we cannot see them going into many match days as favourites to pick up the points. This is almost certain to bite us on the backside when they come to the Racecourse.

Where will Wrexham finish?
Like other fans answering these 1 and 4 might tally. We’ve been in this league for so long now it seems a tad ridiculous to keep predicting we’ll win it but there’s nothing like blind optimism in pre-season. With the level of investment and the continuity in this squad, surely to god this is it?

Where will Yeovil finish?
Yeovil could finish anywhere from the play-offs to 18th and we wouldn’t be shocked. Jamie Reckord is an interesting pick-up for you. Solid but unspectacular. Looking at Chesterfield, Notts County, Solihull, Wrexham and others like Dagenham, think a play-off position May be a stretch. We’ll go 10th.

Altrincham – @Golfroadgoals

1.National League Winners

I think this year will be FC Halifax Town, the transfer business they’ve done this summer has been amazing.

2.Playoff winners

For me has to be Chesterfield, they have a great attacking line and just seem to me as likely candidates for playoff winners or potentially Bromley for me due to their FA trophy triumph last season.

3. Who will finish bottom?

Maidenhead, for me they’ve struggled in the last couple of seasons and just seem likely to finish bottom or Gateshead maybe due to loosing some key players this summer.

4.Where will Altrincham finish?

With the signings we have made so far especially the return of Jordan Hulme and James Jones I think we will finish anywhere between 12th and 9th, bringing in a number of attacking and defensive signings this summer due to some high profile departures but anywhere mid table for me this season it’s anyone’s season!

5. Where will Yeovil finish?

In my opinion Yeovil will finish 6th to 8th, towards the bottom end of the playoffs. I reckon this season Yeovil will do very well after perhaps not living up to expectations in previous seasons.

FC Halifax Town – @LewisRWalsh

Josh Staunton & Matt Warburton
Pic Mike Kunz

1.Who wins the national league?
I think right now it’s hard to look past Wrexham as this year’s champions to be honest. Paul Mullin and Ollie Palmer proved that they’re easily the best strike partnership in this league from January onwards last season (and so they should be with the money that Wrexham have spent to get both of them) – and now that they’ve added Elliot Lee into the mix, it’s going to take something special to stop them this season.

2.Who goes up via the playoffs?
There’s definitely a lot of teams that you could make solid cases for in terms of who will go up via the playoffs, but for me Notts County will be the ones to do it. Macauley Langstaff and Cedwyn Scott proved to be absolutely lethal up top together for Gateshead last season, so to bring them in together is certainly a shrewd bit of business. There’ll be questions asked of whether they can handle the step up in quality, but I back them to do it – and that bit of firepower will get them up via the playoffs in my opinion.

3.Who finishes bottom?

This is a bit of hard one to predict as I don’t particularly feel that there’s one side that stands out as clear favourites to finish bottom – it could well be the strongest the league has been in years in terms of the quality at both ends of the table. If I were to guess though, then I’d say Gateshead, purely because I don’t know how they’ll manage without the goals of Macauley Langstaff and Cedwyn Scott.

4.Where will Halifax finish?

This pre-season has seen us undergo our biggest rebuild job yet, as on top of losing key players such as Billy Waters, Kieran Green, Niall Maher, Tyrell Warren and Tom Bradbury, we’ve also lost our manager, Pete Wild to Barrow. Further key losses could follow, as centre back Jesse Debrah is heavily linked with a move to Huddersfield, whilst there is also a level of interest in Kian Spence. Our new manager, Chris Millington (who was previously Wild’s assistant) has done a decent job of replacing our outgoing players so far, bringing in the likes of Festus Arthur, Jordan Keane and Mani Dieseruvwe, but I have a feeling that this might just be one rebuild too far – there’s only so many times that you can sign an entirely new squad and have it pay off. With that in mind, I don’t think we’ll be troubling the playoffs as we have been doing in the last couple of seasons, so I’ll put us down as finishing 11th.

5.Where will Yeovil finish?

From the outside looking in, I think the aim of this season needs to be stability for Yeovil. Ownership problems are never easy to navigate and until those can be resolved, the club needs to be as stable as possible in order to make the process of ironing out those issues as smooth as possible, whether that be the current owner coming to his senses and running a club as it should be run or whether a potential buyer is found. The signings so far appear to be solid, if unspectacular, which is probably what’s needed during that stabilising process. With that being the case, I would say Yeovil will finish 14th this season.

Chesterfield – @Tom_Atkins107

Warm up at Chesterfield ? Ben Barrett

1) Who wins the League? Chesterfield of course
2) Who wins the play-offs? probably Solihull, they’re not going anywhere from last year and have recruited impressively
3) Who finishes bottom? Dorking. Think it may be too much of a step up
4) Where will Chesterfield finish? you already asked me this
5) Where will Yeovil finish? 15th. I think you guys need a new era, something to pick the club back off the recent slump. I’m not sure you’ve had that just yet but hopefully it happens sooner rather than later

 

Notts County – Gerrit Forward (Paul Smith)

Who wins the National League?
Wrexham. It’s an obvious choice but there’s a reason for that. It’s all set up for them to run away with it, given the resources available to them and the signings they’ve made. It would be a huge failure even to finish second and, with a passionate backing from their many season ticket holders, I think they’ll have far too much this year and will have learned some lessons from last season’s failure.

Who goes up via the playoffs?
I think the usual suspects of the other well-backed and supported teams, such as Chesterfield, Notts County and Southend, will be in and amongst it again. But I think one of the so-called smaller clubs will pull it off as they will feel the pressure less in the cauldron that is playoff football. My candidates are Woking, Solihull Moors and Bromley but I’ll stick my neck out for a the latter to sneak into seventh and make it through, against the odds. They are horrible to play against – especially at home – and have lots of firepower.

Who finishes bottom?
I think the likes of Eastleigh and Aldershot should be nervously looking over their shoulder and will be wondering how the promoted clubs take to the higher level. But, it’s probable at least one of them will struggle with the transition so I’ll go with Dorking Wanderers.

Where will Notts County finish?
I’m confident of the playoffs – again. And much will depend on how high we can place in terms of our chances of overall success. Probably only a home semi-final gives us a sniff, given our away record over the time we’ve been at this level. Our chances of getting second or third are largely dictated by two things – how we replace Cal Roberts, and keeping Ruben Rodrigues being one. And the highly thought of new talent from National League North, including Macaulay Langstaff and Cedwyn Scott, carrying on where they left off at that level being the second thing. If both of those come off for us we could be in business.

Where will Yeovil finish?
I’ll be honest, I thought it was a worry for Glovers fans to see their manager leave for Woking. Having seen Woking’s business this summer though, it was clearly a financial move from him and he is being backed more you’d think with the Cards in terms of bringing players in. Given the money being spent by plenty of teams again, though, it’s hard to picture Yeovil among the frontrunners. Chris Hargreaves is an interesting appointment and I think, given his background, Yeovil will be reliant on unearthing some gems and younger talent to make a push for the playoffs. I think you’ll have enough for the top half.

Solihull Moors – Bandwagon Fanzine – @BandwagonZine

1) who wins the National League
Are we allowed to say Wrexham? There are a lot of strong sides crammed in the bottleneck again, but let’s say Wrexham just because the Wrexham circus is getting boring now and it would be better to inflict in on League 2.

2) who goes up via the play offs?
Again, a lot of strong candidates. We have made some shrewd transfer business and added to our existing quality, so if we can show the same consistency as through 2022 so far, who knows? There will be a few BELTs (Yeovil don’t as a BELT as you seem to accept you are now rubbish again) challenging in amongst it. Expect Chesterfield and Notts to be strong again.

3) who finishes bottom?
Gateshead have had a shocker of a summer considering they won the National League North at a canter. Not sure why people seem to fancy Maidstone to avoid the drop so much too.

4) Where will Solihull finish?
Playoffs.

5) Where will Yeovil finish?
Ask the magic 8 ball; it’s probably been paying more attention to your summer transfer business and preparations…

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The pre-reason promise, optimism and excitement has come to a head and we’re ready and raring to go for Saturday’s 5:20pm kick off at Scunthorpe United.

This is Yeovil Town FC, of course, so hours before our big season preview the news broke that we’d sold our best player (#DFILWF) 48 hours before the season opener. Needless to say, we had plenty to say, and so did our National League expert/former Yeovil Town defender, Adam Virgo!

Thanks for listening!

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

Follow us on Twitter and Facebook and please leave us a review and share the pod with a pal.

Do you want to advertise on the Gloverscast? Take a look at our rates and contact ian@gloverscast.co.uk

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Max Evans. ? Mike Kunz.

Yeovil Town Goalkeeper Max Evans has joined Larkhall Athletic on loan.

The Larkhall Twitter account has confirmed the deal, but there is no details on length of the deal.

Evans started the final game of last season against Altrincham and will hoping to get more game time this season.

 

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Charlie Wakefield will still be an attacking threat for Yeovil Town this season whatever position he is playing in, according to manager Chris Hargreaves.

The winger, who played down the flanks and as a centre forward at times last season, has been used predominantly as a wing back in pre-season.

Charlie Wakefield. Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

But, speaking ahead of the opening National League match against Scunthorpe United, Hargreaves said the former Chelsea youngster had displayed an ability to perform in a number of positions.

He said: “He is still going to play in those further forwards and we have reverted to some systems in pre-season, the behind-closed-doors game (against Sherborne Town), in training games and we have worked on different systems.

“We are trying to get a group of players on the pitch that are adaptable. Charlie sees himself as an attacking player and he will be whether it is at wing-back, right wing or centre forward, he can play all three of them.

“What I have been pleased and impressed with is that he wants to play in all those positions and do well in them which will only benefit him, if he wants to play at a higher level, if he nails those positions you are a much more attractive position for any of those clubs.”

There was no confirmation from the manager that Bristol City goalkeeper Will Buse would be joining on loan despite rumours coming out of Ashton Gate.

The 20-year-old, who lives in Yeovil, was strongly linked with a move to Huish Park after he was recalled from a spell at Taunton Town and despite first-choice Grant Smith and back-up keeper Max Evans already being on the books.

Asked about a move for a keeper by BBC Somerset’s Sheridan Robins, the manager said: “There are lots of rumours, I can’t comment on them but it’s a fast-moving sport and there might be a couple of other conversations being had before the weekend.

“We need to focus on getting better, creating that bond between the group, I think there’s a long way to go and a lot of work to do.

“We are not naïve to think we have it right so far, we need to keep recruiting well in a competitive market.”

Youngsters Toby Stephens and Ollie Haste are both on loan at Southern League Premier Division South side Truro City.

Toby Stephens

Stephens was spotted turning out for the Cornish side, who are managed by ex-Glovers’ midfielder Paul Wotton, in a pre-season friendly against Torquay United last weekend.

Hargreaves said he hoped the pair would benefit from playing “at least a month of competitive football” for the White Tigers.

He said: “I have worked in under-23 set ups at different clubs and you can be a ‘lost group’ where you get to 23 or 24 years old and you have not made any league appearances at any level.

“We want them to play men’s football where it means a lot on a Saturday afternoon.

“They were very close to staying around it with us but I feel for them that they need that month at least of competitive football.

“I have spoken to Paul Wotton who has been delighted with them in training sessions, so it’s about them making an impression and that is what they are determined to do.”

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Scunthorpe 3 Yeovil Town 4 – Saturday 1st October 2005

Most Yeovil fans who were alive at the time will have no problems remembering the incredible 4-3 top of the table clash against Scunthorpe in February 2005. The Glovers were 2-1 down at the break, but managed to turn it around in the second half thanks to a Lee Johsnon free kick, a header from Rory Fallon who still had directions to the ground written on his hand having only signed on loan that afternoon, and of course the incredible 35-yarder from Arron Davies that sealed the deal.

However, what some may not remember was that the next time we played the Iron in October of the same year also ended 4-3 to the men in green and white, this time having to come back from 2-0 down.

The meeting took place in League One, with both teams having been promoted from League Two in 2004/05. At the time of the match, both sides were in mid-table. Yeovil had recently lost Gary Johnson as manager, with this being Steve Thompson’s third game in charge (of this spell). He won his first game at home to Port Vale, but then the following Tuesday the Glovers surrendered a 1-0 half time lead to lose 4-1 away at Southend. Although a poor performance at the time, especially in the second half, Southend would go on to win the league with their strike force of Shaun Goater, Freddy Eastwood and future Glover Wayne Gray bullying a lot of defences that season.

It looked like it might be another one of those days, as Yeovil were 2-0 down inside the first 20 minutes. The hosts boasted a potent strike force of 19-year olds Andy Keogh and Billy Sharp, both of whom would go on to play in the Premier League. The Yeovil defence was at sixes and sevens, with Liam Fontaine struggling at left back and Nathan Jones having a severe off day in midfield. Although he would go on to be our captain and one of the most consistent players under Russell Slade, his first season’s performances were much more up and down and this one was definitely a down. After Sharp and Keogh both scored, Jones was hauled off after 25 minutes as, without much to lose Steve Thompson re-organised his attack, bringing on Matt Harrold to partner Bastianini up front and putting Jevons on the left. As great a player as Phil Jevons was for us, he did occasionally present a bit of a selection headache – if you partner him with a target man, you have no pace up front and a possible shortage of goals. If you partner him with a quicker man, you have no height. It was less of an issue in League Two, as Davies and Gall could both join from midfield, but in League One we were seeing a lot less of the ball. As time went on, Jevons was increasingly played in midfield with Harrold and Davies providing the best combination of physical presence, pace and finishing as a partnership. Arriving as a 21-year old from Brentford in the summer of 2005, Matt Harrold started mostly from the bench at the start of the season and it was this game that saw him come of age as a Yeovil player. He only stayed one season at Huish Park as he was not a part of Russell Slade’s plans after the arrival of Wayne Gray and Lee Morris, but would go on to have a long Football League career at the likes of Wycombe, Bristol Rovers and Southend.

Gary Johnson had put a lot of faith in Bastianini to bring both physical presence and goals, but he took time to settle and was not really a physical player. Although he will probably go down with many Glovers fans as an expensive mistake, he did have his qualities and was involved in all four goals at Scunthorpe, providing direct assists for three out of them. He probably felt the pressure of being the main man and who knows, if any of his attempted lobs from the half way line had gone in instead of fractionally over the bar, his career at Yeovil might have been a very different one.

Crucially in this game, Bastianini missed some early chances to the frustration of his team mates, but became much more productive when being less selfish and creating chances for others, playing excellent balls to Harrold for both of his goals.

With the score still at 0-2, the home side got in behind the Yeovil defence again only for Skiverton to slide in with a perfectly timed tackle from behind inside the area – mis-time that, and we could well have been 3-0 down and down to ten men, but it became the turning point of the match.

The comeback started with Jevons’ ball to set up Way in the 26th minute, and Jevons himself lashing home a loose ball to level the scores before half time. Scunthorpe were rattled and were much more timid after half time, allowing the Glovers to take a 4-2 lead. With 25 minutes still to go, there was still time for them to pull one back, with Sharp scoring his second from close range after a goalmouth scramble. The game became end to end and very bad tempered – both Skiverton and Way were ordered off the field to receive treatment despite having been fouled, as both had to have blood-stained shirts replaced and Skiverton re-appeared with a Terry Butcher-style bandage on his head. Very late on Keogh slid in a rebound and the ground erupted as it took quite some time for both fans and players to register that it had been disallowed for offside. There was more incident in injury time, as substitute Wayne Corden picked up the ball unmarked on the edge of the box and crashed his shot off the crossbar, it landed inside the area but Yeovil were able to clear and hold on for the win, sending us from 21st up to 15th in the table.

The following week the Glovers completed their third consecutive game against fellow promoted sides at home to Swansea, which they also won 1-0. The result took us up to 8th and finally gave us some breathing space after a very difficult start to life in League One.

Team that day: Chris Weale, Kevin Amankwaah, Liam Fontaine, Terry Skiverton, Efe Sodje, Darren Way, Lee Johnson, Nathan Jones (Matt Harrold, 25), Arron Davies, Pablo Bastianini (Paul Terry, 73), Phil Jevons. Subs not used: Steve Collis, Adam Lockwood, David Poole

 

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Tom Knowles, Picture Courtesy of Mike Kunz

Yeovil Town forward Tom Knowles has joined Walsall for an “undisclosed fee and future add-ons” the club have confirmed.

Knowles, who joined from Cambridge United in November 2020, has been a star for the Glovers ever since scoring 18 goals.

In a comment to YTFC.net the ‘Board of Directors’ said:

“We are extremely disappointed to lose Tom’s services. The club did all it could to convince Tom to stay, making him a significantly improved contract offer that would take his existing deal to the end of the 2023-2024 season.

“However, Tom expressed a desire to play at a higher level and consequently rejected the new contract offer. Under these circumstances, the Club has decided it was in the mutual best interests of the player and Yeovil Town to allow Tom to pursue his career in EFL League 2 if acceptable compensation could be negotiated.

“Agreement on the financial terms of Tom’s transfer has now been reached with Walsall FC and the Club would like to place on record its thanks to Tom for his past contribution to the team and wish him well in the future.”

This is of course an absolute hammer blow to the Glovers’ plans for the new season.

Thanks for all you’ve done for the Glovers and good luck at Walsall, Tom.