Match Report: Yeovil Town 0 York City 1
2022-09-03
Venue: Huish Park
Saturday September 3rd, 3pm kick-off
Conditions: Unpredictably windy
Pitch: Looking good
Attendance: 2294 (127 away supporters)
Scorers: Lennell John-Lewis 80
Bookings:
Yeovil Town: Lawson D’Ath 15,
York City: Fraser Kerr 36, Lennell John-Lewis 42
Referee: Aji Ajibola
Yeovil Town : (3-5-2)
Grant Smith
Max Hunt Josh Staunton Ben Richards-Everton
Morgan Williams (for Sam Pearson, 60) Lawson D’Ath Sam Perry Jamie Reckord
Charlie Wakefield
Alex Fisher (for Chiori Johnson, 81) Malachi Linton (for Gime Toure, 60)
Substitutes: Owen Bevan, Jake Scrimshaw.
York City: Ross, Kouogun, Kerr, Sanders, Fallowfield, Pybus, Dyson, Hancox, Hurst (for Boden, 65), Kouhyar, John-Lewis. Substitutes: Whitley, Whittle, Greaves, Duku.
Match Report
A frustrating afternoon saw Yeovil Town outclassed by a York City side who were unfortunate to only go away from Huish Park with a 1-0 victory.
It looked like the Glovers might have got out of jail after a lacklustre showing when Grant Smith saved a penalty from visiting striker Lennell John-Lewis on 70 minutes, but ten minutes later the experienced striker was found inside the box and fired the opener.
The sponsors’ man of the match was awarded to Smith who made two impressive saves to deny John-Lewis whilst at the other end one tame effort from Alex Fisher was all the hosts offered.
Not a good day at the office, here’s how it went…….
First half
Yeovil Town made three changes from the Bank Holiday Monday stalemate at Wealdstone with Charlie Wakefield returning in a more advanced possession in place of Gime Toure who dropped to the bench.
The other changes was Max Hunt return in place of Alfie Pond, whose loan stay was cut short by his deadline day move from Exeter City to Wolves, and Lawson D’Ath replaced Matt Worthington who boss Chris Hargreaves said was injured albeit “not serious.”
On-loan Bristol City winger Sam Pearson returned to the bench having missed the previous three matches through injury. He was joined by Owen Bevan, the teenage centre half who joined from AFC Bournemouth on Friday.
After a bright start from the home side without threatening on goal, visiting midfielder Alex Hurst had a ninth-minute shot just over had Grant Smith scrambling in the Yeovil goal and moments later striker Lennell John-Lewis forced a fine stop out of the keeper, albeit the linesman’s flag was raised.
Linton, who missed a penalty five days earlier at Wealdstone, had an opportunity denied by the flag on 15 minutes, but it’s fair to say opportunities were at a premium in the opening quarter-of-an-hour.
The assistant was involved again four minutes later when Reckord’s free-kick was well met by Ben Richards-Everton, and a minute later Hurst was denied by a well-timed tackle.
On 39 minutes, a quick throw caught the Yeovil defence napping and John-Lewis nicked the ball over the leg of Josh Staunton and fired in a shot which Grant Smith did well to deny the powerful striker. Far and away the best chance of the match.
Three minutes later, John-Lewis was at the heart of the action soon after he caught Sam Perry with what looked like a stray elbow. There were cries for a red card from the home crowd although it looked as if a heavy landing was more damaging for the Walsall loanee. He was eventually fine to continue.
On 44 minutes, it was John-Lewis who was at the heart of a quick break and was forced wide and had a shot block, it dropped to Dyson whose effort went wide.
The issue for Yeovil was a lack of creative spark and energy in the centre of midfield (again, I know!) with D’Ath lying deeper and the absence of the industrious Worthington, there was not much forward play from Perry and Wakefield isolated in a more central role.
Goalless at the break. Very goalless.
Half time: Yeovil Town 0 York City 0
Second half
There were no changes for either side at the break and with the exception of an Alex Fisher flicked header flicked which went over there was not a meaningful opportunity for either side by the time we reached the hour mark.
It was the visitors who looked the more cohesive in their play and showing some attacking intent which was sorely lacking from the home side.
On the hour mark, Pearson and Toure entered the fray in place of Morgan Williams and Linton.
Alex Fisher forced York keeper Ethan Ross in to his first meaningful action of the match when he picked the ball up on the edge of the box and fired in an effort.
The changes failed to have an instant impact with neither Toure or Pearson unable to become the player able to get on the ball and cause a threat.
On 69 minutes, Staunton looked to go to head a ball away, it struck his arm and the referee awarded a clear-cut penalty. John-Lewis took the ball but also took an age to take the spot kick and, when he eventually did, Smith saved with his legs.
Sloppy play from Yeovil gifted John-Lewis an opportunity to rectify his mistake soon after, but he headed his effort wide. On another day, the former Grimsby man could have had a hat-trick and no-one could have grumbled.
The penalty miss did not deter York with substitute Scott Boden heading wide and then Smith denying Dyson with Yeovil dropping deeper and deeper against the frantic waving of Chris Hargreaves in the opposite direction. The frustration around Huish Park was audible.
With ten minutes gone, the inevitable happened with York taking the lead and it was the outstanding Lennell JOHN-LEWIS who got it. A low cross from the man they call ‘The Shop’ inside the box, he got a bit of luck with a deflection past Smith, but you could not deny the visitors deserved their lead.
In the first minute of stoppage time, substitute Chiori Johnson header a D’Ath corner against the crossbar. It could have been an equaliser but it would have been completely undeserved.
The final whistle was met by boos from the Huish Park crowd and you can’t blame them on that performance. For York City, well played, thoroughly deserved it.
Full time: Yeovil Town 0 York City 1
Team News: York City (home)
2022-09-03
Chris Hargreaves has made three changes to his starting line-up to face National League newcomers York City at Huish Park today (3pm kick-off).
Max Hunt, Charlie Wakefield and Lawson D’Ath return in place of Matt Worthington, who is not in the squad presumably through injury, Gime Toure, who drops to the bench after playing the full 90 minutes at Wealdstone on Monday, and Alfie Pond, whose loan was cut short after he joined Premier League Wolves.
It looks like Wakefield will take Toure’s role behind a front two of Malachi Linton and Alex Fisher with D’Ath pairing Sam Perry in midfield.
New signing defender Owen Bevan is named on the substitutes’ bench alongside fellow loanee Sam Pearson who returns after injury. There is no place for winger Will Dawes who joined from Stratford Town for an undisclosed five-figure fee in the week.
Yeovil Town : (3-5-2)
Grant Smith
Max Hunt Josh Staunton Ben Richards-Everton
Morgan Williams Lawson D’Ath Sam Perry Jamie Reckord
Charlie Wakefield
Alex Fisher Malachi Linton
Substitutes: Owen Bevan, Chiori Johnson, Gime Toure, Sam Pearson, Jake Scrimshaw.
York City: Ross, Kouogun, Kerr, Sanders, Fallowfield, Pybus, Dyson, Hancox, Hurst, Kouhyar, John-Lewis. Substitutes: Whitley, Boden, Whittle, Greaves, Duku.
Cherries’ youth skipper arrives on loan
2022-09-02
AFC Bournemouth youth team captain central defender Owen Bevan has joined Yeovil Town on loan until the end of the season to fill the void left by the departure of Alfie Pond.
The 19-year-old arrives just hours after Pond’s loan spell was cancelled following a transfer deadline day move to Wolves.
Glovers’ boss Chris Hargreaves said the move was necessary as he prepares for the visit of York City to Huish Park on Saturday.
He said: “With Alfie Pond departing, we needed another defender in the building, and I’m pleased to welcome Owen to the football club.
“Owen is an extremely promising young footballer who is highly thought of by all at Bournemouth.
“We believe he can make a real impact on the pitch during his time here, I look forward to working with him.”
Bevan arrives at Huish Park just a week after making his Premier League debut as an 82nd minute substitute in the Cherries’ 9-0 thrashing at Liverpool.
He made his first senior appearance for his parent club as a substitute in a Carabao Cup penalty shoot-out win over Norwich City the previous week, and featured in for them in pre-season.
Despite being born in Winchester, the defender has represented Wales at youth level following his progress through the Bournemouth academy which he joined at the age of nine.
He had a spell on loan at Truro City in January before signing his first professional contract at Dean Court in March.
Pond departure confirmed
2022-09-02
Alfie Pond‘s loan at Yeovil Town has been cut short after he joined Premier League Wolves from his parent club Exeter City.
The 18-year-old centre half made an impressive debut in the 1-0 home win over Dagenham & Redbridge and featured in the stalemate at Wealdstone on Bank Holiday Monday.
His departure was speculated about late yesterday ahead of the closing of the Football League and was confirmed by Exeter on Friday morning saying the deal had been done for an “undisclosed fee“.
In a statement confirming the end of his loan, Yeovil added: “Confirming the end of the defender’s loan, All at Yeovil Town would like to send their congratulations to Alfie on his move to Molineux and wish him all the best in the future.“
Pond linked with Deadline Day move to Wolves
2022-09-02
Just when you thought Transfer Deadline Day didn’t apply to us in the lowly National League…
Just as the Summer 2022 Transfer window was ready to slam shut, yellow ties were being folded away and the Sky Sports News tickers were being ground to a halt, did news begin to surface about a late move from Wolves for Alfie Pond.
The Athletic – and then subsequently plenty other outlets – report a £500k fee has been reached between the Premier League side and Exeter for the defender with Journo Steve Madeley saying that his loan at Huish Park had been ‘cancelled’ to facilitate the deal.
No official confirmation from any of the three parties involved has come through (as of 05:30 on Sept 2nd), but this would mean something ofna shake up ahead of the Glovers’ game against York City on Saturday.
Pond has played in each of the last two games for the Glovers.
More to come if confirmed.
Gloverscast #190 – “Probing around the edges with no real sign of penetration”
2022-09-02
On today’s episode of the Gloverscast we talk about the 0-0 draw at Wealdstone, Lawson D’Ath and our reliance on him, our new signing Will Dawes and Dave’s got an answer on the latest Confirmation Statement on Companies House.
We hear from York City podcaster Simon from the Shooting Towards the Shippo podcast about our opponents tomorrow.
Enjoy!
Stuart Robins owns a 20% stake in Yeovil Town
2022-09-01
Yeovil Town director Stuart Robins has bought a 20% stake in the club and the money will be going straight in to its accounts – but we’re not quite sure how much money is involved.
A recent statement filed by Yeovil Football & Athletic Club (YF&AC), the company which runs the club’s operations, showed the new director had acquired 341,442 ordinary shares in the business valued at £1 each.
But, following a series of questions from Gloverscast about the investment, it appears the simple mathematics (if there such a thing) is not quite as simple as it seems because £1 is apparently the nominal value of a share in the business, not the current or market value of one.
In a statement, the club told us: “Mr Robins’ has acquired 341,442 shares in YF&AC at the deemed current market value.
“This does mean that Mr Robins now owns 20% of YF&AC with the balance of 80% (1,365,772 shares) currently retained by Yeovil Town Holdings.”
Yeovil Town Holdings being a company set up by former owners Norman Hayward and John Fry which was acquired by chairman Scott Priestnall during his 2019 takeover, and lists the chairman as its only director.
So, if the shares were acquired from Yeovil Town Holdings, does that not mean that the money goes straight to it and bypasses the football club? It appears not.
The statement claims that a loan arrangement agreed with the clubs “professional advisers” whereby the YT Holdings has loaned YF&AC the amount invested and then written off the loan, leaving the club with the full investment on its books.
Let’s assume for the sake of this example Stuart Robins has invested £100,000 for his 20%; this means YT Holdings received £100,000 in the deal which gave no direct benefit to the football club itself. So, to enable the club to see the benefit, the statement suggests that, by way of accounting convention, the money has been given as a loan by the holding company to the football club, and that loan has then been written off, leaving the football club with the £100,00 in cash. But, of course, we don’t know how much it actually is.
If that doesn’t make sense, here’s how the club’s statement explains it: “It was intended that the new investor’s funds be made immediately available to the football club for working capital purposes. However, following discussions with our professional advisers, it was known from the outset that the investment was going to need to be made in return for shares held by Yeovil Town Holdings Limited.
“As a result, it was also recognised from the outset that the investment would, from an accounting perspective, create an unnecessary loan balance between Yeovil Town Holdings Limited and Yeovil Football and Athletic Club Limited.
“As such, following the initial investment transaction made into Yeovil Town Holdings Limited, the second and immediate step required was to then waive that loan between the two entities such that the funds rest in the football club and could not be called back by Yeovil Town Holdings Limited.
“Our professional advisers have helped guide us through these transactions to ensure there are no other related issues arising that may be detrimental to the football club, and we are pleased to confirm these transactions have indeed been completed and concluded accordingly.
“The investment funds have therefore ended up in the football club without any additional liability arising on the balance sheet of any entity.”
That is a somewhat long-winding way of saying that the money which Stuart Robins has invested for his 20% stake in the club is now on the books and being used for its intended purpose – as “working capital”.
What is working capital? Again, it could mean a lot of things. It could be wages, it could be transfer fees, it could be buying pies and pints for the teas bars – or any combination of these things.
As you’d probably expect, the statement tallies up with what the new director told us when back in Glovercast #178 at the start of July, when he said: “That money has gone straight to the club, that money is being used to help further develop the club, it’s not gone in to anyone’s pocket.”
So with that cleared up (right?), we did also ask for an update on any new investors and/or directors joining the board – remember we were promised a few back in April? If not, read here. Oh, and we asked what was going on with the South Somerset District Council (SSDC) plans to develop the land.
The reply on directors/investors was: “The search for further investors/club directors continues. Confidential discussions have been held with a number of individuals and it would be inappropriate to comment further unless or until agreements are reached.”
And on SSDC, it was: “Plans to develop the Huish Park site are subject to ongoing discussions with SSDC.”
In the time between the publication of the Confirmation Statement and receiving the answers, we got a response from SSDC which provides a little more detail on the latter point which you can read – here.
Throwback Thursday No. 50 – Does Tom Knowles remind you of anyone?
2022-09-01
Don’t Fall In Love With Footballers
This week our time machine takes us back only a very short time to look at the goals of Tom Knowles, following his recent departure for Walsall.
Tom was born in Cambridge and graduated from the Cambridge United academy to join their youth team at the age of 17. His time at Cambridge was characterised by numerous loans out to local non-league clubs such as Cambridge City, St Neots and St Ives (not the Cornwall one). With Cambridge challenging for promotion from League Two, Tom’s first team opportunities were limited and a deal was agreed to take him to Yeovil for an undisclosed fee in November 2020, shortly after turning 22.
After a number of appearances mostly from the bench, he broke into the Glovers’ first team with the 3-1 home win over Dover in January 2021. He was almost ever-present from that game onwards, scoring 7 goals and 5 assists from 24 starts and 9 sub appearances in 2019/20. His first goal came in February away at Hartlepool and what a belter it was, a long range shot into the top corner. All of his goals that season were expertly taken, not a tap-in among them. The only ‘easy’ goal at home to King’s Lynn still showed incredible anticipation to intercept an under-hit pass and take it around the goalie. His second goal of that game was probably the pick of that season, another shot from outside the area curled around the diving keeper.
Most of his first appearances were during the pandemic in front of empty stadiums, but when the fans returned in 2021/22 he became the main man, taking the No. 11 shirt and scoring 11 goals and 14 assists from 43 starts and 7 sub appearances, in a team that was not overflowing with goal-scoring opportunities. He got off to a relatively slow start, with his first goal not coming until the end of October against Woking although he went on a bit of a spree after that, with brilliant goals against Eastleigh and Bromley. He seemed to be in a goal of the season competition season with himself, with the occasional interruption from Charlie Wakefield. He scored so many great goals last season that I had to cut come of them out to make a Top 20, otherwise they would have been virtually all Tom Knowles. His 14 assists were the most in a single season since Ed Upson made 18 in the promotion campaign of 2012/13. He scored three from outside the area, including my own personal favourite in the 2-1 win at home to Eastleigh. Another highlight was when he dispossessed two Barnet players from their own free kick and then proceeded to run over half the length of the pitch to beat the keeper. It was not a surprise when he left, perhaps more so that he didn’t go higher up than Walsall, but having taken their No. 10 shirt we wish him all the best there.
Reviewing all of Tom’s goals and how consistently high the quality was, it’s hard not to draw comparisons with the legendary Gavin Williams. Tom scored 18 goals and 19 assists in 74 starts, that’s exactly one return, or in modern parlance ‘goal involvement’ every other game.
In his first spell with us between 2002 and 2004, Gavin Williams made 107 starts, scoring 21 goals and 23 assists, or one GI every 2.4 games. Combining his later spells between 2010 and 2013 he made another 54 starts, scoring 13 goals and 14 assists, or one GI every two games – exactly the same as Knowles, but two divisions higher and to be fair, almost ten years older. When Gavin joined us in 2002 he was only 21, although he had been playing for our feeder team Hereford for almost five years.
It’s not an exact comparison but it is an interesting one – at Conference level, Tom’s GI of 1 in 2 was much higher than Gavin’s of 1 in 2.8, and it’s not controversial to say that Williams was playing in a much better team. The 2002/03 team scored 121 goals in all competitions, followed by 84 in 2003/04 and 108 in 2004/05. Of course this is a double-edged sword, as the team scored far more often meaning it was more likely he would score or assist, but there were more creative players around him to contribute – in 02/03, McIndoe and Johnson got 39 assists between them, and in 03/04 Johnson got 20 on his own.
By contrast the teams Knowles was involved in scored 67 in 2020/21 and 72 in 2021/22. Last season he was involved in almost exactly half (48%) of all the goals scored while he was on the pitch – either scoring or assisting 25 times out of 52 goals scored in the games that he started.
As for Super Gav, in 2002/03 he scored six which were all pretty good, my personal favourite was the screamer he scored against Doncaster to level the scores at Huish Park. The best of 2003/04 was the solo goal at Kidderminster, and the only time he scored from open play in 2004/05 before his move to West Ham was a brilliant team goal against Bristol Rovers both started and finished by the man himself.
In his later spells, he popped up with a few free kicks including one on his second debut against Hartlepool, and his only goal of 2010/11 against Swindon. The best of 2011/12 was an absolute beauty against Oldham, and his last goal for the club in December 2012 against the same team was probably the best of the lot as he picked up the ball inside his own half, dribbled past a couple of players and several divots in the pitch, and scored from the better part of 35 yards. In fact he seemed to really enjoy playing against Oldham, scoring five and assisting twice in four games against them between 2010 and 2012.
Hargreaves hopeful of Pearson return
2022-09-01
Chris Hargreaves is keeping “fingers crossed” that on-loan winger Sam Pearson will return from injury for the visit of York City to Huish Park this weekend.
The Bristol City player trained on Thursday having missed the past three matches with a back injury picked up in a bruising encounter against Barnet last month.
The boss also revealed playmaker Lawson D’Ath, who went off in the 1-0 home win over Dagenham & Redbridge last weekend, had taken part in training.
Speaking to BBC Somerset’s Sheridan Robins ahead of the weekend, Hargreaves said: “Sam has trained today, so fingers crossed he will be available. I can’t give any guarantees on that, we have to see how he reacts in training today.
“The same with Lawson, he took part in a little bit of training today, so he will be close. He’s doing everything in his power to be fit. Laws is definitely giving himself the best possible chance to be available.”
He added there were “a couple of niggles” in the squad which saw him make changes against Dagenham and the Bank Holiday Monday stalemate at Wealdstone.
Striker Alex Fisher was withdrawn in the second half of both fixtures with Gime Toure coming off after 73 minutes last weekend but completing his first 90 minutes since moving to Somerset on Monday.
Striker Matt Grivosti has returned to League One Bolton Wanderers after his a month in Somerset which failed to see him start a game.
The 19-year-old, who had a prolific season at Warrington Town last term, was signed on loan immediately after the shock exit of Tom Knowles on the eve of the National League campaign – but played just 24 minutes in two appearances.
Confirming his return to his parent club, Hargreaves said: “We have had a chat with the player and the club, he’s a very bright footballer and a fantastic lad, but it just proved too difficult to get in the side with the players we have.
“I don’t want to halt the lads progress by him not playin regular football so he’s returned to Bolton with our best wishes.”
Defender Finley Craske remains at Huish Park having joined on a season-long youth loan from Plynouth Argyle.
The boss added: “With Finley, I have had a good conversation with Finley and with Plymouth and in some positions it takes a bit longer to get a chance.
“It might be form, it might be injury but having a fair amount of defenders keeping fit, he just has to bide his time. He’s enjoying his training and working hard and learning lot.”
The boss did not confirm the arrival of winger Will Dawes despite his former club Stratford Town announcing his departure on social media on Thursday.
Hargreaves said it would “not be right to say anything” about the player who, according to the Stratford-upon-Avon Herald, was signed for “a five-figure undisclosed fee.”
The Bards, who play in Southern League Premier Division Central, are owned by Jed McCrory, a business partner of Glovers’ chairman Scott Priestnall. The pair are directors in Max Mae Limited, a company involved in “the development of building projects” which has Huish Park as its registered office.
Speaking about new signings, Hargreaves said the could be movement: “We are always looking, especially when you have some injury doubts and you become a bit light.
“You have to get the balance right of making a knee-jerk reaction for getting players in when you have other players who are borderline ready for getting fit, then you have an extra body. That is the challenge which we have to get right.
“There may be movement in the next day or two but I will not know that until I know the full fitness of the players that I have in my squad.“