November 2022

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Plymouth Parkway boss Lee Hobbs has said he considers the loan signing of Ollie Hulbert as something of a coup with the Glovers’ front man heading to Devon until the end of the year.

Speaking to Plymouth Live, the Parkway boss said;

“It’s a big signing because he is a very good player,” Hobbs said. “Jared Lewington has gone back to Taunton and I am just waiting for the I’s to be dotted and the T’s to be crossed, but I am delighted to get him into the building.

“He is a very, very good centre forward and while he is only 20 years old, he has a lot of experience of non-League. He was a pro at Bristol Rovers and (Chris) Hargreaves took him to Yeovil, he’s been out on loan at Gloucester City and Hereford, he had half a season in the Welsh Prem – this is a very, very good addition for us.

Interestingly, he made a comment about the former Bristol Rovers striker’s future suggesting his future may lie at a higher level … and potentially away from Huish Park;

“He is experienced at the league above and scored goals in both the National North and South. He is joining us until January, he has an agent and his agent only wants it to be until January when he hopes to get him a move to a higher level, but if he comes in and does well and there is no interest and he enjoys himself, then hopefully we can keep him.”

Hulbert has had a short stint with Gloucester City in the National League North, scoring once in three appearances.

Toby Stephens (Centre) in action for Plymouth Parkway
? Harrow Borough FC

Plymouth Parkway is also temporary home of Toby Stephens, the midfielder has impressed for Hobbs’ side as they turned a corner in the form table.

“Toby has been very good for us. I am really pleased with Toby,” Hobbs said. “He is a very good footballer and a great kid. He works hard and is very tidy, a very good player.

Plymouth Parkway travel to Poole Town on Wednesday night (7:45) in the Southern Premier League

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Central defender Max Hunt has been named in the Vanarama National League Team of the Week for his performance in the 1-0 home win over FC Halifax Town.

The 23-year-old was in the heart of the Glovers’ backline which kept back-to-back clean sheets for the first time since the end of August.

He follows team-mate goalkeeper Grant Smith whose performance in the goalless draw at high-flying Notts County the previous weekend saw him make the XI.

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The 3G pitch at Huish Park has been removed from land restricted from development, South Somerset District Council (SSDC) has confirmed.

The change to the ‘core land‘ identified agreed as part of the deal to sell the stadium and surrounding land in May means that only the stadium and surrounding access are restricted from development.

The council and club chairman Scott Priestnall have confirmed to Gloverscast that the change leaves the option for the 3G pitch to be relocated, freeing up the area it currently occupies for development.

No plans for the development of the site have been made available as yet and therefore these changes appear to be leaving options open rather than representing any concrete plans.

Robert Orrett, Commercial Property, Land and Development Manager at SSDC, said: “I can confirm that the lease of the core land contains restrictions as to use so that it can only be used for football club and ancillary purposes. The lease is for 24 years 11 months and those restrictions apply for that period.

“The core lease boundary was revised to exclude the 3G training pitch as the detailed legal work led SSDC to require its original freehold land, which was already on long lease to YTFC, to be entirely excluded. The thinking around the core lease was that it allowed flexibility for the 3G pitch to be relocated onto the long leasehold area if required.”

This information and the reason for the change was confirmed by chairman Scott Priestnall, who added the change had been made “prior to the completion of the deal“, which was announced on May 20.

The council owns a four-acre strip of land which runs between Western Avenue and the club’s main car park which is leases to the club on a 99-year lease – which could be described as a “long leasehold area.”

The updated plans shows the new boundary in red. SSDC says the other coloured lines relate to “detailed rights of access or parking“.
The plans as they were before the completion of the deal in May, with the land in red showing the previous boundary of the core land.

In August, Mr Orrett confirmed “initial discussions about the preparation of development proposals” for the land acquired by SSDC had commence and he declined to provide an update on this at this point.

Last month, the chairman told a meeting of Yeovil Town Supporters’ Alliance that details of the preferred scheme to develop the Huish Park site “should be available before Christmas” and would also include the redevelopment of the stadium.

The minutes of the meeting – read in full here – showed Mr Priestnall gave the following update: “He updated the meeting on the proposed developments during the last few months. He has been working with architects, consultancy firms and the council to produce drawings and to find out what developments are possible. The plans will go to public consultation before being submitted. There has been a lot of activity with the council during the past year. The details of the preferred scheme should be available before Christmas, but no formal application will take place this year. SP explained that he is not looking to just develop the land but to re-develop the stadium.”

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The Football Association has confirmed that Glovers’ midfielder Matt Worthington will serve a one-match ban following his red card on Saturday.

Worthington was booked twice, with the second caution being given for simulation as Yeovil searched for a second goal.

After the match, Josh Staunton said he didn’t think Worthington was the sort of player to dive, whilst Halifax manager Chris Millington also questioned the officiating, telling the Halifax Courier;

“It’s interesting when a referee’s getting booed off by a team who are desperate for wins and they’ve just had a 1-0 from a penalty he’s given, so it shows what a poor game he’s had.

“I didn’t see the penalty clear enough but the lads tell me it was never a pen.

“And their lad getting sent-off, from what I could see, looked like a strange decision”

Post match, Worthington – who also scored the only goal of the game – tweeted:

Worthington will miss next Saturday’s game against Bromley but be available again for the home game against Scunthorpe.

The FA has also confirmed that manager Mark Cooper was also the recipient of a Yellow Card, which means both he and his predecessor Chris Hargreaves have found their way into the referee’s note book.

For the record, full-back Jamie Reckord is only one yellow card away from a two-match suspension, he picked up his ninth booking of the season in the win over the Shaymen, whilst defender Ben Richards-Everton and playmaker Lawson D’Ath are one yellow card away from a one-game ban. D’Ath has been an unused substitute in the past two matches.

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Yeovil Town picked up a huge three points yesterday against FC Halifax Town in dire conditions. Ian was at Huish Park and here are his Five Conclusions…

This was a massive result. Off the back of last week’s defensive shut out against Notts County, it was important to show the progress with three points at Huish Park and the Glovers delivered. FC Halifax have had their own problems this season but have turned a corner and were unbeaten in four league games before yesterday. Now it’s Mark Cooper’s Yeovil who are unbeaten in four and showing the ability to put in different performances to grind out points. With Maidstone, Aldershot and Altrincham picking up wins, the three points yesterday look even more valuable.

The conditions played their part. It was a pretty dour game of football in truth, largely down to the horrendous weather. In the first half, Yeovil tried the patient game to keep the ball, much to the frustration of supporters at times, but when that final ball came the Glovers couldn’t get it right. The ball either skidded off the surface or the wind carried it out of play. Halifax had the same problem in the second half when they had the wind (and rain) behind them. We’ve seen plenty of teams struggle to play at Huish Park in those conditions and yesterday was no different. When you look at what Yeovil had to defend in, with ten-men for the last quarter of an hour, the result is even more impressive.

Matt Worthington. Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

Matt Worthington had a busy afternoon. It looks like we’ve finally found our penalty taker. After Malachi Linton’s and Alex Fisher’s misses earlier this season, when Aaron Jackson penalised a Halifax defender for holding in the box (after warning him 20 second earlier) I was wondering who’d be stepping up. Worthy grabbed the ball pretty quickly and put himself front and centre. When you’ve missed two in a season, with different players, it builds up to what was quite a high pressure moment in a season and Worthy made no mistake. A well struck penalty, which the keeper could do no more to stop put Yeovil ahead and proved to be the deciding goal.

Mr Jackson in the middle seemed to enjoy getting his cards out. In the 75th minute when Worthington went down under a challenge from Luke Summerfield outside the Halifax box it looked like Yeovil had an opportunity in a decent position. What followed was a second yellow for Worthington and a red card for a dive. From my view, it looked like there was a kick on the ankle, and without getting too ‘he’s not that type of player’ if Yeovil had one player who doesn’t go down easily, or look for fouls it would probably be Worthy. His suspension leaves a big hole in midfield ahead of another crucial match next weekend against our pals Bromley.

Last week set us up perfectly for the last 15 minutes. As soon as Worthington was sent off, the game really fired up. Yeovil got themselves into a solid defensive structure and looked well prepared to see off Halifax’s threat with ten men. The Shaymen grew frustrated when passes went awry, got in the referees ear when Grant Smith was taking a little long on goal kicks and every time they conceded a freekick or throw to Yeovil, you could see there frustration build as time ticked away. The concentration levels never dipped as the back line were bombarded by wind, rain and the Halifax attack and the Glovers held on resolutely.

Never in doubt…

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Captain Josh Staunton hopes that an upturn in results will allow his Yeovil Town team-mates to turn in performances they are capable of.

The Glovers made it four games unbeaten with a Matt Worthington penalty the difference against FC Halifax Town at Huish Park today and recorded back-to-back home wins for the first time since March.

Staunton was paired alongside loanee Jamie Andrews in midfield again and the skipper believes the back line is not missing his presence.

Speaking to BBC Somerset’s Sheridan Robins after the win, he said: “It’s nice to know the boys behind you are doing a good job and every time that ball goes up in the air, they are sweeping it up nicely.

“There is a bit of chemistry going on back there, people are making relationships. Bevs (Owen Bevan) has been outstanding in the last few games, Hunty (Max Hunt) has come in and done very well, same with Morgs (Morgan Williams).

“It’s a different challenge going in to midfield and I am probably still not quite where I would like to be performance-wise in midfield, but the most important thing is the team.

“Hopefully as we get a few results, confidence will build and the pressure will relieve off us and we can start playing the way the manager wants us to play and how the group of players is more than capable of playing.”

The win means there is now a five point gap between Yeovil and the National League relegation places where their next two opponents at Huish Park – Scunthorpe United and Gary Johnson’s Torquay United – are currently located.

Staunton admitted the spirit between the players had been what had kept the dressing room together during a difficult start to the season culminating in the sacking of Chris Hargreaves.

He said: “It’s a very tight group because we had some tough periods this season, some real lows and it would have been easy to turn on each other and point fingers.

“Credit to the dressing room, no-one has done that and the Gaffer (Mark Cooper) has come in and stablised us and given us a bit of confidence which was missing.

“There’s definitely no question of the commitment we have for each other and when you are up against it as we have been, it comes to the forefront and it will earn you a fair few points come the end of the season.”

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Yeovil Town Mark Cooper offered no apologies after his side scrapped to a vital 1-0 win over FC Halifax Town to lift them further away from the National League relegation zone.

A penalty from Matt Worthington late in the first half was the difference for the Glovers who played the final 15 minutes with ten men after the midfielder was sent off for a second bookable offence.

Cooper was critical of the decision by referee Aaron Jackson who was jeered off the pitch by the Huish Park ground at the final whistle.

Speaking to BBC Somerset’s Sheridan Robins after the game, Cooper said: “We have to understand the predicament we are in and at the minute it is about doing what is needed to get results, we are not in a place where we can play like Barcelona just yet.

“We have to be pragmatic and have to fight and scrap to get points and our performance with the ball today was not great, but we were defensively outstanding again.

“We got the goal and we defended with ten men for 25 minutes and we were outstanding, it’s a big three points. We will forget about the performance and remember the three points.”

Matt Worthington. Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

He revealed the corner routine which led to defender Owen Bevan being wrestled to the ground after 43 minutes to win the penalty had been worked on by his assistant manager Chris Todd in training the day before.

That came against the run of play with the visitors having dominated the first half in conditions which got steadily worse as the game progressed.

Cooper said: “You can see when we are trying to pass the ball a bit, the fans want us to get it forwards but there’s a gale force wind behind it and if we kick it, it goes straight out of play or through to their goalie.

“That bit is going to take time and it’s probably not something that can be done during a season.

“We should have got the goalkeeper to kick everything and get us up the pitch, but the boys want to have a bit of the ball every now and then because we don’t seem to get much of it.”

Worthington, who had been booked for a foul a minute in to the second half, saw red when he went down inside the box under a challenge from Halifax midfielder Luke Summerfield.

That led to the official being the target of the ire of both benches with Cooper getting a yellow card for his protestations.

Cooper said: “I thought the referee made decisions which didn’t have to be made for both teams and I think both technical areas became very frustrated.

“The lad has a kick at Worthy’s ankle and he goes over. It was never a booking, I just don’t understand why he has to take that decision.

“If he hadn’t given that yellow, no-one in the stadium would have complained, (Halifax) included, but he’s put himself in a difficult decision because we are going to have to appeal for everything after that.

“I got booked for asking for a free kick and it all becomes a bit of a mess and there was no need for it.”

Worthington will now miss next weekend’s trip to Bromley with the Glovers unable to appeal two bookings.

Cooper added: “If the referee looks at it and admits he made a mistake, there’s a way it can happen – but that will never happen.

“So we have to take it on the chin and that gives someone else an opportunity.”

The win puts five points between the Glovers and the division’s relegation zone and means they have lost just once under the new manager.

He concluded: “We had wind and torrential rain blowing in our face against a team that is in form and we have got a man down, so you knew what was coming.

“But I fancied us to see it out because as a group they have a bit of devilment about them and character to keep the ball out of the net.”

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Venue: Huish Park
Saturday 26th November, 3pm kick-off

Conditions: Wet and blustery and got even wetter and windier as the game went on
Pitch: Slippy and slidey

Attendance: 2,123 (53 away supporters)

Scorers: Matt Worthington pen 43 (1-0)

Bookings:

Yeovil Town: Jamie Reckord 29, Matt Worthington 46, Grant Smith 89
FC Halifax Town: 

Sending off:

Yeovil Town: Matt Worthington 75 (two bookable offences)

Referee: Aaron Jackson

Yeovil Town (5-3-2):


Substitutes: Will Buse, Lawson D’Ath, Anthony Georgiou, Louis Britton, Malachi Linton (for Oluwabori 68).

FC Halifax Town: Johnson, Arthur, Stott, Senior, Golden, Cappello (for Dieseruvwe, 66), Summerfield, Gilmour, Cooke (for Warburton, 54), Spence, Harker.

Substitues: Minihan, Scott, Keane.

Match Report

A first half penalty from Matt Worthington secured a vital 1-0 win for Yeovil Town in horrendous conditions at Huish Park.

But the midfielder was at the centre of the action when he was red carded for a second bookable offence having been adjudged to have dived in the second half.

To say referee Aaron Jackson was not popular with the Huish Park crowd would be an understatement and, judging from the booking he received in injury time, Yeovil manager Mark Cooper was not too keen on him either.

The Glovers held on for the win with ten men for the final 15 minutes to pull five points clear of the National League drop zone.

 

First half

Mark Cooper named an unchanged line-up from the previous weekend’s 0-0 draw at Notts County albeit with on loan Peterborough United man Andrew Oluwabori and Matt Worthington playing further forward in support of striker Alex Fisher.

Neither side managed to get control of the ball in miserable conditions, and the game had a similar feel to the previous home game against Gateshead with Yeovil allowing the visitors to dominate possession.

The first chance fell to the visitors when towering striker Rob Harker on six minutes was found from a ball from the right-hand side, but he could not connect with the chance. If he had, Grant Smith in the Yeovil goal would have had his work cut out to keep him out.

On 13 minutes, there was a carbon copy with another move down the right seeing the ball break to striker Jamie Cooke who, like his team-mate Harker, should have done better with the chance. Having kept an impressive Notts County team quiet a week earlier, there was some uncharacteristically loose defending from Yeovil.

Quality was at a premium in the opening 20 minutes but where it existed for the home side unsurprisingly Oluwabori was involved, linking up well with Chiori Johnson down the right side. But, there was some early disgruntlement (is that a word?) from the home crowd with Yeovil struggling to get forward, who were regularly forced backwards by a Halifax side quick to apply pressure.

Perhaps unsurprisingly for a game between the division’s two lowest scoring sides – 17 goals for the visitors and one fewer for their hosts – there was little in the way of chances as the game progressed towards half-time.

If there was going to be a goal, the chances were it was going to come from a mistake – and that’s exactly what happened two minutes before half-time. Owen Bevan was wrestled to the ground by Jamie Scott from a corner in a moment described as “absolutely idiocy” by our own Ian Perkins on BBC Somerset and referee Aaron Jackson pointed to the penalty spot.

With Alex Fisher having put a spot kick over the bar in the last match at Huish Park, midfielder Matt WORTHINGTON took the responsibility and hammered a well-struck penalty past Halifax keeper Sam Johnstone, who got a hand to it but could only push it in to the roof of the net.

Against the run of play, but difficult to feel too much sympathy when the visitors’ defenders had been warned for grappling inside the box seconds before……grappling inside the box.

Half time: Yeovil Town 1 FC Halifax Town 0

Second half

There were no immediate changes for either side as the second half got underway, but Mark Cooper will undoubtedly be looking for his side to show more going forward.

Playing with the wind in their favour after the break, the first chance of the second half fell to Halifax as midfielder Kian Spence was given space to unleash a well-struck shot which Grant Smith had to be called in to action to deny.

The visitors introduced former Glovers’ loanee Matt Warburton with nine minutes of the second half played, and it was his mistake which gave Oluwabori a chance to show his pace and get forward. Unfortunately, his ball in almost found Fisher who was put off by Chiori Johnson who ran across him when the top-scorer looked the more likely target.

Uncharacteristically sloppy play from Yeovil skipper Josh Staunton gifted the visitors possession on 65 minutes and Tyler Golden got away down the right to fire a decent effort in which Smith was equal to, and moments later Harker broke away to force another stop out of the Glovers’ number one.

Malachi Linton was introduced in to the fray on 68 minutes at the expense of Oluwabori, who had played in a deeper role than he had in the previous home game. The striker, who came off the bench with good effect in the previous two matches,

With 15 minutes to go, referee Jackson inexplicably showed a second yellow card (and a subsequent red) to Worthington who he adjudged to have dived in a tackle with Luke Summerfield. The response of the home crowd chanting “you don’t know what you’re doing” at the official goes entirely against Rule 1 of the Gloverscast. Appeal incoming?

The conditions which were not that pleasant to start with got steadily worse as the game progressed and you would not want to have been one of the 21 players on the pitch as Bevan underwent some lengthy treatment.

If you wanted something else to break Rule 1, Harvey Gilmour went down in the box with three minutes of the game remaining but referee Jackson gave nothing. If that’s not a foul and a penalty, it’s a booking, isn’t it? The Yeovil bench certainly asked that same question of the fourth official.

The questions of the officials from Cooper led to him going in to the book with two of six minutes of injury time played. Jackson waited until Fisher was fouled to blow up for a head injury from a Halifax player – which the official hadn’t bothered about until then.

Smith, who had got a booking for time-wasting, was the hero in the dying seconds making a great save to deny Gilmour with just seconds of the game remaining, but pushed it as far as Festus Arthurs who blazed his chance over.

But, Yeovil Town held on to secure another valuable three points.

Full time:  Yeovil Town 1 FC Halifax Town 0