March 2023 (Page 6)

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Another valuable point pulled Yeovil Town four points clear of the National League relegation zone with a draw at a Chesterfield side with promotion ambitions.

An equaliser from on-loan Plymouth Argyle man Ryan Law was enough to cancel out a penalty scored by Paul MacCallum, one of a number of big name players in the opposition side.

Dave was in the away end in Derbyshire and here are his conclusions.

I wonder if the Chesterfield fans who cleared the snow wonder if it was worth it. Kudos to Chesterfield for getting the match on and those supporters who were out at 7am shovelling snow off the pitch at the Technique Stadium. The snow on the roads around the stadium, not to mention the heavy falls on the hills around Chesterfield were testament to exactly what a job they did to get it on. Not to take anything away from the performance the Yeovil team put in, but the performance of a team packed with the kind of quality in that squad was sadly lacking.

I fought Ryan Law, and Ryan Law won. Despite having seen him perform there in the win over Eastleigh, I was a little perplexed to see Ryan Law playing in such an advanced position. About ten minutes before he nodded the equaliser, I did remark to a fellow supporter about why we were playing a defender there when we had attacking players on the bench. But, I was wrong. Especially in the second half, I thought Law showed what a good technical player he is and coupled with his effort, carry on doing what you’re doing, Ryan.

Ryan Law

We had to grind this one out. It wasn’t pretty to watch, but it definitely was not a Notts County-style shut out. It was back to the playing for one half routine with a the first half being largely playing ‘direct’ football up to our frontline which is not really designed for it. When we got the goal back it was undoubtedly against the run of play, but after that we showed real determination. Yes, we relied on Grant Smith on a couple of occasions but (as I have said before) we were more than a match for a very good Chesterfield side.

Four points from two play-off sides. We have often said this season that we play much better against the division’s higher ranked sides and the past four days has backed up that theory. After an impressive home win over an decent Eastleigh side (they won again this weekend, by the way), a point at a Chesterfield team which had picked up six points in their previous two matches, let’s not underestimate the significance of these results. Win your home games and pick up points away from home is what the experts say is the sign of a good side – and we’ve done exactly that.

We’ve dragged Dorking in to the mire now. This point and Dorking Wanderers’ defeat against Notts County in the late match pulls them below us with us holding a game in hand. We know the upcoming run of games where we play Dorking, Gateshead and Aldershot is going to be crucial, but the self-confessed “boring manager” that is Mark Cooper will be looking no further than Tuesday night at Barnet. Get a decent performance (and even better a decent result) and we can go in to next weekend at Halifax with a real spring in our step.

 

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After picking up an important result in the battle against relegation, Mark Cooper described the 1-1 at Chesterfield as a ‘great point’.

Ryan Law’s header cancelled out Paul McCallum’s 33rd minute penalty and saw the Glovers return to Somerset four points clear of the drop zone.

Speaking to BBC Somerset’s Sheridan Robins, Cooper said: “I’m really really pleased.I thought we controlled large spells of the game with the ball in the first half.

“There was some little chances where we broke their play on the halfway line and one real quality pass leads to a chance. We just panicked, but that’s pressure because of where we are. I thought we saw the game out really well.

“The game plan was to attack from deep in the middle of the pitch with the pace of Stevens and Young (both Jordans) and we had some really good opportunities and the final pass was just not right.

“But, I have to say, Chesterfield have some fantastic players, you only have to look at the subs they are bringing on and the people they have in the stand, so it is a great place to take from here.”

Cooper described the penalty decision against Jamie Reckord – made by the assistant referee – as “horrendous“.

“It’s a horrendous penalty decision against us. We had a blatant penalty on Tuesday, we didn’t get it and then we had a horrendous decision – the handball. It’s never a penalty, I’ve seen it back.

“It’s bounced up and hit Recks’ hand, but he’s about half-a-foot away from it. I don’t know what he’s supposed to do, the referee didn’t give it, the linesman did.”

Jordan Maguire-Drew. Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

It was an afternoon where Jordan Maguire-Drew continued to show glimpses of quality that had faded after a promising start in the green and white, but the manager said that JM-D has been dealing with an injury.

He said: “He’s had a niggly hip injury that’s really affected him and hindered him. We’ve had to try and play through it, which is probably not helped him. Once we get a preseason into him we’ll be able to see what a real top player he is.”

The Glovers travel to Barnet on Tuesday, hoping to avoid another Dale Gorman-ing, and the boss said there were players who needed resting.

“We’ve got four or five that are really out on their feet in there that we could do with resting. We are short of players and being able to rotate because of the amount of loans we’ve got. It would be nice to give one or two a breather.”

Cooper was asked whether striker Malachi Linton, who has not featured in the last two matchday squads, would be involved in North London.

He said: “I don’t know, we’ll see. We’ll count up what we have got on Monday and take it from there.”

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Venue: Technique Stadium
Saturday, 11th March, 3pm kick-off

Pitch: Considering how it looked at 7am, impressive
Conditions: Dry and cool with a sprinkling of snow in the second half 
Attendance: 6893 (153 away supporters)

Scorers: Paul McCallum pen 34 (0-1), Law 42 (1-1)

Bookings: 

Yeovil Town: Josh Staunton 73
Chesterfield: Darren Oldaker 55

Referee: Dean Watson

Yeovil Town (4-3-3)

Substitutes: Andrew Oluwabori (for Young, 79), Chiori Johnson (for Stevens, 82), Alex Fisher (for Maguire-Drew, 86), Reo Griffiths (not used).

Chesterfield: Fitzimmons, Sheckleford (for King, 71), Williams, Grimes, Maguire, Oldaker (for Banks, 71), Akinola, Dallas (for Quigley, 84), Mandeville, Colclough, McCallum Substitutes (not used): Horton, Uchegbulam

Match Report

Yeovil Town grabbed an important point at Chesterfield this afternoon with Ryan Law’s equaliser cancelling out Paul McCallum’s penalty.

The result sees Yeovil steer four points clear of the drop zone. Here’s how Dave saw the match…

First half

After a quiet start to the first open 15 minutes, a couple of speculative efforts from the home side were as near as either side got to threatening an effort on goal.

It took until 16 minutes for a notable save from either keeper and unsurprisingly it was the best keeper in the league who was in action. A corner from the Chesterfield right by Liam Mandeville was met by a point blank header from Lawrence Maguire whose effort was parried over by Grant Smith.

The home side appeared happy to boss possession whilst the away side’s tactic appeared to be to play long balls to the diminutive Jordan Young. Without a great deal of success, it has to be said.

At the other end, the 33rd minute saw Smith back in action against his former club parrying an effort from Andy Dallas wide. From the resulting corner, the linesman spotted a handball from Jamie Reckord which the referee did not see, the Chesterfield players did not see (or if they did, they didn’t appeal for it), but the home fans behind the goal saw and appealed for. Referee Dean Watson didn’t give it, his assistant did and from the following spot kick, Paul MCCALLUM put his effort straight down the middle.  The decision was harsh on Reckord whose hands were high but not unnaturally so.

The long ball tactic – to a front three of Jordan Young, Jordan Maguire-Drew and Ryan Law – persisted as the first half progressed, but did not seem to offer any cutting edge.

But, for all their possession, the home side carved out a couple of meaningful opportunities. Then, on 42 minutes, a superb piece of skill and chipped ball in from the right by Jordan Young was met by a glancing header from Ryan LAW to nod the equaliser. If I am honest, I was waiting for the linesman’s flag to go up, but we need all the luck we can give.

UPDATE: On rewatching the move on the Chesterfield highlights package (see below), it is clear that Law’s run was timed to perfection with at least two, possibly three Spireites’ defenders playing him onside.

Ryan Law, circled, clearly in an onside position as Jordan Young chips the ball in to the box.

It would be hard to say Yeovil deserved to go in to the break level, but the home side only tested Smith on a couple of occasions, it was by no means a one-sided first 45 minutes.

Half time: Chesterfield 1 Yeovil Town 1

 

Second half

Not much to write home about from the first 15 minutes of the second half, with Maguire-Drew’s cross which just missed Reckord after 55 minutes being the only real meaningful effort from either side.

As is typical with a second half, there was definitely more of the ball seen by the visiting side, albeit with a lack of cutting edge.

It took until the final 20 minutes for a meaningful effort to come to either side. First Smith got down well to deny a free-kick from Jeff King, just on as a substitute, and from the resulting corner Maguire headed in to the arms of Smith.

With just over ten minutes remaining, Andrew Oluwabori was introduced in place of Young, who had started to run out of steam. Not long after Chiori Johnson was on in place of Jordan Stevens, who appeared to be suffering an injury as he went off.

With three minutes to go, McCallum wasted a glorious opportunity to get the winner. A ball in from Mandeville saw the striker rising highest, but his header went straight in to Smith’s hands.

That was the final meaningful chance as the visitors held on for a valuable point in the battle for survival.

Full time: Chesterfield 1 Yeovil Town 1

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Yeovil Town have made two changes from the side that started against Eastleigh in midweek for today’s trip to Chesterfield.

Edwin Agbaje is in for Morgan Williams, who was injured inside two minutes on Tuesday, and goalscorer Matt Worthington misses out entirely with Lawson D’Ath coming into centre midfield.

Mark Cooper names just four subs on the bench.

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Ian, Ben and Dave (through a sporadic internet connection) catch up on the 1-0 win against Eastleigh on Tuesday night and look ahead to Chesterfield.

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Yeovil Town manager Mark Cooper has said he expects to have the same squad available for Saturday’s trip to Chesterfield as he did for the midweek home win over Eastleigh.

The boss said he expects midfielders Charlie Wakefield and new signing Scott Pollock and defender Max Hunt to be a couple more weeks whilst on loan Jack Clarke is still continuing his recovery with his parent club, Chesterfield.

Speaking ahead of the trip to the fourth-placed Spireites, Cooper praised the attitude of on loan Bristol City pair midfielder Josh Owers and striker Seb Palmer-Houlden who were not in the squad on Tuesday night.

He said: “They missed out the other night and they have been incredible, they have trained so hard and had brilliant attitudes and done really well for us. So it is a tough one to manage, but it will be a similar squad that was involved.”

Of Pollock, who joined from National League North side Boston United in the week, he added: “He is not ready yet and he will be another couple of weeks yet, he is just returning to training and starting running again.”

The boss spoke positively about the performance of his side to pick up a crucial three points against an in-form Eastleigh side and spoke about the role the Huish Park crowd played in spurring his side on.

A 64th minute winner from midfielder Matt Worthington was the difference between the two sides, and the result increased the gap between Yeovil and the division’s relegation places to three points.

Cooper said: “I would say to supporters, the energy they gave the players the other night was incredible and it shows what a powerful thing it can be.

“It is easy to be negative and sometimes I get it, your team don’t play well it is easy to boo, but the energy they gave the players was incredible.

“It is a reciprocal thing, we gave the supporters energy with our performance and they energy they gave us maybe got us over the line. That connection is so important.”

He was also asked about the pressure he felt following the takeover of the club by SU Glovers, the consortium led by businessman Matt Uggla and former England rugby union player Paul Sackey, and admitted the deal brought its own challenges.

He said: “I now have to impress a different owner and so do the players. So it is a different pressure, but one that you have to embrace and take with both hands. That is what I am going to try and do.

“When you see the stadium as it was the other night, every player commented on how much easier it was to play in that environment – so full credit to the fans and full credit to the players as well.”

Speaking to the Gloverscast this week, Uggla revealed the group had brought in a number of players including defender Edwin Agbaje, on loan from Ipswich Town, striker Jordan Young and more recently midfielder Jordan Stevens, Pollock and on loan Doncaster Rovers striker, Reo Griffiths.

Asked about the backing he had received, Cooper added: “The previous owner (Scott Priestnall) supported me, I have to say that and I have had initial discussion with (the new owners) and it will be a different way, but they are really enthusiastic and they want to make the club great again.”

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Yeovil Town striker Jordan Young believes his first goal for the club is coming having found himself going close in recent matches.

The 23-year-old, who joined from National League South side Chippenham Town in January, made his first consecutive starts for the Glovers in the midweek win over Eastleigh where he came close to finding the net with some golden opportunities.

Speaking to BBC Somerset’s Sheridan Robins ahead of the weekend’s trip to Chesterfield, he said: “The first goal is definitely coming. I am trying to not put too much pressure on myself, but I am desperate to get off the mark. It will come and as long as we get the three points, that is all that matters.”

He described the mood among the players as “buzzing” after the 1-0 victory over an Eastleigh side which occupied the National League play-off places.

Their opponents at the weekend sit fourth in the division and having picked up two wins in their last two matches including a 2-1 victory at Southend United in midweek.

Young said: “You would not believe how good it feels to get a win, it lifts everyone coming in on a Thursday everyone is buzzing and hopefully we can carry this on. It is the best feeling in football winning a football match, if we can go and get another win, it will breed confidence for everyone.

“Everyone is looking forward to the weekend, you just bounce in to games when you are winning. It is tough when you go through a spell when you don’t win but it makes that win even better.

“It showed no matter who we play, we can play against anyone. It showed against Notts County, obviously the result did not show that, but the performance was there. I think we can beat anyone in this division.

“Off the back of a win, we are all high confidence and hopefully we can keep bouncing on and picking up three points as a minimum.”

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Huish Park was rocking last night as Yeovil Town picked up a crucial win in the battle to stay in the National League. Here are Ian’s conclusions from the 1-0 victory over Eastleigh.

A great leap (definitely not a push, ref!) by Matt Worthington for the opener.

The atmosphere at Huish Park was incredible last night. I can’t remember a night like that in a long long time. More than 2900 were at Huish Park last night, an increase of 700ish (minus the Eastleigh travelling supporters) versus last Tuesday. The reduced ticket offer brought people back and helped create an electric atmosphere. The crowd were vocal from the off, and in the second half they roared Mark Cooper’s side home. The celebrations at the end we reminiscent of the old days – I could get used to this feeling. 

We played for the whole game. It was a night where the Yeovil players put in a performance across the pitch for the whole 90 minutes. Cooper’s side were patient when they had to be, and forced the issue when the opportunity arose. Play off hopefuls Eastleigh, who were unbeaten in seven, could not have begrudged going in 2-0 down at half time. Jordan Young came inches away from heading in and fingertips and the post kept Jordan Maguire-Drew from scoring a cracker. With 45 minutes towards the raucous Thatchers Stand, Yeovil got their goal, could have got more and lifted the gloom after the recent run of results.

Jordan Stevens. Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

The Jordans are stepping up. With no shortage of Jordans in the squad and all three starting last night, they all put in a performance of quality. Jordan Young continues to improve. He held the ball up well, was direct with his running and is getting closer to finding that all-important goal. Maguire-Drew looked the classy player who made things happen over Christmas. He threaded passes, got shots away and with 60 minutes in the tank, looks to be rebuilding fitness. And, our new signing Jordan Stevens, looked a totally different player from the one against Woking. Comfortable running with the ball and rapid when hunting down opponents, he looks like to be a real coup for the club.

The system suited the players. Look, I’ve been very clear I don’t like three at the back. I’m open to it working eventually, but we’ve not been able to get a consistent tune this group all season. So when I saw our defensive unit warming up as a four, there was a bit of relief on my part. It worked as well. It was a pretty fluid front five, with Stevens, JMD, Worthington, Young and Law making forward runs and getting into the final third. A shout out for Charlie Cooper, who’s discipline in centre midfield is so crucial to allow his teammates to get forward. Matt Worthington, who had one of his worst games on Saturday, was immeasurably improved and leapt highest to score the winner after a great run into the box.

We need to stay grounded. There’s been so much happen in the last week. After the turbulence of the last regime, we’re all understandably excited. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves after this win. The teams around us good results last night, and we needed to keep up. We’re three points ahead of the relegation zone, but we’ve got some tough away matches coming against Chesterfield, Barnet and Halifax. We’re not out of this battle yet, but with new ownership in the door (although the deal isn’t quite complete) we can be more hopeful of staying in the league than we were over a week ago.

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It’s time for another world famous (thanks for the shout out, Sheridan) edition of the Gloverscast Loan Watch and another goal-scorer to tell you about… more on that in a minute.

Scunthorpe United picked up a big win at the bottom of the National League beating Altrincham 2-0, Ben Richards-Everton picking up the clean sheet.

In National League North, Leamington made it back to back wins, Ted Cann, Sam Perry (there’s a couple of names for you) impressed alongside Ollie Hulbert, the Glovers’ loanee played 77 minutes as the Brakes beat Brackley Town 2-1.

Now to the scorer, Will Dawes, bagged a big goal for Oxford City in his first start for them, the game ended 2-2 against Braintree Town.

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Gillingham Town went down 5-2 against table topping Brislington… team news for the Gills appears hard to come by, we assume both Rob Hollard and Sam Hodges were involved in some way shape or form.

No game for Sherborne, they play on Wednesday against Clevedon.

Striker Charlie Bateson was named on the substitutes’ bench for Tiverton Town’s trip to Harrow Borough.

Toby Stephens (again) wasn’t in the Plymouth Parkway squad, but his side did pick up a big 2-0 win at home to Gosport Borough, whilst Truro City had a rare vacant midweek giving Ollie Haste some more time to watch his first ever senior goal on loop a few more times from the weekend.

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Yeovil Town’s goal-scoring hero Matt Worthington has said that Huish Park was “brilliant, like old times” after his second half header secured the Glovers a 1-0 home win over Eastleigh.

Speaking to BBC Somerset’s Sheridan Robins after the game on Tuesday night, the longest serving member of the squad recognised just how big of a win it was:

“It was brilliant, the bounce in the stadium all night was excellent, back to old times which I can remember being really good, it’s a massive three points for us.

“It’s been difficult in recent weeks for us, to get that win really takes the pressure off us.

“The gaffer spoke to us before the game and said that attacking this end (away end), we need to be better, and believe in ourselves and enjoy it, we did brilliantly in that half and this half, and it’s always nice to attack the home fans in the second half, it was brilliant.”

Manager Mark Cooper mentioned it was an all-round team performance with plenty of credit due to both the defence for yet another ‘cleano’ as well as a dynamic midfield performance, something Worthington backed up.

“They’re (Stevens and JM-D) are two attacking players, two great players who will do very well for the club and I think it’s an all round great performance from everyone. We’ve given away too many easy chances recently, so we wanted to shore things up at the back and I thought the lads at the back were brilliant, like they have been all season”

A great leap (definitely not a push, ref!) by Matt Worthington for the opener.

As for the winning goal itself, a header at the far post was all it took to separate the sides,

‘I haven’t scored too many headers, it was a great cross and I rose first and luckily it went in the back of the net, it was nice to celebrate in front of the Thatchers end, 

“The gaffer said at half-time that someone needed to step up and put the ball in the back of the net, I’m just thankful it was me today, 

“I think we should have scored more, if I was going to be harsh, I think we should have put a few more past the keeper and tested him a bit more, but we will take three points however it comes.”

The full time scenes at Huish Park a joyful release of emotion as the pressure lifted after a run of poor form and the win that marks the start of the Uggla-Sackey era…

“It feels brilliant, it’s back to old times and long may it continue.”, we couldn’t have said it better ourselves, Matty!