August 2023 (Page 6)

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Yeovil Town will want to extend their winning streak to three games, as they welcome Maidstone United to Somerset on Saturday.

Following a hard-fought win against Truro City in midweek, the Huish Park faithful will be hoping for a better display of football against one of last seasons other relegated sides from the National League Premier. The Stones, however, are no pushovers sitting two places below Town on goal difference just three games in to the National League South season.

Having won their opening day match over a ten-man Slough Town, they suffered a heavy 3-0 defeat at Bath City last weekend before bouncing back with a 2-1 at Braintree Town on Tuesday night.

In the two previous fixtures this century between the clubs both games have ended as score draws. With the most recent game finishing 2-2 at Huish Park last February when a header from visiting defender Jerome Binnom-Williams saw the Kent side snatch a late point – but, fear not, the giant centre-half was released in the summer!

Yeovil Town News

Manager Mark Cooper believes the “attractive football will come” after complaints from some sections of the fanbase, following Tuesday nights dogged victory over Truro. Speaking on Thursday, he said: “It is the way I feel we can dominate teams with the ball and we had spells the other night..we have a lot of work to do, but we will get better.”

Cooper also claimed that Bristol City loanee Olly Thomas may be contention for the starting XI after his super sub performance against Truro. He said: “Every game there is going to be opportunities for someone to stake a claim in the team and Olly [Thomas] certainly did that.” 

Olly Thomas.
Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

In terms of the opposition, the former Barrow boss made it clear that everyone at the club “respects who they play against“. He went on to say: “They [Maidstone] have their strengths, like every team, but we have to make sure we stick to what were going to do.”

After sustaining a dead leg in the first half against Truro defender Morgan Williams is a doubt for this game, whilst midfielder Jordan Stevens, who Cooper said was previously targeting this game for a comeback, recently underwent a scan which has pushed his comeback date further back albeit by “days rather than weeks.”

Maidstone United News

The long trip from Kent to Somerset is Maidstone’s third away fixture out of a run of four with their Gallagher Stadium home switched to Huish Park due to building work to restore the matchday control room and a toilet block.

Having gone down to a 3-0 defeat at Jerry Gill’s Bath City in their second match, the Stones bounced back with a 2-1 win at Braintree Town in midweek and captain Gavin Hoyte said he believed the drubbing last weekend helped them get a result in their last outing.

He told Kent Online: “It’s a funny thing to say, but it can be a good thing for the team to lose because it brings you back to reality. Sometimes, without meaning to do it, players do get a bit ahead of themselves.” With these words in mind, let’s hope for more of these ‘good things’ from the visitors on Saturday!

Hoyte, who started his career in the Arsenal academy, said he believes the weekend’s clash with Yeovil will be a “good test” for his team-mates.

He said: “They’ve come down, like us, and they’ve got to adapt to the league. I don’t know if they’ve been at this level before [We have, Gav, albeit not for quite a while}.

“I’m not sure how many players they’ve kept from last season but they will be a strong side and they always have been. You do look out for these games a little bit but you put it to the back of your mind because it’s just another game.

“Playing early in the season, there’s perhaps not the same pressure as there might be later on, depending on where we are in the table. It could ease the pressure playing at this stage but that goes for both teams.

“Everyone will still be looking at this game, where we’ve both come down, and saying, ‘Wow, Maidstone are doing well’ or ‘Yeovil are looking strong’.”

Talking to Stones TV after their midweek win at Braintree, manager and former Wolves defender George Elokobi spoke about making sure his players were ready for a tough trip to Somerset. He said: “It’s all about the recovery process now, ensuring that our players will be ready for Yeovil.” The former Premier League defender continued: “We have to show respect to our next opponent [Yeovil Town]… it’s a tough place to go and we have to be resilient and stay organised.”

Elokobi has brought in seven new signings over the summer including striker Ogo Obi, once dubbed “the Nigerian Messi” by a (perhaps over-excited) journalist during his time in Watford’s academy, although he did have a trial with Manchester United having been prolific at youth level for the Hornets. In more recent years, he’s been prolific in the lower reaches of non-League football with spells at Hemel Hempstead, Hanwell Town and Hayes & Yeading.

 

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Mark Cooper has said he believes the “controlled” style of play he is introducing to Yeovil Town will lead to his side creating more chances.

There were grumbling among some of the 3,300+ crowd at Huish Park for Tuesday night’s 2-1 home win over Truro City as the team stuck to the tactics when they were behind and entering the closing stages of the game.

Speaking ahead of this weekend’s home game with Maidstone United, Cooper said that coach Marcus Stewart had told the players to show patience during the half-time break in midweek.

Talking to the media on Thursday, the manager said: “It is the way I feel we can dominate teams with the ball and we had spells the other night, but when we did go backwards or sideways there was negativity.

“That is fine but (the fans) have to realise we are trying to wear the opposition out and I could turn round and say in the last ten minutes a lot of the Truro team were walking and they could not cover the distances which led to us scoring both goals.

“We are going to continue to try and dominate teams with the ball, we have a lot of work to do, but we will get better.”

Mark Cooper in discussion with captain Josh Staunton during the 2-1 home win over St Albans City. Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

He added: “I think the players have to inspire the fans, but at the minute we feel at the minute that if we have seven or eight passes, the next one we have to bash forward because the crowd are (getting restless).

“But we need to be patient at times because teams are going to come here and put a lot of bodies behind the ball.

“If we just bash the ball up to the forwards, they have more bodies than us there, so we have to draw the opposition out for us to create better chances.

“We will continue to try and do that, we don’t want to bore the pants off everyone but we want to try and be a bit more controlled which I think will lead to us having better chances.”

The boss said that defender Morgan Williams had undergone treatment for a dead leg suffered in the first half against Truro which made him a doubt for the weekend’s home match.

He also revealed midfielder Jordan Stevens, who recently returned to training, had undergone a scan recently.

Cooper said: “He is probably not as far ahead as we thought, but we are talking days rather than week.

“But what we want to do is make sure that once he is back he is fit for the rest of the season and we don’t lose him again because he is going to be a massive player for us.”

 

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Matchday 3 has finished up, with Yeovil’s 2-1 win over Truro City contributing to more late game drama across the first set of midweek fixtures. Let’s take a look at what else happened across the league.

On Monday night, Aveley laid down a statement of intent to the league by defeating Eastbourne Borough 2-0.

Weston-super-Mare had their shooting boots on last night, stuffing Bath City 6-2 away from home, an impressive performance from the newly promoted side leaving as one of only two teams left with 100% win records across the 2nd step of non-league football. The other side with this 100% win record is Worthing, who battered 10-man Slough 4-1, also away from home.

All 3 former National League sides registered 2-1 victories last night, with Torquay getting their first win of the season against Chippenham Town courtesy of a 93rd minute winner from Aaron Jarvis, and Maidstone United defeating Braintree Town away from home.

2 other matches finished 2-1, with Farnborough handing Hemel Hempstead their first defeat of the season, and in a dramatic finish at Welling, Chelmsford City snuck away with 3 points, following a 99th minute winner, and both sides finding themselves down to 10 men.

Dartford couldn’t get the better of Hampton & Richmond, going down to 10 men as they ended up finishing with a 1-1 draw, as did the match at W*ymouth, where they took on Taunton. And finally, Tonbridge Angels registered their first win of the season against Dover Athletic with a 1-0 win at home.

There was a final fixture of the midweek round, where St Albans bounced back from their weekend defeat to the Glovers by condemning Havant & Waterlooville to their 3rd straight defeat, winning 2-1.

 

National League South results – in full

Aveley 2-0 Eastbourne Borough
Bath City 2-6 Weston-super-mare
Braintree Town 1-2 Maidstone United
Dartford 1-1 Hampton & Richmond Borough
Farnborough Town 2-1 Hemel Hempstead Town
Slough Town 1-4 Worthing
Tonbridge Angels 1-0 Dover Athletic
Torquay United 2-1 Chippenham Town
Welling United 1-2 Chelmsford City
W*ymouth 1-1 Taunton Town
Havant & Waterlooville 1-2 St Albans City

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Yeovil Town managed to drag themselves to three points last night against Truro City. It wasn’t pretty, but 3 points are all that matter. Here’s how Ian saw it from the press box…

That was scrappy. Our attacking play was pretty fluid against St Albans on Saturday, but for all the talent up front we struggled to break down a stubborn Truro defence and failed to get shots at their keeper. We started with wingbacks but quickly reverted to the formation from Saturday when we were struggling to keep the ball. The change saw gain control of the game but it was still a battle to get through. At points I was having flashbacks to last season as Josh Staunton and Charlie Cooper desperately tried to make things happen in the second half.

I thought Truro were good value and can feel hard done by not to have gone in 2-0 up at half time. They made some great chances and had our defence really stretched. Looking at their goal on the highlights, it looks like it could be offside but none of the Yeovil defence throws their arm up to appeal for it. There was a couple of moments where Andrew Neal (who was anything but a Spectator) left Staunton and Jake Wannell for dust on the break. The part timers definitely tired as the game reached the closing stages and thanks to Mark Cooper’s substitutions, we found a away though.

Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

There is competition in this squad. One of the big problems last season was having players to come off the bench and change the game, but last night we saw game-changers make the difference. Against weary legs and tricky of Jordan Young caused issues and the pace and power of Olly Thomas really affected the Truro defence. Charlie Cooper’s pass to Thomas set him free but the finish had to be perfect in that high pressure moment. The main men up front have hungry players breathing down their neck.

A late winner is always so sweet. Honestly, I would take all that stress weekly if we managed to get a result in stoppage time every match. Yes it was scrappy, disjointed and uncomfortable, but Jake Wannell’s late header blew the lid off the Thatchers Stand. It gives added belief to this newly assembled squad and shows that never say die attitude you need to get results.

Jake Wannell celebrates his winner against Truro City. Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

We have to be patient. Much like the supporters in front of the press box, I was willing the players to get the ball up the pitch at times. Sometimes it feels like were expecting this team (which has played 3 competitive matches) to play like peak Gary Johnson era sides. Last night may have felt like last season at points, but we turned round a one goal deficit to take all three points. We’re on a journey with this team and we’ve got to get behind them and the manager. 

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Yeovil Town defender Alex Whittle was named as the Glovers’ Man of the Match by the match sponsor on Tuesday night, he was pleased with the 2-1 win over Truro but suggested that the side could have done even more,

Speaking to the YTFC YouTube channel the former York City man said;

“We huffed and puffed first half, I don’t think we were really at it, but towards the last 15-minutes of the first half we started getting in the game a bit, we tweaked the formation a bit, I thought that worked.

In the second half, they hit us on the break and scored, but in the last 20 minutes, we stuck together and came on strong, they were getting tired and we eventually wore them down, and you can’t beat a last minute winner.

“…we eventually wore them down, and you can’t beat a last minute winner.”

You’ve just got to work hard, we had that little bit of quality in the end, we’ve got good players but we’re still learning, we’re still clicking, it’s still early days, but we’re a new team and hopefully we can keep getting the wins.”

Goals from Olly Thomas and Jake Wannell set Yeovil on their way to victory after being 1-0 down, something which Whittle things is partly down the group as a whole working as a unit;

“It’s a good set of lads, everyone is together, that just shows at the end with the last minute winner- we kept going and you’d rather score a last minute winner like that wouldn’t you!?

It’s (settling in at Yeovil) been good, it’s a good pitch, good set of lads, good manager, we try and play the right way, obviously, it’s early days, but I’m hoping we’ll get better as it goes on.

The end goal has got to be promotion, but we’ve got to be in and around it, that’s two home wins now and we need to back that up again on Saturday, Maidstone are a decent team and we’re going to have to play better than we did today.”

 

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I know we were all hoping for an action-packed midweek edition of Loan Watch – ok, well, Gloverscast Ben was – but out of the quintet of loanees, only one made the pitch.

Taunton Town drew 1-1 with W*ymouth in the Claret and Blue derby, striker Malachi Linton wasn’t involved in the match day squad for the Peacocks despite scoring and getting MOTM in their game on Saturday.

It was a night to forget for Dorchester, losing 4-0 to Winchester. Defender Ollie Haste wasn’t in the squad, but striker Benjani Junior was introduced after an hour, with the result already gone for the Magpies.

Shepton Mallet (and thus Charlie Bateson) didn’t have a game, whilst Tiverton lost to a stoppage time goal away at Merthyr Town, Jacob Shore was on the bench, but appears to have not been used (at least from the social media coverage of both sides).

Go again on Saturday, lads.

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Yeovil Town goal-scorer Jake Wannell was lost for words after his late winner earned his side a 2-1 home win over Truro City at Huish Park on Tuesday night.

The 29-year-old, who signed from Taunton Town in the summer, rose highest at the back post to nod home from a ball lifted back in to the box as the game ticked in to the 90th minute.

Talking to BBC Somerset’s Sheridan Robins after the game, he said: “That is what you play football for, I honestly cannot put in to words how good that was. For me, I needed it personally because I did not think we started too well as a team – but they all count, so on to the next one.

“Those are the best wins. Murph (Rhys Murphy) just said it in the changing rooms, those are the best wins, when you win ugly and that is all that matters, getting the three points especially at home.

“It was a big relief and we will tick that off and go on to Saturday (against Maidstone) and then another home game after that, we need to keep getting results and moving up the table.”

Wannell, who played as part of a back three and a back four during the 90 minutes, was quick to praise Truro who came to Huish Park with a game plan to frustrate and hit their opponents quickly on the break. Having had the better of the first half, the Cornish side deservedly took the lead through Rocky Neal before substitute Olly Thomas levelled and Wannell struck the later winner.,

The goal-scorer added: “For the first 20 minutes we did not get to grips to them and we said at half-time that we needed to be better and I think we were better in the last 20 minutes of the first half. But, fair play to them, they came out and had a plan and stuck too it, but eventually we got the win.

“As a player for Yeovil you need to be playing in a couple of positions and those (three at the back and four at the back) are the two formations we are choosing at the minute and we have to be able to adapt.”

Maidstone United, who were relegated out of the National League Premier with the Glovers last season, are the next visitors to Huish Park at the weekend before Tonbridge Angels complete a run of four home games on the trot seven days later.

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Yeovil Town recorded back to back wins for the first time since Darren Sarll’s time in charge of the club on Tuesday night with a comeback win over Truro City at Huish Park.

The Glovers left it late after going 1-0 down in the second half, but goals from substitute striker Olly Thomas and a late header from defender Jake Wannell clawed the three points back from the jaws of defeat.

Speaking to BBC Somerset’s Sheridan Robins, manager Mark Cooper was pleased with the resilience of his side, but knew there was more to come, especially in the final third.

He said: “I think we have to have that in our locker, that we can – not sort of fire – I don’t think we were bad from the edge of our box to the last third, but it just never happened in the last third.

“What we can’t do is give a silly goal away, which makes it even harder, but we need to have that resilience and that spirit to be able to do things like that.”

As the home side went 1-0 down to a Rocky Neal goal just before the hour, the Huish Park faithful became restless, but Cooper was quick to call for unity and support as he backed his side to fight to the end.

He added: “I just think there’s an expectation that we are going to win 5-0 every week, and if we don’t score in the first ten minutes, the unrest starts. What I’m not going to do is get the ball from the back and boot it up to front, because I don’t think over the 46 games that gets you where we need to get, we are going to try and be controlled. The reason we scored two goals at the end was because we wore them out and they made mistakes. The first goal, they get tired and make a sloppy clearance, we play a through ball and Olly Thomas is in, the second goal they switch off at a set piece.”

Jake Wannell and Charlie Cooper.
Picture courtesy of Iain Morland.

“I’m going to try and dominate the football, so apologies for that, but I’m not going to just boot the ball forward.”

Cooper acknowledges that after a decade of heartbreak, Yeovil fans have found it tough at times but wants his side to earn the ‘trust’ of the supporters, and says there’s only one way to do that.

He said: “We got to half-time, the last 20 minutes of the first half, we were turning the screw, we were asking questions of them, stretching their back line and making the pitch big, but like I say, the goal changed the game for them, the fans became increasingly anxious. We have to win the fans trust back, because they don’t trust us at the minute as a club and we can only do that by winning five, six, seven games so that they can start to trust me, us, the players, everybody, that we are on the right path.”

“Once we get that trust, we will be even more dangerous and we will start scoring more goals.”

Bristol City loanee Thomas got the equaliser, his first competitive goal for the Glovers and the manager was full of praise for all of the substitutes that made an impression. Another Ashton Gate player Zac Bell replaced Morgan Williams at half-time with Jordan Young coming on for Jordan Maguire-Drew at the same time as Thomas replaced Jake Hyde on 68 minutes.

Olly Thomas battles for the ball.

“He (Olly Thomas) is a young boy, he is raw, he’s rapid, he scored a goal like that at  AFC Totton (in pre-season) and I’ve been speaking to the squad and the boys that are not starting need to come on and make that impact and give the boys that did start, something to think about. We have to have that competition and that’s what Olly, Youngy and Belly did.”

The final call was for the fans, another 3,300+ attendance at Huish Park, Cooper admitting that this side was still learning, still growing and that success breeds to success.

“I don’t think the group that we’ve got and the experience we’ve got lacks confidence… we’ve got that confidence, other people might not, but like I say, we have to earn that trust and we’re fully aware of that, but we’d like our fans to be with us, go with us all the time and I think that tonight shows that if they do stay with us, the scenes you had at the end can happen more often. That end (Thatchers Stand) was incredible tonight, and they need to be with us.

“We have to keep going, another home game on Saturday, another big crowd, expectancy will grow, but we’ve shown that we can go to the end, I think the most pleasing thing is we can play an awful lot better, the players just said there it’ll be alright once we start playing better, they know, they’re not daft, there’s new players, Rome wasn’t built in a day.”

Mark Cooper was speaking exclusively to BBC Somerset, the interview may differ slightly to the official club’s YouTube interview