October 2023

Yeovil Town picked up their 10th win in a row on an afternoon where more than 3,700 showed up in the pouring rain to Paint the Park Pink. Here are Ian’s Five Conclusions from the press box.

This one was quite the tactical battle. Yeovil’s first half plan seemed to involve drawing the Braintree forward-line out, beating their press with a ball into Jordan Young who was given acres of space to work his magic. While the goal – a composed finish from Matt Worthington – came from a goalkeeping error on a set piece, there were plenty of occasions where Young was given freedom in between the midfield and defence of Braintree, however the final ball was lacking. Before half time, Braintree made the change to match up the Glovers in a 4-2-3-1 and then put four up top in the second half forcing Yeovil to revert to a back five and just get out of the game with the points. While we struggled with the pitch in the second half, Braintree seemed to control the ball well and showed what a credible outfit they are.

We have an unbelievable defensive unit. If you’d told me at the start of the season that we’d settle on a back line that didn’t include Josh Staunton I wouldn’t have believed you. But, such is the quality of the partnership of Morgan Williams and Jake Wannell that Staunton wasn’t even afforded a place on the bench yesterday afternoon. We’re running out of wax and lyrics for Michael Smith, but he was given sponsor’s man of the match for his performance. Alex Whittle had another excellent game. He’s quietly gone about his business so far this season, putting in consistent performances week after week and I think yesterday was probably his best given he started at left-back and had to play centre-back in the second half. And, where would be without Super Joe Day in goal?

It was another match where Mark Cooper got to show off the depth of his squad. In any other season, taking out Josh Owers, Rhys Murphy and Frank Nouble in their vein of form would prompt cries of derision amongst supporters. However, given Sonny Cox’s cameo against W*ymouth, the technical ability of Sonny Blu Lo-Everton and recent heroics of Will Dawes no one can begrudge them getting an opportunity. Cooper said he felt Jake Hyde wasn’t ready, but when he and Nouble did enter the fray they combined well for the goal – albeit after struggling to get into the game at all. This was a fixture where Rhys Murphy was rested, Jordan Maguire-Drew and Josh Staunton missed out altogether and Charlie Cooper was still unavailable.

The Huish Park pitch is in need of a rest. The downpour was relentless yesterday. From before the kick off, through the entirety of the match and after the final whistle it absolutely p*ssed it down. By the time the referee blew the final whistle, players were struggling to stay on their feet, the ball was getting held up in the water and the surface was tearing up with every kick of the ball. With Gateshead visiting next Saturday and the weather forecast looking iffy this week, the ground staff at Huish Park will have their work cut out. Water from the pitch had found its way into the walkway in the Thatchers stand and the main stand too and the home games are still coming, with three of the next four at Huish Park. 

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— Gloverscast ?⚽️? (@gloverscast) October 28, 2023

It’s been a brilliant week for this football club. With the record attendance for National League South well and truly smashed on Tuesday night, yesterday was a different kind of event for the club. The support and spotlight the club has given on the amazing work of the Yeovil Hospital Charity and final boost it needed will leave a lasting impact in Somerset. To see all the pink at Huish Park, and the number of people who came out despite the weather was proof that Glovers will come out in their numbers to support a community cause. We’ve not had a lot to be proud of in recent years, but this week has left me full of pride for Yeovil Town FC.