October 2023 (Page 3)

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Its a bumper edition, but I think it’s absolutely worth it!

Ben and Sheridan chat about beating W*ymouth – and making it nine in a row! We also chat about Braintree and take your GCQs.

However, there’s a chat with Mark Robinson, the Yeovil Hospital Charity and YTFC Superfan/YHC volunteer and fundraiser Karina, which is not to be missed.

We talk about Paint The Park Pink day on Saturday with so much planned to support this amazing day.

Tickets are available HERE

Charity Terrace Mugs are available HERE

The Just Giving page for the Charity Fundraiser is HERE

Get along to Huish Park this Saturday, grab your pink clothes and be part of a very special day for everyone!

———

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? C/O Yeovil Hospital Charity / YTFC / Mark Robinson

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Unless you have been living under a rock this past week, you will be in no doubt as to the fact that this weekend’s visit by Braintree Town to Huish Park offers the Glovers the chance to extend their unbeaten run to ten matches* on Saturday.

In what is sure to be a special day with the club’s ‘Paint the Town Pink’ campaign, which aims to raise money for the Yeovil Hospital Charity’s effort to fund a new Breast Cancer Unit, the 

Yeovil Town News 

In terms of availability, it is hard to look beyond those players who started the 2-0 win over W*ymouth at Huish Park on Tuesday night.

Speaking on Thursday, manager Mark Cooper revealed that midfielder Charlie Cooper is unlikely to be available (at least from the start) having missed the last four matches through injury, and long-term absentee defender Jamie Sendles-White is expected to be out for “six to eight weeks.”

No-one has confirmed (perhaps because they haven’t directly been asked) exactly what has happened with the summer signing, but a post on his Instagram account featuring a protective boot on an Achilles injury suggests an operation.

On the opposition, Cooper’s comments are consistent with what he’s been saying all season: “The next game always has to be the most important and we don’t look too far ahead, we have to focus on Braintree and put all our effort in to that.

“If you look too far ahead you are asking for trouble, so Braintree is key, we are enjoying being top of the league but we are not getting too carried away by it.”

Braintree Town News 

The big news for Braintree is the signing of experienced striker Shaquille Coulthirst, who has arrived on a one-month loan from National League Premier side Barnet.

The 28-year-old has made four starts for his parent club this season and is yet to find the net and has not had a prolific season since scoring 15 for Barnet in the 2018-19 campaign, but undoubtedly comes with higher division pedigree.

Announcing the signing on Thursday, The Iron described the new arrival as a player with “a wealth of experience” and Coulthirst posted that he was “excited to get started“, presumably starting at Huish Park on Saturday.

 

Speaking following the midweek 2-0 win at Hemel Hempstead Town – not an easy place to go, as Yeovil discovered on the opening day of the season – manager Angelo Harrop said he felt the result had been coming.

He told the club’s YouTube channel: “I thought in the first half that was our best performance of the season. But I also thought it had been coming, we are such a good talented, young group and once we click we will be a real force in the league.

“Tonight I thought they stood up to the challenge and I always fancied us and I am absolutely delighted for everyone at the club, it is a big win from us.”

That means Braintree have picked up back-to-back National League South wins after a 2-0 home win over Weston-super-Mare last weekend and Harrop believes they will head to Somerset full of confidence.

He said: “We can be excited about that game. We are going to roll the dice on Saturday and enjoy the game and it will be a really good experience for our young group.

“(Yeovil) are a big side in our league so, I don’t often do this, but I am going to give them Thursday night off (training) because I think we need time to recover. We have had a really tough ten days, so they will recover right and on Saturday we will give it everything we can.

“We will go in to it full of confidence, that is seven or eight games unbeaten, it is great to have back-to-back wins so we can go there full of confidence.”

In team news, on loan Norwich City keeper Vicente Reyes has kept two clean sheets in his last two outings.

The 19-year-old has played four times since arriving at the club following an injury to number one, Jack Sims.

Striker Will Davies scored twice in the 2-0 win at Hemel having added another from the penalty spot against Weston in the previous game.

The frontman joined from Step 3 side Leiston in the summer where he scored 31 goals last season.

 

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There might be ten consecutive wins* up for grabs, but Yeovil Town top-scorer Rhys Murphy is seeing nothing more than three points against Braintree Town this weekend.

The marksmen has ten goals in all competitions to his name this season and is part of a Glovers’ side in a scintillating run of form and is hungry for more – wins and goals, that is.

But, speaking on Thursday ahead of the match at Huish Park, he revealed the manager Mark Cooper and his staff are not allowing anyone to get carried away.

He said: “There’s no chance of us getting too confident in the run we are having. The manager, the staff are on us every day. You may have won the last game but that means nothing, move on to the next one.

“We are having team meetings about the opposition and their strengths and weaknesses and we show them the respect they deserve, but there’s going to be no foot coming off the gas and we are going to be attacking every game and going in to win it.”

Asked about the possibility of moving in to double figures in their winning run, Murphy added: “We are not looking at breaking records, if they come along that’s great, but the aim is bigger than getting a record in the season. The focus is on making sure we are promoted.

“It would be pretty pointless breaking a record in October and not getting promoted. Your eyes always have to be on the bigger picture.”

By his (admittedly very high) standards, the frontman is having a bit of a goal drought having not scored in the last three matches albeit he has been instrumental in setting up a number of goals scored by his team-mates.

He was replaced after 70 minutes in the midweek win over W*ymouth and his replacement, Jake Hyde, went on to bag the side’s second deep in to second half stoppage time. 

To add to the strength of the Glovers’ forward line, Sonny Cox, the teenage striker on loan from League One Exeter City, impressed having replaced Frank Nouble at the same point in the game – and Murphy admits the competition is spurring the players on.

Murphy said: “Players can’t afford to take their eye off the ball, they need to be training hard and showing they are worthy of a start every week.

“You have to earn you shirt and when you do you need to be taking your chance and, if you don’t, there are people coming in to take your place. And even if you are playing well, the manager has shown he is able to make substitutes that impact in games.

“We saw that the other night (against W*ymouth) and there has been other occasions where subs have come on and had a really strong impact on the game which is great.

“It’s a long hard season where the entire squad is going to be needed and you are not going to be successful with only one or two players performing. We need everybody and at the moment, everybody is pulling their weight.”

 

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Midfielder Charlie Cooper will be “touch and go” for the visit of Braintree Town to Huish Park this weekend, according to manager (and father), Mark Cooper.

The 26-year-old has missed the last four matches and his place in the centre of the park has been admirably accommodated by Josh Owers alongside Matt Worthington as Yeovil Town stretched their unbeaten run to nine (ten including the Somerset Men’s Premier Cup, of course!) wins in a row.

Speaking ahead of the weekend, the Glovers’ boss said he expected the player to be “not ready” to start the match along with defender Jamie Sendles-White, who has been missing since the start of September when he picked up an Achilles injury at the start of September.

The summer signing put out his own statement in the week saying he planned to “really focus on getting myself back fit over the coming weeks” following an “incredibly testing and frustrating period”. He accompanied the statement by posting a picture of a protective boot (presumably on the injured tendon) on his Instagram account.

Cooper said: “Sendles-White is out for a minimum of six to eight weeks, so we will be without him for a while.”

Braintree, who made the National League South’s play-offs last season after a seventh place finish, arrive off the back of two wins, but will face a Yeovil side in a rich vein of form and unbeaten at Huish Park.

In typical managerial style, Cooper is not looking any further than that match despite his side being four points clear at the top of the division.

He said: “The next game always has to be the most important and we don’t look too far ahead, we have to focus on Braintree and put all our effort in to that.

“If you look too far ahead you are asking for trouble, so Braintree is key, we are enjoying being top of the league but we are not getting too carried away by it.”

Asked what three points would mean to his ambitions, he added: “If we win it doesn’t (impact our goals) one bit, all it means is we have won another game. That is really boring but it is just three points.

“It is three points closer to where we want to do but it’s just three points. We are really looking forward to the game but we are expecting a really tough game, it’s one we can win if we play properly but we look forward to every game at the moment.”

Having set a new National League South record with an attendance of 6,289 for the 2-0 home win over W*ymouth in midweek, Cooper said he believes the home crowd were “the difference.”

And, with the club backing Yeovil Hospital Charity’s campaign to raise money for a new Breast Cancer Unit for the match which takes place during Cancer Awareness Week, the boss is hoping for another good crowd and pleased to be helping raise awareness of the fund-raising efforts.

He said: “It is so important we use these occasions to highlight and influence whatever we can and raise money for these issues, it is so important we try help. So the more money we can raise, the more we can raise awareness, it can only benefit the cause we are supporting.”

The club’s players will play in a special pink-and-black kit for the fixture as the club launches its ‘Paint the Park Pink’ campaign.

To donate to the Paint the Park Pink campaign in support of the Yeovil Hospital Charity, visit the JustGiving page HERE.

 

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Yeovil Town defender Jamie Sendles-White has said he is hoping to be back on the pitch soon.

The summer signing who joined from Welling United has been missing since he scored in the 3-2 win at Weston-super-Mare at the start of September, when he picked up an Achilles injury.

In a post on Twitter (currently known as X) on Wednesday. He spoke of having been through “a period of uncertainty” before adding: “I feel I am in a position where I can really focus on getting myself back fit over the coming weeks.”

On the subject of comebacks, Glovers’ striker Alex Fisher revealed he hopes to be back available for selection in “the next ten days” when he was in the co-commentary seat on BBC Radio Bristol for last night’s 2-0 home win over W*ymouth.

Prepare for the ‘like a new signing’ klaxon for both!

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National League sponsors, Vanarama have named Mark Cooper as their National League Manager of the Week after back to back wins on Saturday and Tuesday.

On Saturday, the Glovers pulled off the late, late show against Worthing and then took the local derby by the scruff of the neck to win 2-0 on Tuesday night in front of a record crowd for the National League South,

The Glovers are on a nine-match winning streak across League and FA Cup and the Gaffer has been given this nod off appreciation for helping make it happen.

Kevin Maher of Southend and Liam McDonald of Rushall Athletic claim the prizes for the other National League divisions.

Good work, Gaffer.

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Former Yeovil Town player – and now Bath City Manager – Jerry Gill has thanked Glovers boss Mark Cooper for allowing goalkeeper Will Buse to head to the Romans on a short term deal.

Buse, who joined permanently from Bristol City in the summer – has found himself behind Joe Day in the pecking order for the Gloves and will spend the next 28 days with the Twerton Park outfit.

Speaking after Buses’ debut, a 3-0 win over Taunton, Gill said;

“We got him because he was the easiest one to go and get and I have to thank Mark Cooper, people question it probably and say ‘why has Yeovil given Bath City a ‘keeper?’ , well purely because Mark is good enough to understand he needs to play football, a player of his quality will want to go out and play.”

“Mark has got another very good number one down there and I get on well with Mark, whatever people might think about the rivalry between the two clubs, me playing there at times and having a season there, it’s irrelevant for now, it’s about me managing Bath trying to get the right ‘keeper in.”

Jerry Gill turning out for Yeovil Town in 1996-97. Picture courtesy of Tim Lancaster.

“I tried to sign Will before, last year, but we couldn’t quite do it and then he gets his move from Bristol City to Yeovil, which is great, a full time outfit, it’s great, I’m pleased he’s come in, he knows me, I know him, he knew a few of the players, I knew he would be good at distribution, I thought he had an excellent debut.”

The deal means both Will Buse and Lewis Williams are out on loan at Bath and Tiverton respectively with just Joe Day available as a match day goalkeeper option for Mark Cooper at Huish Park.

 

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Well, what a night that was! Yeovil’s 2-0 win over W*ymouth is one of the highlights of the matchday, let’s take a look at the rest of the action from the rest of the division.

We start in Essex, where Chelmsford City and Dover Athletic played out a Monday night cracker. Dover took the lead on THREE separate occasions, but the hosts pegged them back each time in a breathless 3-3 encounter.

Onto Tuesday, and there were certainly some shocks once again at the top. Last weekend’s opponents, Worthing, proved no match for Hampton & Richmond, who easily dispatched of the visitors in a 4-1 victory. Another 4-1 result came about 20 miles west of Hampton, where Farnborough continued their good run of form against Tonbridge Angels. In a top of the table clash, Bath City got back to winning ways with a 3-0 win over Taunton, with their top scorers, Jordan Thomas and Scott Wilson both getting on the scoresheet.

There were two 3-2 victories for home sides last night, with St Albans City getting the better of Slough Town, who showed fight by bringing it back to 2-2 before a winner from Ibrahim Akanbi gave the hosts the points. In a dramatic end to the second 3-2, Weston-super-mare stopped their 3 game losing streak, beating Torquay United, special shoutout to former Glover Reuben Reid, who notched a double for the hosts! A late own goal in the visitors favour wasn’t enough to rescue anything for them.

Saturday’s visitors, Braintree Town (join us in painting the park pink on Saturday!) defeated Hemel Hempstead on their travels, with Will Davies scoring a double to set up a tasty weekend clash. Eastbourne Borough and Dartford played out a 1-1 draw to continue Eastbourne’s indifferent start to the season, while in the last game of Tuesday night, Welling United and Maidstone finished in a 0-0 draw. There’s one more fixture for the matchday, with bottom of the table Havant & Waterlooville falling to a 4-1 defeat at home to Aveley on Wednesday night.

 

National League South results – in full

Chelmsford City 3-3 Dover Athletic
Bath City 3-0 Taunton Town
Eastbourne Borough 1-1 Dartford
Farnborough Town 4-1 Tonbridge Angels
Hampton & Richmond Borough 4-1 Worthing
Hemel Hempstead Town 0-2 Braintee Town
St Albans City 3-2 Slough Town
Welling United 0-0 Maidstone United
Weston-super-mare 3-2 Torquay United
Havant & Waterlooville 1-4 Aveley

National League South table (once again, North automatically provided)

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A midweek loan watch, you say? Go on then!

Will Buse joined Bath City on Tuesday morning and was promptly thrown straight into a huge clash at the top of the National League South table and his sheet remained clean as a whistle with the Romans coming out 3-0 winners against Taunton Town.

 Shepton Mallet were in Les Phillips Cup action against Hengrove Athletic. 
Charlie Bateson was on the bench to start with but was introduced into the game shortly after the hour mark, Mallet winning 2-1.

Over at Dorchester, the Magpies went down 2-1 against Sholing. Ollie Haste played the full 90 minutes and nearly scored (another) last minute goal. Benjani Jr was not named in the match day squad.

There were no games for Sherborne or Tiverton with messrs Skiverton and Williams having the night off, Gillingham Town’s game against Bitton AFC was called off with a waterlogged pitch so none of the four young Glovers with the Gills got any game time this evening.  

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Tom was in the Thatchers Stand for tonight’s derby against, err… the opposition. Here’s his five conclusions from tonight’s match!

SIX THOUSAND, TWO HUNDRED AND EIGHTY NINE. Well, Yeovil fans showed up in their droves, and from my spot in the Thatchers, I could tell something special was happening tonight. A sellout in the Thatchers, the Bamfords Stand looked positively packed, and the Screwfix stand looked pretty full too, what a turnout in a record-breaking evening! Even without any of the opposition’s fans, we would’ve broken the record regardless, which goes to show how impressive tonight’s turnout is.

Not our finest performance, but it got the job done. We certainly began the first half as you’d hope, plenty of confidence, and had plenty of possession. We successfully pinned the opposition into their own half at times, and looked good for two or three goals going into half time. As the second half began, W*ymouth did look a little better, but both sides huffed and puffed, with both sides struggling in the never-ending rain. But as they say, performances like that are what champions produce…

Substitutions proving important once again. I’ve said it before when I’ve given conclusions, and I’ll say it again – Mark Cooper nailed his subs. The double substitution to bring on Jake Hyde and debutant Sonny Cox was inspired, with their fresh legs causing trouble for a tired W*ymouth defence. It proved a masterstroke when Sonny Cox dinked the ball into the middle for Jake Hyde to bury his second goal in a Yeovil shirt. Will Dawes proved a valuable introduction too, his energy assisting Alex Whittle in defence, and bombing forward in his 20 minute cameo.

Jake Hyde, appeared after 70 minutes on Tuesday night.
Picture courtesy of Iain Morland.

Momentum is massive now. 9 wins in a row in all competitions, now that’s not something I expected to be able to say when we started the season off! The momentum we’ve built in this time, with wins over playoff contenders in Worthing and Aveley, as well as the continued unbeaten run at home, is proving huge for not only the squad, but the fans (as we saw with tonight’s attendance). There’s a real sense of optimism and excitement around the ground now, let’s keep it going!

Michael Smith is still the real deal. As a self-admitted member of the Michael Smith fan club (applicants are more than welcome!), I continue to be blown away at the fact we even have this man at our club. The experience he brings is unmatched at this level, and he showed it tonight, having a tricky time in the conditions and with the attacks he faced. He linked up brilliantly with Jordan Stevens, and later Jordan Young, causing chaos all down the right hand side. Keep it up Michael!

Michael Smith. Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.