November 2023 (Page 4)

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Whilst Yeovil were dumped out of the FA Trophy, there is at least one Glover with an interest in the third round draw.

Will Buse was in goal for Bath City as the Romans negotiated a tricky tie against Beaconsfield Town 1-0, Jerry Gill said that whilst Buse was quiet, when called upon, he made sure to make the saves count.

Plenty of postponed games, meaning we don’t have anything to say about some of the younger Glovers out on loan – nor Malachi Linton for that matter, Taunton’s FA Trophy game also fell foul to the weather, they’ll try again on Tuesday.

Melksham got their game on though, they drew 0-0 with Willand Rovers – Benjani Jr started the game and played 75 minutes of the stalemate.

Dorchester didn’t play either, but there was a nice moment this week for Ollie Haste, who won a social media poll for ‘Goal of the Week’ in the Southern League, good work Ollie!

…and here is the winning goal!

 

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Yeovil Town’s Matt Worthington has said that despite crashing out of the FA Trophy at the hands of Torquay, the focus won’t drop as the Glovers try and go full steam ahead into getting promoted.

Talking to BBC Somerset’s Ian Randall, Worthy said the side improved in the second half of the game, but left themselves with too much do after a slow first 45.

“I think it’s always going to be a hard game. They were looking to to win a game of football as were we, but they, In recent weeks, haven’t picked up the points they probably probably wanted, so they’ll be definitely up for it. I think first half we weren’t sort of good enough. And then second-half, we definitely picked it up, especially towards the end we’re pushing for that second goal. We nearly got it. But we’re we’re out of the cup and it’s full focus on the league”

I think we left it a bit too late. Like you said, if you get that (goal) in the 60th, 65th minute it becomes more of a game that we can go and really win”

The game at Plainmoor saw Mark Cooper make seven changed from the league game against Farnborough, one of which saw Worthington drop to the bench, something which may have disrupted the side in the early exchanges.

“I think it’s it’s always difficult when you make a few changes, a lot of the lads needed minutes today that haven’t been playing and maybe the sort of connections haven’t been made yet between a lot of the lads and I think it looked a bit disjointed at times, but no second-half, we’re much better.”

The game represented a milestone for the former Bournemouth man, his 200th appearance for the Glovers, a milestone which puts him 49th in the list of highest Post-War appearances – and just 182 behind Terry Skiverton – Worthy said it was a proud day for him, and one he wants to add to.

I did know, I was not 100% sure but, I’m just delighted. I’m really happy to get that 200 mark. Really enjoyed my time here. I’m hopefully have many more games.

My personality is I was part of that downfall in the recent years. I was involved in the squads that that got relegated and for me, I would never jump ship when it gets hard and I would love to be part of this club for all the success it’s going to have going forward.

Matt Worthington in action vs Dover

Back to the current campaign and the Vice Captain said that focus switches immediatley on Chippenham on Tuesday and take it game by game… with the league title firmly in the club’s sights.

“I think everyone can see that we’re really starting to click and we’ve sort of got ourselves in a really good position and we need to keep going. Every league game we need to go and win as much as we can really and keep pulling away from the rest.

[Six Points] the target [For the next two games] … we look at the next next league game and after we get through that one, we go to the next one. I think this team has stayed really sort of level headed and and we know we’ve still got a long way to go to succeed and we at the end of the day, we want to win the league and the quicker we can do it the better, 

I think in this league the games come around thick and fast, and I think it’s perfect for us on Tuesday, to go get another good result and another three points.”

A Huge Congratulations on your milestone Matt, here’s to 300 and beyond!

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Well, the run was fun while it lasted, but all good things must come to an end. Three Valleys Radio were there, and so was our very own Tom Bailey was there to give us his Five Conclusions on Yeovil’s exit from the FA Trophy.

Changes were a win-win. Not sure if this was just me, but I was still impressed with the majority of the changes made today by Mark Cooper. It was great to see Josh Staunton back in the side, and the same can be said for Jordan Maguire-Drew, who was my personal Man of the Match (for Yeovil at least). While it’s disappointing for the run to end, I can’t imagine this competition was high on the priority list of Mark Cooper, so resting key players like Michael Smith, Morgan Williams and Rhys Murphy was the right call.

Torquay were much improved. We can say all we want about Yeovil’s performance (which I didn’t think was that bad considering the amount of changes made), but we have to give Torquay credit where it’s due, they did a much better job than last time out at nullifying any attacking threat that came their way. Considering the only goal we scored was an own goal from a Torquay defender, they can go home with their heads held high, even with the wholescale changes for Yeovil.

 

 

Duncan Idehen had a decent debut. A baptism of fire for the 21 year old loanee, and a big gap in the defence to fill. It didn’t matter for Duncan Idehen though, who looked shaky in the opening stages of the game before growing into a dominant performance, commanding his area and putting in vital tackles to cut out attacks from the hosts. We’ve got him until the end of January, and I’m personally looking forward to seeing how he grows with us!

The pitch was… certainly something. We had concerns over the state of Yeovil’s pitch following the run of home games recently, and I think Torquay have reason to be concerned over their own. Players were slipping and sliding, and nobody really looked comfortable on a surface that was coming up from the first whistle.

 

Tricky conditions left quality football few and far between.

 

Back on track for Tuesday, then. There are positives to take from today, less games for us to think about, allowing us to focus on the league, as well as run outs and rests for a lot of players in the squad. The bus ride home was quiet but not a bad atmosphere, it was an “ah well, maybe next year” feeling, as we clearly have bigger fish to fry. Shout out to the 300+ fans that made the journey today too, plenty of noise from them!

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Yeovil Town boss Mark Cooper admitted he knew there was a risk in making seven changes to his starting line-up for the 2-1 defeat at Torquay United in the FA Trophy second round this afternoon.

The Glovers named a completely changed back four with captain Josh Staunton paired alongside Bristol City loanee Duncan Idehen in the middle with Zac Bell and Alex Whittle at full-backs, in front of them Josh Owers, Will Dawes and Jordan Maguire-Drew were handed starts and Jake Hyde began up front.

Speaking to BBC Somerset’s Ian Randall after the match at Plainmoor, Cooper admitted there were a number of his first-choice starters who he did not want to risk with two away trips in the National League South coming up at Chippenham Town on Tuesday night and Welling United next weekend.

He said: “I knew when I was picking the team that there was a chance we might not get through, but we could not risk Morgan Williams, Michael Smith, Rhys Murphy had an issue with his knee but he’ll be fine for Tuesday and we needed to freshen Frank (Nouble) up as well. But credit to Torquay, they got through and we march on.

“I thought if we got one we would have a big chance to get another and so it proved, but we did not score early enough. The way Torquay are going, especially at home, they become a bit anxious, but once we scored one I was convinced we would get another big chance and we did. But we just could not manage to force it over the line.”

Torquay took the lead when Dillon De Silva opened the scoring after just three minutes and then Fleetwood Town loan midfielder Callum Dolan added a second with a fine strike early in the second half.

Cooper said: “We got an attacking free-kick in a really dangerous position and probably our most productive player at the minute, Jordan Young, hits the ball straight in to the first man, they break on us and we don’t do our defensive job and we get caught out of position and the lad cuts inside and scores. Then the second one, we are caught of position again and it is another shot from the edge of the box because we did not defend the edge of the box well enough from our midfield.

“The players should know to the minute detail of what their position is because we are meticulous with it and we do it every day. There’s no criticism of the boys that came in to the team today, we felt it was a strong enough team to get a result but we fell on the wrong side of the important bits in the big moments.”

The boss had praise for debutant Idehen, who joined in the week following an injury to central defender Jake Wannell in the 4-2 home win over Farnborough on Tuesday night.

Asked about the 21-year-old’s performance, Cooper said: “Especially second half I thought he was great. He won every header, every tackle, was composed on the ball. It was a difficult game for him to come in to, but I thought he looked very good.”

The Glovers now travel to Chippenham Town on Tuesday night looking to bounce straight back and continue a winning run in National League South which stretches back to the 3-2 victory at Weston-super-Mare at the start of September.

Chippenham progressed to the next round of the Trophy with a 3-2 win on penalties at home to Basingstoke Town today.

Cooper said: “We have got to concentrate on Chippenham on Tuesday and go and get another big result in the league. I think we have won ten league games on the trot and we have to go and make that 11 now.”

 

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Yeovil Town’s 14-match winning run came to an as they exited the FA Trophy with defeat at Torquay United on Saturday afternoon.

The Glovers named a much-changed line-up with seven changes from the midweek home win over Farnborough and within two minutes the home side took advantage opening the scoring after just two minutes through Dillon De Silva.

Callum Dolan, the midfielder on loan from Fleetwood Town, put the Gulls 2-0 up with a fine strike early in the second half and it took an own goal from Torquay substitute Ryan Harris in the 90 minutes for the visitors to pull one back.

The run comes to and then and Yeovil Town go to Chippenham 

 

First half

Yeovil Town boss Mark Cooper made seven changes from the midweek home win over Farnborough with a completely different back four in front of goalkeeper Joe Day. In the centre of defence, club captain Josh Staunton lined up alongside Bristol City loanee Duncan Idehen with Zac Bell and the returning Alex Whittle in the full-back positions.

And the much-changed back line faced their first test when Dillon DE SILVA found himself in acres of space down the left hand side and was given time and space by Whittle to pick his spot. Add that to the “horrendous” goals category. There has not been many of them this season, but that was definitely one.

The opening exchanges suggested that the lack of matches played by the visitors’ defence had not gone unnoticed by Torquay boss Gary Johnson who clearly instructed his side to press the Glovers.

Injury almost got added to insult when Whittle collided with the advertising boards in front of the away supporters after 12 minutes. The former York City man needed help from the medical staff to make it back to the halfway line, but returned to the action albeit not looking comfortable.

Alex Whittle following his collision with the advertising boards.

Callum Dolan had the ball in the net for the home side after 14 minutes, but the whistle had gone for a foul on Jordan Young in the build-up, and three minutes later the Glovers were indebted to Day who made a superb stop to deny first De Silva and then Brad Ash. The home side very much on top here with De Silva causing all kinds of problem.

Former W*ymouth striker Ash curled an effort wide on 22 minutes, whereas at the other end of the pitch it took until 28 minutes for them to force Rhys Lovett in to a meaningful save. Good play by Will Dawes saw him made a good turn and fire in a shot which the keeper turned around the post.

De Silva was involved again on 37 minutes, setting up Dolan who fired wide before Staunton’s flicked header from a Jordan Maguire-Drew free-kick went the same way a minute later.

Dolan put another effort wide on 40 minutes and, as the game closed towards the interval, two chances came the way of Yeovil. On 42 minutes, Young clipped the ball in to the box where Jake Hyde was unable to make proper contact and, a minutes later, Maguire-Drew put one over the bar.

The final chance of the half came from the same place as the start of it with De Silva who had a shot blocked in the second minute of four minutes of added time.

Picture courtesy of Debs Curtis.

Half time: Torquay United 1 Yeovil Town 0

Second half

There were no changes from either side at half-time. But there was no change in much else either with Torquay starting the stronger and doubling their advantage just four minutes after the restart.

The mistake for the second goal was the same as the first with Callum DOLAN found in acres of space again and he fired a superb shot past Joe Day. The defending was poor from the visitors but take nothing away from the finish from the Fleetwood Town loanee.

Immediately after the goal, the Asa Hall replaced Ryan Hanson for Torquay. Hanson was limping as he went off, but you suspect the experience of Hall was part of the thinking from Gulls’ boss Gary Johnson.

The next chance of the game fell to Hall after 54 minutes whose long range effort on the turn was parried away by Day. You guessed it, Hall had a lot of space. 

There had not been much of a response from Yeovil but, on 58 minutes, Young made a run down the left to pull defenders away and Maguire-Drew was in space and hooked his effort over the bar.

A minute later, manager Cooper had seen enough replacing Young with Exeter City loanee Sonny Cox. Young had been one of the better players for the visitors, but will be unavailable for Tuesday night’s trip to Chippenham Town. A sign of the boss thinking ahead to the Tuesday night fixture, or of the significance he places on the FA Trophy? You decide.

On 62 minutes, Frank Nouble replaced Will Dawes with Cox shifting out wide on the left with Nouble going down the middle.

Ex-Glovers’ defender Shaun Donnellan went down for an extended period.
Picture courtesy of Debs Curtis.

Johnson brought off the impressive Dylan Crowe on 66 minutes, replacing him with on-loan AFC Bournemouth defender Archie Harris, suggesting he was closing up the game.

On 70 minutes, Maguire-Drew in the centre circle intercepted a clearance from Lovett trip and tried to lift one over the stranded keeper – but it went wide.

A minute later, Matt Worthington replaced Sonny Blu Lo-Everton to make his 200th appearance for the club, putting him in to 49th position in the club’s all-time appearance charts.

Nouble fired an effort over from a tight angle and then on 76 minutes Day was forced in to a smart stop at his near post to keep out Hall’s header from a long throw by Dean Moxey.

Maguire-Drew had a great opportunity to halve the deficit when he free-kick in what we can call “Jordan Young territory” on the edge of the box. But, with Young watching on from the sidelines, Maguire-Drew’s effort got over the defensive wall but went wide of the post. Sums up our performance in front of goal.

There had not been a great deal positive coming forward for Yeovil but just before the fourth official put up the board for six minutes of added time. A Maguire-Drew free-kick in to the box was aimed towards Duncan Idehen at the back post and it was Torquay substitute Harris who headed in an OWN GOAL.

That did spark a bit of a reaction from the visitors who (belatedly) piled forward and in the final attack of the game, a fantastic reverse pass from Worthington found Nouble powering forward down the right side and smashed a ball across the face of the goal but Sonny Cox could not find it at the far post.

That was the best chance Yeovil fashioned all afternoon and that tells its own story as Torquay gained revenge for their defeat in National League South a week-and-a-half earlier.

Full time: Torquay United 2 Yeovil Town 1

 

Match Details

Venue: Plainmoor
Saturday 18th November, 3pm kick-off
Competition: FA Trophy

Pitch: Wet
Conditions: Windy

Attendance: 1,740 (322 away supporters)

Scorers: Dillon De Silva 2 (0-1), Callum Dolan 49 (0-2), Ryan Harris o.g. 90 (1-2)

Bookings: 
Yeovil Town: Josh Owers 34,
Torquay United: Callum Dolan 90+1

Referee: Robert Ablett

Yeovil Town (4-3-3)

 

 

Substitutes: Sonny Cox (for Jordan Young, 59), Frank Nouble (for Will Dawes, 62), Matt Worthington (for Sonny Blu Lo-Everton, 71), Charlie Cooper (not used), Rhys Murphy (not used), Alex Fisher (not used).

Torquay United: Rhys Lovett, Dylan Crowe (for Archie Harris, 66), Ryan Hanson (for Asa Hall, 50), Brad Ash, Brett McGavin, Shaun Donnellan, Dillon De Silva (for Lewis Collins, 72), Theo Williams, Callum Dolan, Dean Moxey, Ollie Tomlinson.
Substitutes (not used): Filip Chalupniczak, Calum Thomas.

 

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Manager Mark Cooper has backed the players he has brought in to the side for today’s FA Trophy second round tie at Torquay United to keep his Yeovil Town’s side strong.

He made seven changes from the midweek win over Farnborough with club captain Josh Staunton lining up alongside Bristol City loanee Duncan Idehen in the centre of defence, play-maker Jordan Maguire-Drew being handed a start and Jake Hyde given a run-out up front.

The boss revealed defender Morgan Williams had been suffering with “a sore hamstring and knee in recent weeks which he has played through” and 35-year-old full-back Michael Smith needed to be “freshened up” having started every game since he arrived just over two months ago.

He added: “We have got some boys who have been waiting for an opportunity, they don’t necessarily weaken the team in my opinion, when you are talking about the likes of (Jordan) Maguire-Drew and (Josh) Staunton, they do not weaken our team.”

Before the match, Cooper said loanee Idehen, who has appeared on the bench for his parent club three times in Championship fixtures this season, was a long-term target. The 21-year-old was brought in following an injury to Jake Wannell in the win over Farnborough.

He told BBC Somerset reporter Ian Randall today: “He’s a great replacement for Wannell, he’s left-footed and aggressive. I had been speaking to Bristol City academy manager Brian Tinnion about him in previous weeks and making sure he was ready so that, if we needed it, we could act really quickly.

“They produce some brilliant kids, they have a great development programme there and bring lots of young players through and want to send them to us and see them as a vehicle to develop them.”

Asked about the importance of the 2-1 win at Hampton & Richmond at the end of September, the boss said changes to his formation and tactics in that game were a major factor in the success which has followed.

“There was a lot of work done for the two weeks leading up to that game in terms of changing our shape and playing with a box midfield and with real pace in wide areas. But loads of work went on with the two centre backs (Williams and Wannell) to make sure the whole team was more solid and it has come from that block of training we did.”

 

 

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Club captain Josh Staunton has been handed his first start in more than two months as Yeovil Town take on Torquay United in the second round of the FA Trophy (3pm kick-off).

The skipper lines up in the centre of defence alongside Bristol City loanee Duncan Idehen for his first start since the FA Cup win over AFC Stoneham in mid-September and his first appearance since coming off the bench at Hampton & Richmond in the following fixture.

Zac Bell starts in place of Michael Smith and there are also appearances for Josh Owers, who has been a substitute in recent weeks, playmaker Jordan Maguire-Drew and striker Jake Hyde.

Matt Worthington is named among the substitutes and, if he appearances, he will reach 200 appearances for the club. He is joined by striker Alex Fisher who is in line for his first appearance since suffering a horrific double leg break last April.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Mark Cooper’s Glovers travel to Torquay in the FA Trophy today. Dave speaks to TorquayTalk’s Chris for the latest on the Gulls!

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