January 2024 (Page 6)

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Yeovil Town Women took another step towards the league title as they beat Nailsea United 5-1 on Sunday. The victory extended the Glovers’ lead at the top to two points, with goals coming from Abbie Carslake, Zoe Ball, Niamh Nicholls and Becky Miles.

Paul Knight made three changes to the team who beat Portishead Reserves last week as Chloe Perham, Jess Gold and Les Spearing came into the side. Abbie Vernon was forced out of the lineup following an injury picked up in the warmup, Ella Entwistle replaced her.

Yeovil started with intent, as after five minutes last week’s player of the match Carslake picked up from where she left off and put the Glovers ahead. Miles’ cross was enthusiastically met by Carslake who finished to give Yeovil an early lead.

Image Courtesy of Phillip Shields

Later in the 17th minute, following a fortunate deflection, the ball fell kindly for Ball, who finished convincingly from twenty yards to double Yeovil’s lead and net her fifth of the season.

Despite continued Yeovil pressure, which included a good effort by Chloe Perham, the scoreline at half-time was 2-0.

The visitors were quickest out of the blocks in the second half as they halved the deficit in the 49th minute. Nailsea’s number ten latched onto a ball over the top and scored to make it 2-1.

Ten minutes later Yeovil’s two goal advantage was restored, courtesy of top scorer Nicholls. Entwistle played the ball to Nicholls, who lobbed the goalkeeper for her eighteenth of the campaign.

As the match entered the final third of the ninety, Yeovil’s centre-back pairing were heavily involved in the action. In the 70th minute Emma Brazell surged forward with the ball, leading to a scramble in the box and a Yeovil corner. Later in the 78th minute a crucial tackle by Daisy Evans prevented Nailsea running through on goal.

Image courtesy of Phillip Shields

The points were sealed for the Glovers seven minutes from time, as midfielder Miles rifled her effort home to make it 4-1 to Yeovil.

Following this, after a tireless performance in the midfield, Miles scored her second for 5-1, as her terrific lob evaded the Nailsea goalkeeper.

The match finished 5-1, as Yeovil earned another three points towards the league title and continued their 100% record in the league.

The player of the match was awarded to Becky Miles for her impressive midfield performance in which she scored a brace.

Yeovil Town Women return to action on Sunday 21st January as they travel to Banwell 14:00, in a fixture which could be regarded as a league decider.

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With Aveley in FA Trophy action, and Yeovil’s scheduled fixture with them this weekend being postponed as a result, it gave Mark Cooper’s men the weekend off! Let’s look at what the rest of the league have been up to in the league leader’s absence.

We’ll begin in the FA Trophy, as there were 8 NLS teams left in the competition. The biggest shock came at Park View Road, where Welling United saw off runaway National League leaders Chesterfield with a 2-0 win to book their place in the next round. Also causing upsets against tougher opposition were our expected hosts Aveley, and Hampton & Richmond, as they defeated AFC Fylde and Hartlepool United respectively.

Torquay United fell to a 2-0 defeat away to Hereford, while Chippenham Town and Weston-super-mare put on admirable performances away to National League opponents, both losing on penalties to Bromley and Gateshead. Chelmsford City fell to a narrow 1-0 defeat at home to Wealdstone, courtesy of former Glover Tahvon Campbell, while a shock came at Twerton Park as Bath City lost on penalties to Coalville Town. With the Fourth Round completed, our 8 league representatives drop to 3, and we will continue to bring coverage of their progress.

Onto league action now, and we’ll begin with Worthing, who hammered an in-form Truro City with doubles from Ollie Pearce and Danny Cashman handing the visitors a 4-1 win and three points on their travels. Slough Town remain winless against W*ymouth in all competitive fixtures, as the visitors fell to a 3-0 defeat on the South Coast, ex-Glover Brandon Goodship getting on the scoresheet once again; meanwhile next weekend’s visitors Hemel Hempstead recorded a 2-0 win at home to Tonbridge Angels.

Another ex-Glover was on the scoresheet on Saturday, as Ryan Seager’s double handed Havant & Waterlooville a surprising 2-1 win over Maidstone to assist in Yeovil’s title push, as well as aiding Havant’s relegation battle. Another relegation threatened side fell to a defeat, as Eastbourne Borough lost 2-1 at home to St Albans City, Shaun Jeffers getting himself involved in the goals, while Taunton and Dover Athletic played out a 1-1 draw that doesn’t really help either team.

 

National League South results – in full

Eastbourne Borough 1-2 St Albans City
Havant & Waterlooville 2-1 Maidstone United
Hemel Hempstead Town 2-0 Tonbridge Angels
Taunton Town 1-1 Dover Athletic
Truro City 1-4 Worthing
W*ymouth 3-0 Slough Town

FA Trophy 4th Round results (NLS teams in bold)

Aveley 1-0 AFC Fylde
Bath City 0-0 Coalville Town (Coalville won 4-3 on pens)
Bromley 1-1 Chippenham Town (Bromley won 4-2 on pens)
Chelmsford City 0-1 Wealdstone
Gateshead 2-2 Weston-super-mare (Gateshead won 4-3 on pens)
Hartlepool United 0-0 Hampton & Richmond Borough (H&R won 4-2 on pens)
Hereford 2-0 Torquay United
Welling United 2-0 Chesterfield

National League South table

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Yeovil Town’s trip to Aveley in National League South has been rescheduled for Monday 12th February, 7.45pm kick-off, the club has confirmed.

The game was due to be played this weekend but was postponed due to the Millers’ participation in the FA Trophy, where they beat National League Premier side AFC Fylde in the fourth round.

Aveley share their Parkside ground with Eastern Counties League side Cannons Wood, who have dibs on playing Tuesday nights, hence the Monday fixture.

 

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Yeovil Town Under-18s fell to a 2-1 defeat against fourth-placed Swindon Supermarine in the South West Counties’ Youth League at Gasson’s Lane, Somerset on Saturday.

After a goalless first half, the young Glovers fell behind when Josh Blyth put the visitors ahead after 65 minutes, before substitute Reece Strawbridge levelled with a header from a corner two minutes later.

But, that scoreline lasted just five minutes as Swindon substitute Liam Clark got the winner to give them the three points.

Yeovil now sit in sixth place in a league table of two halves with their conquerers sitting two places and 12 points ahead of them. 

They travel to second-placed Torquay United next weekend.

Yeovil Town Under-18s: Parker, Brewer, Richards, Haste, Ansell, Watts, Beckey, Padmore, Hilton, Crisp, Koerner. Substitutes: Alexander, Strawbridge, Proctor.

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The Glovers might have been enjoying a short winter break with a gap in the fixtures, but the plethora of Loanees we have out and about have still been in action.

Starting with the headline news that Bath City have reported that Goalkeeper Will Buse has suffered a broken finger in training.

The Romans had to get in an emergency loan from Bristol City for their FA Trophy defeat to Coalville, speaking after the game, Jerry Gill said that “late on Thursday night in training, Will Buse breaks his finger and we have until 12 o clock on Friday to get someone in” 

Obviously, we hope it’s not too serious and Will can get back between the sticks as soon as possible.

 

No game for Oxford City, they had a blank weekend having already dropped out of the FA Trophy, so no action for Alex Fisher.

Nothing for Jordan Maguire-Drew either, Barnet did have an FA Trophy tie, but because of his game time for Yeovil against Torquay earlier in the competition, he was cup tied. – He did however play the full 90 in midweek as the Bees beat Dagenham. 

JM-D’s left footed cross set up Nicke Kabamba for the first Bees goal.

 

W*ymouth picked a huge three points in the relegation dog fight at the bottom of the National League South, Malachi Linton played for two whole minutes at the end of the 90. 

Dorchester picked up a vital three points away at Harrow Borough, the Magpies won 2-0 with Ollie Haste playing the full 90 ninety – he was influential at both ends.

Benjani Jnr started for Melksham and provided an assist for their solitary goal in a tough 6-1 defeat to Bishops Cleeve.

Shepton Mallet drew 2-2 with Ilfracombe, Charlie Bateson played the full game helping his side come from 2-0 down in a game they could have snatched all three points in at the end.

Over at Gillingham, the Gills went down 2-0 to Hallen FC. Harrison Foster and Josh Haskett started, Harry Lock and Jack Bareham were both named as subs.

Aidan Skiverton was named on the bench for Sherborne in their 1-0 defeat to Brockenhurst.

Two matches for Welton Rovers this week; on Tuesday, Rovers lost 2-0 to Oldland Abbotonians.

Max Dyer and Jacob Shore played the full 90, Mason Alden a second half sub.

Fast forward to Saturday and sadly Street ran out 3-0 winners against a Young Welton side.

Again, starts for Jacob Shore and Max Dyer with Alden used from bench once more.

 

 

 

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Yeovil Town Badge on huish park

Jack Hellier, the son of Yeovil Town chairman, Martin, has been appointed a director of Yeovil Football & Athletic Club, according to the company’s latest filing on Companies House.

Jack Hellier
Jack Hellier

The 21-year-old, a regular fixture at Huish Park since the takeover last May, was confirmed in the role through an update on Friday.

His appointment follows the termination of the appointment of former Commercial Director Mark Robinson as a director. His departure was announced by another filing earlier this week.

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Wattsy joins Ian and Ben to talk about the freezing cold night at Taunton where the Glovers picked up another big win!

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And now you’d better believe us.

Fire up your favoured live scores app and you’ll notice that Yeovil Town are top of the National League South by way of 13 points. Thirteen(!) points clear and we’re not even close to the end of January. You could argue that for a full-time club in a part-time division with the budget we have, 13 points clear is exactly where we should be. But for the sake of this piece, and for the sake enjoying the moment to the fullest, I’m going to ignore that and pour praise onto the manager and the players for what is, so far, a monumental effort. After all, saying you’ll piss the league and actually pissing it, are two different things.

So why are we so far clear?

Compared to last season’s National League South it does seem like the quality in the division may have dropped slightly. In terms of points tally, after 26 matches last season, the eventual winners of the league Ebbsfleet United were top on 57 points – two fewer than where Yeovil are now.

The key difference being the teams around Ebbsfleet in 2022/23. The above graphic shows that Dartford and Havant were keeping pace with the league leaders last campaign, whereas the below graphic shows that this season Yeovil have no competition towards the summit of the division.

Whilst we now know the Glovers are the best team in the league by miles, let’s for argument sake look at who might challenge in the final three months of the run in.

Maidstone United don’t score enough goals, Worthing concede too many goals and Torquay United, the pre-season bookmakers’ favourites for the league, are a huge 18 points adrift of the Glovers. Mind The Gap. Hampton have been winning games narrowly and won’t last the distance near the top while Bath City’s Plan A; Get It Wide To Jordan Thomas lacks a Plan B when they’re having an off day. You only have to look at our decision to loan out Will Buse to Bath (who were 3rd in the table at the time) to see how Mark Cooper rates their chances of challenging Yeovil.

The fact is, we’re better in every metric. We’re scoring more goals, we’ve started keeping clean sheets, we’re controlling games as Cooper wants us to and even the underlying statistics such as xG suggest the table isn’t lying. There is no team in this league that will be able to mount a sustained challenge from here on in – they just don’t have the depth or quality. It does, at times, feel like watching the Year 11s vs the Year 7s in terms of resources and experience, but we must enjoy every ounce of it because it will not be this good in seasons to come.

The squad seem to be able to grind out performance after performance and each display shows off a different weapon to the armoury. Go long against us and you’ve no chance. Jake Wannell engulfs strikers like a white blood cell protecting the body from infection and Morgan Williams gobbles up long balls like Bruce Bogtrotter. Go short against us, play us at our own game like Farnborough and Aveley tried, and our passing quality, our pressing and fitness will almost always win the day. Try to bully us like Taunton on Boxing Day and we just bully back, but harder.

Picture Courtesy of Gary Brown

Joe Day has now kept five clean sheets in the last seven games and we’ve begun showing a sturdy, robustness that has allowed the team to string runs of wins together without playing all that well on occasion. In the past four games we’ve dug out 1-0 wins at Eastbourne and Taunton – these are the gritty, determined performances that wins you leagues in the cold, winter months.

The quality we have in the squad is genuinely mind-blowing for the level. In the past month the club have been able to loan out Jordan Maguire-Drew and Alex Fisher, two players who can’t get near the starting line-up, to teams in the division above. We’ve too lost Josh Staunton, who also couldn’t get a sniff of a game, to a National League outfit. Staunton has started life well at Boreham Wood, earning Man of the Match on his home debut for the club and finding himself in the National League Team of the Week.

https://twitter.com/Vanarama/status/1744328380659495162

If these players couldn’t get a game at Yeovil but are shining in the division above, that surely bodes well for next season.

There are still 20 games to play in this league though – the manager referenced as such in his post-match interview after the 1-0 win away at Taunton Town. Complacency might be our biggest danger from now until April. The facts would say there are still 60 points to play for so promotion is far from wrapped up but if the evidence of the first 26 games is anything to go by, Yeovil Town are going to win the league.

And now you’d better believe us.

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Ian’s fingers have finally thawed out after a chilly evening in Taunton as Yeovil Town ran out victors. The gap at the top of the National League South has widened and here are his conclusions from the County town.

Frank Nouble was the difference maker. It was a game of few opportunities and when they weren’t kicking lumps out of Yeovil players, Taunton defended well. When the big chance came, Frank Nouble took it with conviction. The assist from Worthington was laid on with precision but Nouble still had work to do before beating Taunton’s keeper. It’s four goals in four games for Nouble and his connection with supporters is getting stronger each week.

Frank Nouble celebrates his fourth goal in as many games.

Sonny Blu Lo-Everton took his chance. After an exciting cameo against Bath, Lo-Everton was given the opportunity from the start against Taunton and I really enjoyed his performance again. He was direct, carried the ball through midfield and some of his touches were sublime. When he plays like that, Sonny is a joy to watch and to see him further forward gives yet another attacking combination up top.

We seemed to pick up a few knocks. The break couldn’t come at a better time. Rhys Murphy came on and went back off again after feeling his hamstring. At the time, Josh Owers was poised to come on at Charlie Cooper appeared to be struggling. Jordan Young was subjected to some pretty forceful tackles. With ten days until the visit of Hemel Hempstead, there’s a nice chunk of time to rest, recuperate and come back refreshed for the home stretch.

Courtney Senior. Picture Courtesy of Gary Brown

I’d be surprised if we extended Courtney Senior’s loan. The midfielder has shown glimpses of trickery and pace and I totally understand the logic behind his signing before Christmas. He was swapped for Rhys Murphy at half time and with the addition of Dylan Morgan I think we’ve got strength in depth in that position now. Will Dawes is growing increasingly popular and Jordan Stevens will return to training at the end of January, so we’ve got plenty of options. There’s definitely a player there, but I’m not sure we’ve seen the best of him. We were worried about options a few weeks ago, and we have managed that situation well.

And now you’re gonna believe us. Thirteen points clear. Momentum is with Mark Cooper’s team. The players are a close-knit group, that clearly believe. The teams below are wildly inconsistent and we are anything but. I know we’ve been scarred from the last decade, and as supporters we will always keep our expectations low, but come on, deep down know what’s happening here…

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Goal scoring hero Frank Nouble spoke to BBC Somerset’s Sheridan Robins after the Glovers’ 1-0 win over Taunton on Tuesday night, you can listen to the whole interview below.

The forward said how whilst the game wasn’t easy, they knew that sticking to their game plan and trusting their play would come good eventually: “Everything we are doing is working and is going to plan, we work on these things in training, so when it comes out, you get the rewards especially when we get support like that every week.

“It’s a good goal, I think we won it, honestly it’s a blur, I think Worthy played the ball to me. We tried to play the ball in behind, but it was quite hard in the first half, they were very resolute, similar to the Bath game, a team that really wanted to beat us and do well, we’ve just got to find that way and obviously we’ve got the quality, particularly at this level to create chances, it’s about taking them and we did.”

Frank Nouble celebrates his fourth goal in as many games.

Taunton, who have struggled with off field issues for the last month or so, set their stall out to frustrate and keep Yeovil back. But, Nouble was adamant that it won’t get easier, but to trust the process.

“It gets harder as the games go on, teams are watching clips of our games previously and trying to find ways to beat us, so long as we keep playing our football, we keep doing what we’re doing, we’ll get chances to put chances away and at the moment, it’s been me that’s been putting them in, so long may that continue. I’m sure in the next couple of weeks, it’ll be Murph and Youngy and then whoever it is, we’ve just got to keep winning.”

The former Torquay man praised Mark Cooper and the togetherness of the group and the support that has continued to follow the side this season, but admits even he didn’t think the Glovers would be 13(!) points clear at this stage… he wants to get things wrapped up as soon as possible. 

“[It’s a] great group, everyone that’s been here all season really, they’ve been brilliant, the manager is trying to build a little culture of everyone sit together, tight knit and make sure we produce for the supporters, because they’re the most important people here, we’ll come and go as players and staff, but they just want to see a team that’s fighting for the shirt.”

“Not 13 [points clear], but I did expect us to be at the top, I expected a team like Torquay to be challenging, if I’m being honest, but yeah, we just take it as it comes really, we deserve to be where we are, if anything we might have dropped points in the first 20 games of the season, so we could have been 15, 18 points clear, so hopefully we can get this league wrapped up by the end of February”

“…hopefully we can get this league wrapped up by the end of February”

 

You can listen to the entire interview with Sheridan and Frank below