Wright: That is our base
Yeovil Town on-loan goalkeeper Ollie Wright said today’s goalless draw with Altrincham had to be the base upon which the Glovers build on for the rest of the National League season.
The Southampton youngster kept his second clean sheet of the season and his first of the season at Huish Park in a match his manager Mark Cooper described as the side’s “best all-round performance of the season.”
It may be no coincidence that the clean sheet came following the return to the back four of Alex Whittle, Morgan Williams, Jake Wannell and Michael Smith which had started the season.
Speaking to BBC Somerset reporter Chris Spittles after the match, the 21-year-old said: “That is our base now as a whole group, I thought today was one of our better performances from the nine games we have played and we just have to keep going with some momentum now and hopefully we don’t pick up any more injuries or suspensions.
“That is our bare minimum and we just have to keep going forward. It is a long season ahead of us, so if we play like that every week I think we will be right up there. It was just the final product for us today.”
For Wright, who signed a contract extension at St Mary’s in April before making a season-long move to Huish Park, it was his ninth competitive fixture and only his second shut-out.
He added: “I am buzzing with a clean sheet and it was much needed. I thought in the first half the lads were brilliant and I didn’t really have anything to do, but when you are called upon it is really important to be ready and that is what I train for.
“The Gaffer is trusting me and at my age it is a really good level to be at, so I am just hear to play as much as I can and showcase my skills.“
Cooper: Our best all-round performance of the season
Manager Mark Cooper praised the work-rate of his Yeovil Town team as they were held to a goalless draw at home to Altrincham this afternoon.
The hosts came closest to breaking the deadlock at Huish Park when full-back Michael Smith saw his chip come back off the underside of the crossbar in the second half, but it was a fourth blank in front of goal for the Glovers.
Following a disappointing performance in the 1-0 defeat against Solihull Moors four days earlier where Cooper questioned the commitment of his players, the boss was far happier with their endeavour against Altrincham.
Speaking to BBC Somerset’s Chris Spittles after the game, the boss said: “I thought we looked solid, aggressive, I think that is the best all-round performance we have given this season. I asked for a performance and I thought first half we were really good, we controlled large parts of the game and picked the right times to play forward. The only bit that was missing was a little bit of quality when we got one-v-one in the wide areas to create that chance on goal.
“As a team we defended really well, but that output and effort has to be a minimum for us. If we had played like that against Solihull the other night we would have won the game. It is pretty sobering for the boys, they can see that if they do give everything, we can more than match an Altrincham side which was in the play-offs in this division last season.
“The work-rate, the effort was just incredible, the boys covered 13-14k today and that has to be the minimum for us and if we can do that every game we will be a match for a lot of teams.”
Sonny Blu Lo-Everton was handed his first start of the new season and came close to opening the scoring early in the first half when he warmed the palms of visiting keeper Ethan Ross, and Cooper was pleased with the mobility of his midfield.
He said: “We set up a little differently with three midfield players. We wanted mobility in the middle of the pitch and we one a lot of those one-v-one duels.
“We wanted energy and mobility today, we knew it was going to be a running game today and the midfield players all brought that. It is important we have that in them midfield.
“The players have given everything, covered a lot of distance, won a few duels and looked really solid and that is a start for us. We have lost four, won three and drawn one now and that is a really good clean sheet for us and we just have to add that bit of quality now. I thought we played forward well at times and picked the right times to break forward.”
A fantastic run and chip from Smith with 76 minutes gone was the closest either side came to breaking the deadlock and Cooper was full of praise for the Northern Irishman who he described as “a fantastic professional.”
He revealed the full-back, who turned 36 earlier this month, had been suffering with dizziness at half-time which eventually led to him being substituted with a minute of normal time remaining.
The manager said: “He was a bit dizzy at half-time but he wanted to stay on and I think that run and shot finished him off! It was just a shame it did not drop under the crossbar, that would have given us a deserved three points.”
Match Report: Yeovil Town 0 Altrincham 0
Yeovil Town put in an improved performance to record their first draw of the new season at home to Altrincham on Saturday.
The Glovers came closest to breaking the deadlock in the second half when Michael Smith’s chip came back off the crossbar although in truth it was the visitors who looked in control after the break.
It was an improvement on the midweek defeat to Solihull Moors and another point on the board for the home side who now head back on the road with visits to Oldham Athletic and Sutton United in their next two matches.
First half
Manager Mark Cooper made three changes to the starting XI from the midweek 1-0 home defeat to Solihull Moors with Morgan Williams, Sonny Blu Lo-Everton and Josh Sims coming in for Dom Bernard, Brett McGavin and Frank Nouble. The dropped trio only fell as far as the substitutes’ bench.
Lo-Everton showed his intent within six minutes of the match getting underway. A nice bit of passing and moving from Yeovil picked out the midfielder who dropped his shoulder, beat his man and fired in a venomous right-footed shot which Ethan Ross beat away.
At the other end Regan Linney fired one over before a Matt Worthington cross was towards Aaron Jarvis who got a glancing header on it, but the last touch appeared to come from Altrincham captain James Jones. Inexplicably it was given as a goal kick.
There was a good battle forming between visiting winger Justin Amaluzor and Glovers’ full-back Alex Whittle in the opening 20 minutes. Whittle was definitely enjoying the better of it to start with, but the wideman forced a foul out of Charlie Cooper in a dangerous position and Alex Newby fired the resulting free-kick wide of goal.
Linney tried his luck from the halfway line having spotted Wright off his line on 26 minutes, but the keeper looked fairly comfortable have back-peddled a bit.
Referee Lee Swabey is definitely one we are going to have to invoke Rule #1 for. Sam Pearson’s cross is clearly put out of play by an Alty player and the man in black gives it as a goal kick for the second time. If you’re wondering, Rule #1 of the Gloverscast – don’t moan about National League referees, they’re all useless. Fair to say the Thatcher’s Stand did not stick to that rule.
The biggest cheer of the afternoon came on the 33 minute mark when the referee finally awarded a corner to the home side. Jarvis rose highest to meet Cooper’s ball in at the far post, but he could not get enough contact on it.
There’s definitely a more solid look to the Yeovil defence today. The return of Morgan Williams, who did play the second half of the defeat to Solihull on Tuesday night, has reunited the back four of Whittle, Williams, Wannell and Smith which was the mainstay of last season’s success in National League South.
In midfield, both Sonny and Matt Worthington are playing almost in the ‘number ten’ position with Cooper the deeper lying midfielder. That led to quicker movement in attacking positions than we saw four days earlier and Sonny was definitely showing his quality with Yeovil ending the first half better.
Jarvis was utterly convinced there was a handball inside the Altrincham box as the game entered first half injury time before Whittle’s left-footed shot was blocked by a defender before Jarvis headed comfortably in to the hands of Ethan Ross before the half-time whistle sounded.
A huge improvement on the Solihull game on Tuesday night. There was a spell where Altrincham showed some good stuff, but it’s been Yeovil who have had the better chances in that first half.
Half time: Yeovil Town 0 Altrincham 0
Second half
The visitors made their intentions known from the off as they made the brighter start with Amalazour having an effort blocked by Michael Smith with the before Wright had to get down quickly to keep out Tom Crawford’s effort. The first save of note for Wright so far this afternoon within a minute of the restart.
Linney flashed another one past the post seconds later and Altrincham are definitely showing their intent in the opening exchanges of the second half.
On 55 minutes, the visitors had the ball in the back of the net. Linney broke away after the visitors found themselves in a three on three position following a forward foray from Jarvis, he forced Wright in to a save and Alex Newby was on hand to tap in the rebound. Luckily the linesman’s flag was up.
Just after the hour mark, Linney forced another stop out of Wright following a blistering break forward by Alamazour who evaded tackles from Whittle and Williams, the ball broke to Linney whose shot was superbly saved by the ‘keeper. Oddly, referee Swabey appeared to book Charlie Cooper – who had already been booked in the first half.
A bit of post-match detective work from Gloverscast Ben suggests the first booking after 20 minutes was actually for Altrincham’s Justin Amalazour. For what, we do not know.
With 65 minutes gone, Mark Cooper made his first change with Frank Nouble replacing Josh Sims.
Three minutes later, Worthington cut inside and shot just over the bar, but the energy levels were dropping for both sides on a warm afternoon.
A moment of magic from Michael Smith almost gave Yeovil the lead with 76 minutes gone. Having won the ball in midfield, he drove forward with Jarvis alongside him, spotted Ross fractionally off the line and attempted the chip which came back off the crossbar and hit Ross. So unlucky and the closest either side has come to breaking the deadlock.
That signalled two changes in the Yeovil forward line as Brett McGavin and Jordan Young replaced Lo-Everton and Sam Pearson. That meant Young down the right, Nouble down the left with Jarvis through the middle.
Cooper hit one over the bar with nine minutes of normal time remaining before McGavin hit a low one which Ross collected comfortably.
There was a worrying moment with a minute left when Michael Smith came off to be replaced by Dom Bernard, but the reaction of the veteran full-back was the biggest concern. He did not look happy.
With three minutes of injury time played, Nouble showed great strength to get away but he dragged his shot wide with Jarvis and Young both in arguably better positions.
Full time: Yeovil Town 0 Altrincham 0
Match Details
Venue: Huish Park
Date: Saturday 14th September – 15:00
Competition: National League Premier
Pitch: Still looking good
Conditions: A glorious autumn day
Attendance: 2,838 (91 away supporters)
Scorers: None.
Bookings:
Yeovil Town: Charlie Cooper 61, Michael Smith 82
Altrincham: Justin Amalazour 20.
Referee: Lee Swabey
Yeovil Town (4-2-3-1)
Substitutes: Frank Nouble (for Josh Sims, 65), Brett McGavin (for Sonny Blu Lo-Everton, 76), Jordan Young (for Sam Pearson, 78), Dom Bernard (for Michael Smith, 89) Finn Cousin-Dawson (not used), Matt Gould (not used).
Altrincham: Ethan Ross, Lewis Banks, Jake Cooper, Elliott Osborne, Regan Linney (for Kahrel Reddin, 87), Alex Newby (for Matty Kosylo, 87), Justin Amaluzor, Liam Humbles (for Joe Nuttall, 77), James Jones, Tom Crawford, Tylor Golden.
Substitutes (not used): Remi Thompson, Eddie Jones, Jake Bickerstaff, Harvey Randle.
Man of the Match Voting: Altrincham (Home)
A goalless draw at Huish Park for the first time this season, but who was your Man of the Match for Yeovil Town against Altrincham today?
Sorry, there are no polls available at the moment.Cooper: We need a performance
Yeovil Town boss Mark Cooper is hoping three changes to his starting XI will freshen up his side to turn in a performance following the disappointment in midweek against Solihull Moors.
The boss has brought defender Morgan Williams and midfielders Sonny Blu Lo-Everton and Josh Sims back in to the line-up for the visit of Altrincham to Huish Park, with Dom Bernard, Brett McGavin and Frank Nouble dropping to the bench.
Speaking to BBC Somerset’s Chris Spittles ahead of kick-off, he said: “We played a really tough, emotional, dramatic game last Saturday (in a 4-3 win at AFC Fylde) and then we were flat on Tuesday night (against Solihull Moors), so we are just trying to freshen it up.
“Frank has played 100-odd minutes in both of those games, so he will need to be ready for 25-30 minutes today, the same with Brett. We have five outfield players there and there is an opportunity to change it.”
Glovers’ goalkeeping coach Matt Gould, who is named on the substitutes’ bench at Huish Park, faces his old employers for the first time since swapping Greater Manchester for South Somerset in the summer.
Asked whether he had brought any inside knowledge of the opposition, Cooper added: “He knows how they play and what they might do, but we have to concentrate on us and what we do. If we play like we did the other night, we would not beat a team in a local park! So we have to be on the front foot, we need to turn in a performance today.“
Team News: Altrincham (home)
Josh Sims, Sonny Blu Lo-Everton and Morgan Williams have all been recalled to the Yeovil Town starting line-up for today’s home match with Altrincham at Huish Park (3pm kick-off).
The trio return in place of Frank Nouble, Brett McGavin and Dom Bernard, who are all named among six substitutes on the bench.
The return of Williams, who appeared as a second half substitute in Tuesday night’s 1-0 home defeat to Solihull Moors, reunites the back four of Whittle-Williams-Wannell-Smith for the first time since the third match of the season. Lo-Everton’s recall is his first start this season.
Buse joins W*ymouth
Out-of-favour Yeovil Town goalkeeper Will Buse has joined National League South strugglers W*ymouth on a one-month loan.
The local lad, who has not been given a squad number for the Glovers’ National League Premier campaign, has just completed a similar temporary stint with at Weston-super-Mare.
The Terras, who already have a number of ex-Glovers on their books, are in FA Cup action on Saturday with a trip to Sholing in the competition’s Second Qualifying Round.
Buse joins, defender Brooklyn Genesini, playmaker Jordan Maguire-Drew and striker Malachi Linton to have swapped Huish Park for that claret-and-blue lot down the road in recent months.
Match Preview – Yeovil Town v Altrincham
Following a less than satisfactory Tuesday night at Huish Park, the Glovers are back and this time it’s Altrincham who make the long trip south from Greater Manchester.
Here’s our preview of an important game at Huish Park, our final home game before two more trips on the road to Oldham Athletic next weekend and Sutton United three days after that.
Form Guide…
Yeovil Town are looking to get back to winning ways after falling to Solihull Moors 1-0 on home soil Tuesday night.
The Glovers have now lost three of their four home games this season (all by a 1-0 scoreline) so will hoping to get their Fortress Huish Park plans back on track.
Overall though, eight games and a record of four wins and four losses isn’t to be sniffed at. Yeovil sit ninth going into the weekend’s games.
Altrincham are sat in 16th at time of writing, but such is the nature of the table this season, they could overtake the Glover with a win, they have ten points from eight games and lost against Barnet on Tuesday night.
That game ended 2-1 to the Bees – Alty were 1-0 up on the night through striker Justin Amaluzor, but Barnet clawed back into the game and bagged a 92nd minute winner.
Their last win was last Saturday a 4-0 thrashing of Ebbsfleet United, a result which ended a three match run without a win,
Key Players…
Yeovil – Aaron Jarvis
The Glovers’ frontman has done a lot of huffing and puffing over the last few weeks and has already scored twice, but both of those goals have come away from home.
The former Torquay striker is yet to find the net on home soil this season and with Mark Cooper challenging his forward players to show more quality in the final third, Jarvis might be the one to step up as he’s looked the most dangerous and likely to get on the end of something in the opposition box.
Altrincham – Alex Newby
Alex Newby is a midfielder who can do a bit of everything.
The 28 year old, joined Alty from Colchester United in January and has been at the likes of Barrow and Chorley before – he played against the Glovers twice for Chorley in the 2019/20 season.
This season he’s been one of their best players in terms of ratings and involvements at the business end of the pitch.
He scored (and picked up an assist) against Ebbsfleet in a 4-0 demolition job last Saturday and assisted Tyler Golden’s opening day winner at home toWoking. He can operate on either flank and either Michael Smith or Alex Whittle (or both) will have to have their wits about them.
That’s What He Said…
Mark Cooper told BBC Somerset on Thursday that Altrincham are a “very good football team” and was looking forward to the challenge.
“[They’re] very good to watch, they’ve got some really good forwards, some good players all over the pitch and they try and play real football, they try and pass the ball, rotate and it’ll be a difficult game. But listen, we’re at home, we’ve lost three home games 1-0…we have to put on a performance at home, our fans need to be invigorated and energised, we have to give them that.”
After their game against Barnet on Tuesday – whilst Dean Brennan was having a little rant – Phil Parkinson said that their defeat came down to a lack of concentration rather than a lack of a performance.
With regards to a trip to Somerset, Parkinson said that it was “critical” his side bounced back; “every game is the same, we didn’t come here [to Barnet] hoping to get a win, we believed we could get a win… when your fans have travelled a long way you want to entertain them, our fans demand that when we set the team up we want to win, so like every game, we’ll set up to try and force the issue and Yeovil will be no different.”
We’ve met before…
The last two meetings between the sides have been draws with a 1-1 draw at Huish Park in February 2023 the most recent coming together.
James Jones opened the scoring and was later sent off (he’s still with Alty, now) before some chap called Jordan Maguire-Drew equalised from the penalty spot. Matt Gould was on the bench for Altrincham that day.
Before that, Egli Kaja bagged a 90th minute equaliser in a 2-2 draw in August of the same season up north.
Malachi Linton and Gime Toure (now there’s a name!) the Glovers’ scorers.
However the most memorable recent meeting was a 1-0 away win for Yeovil on the final day of the 2021/22 season.
A single Tom Knowles’ (DFILWF) earned the Glovers three points.
It was the first team debut of Max Evans and Ollie Haste and remains the match in which Josh Staunton earned his perfect 100% record as Glovers manager.
We learned recently that Grant Smith had an outfield shirt printed with “Smith 1” on the back… just in case!
Don’t I know you?
Right, we won’t lie, we’re struggling here.
We can’t spot any direct YTFC links within the Altrincham squad, which makes this part of the preview quite short.
Matt Gould, the Glovers’ Goalkeeper/Coach joined Huish Park directly from Altrincham this summer though, so here’s a picture of him looking very happy about it.
Who’s been a naughty boy, then?
Neither club is dealing with any suspensions, but this feels like a good time to mention that five yellows will lead to a one-match ban, both sides have a number of players on three for the season.
Alty will hope that Ed Jones, Lewis Banks and Tom Crawford (all on three) keep their noses clean whilst the Glovers have the same concerns about Aaron Jarvis (also on three).
Here’s a handy graphic explaining the situation with regards to yellow card accumulation.
How can you keep across the game?
In Person
Get to Huish Park! Tickets are available for the game here.
On the Radio
Ian is back on the mic with BBC Somerset alongside the returning “Stone Cold” Chris Spittles.
On the TV/ stream
National League TV has this game listed as available to watch outside of the UK
On the Gloverscast.co.uk
We’ll have team news, match report, Five Conclusions and our usual reaction podcast to follow on Monday.