April 2025 (Page 7)

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“…and as for the officials, with Rule One rattling around my head, probably up there with one of the worst performances I’ve seen from the officials ever, at times they were literally guessing. Just pointing flags in random directions and I know Mr Stephen Copeland was a late sub for the game as the man in the middle, but it’s not all about you mate, control the game, protect the players. “

Well, this one could get awkward.

I sure hope Mr Copeland didn’t read that, or at the very least take it to heart. 

Stephen Copeland will be the man in the middle for Yeovil Town’s home game against Oldham this weekend.

The above quote comes from Gloverscast Ben’s Five Conclusions from the 0-0 draw with Tamworth, where, if you recall, he sent off Morgan Williams for an ‘Orange card’ offence.

His performance for rest of the game clearly rubbed Ben up the wrong way. 

It was the fourth time we’d had Mr Copeland as a ref, the other three without much incident, including a 3-0 home win over Wrexham.

He’s also reffed Oldham four times, but not this season.

He’s been used across various competitions this campaign and as such only has ten National League games to his name.

But in those 10 games, he dished out 52 Yellow cards, five reds and NINE penalties. 

Not one to get on the wrong side of.

Mr Copeland will be assisted by Stuart Kane and Andrew Ellis, Phillip Eddie will be keeping tabs on the dugouts and getting in both ears from the gaffers.

Best behavior, lads.

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It was further heartbreak for Yeovil Town, as a late winner condemned the Glovers to defeat at Altrincham in a 2-1 loss. Let’s see what else went on in a busy day for the division’s sides…

We begin in County Durham, as a 94th minute winner from Sam Folarin rescued a victory for Hartlepool United over bottom side Ebbsfleet United in a 3-2 thriller, the hosts were made to work for their win as they were twice pegged back by their visiting opposition. There were big results in the relegation battle on Saturday, as Maidenhead United secured a huge 3-1 win at home against Tamworth, leaving them two points off safety and harming the Lambs’ playoff ambitions in the process, while AFC Fylde’s route to safety became a lot harder following a home defeat to title hunting York City.

There were slip ups for the other two sides in the top three to bottom half opponents, as Braintree Town continued a great end to their season under Steve Pitt with a 2-1 win over league leaders Barnet, ending their 25 league game unbeaten run in the process, while Wealdstone hero Alex Reid’s double downed Forest Green Rovers, both victors coming from behind to win their matches. Gateshead ended a run of eight league games without a win as they defeated relegation candidates Dagenham & Redbridge in a 2-1 result. Sutton United secured a point with a 94th minute Ashley Nadesan equaliser against Southend United, while an 89th minute equaliser from Tomas Galvin meant FC Halifax Town left Eastleigh with a point from the evening kickoff, both games ending in 1-1 ties.

Finally, there were three National League sides in FA Trophy action, and there was plenty of drama in both ties! Aldershot Town ensured they would make their first appearance at Wembley, coming from behind in controversial circumstances to defeat Woking 2-1. Cards midfielder Harry Beautyman was sent off for “elbowing” an opponent defender, with Lewis Walker nabbing a goal for the depleted visitors, but a James Henry penalty and a 92nd minute Jack Barham winner sent the Shots to the final.

In the other tie, Rochdale were pegged back twice by National League North side Spennymoor Town, before being knocked out on penalties. Devante Rodney gave the hosts the lead in the 48th minute, three minutes later Finley Shrimpton equalised for the visitors, before an Aidan Barlow penalty handed Rochdale the lead another three minutes later. Spennymoor kept themselves in contention with a dramatic 95th minute equaliser from Aidan Rutledge, before burying all five of their penalties during the shootout. Tarryn Allarakhia missed for the Dale, sending the Moors to Wembley and ensuring a first non all-National League final since Hornchurch won in 2020/21.

National League results – in full

AFC Fylde 1-3 York City
Altrincham 2-1 Yeovil Town
Braintree Town 2-1 Barnet
Gateshead 2-1 Dagenham & Redbridge
Hartlepool United 3-2 Ebbsfleet United
Maidenhead United 3-1 Tamworth
Sutton United 1-1 Southend United
Wealdstone 2-1 Forest Green Rovers
Eastleigh 1-1 FC Halifax Town

FA Trophy Quarter Final results (NL teams in bold)

Aldershot Town 2-1 Woking
Rochdale 2-2 Spennymoor Town (Spennymoor win 5-4 on pens)

National League table

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In: Five Conclusions

It was defeat for Yeovil Town in Altrincham yesterday as a they could not hold out against intense pressure from their play-off-chasing opponents. Distant Glover, aka Alex Russell, was among the 192 travelling supporters on the terrace at Moss Lane yesterday and here are his thoughts.

That felt like our whole season in one match. We started well, then struggled after key players got injured. We worked a lot harder than the scoreline might suggest. We didn’t make the most of our chances. We would have won if they’d been below us, but they’re a team above us, so we lost. Defensive lapses led to the opposition scoring. The pitch had more bobbles than Claire’s Accessories and was sufficiently sandy for no-one to have blamed any of the players for thinking they were already on the beach. The ref was notable for all the wrong reasons – have you seen Alex Whittle’s forehead/gorehead? (He didn’t endear himself to the Alty fans either.) At least a couple of our best players didn’t sign for other clubs at half time and I don’t remember seeing an opposition fan sporting a giant robin head anywhere else.

Aaaand breathe. At about four o’clock on Saturday 5 April 2025, a profound sense of calm fell over a south-westerly area of Greater Manchester. How very welcome it was to see the world seem to stop again, simply because Jake Wannell put his foot on the ball. Any doubts that it might take him a few games to get his composure back went out the window. It really was like he’d never been away. Okay, we didn’t manage to hold on long enough to get a point, but somehow it seemed more likely we might tease out a draw with him out there again. Oh, we’ve missed him.

Jake Wannell made his first appearance since the win at Maidenhead United in late Februrary. Picture courtesy of Gary Brown

Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps. What might have happened over the winter if we’d been able to consistently field a largely unchanged team? It’s probably not a coincidence that our recent winning mini-run came with the same line-up, or that we started promisingly with them again at Altrincham (only to concede shortly after the enforced substitutions). The season’s not over yet, and I really don’t want to seem ungrateful about what a big deal it is to get promoted and finish mid-table-ish. (Insert cliché about biting your hand off last August here.) But last season rekindled a long-forgotten taste for winning and I can’t help wondering how things might have been if injuries hadn’t put paid to the same core group of players being available every game.

Solid Stone. The more I see of him, the more I like Aidan Stone. On a very bumpy pitch, he looked completely comfortable with back passes and it was telling that their attackers didn’t feel inclined to use up too much energy pressing him. We were stood right behind him in the first half; he was communicating (shouting) all the time, not just with defenders, but the midfield too. His distribution is great – he can kick a long way and it’s accurate. He pulled off a great save from Linney and couldn’t have done much about either goal. For the first time in a while, we’ll have a keeper for more than one season, and he’s a good one.

Aidan Stone has cemented his place as Yeovil Town’s number one. Picture courtesy of Gary Brown.

We’re not dull, are we? Lordy, what a couple of weeks. I’m going to put my positive hat on (despite what people may say, it was never off). Yes, there’s a barrow-load of unknowns right now, but at the risk of sounding like someone from HR who’s about to deliver some very unsettling news, there’s a load of opportunities too. It’s reassuring that Stuart Robins’ calmness and professionalism will be navigating us through whatever happens next. Rather than just write off the season marketing-wise, initiatives like Kids For A Quid will get bums on seats before the end of the season, and have an eye on the future. Finally, the relaunching of the Glover’s Trust gives us fans the chance to help shape the future of the club. Let’s not waste it.

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Late heartbreak for the Glovers on Saturday, but it didn’t go well for our loan watch sides in the National League South either.

Will Buse was not able to save his W*ymouth side from being officially relegated out of the National League South. The ‘keeper has been on the bench in recent games and their 4-1 defeat to Eastbourne means they’ll be in the Southern League next year.

Jordan Thomas was a late substitute for Torquay, but their title challenge took a dent when they conceded twice in the second half to lose at home to Chesham.

The result leaves them fifth in the table, but incredibly, still just three points off the top
. 

Into the regional divisions, and Sherborne’s game against Cowes Sports was called off because of Ferry crossing problems, the perils of playing sides from the Isle of Wight! 

But Wellington did play, they drew 1-1 with Saltash and Jacob Shore backed up a solid midweek 90 minutes with a Man of the Match performance on Saturday.

No game for Bridport, so they, like Sherborne will have to wait for another day. 

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A late goal from Altrincham captain Lewis Baines saw Yeovil Town’s winning run in the National League Premier Division come to an end in Greater Manchester.

The Glovers had gone behind when Tylor Golden sparked the first half in to life with an opener after half-an-hour before on loan defender Frankie Terry pulled the game level just two minutes later.

As the game pressed towards a conclusion, the home side, in need of three points to keep their hopes of reaching the play-offs alive, turned the screw with Yeovil wilting on a sunny day and Baines was unmarked on the edge of the box to sweep home the winner.

First half

Manager Mark Cooper made just one change to the squad which grabbed a late win at home to AFC Fylde the previous weekend with defender Jake Wannell returning on the bench in place of Lewys Twamley.

For the opening half-an-hour, the only moment of note came for a break in play after around 20 minutes when captain Alex Whittle went down with a head injury after a challenge with Justin Amalazour which saw him have to go down the tunnel for treatment. That led to a double change for the visitors with Whittle replaced by Ryan McLean and Charlie Cooper, who the manager had picked out as a player who had been playing through injury in recent weeks, went off for Harry Kite with 27 minutes gone.

That change seemed to unsettle the visitors and three minutes later Altrincham were ahead. First top scorer Regan Linney cut in from the left hand side and fired in a shot which was parried by Aidan Stone. The danger was not cleared was worked out to Tom Crawford who picked out Tylor GOLDEN, completely unmarked to turn the ball home at the far post to put the home side ahead after 30 minutes.

Altrincham celebrate an opener.

But two minutes later Yeovil were level. A long throw in to the box was cleared as far as Josh Sims on the edge of the box, he lifted it in to the area for Ciaran McGuckin who hooked it over for Frankie TERRY to run on to and he fired the visitors level.

Linney put one in to the side netting after good play from Amalazour just before the half-time break, but the game was level when the whistle sounded.

Yeovil had probably had the better of the possession in the first half and offered more of the attacking threat, but the loss of the experience of Whittle and Cooper shook us a little. Deservedly level at the break.

Half time: Altrincham 1 Yeovil Town 1

 

Second half

At half-time, Jake Wannell replaced Josh Sims bringing more experience to the back line.
 
The first chance of the second half fell to Yeovil. Another long throw in to the box was headed down by Finn Cousin-Dawson and met on the volley by Otis Khan, but unfortunately in to the hands of Caleb Ansen, the on loan Norwich City goalkeeper between the posts for Altrincham.
 
On the hour mark, Harvey Greenslade replaced Ciaran McGuckin, but there was nothing much in the way of chances until the final 15 minutes. Altrincham started to turn the screw as Yeovil started to look to tire and could not clear their lines.
 
On 75 minutes, Linney did superbly to bring the ball under his spell on the left side and burst towards goal, going past a number of visiting defenders and had to be denied by Stone at the near post. Shortly after Marcel Lavinier replaced Khan with Yeovil seemingly trying to bring some legs on to the pitch.
 
Five minutes later, the striker showed exactly why he has been so prolific this season, showing great control once again, shrugging off Kyle Ferguson, but dragging his shot wide.
 
But with two minutes of normal time remaining, Altrincham took the lead again. A corner from substitute Alex Newby was missed by Cousin-Dawson and fell to Lewis BAINES who swept it home.
 
The ten minutes before that goal had seen us defend deeper and deeper, seemingly unable to keep the home side at bay and eventually the pressure told.
 

Full time: Altrincham 2 Yeovil Town 1

Match Details

Venue: Moss Lane
Date: Saturday 5th April, 3:00pm kick-off

Competition: National League Premier Division

Scorers: Tyler Golden 30 (0-1), Frankie Terry 32 (1-1), Lewis Baines 88 (1-2)

Pitch: Bobbly
Conditions: Sun cream – or after sun – required in the away end on a hot and sunny day

Attendance: 1,851 (192 away supporters)

Bookings: 
Altrincham: Lewis Banks 37
Yeovil Town:  Kyle Ferguson 37, Finn Cousin-Dawson 82, Marcel Lavinier 83, Dom Bernard 85

Referee: Dale Baines

Yeovil Town (4-3-3)

Substitutes:  Harry Kite (for Alex Whittle, 28), Ryan McLean (for Charlie Cooper, 28), Jake Wannell (for Josh Sims, 46), Harvey Greenslade (for Ciaran McGuckin, 60), Marcel Lavinier (for Otis Khan, 77), Michael Smith (not used), Matt Gould (not used).

Altrincham: Caleb Ansen, Justin Amaluzor, Lewis Baines, Lewis Banks, Tom Crawford, Callum Dolan (for Alex Newby, 81), Tylor Golden, Matt Kosylo (gfor Kahrel Reddin, 70), Regan Linney, Charlie Olsen, Elliot Osborne.

Substitutes (not used): Issac Marriott, Matt Penney, Brandon Powell, Harvey Randle, Lucas Weaver.

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Yeovil Town boss Mark Cooper has said that his team needed to find a bit more energy to see the game out against Altrincham.

Speaking to BBC Radio Somerset’s Josh Perkins he said that the dressing room was disappointed in the result, but there wasn’t much in a stop-start game.

“Yeah, disappointing, there was not a lot in the game, we ran out of a bit of energy at the end, because we had to make so many subs early in the game, I think that cost us towards the end, we couldn’t put enough energy on the pitch towards the end, we’d made four subs pretty early.

We’ve got players that are not quite up to speed yet and I think that showed in the last ten minutes.”

The Glovers were forced into two first half changes with both Charlie Cooper and Alex Whittle forced off, Cooper with a flare up of tendonitis whilst Whittle was on the receiving end of a nasty challenge.

“I think, we make a sub, we put a young lad on, who doesn’t track his man in the box and he scores, 1-0 up, that’s poor, not quite up to the speed of the game.

I will say, the challenge on Alex Whittle is a really dangerous one, I could see from here, that the guy, doesn’t look at the ball, doesn’t one minute look at the ball and he leads with his – let’s give him the benefit of the doubt – leads with his arm, Alex Whittle looks like Harry Potter, he’s got an unbelievable scar on his forehead. I end up getting booked for asking the fourth official, ‘have you seen the cut on his forehead?’ and I get booked.

So our captain has to come off, which then disrupts our rhythm.”

“[Charlie Cooper] has been struggling with tendonitis, in his achilles, and his calf and he’s needed a rest for a while.

Kitey wasn’t quite ready for 90 minutes, he did well, but the last 20-minutes his legs had gone, so yeah, those two subs took off a lot of energy for us, second half we couldn’t quite get to the ball quickly enough.”

The game did see the return of Jake Wannell after injury, he was introduced at half time, but he was powerless to stop the hosts finding a late winner.

“[Jake Wannell] didn’t have lots to do, it was like, the pitch levels it up, it makes it difficult, you see the ball bouncing all over the place at times, the goal comes from the ball bouncing over Harry Kite’s leg and goes straight to their centre half who is not marked in the box.

In the first ten-minutes, we had three long throws where the ball bounced on their six yard box and nobody forced it in, so we have to be a little more ruthless there, after that, the ball bounced, and Frankie managed to finish one off.”

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Yeovil Town loan defender Frankie Terry told BBC Radio Somerset’s Josh Perkins, that he and his teammates were disappointed to not come away with a point after a last gasp Altrincham winner.

Following two wins and two clean sheets, Terry said that it was frustrating to let slip a game which he helped the Glovers get back into.

“Over the past two weeks, we’ve done so well, getting two wins, getting back on track, how we want to be, so, to concede late today is very disappointing.

I think first half, we were good, we were on top, we managed to get ourselves back in the game, we obviously had two subs early, which isn’t ideal, but the boys that came on did well.

Second half was a different game, to be fair, they were better than us second half, we just needed to be better in the second half to see the game out.”

Terry scored his first goal in green and white after Altrincham had gone ahead, probably against the run of play, but a lapse of concentration at the end, and a unfortunate bobble of the ball, allowed Lewis Baines to fire home a late winner.

“The main thing is that you have to be concentrating until the final whistle, the pitch – not an excuse – but the pitch, it [the winning goal] has taken a bad bounce, but we just have to stay concentrated, 

I’m buzzing [with the goal], obviously it would have been better with a win, but personally, I’m happy to score.

I’m really enjoying it at the moment, it’s a really good club, really good group of lads, I’m hoping to get as many games as I can and as many wins as I can.  “