Ben Barrett (Page 116)

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Sarll on media duties

Yeovil Town manager Darren Sarll was delighted with his side’s performance against play-off chasing Bromley.

The Glovers won 2-1 to record back to back wins after Saturday’s victory at bottom club Dover Athletic.

Speaking to BBC Somerset’s Sheridan Robins, the manager was full of praise for a number of his players:

“They were good you’ve got to give credit where credit is due, they looked so energised, engaged, motivated, all the great things you want to see in a team, I actually thought tonight we got to see a glimpse of the future”

“(Tom) Knowles looked like himself, I thought Lawson (D’ath) was great tucked in on the left, Matthew (Worthington) looked like a Football League player rather than a National League player.”

“Really good performances all round, we will work again Thursday because this new attitude is quite enjoyable to watch at the moment.”

Goals from Lawson D’Ath and Tom Knowles sandwiched a Bromley equaliser that came as a result of an error from loanee Ted Cann in goal, Sarll was delighted with the way his team bounced back and was happy with Cann’s overall performance.

“I was really pleased with Ted, you come to a club like Yeovil and it’s not easy… I said to Ted at the end there, ‘when you woke up this morning, what did you want us to achieve?’ he said ‘for us to win’. I said, ‘job done’…

“I said you made a brilliant save at the end of the first half at 1-1, you took three or four really good crosses… for a 21 year old, who has made a bad call in the first half to then come again I thought that showcased his character splendidly.”

Reuben Reid. Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

There was further praise for Reuben Reid, who made only his second start of the season and was key to everything the Glovers did going forward.

“He takes a lot of criticism does, Reuben, but at times I thought he unplayable at times tonight… I thought our attacking play was excellent, but it was excellent because Lawson had a good game, Tom Knowles had a very good game and Reuben was untouchable with the ball at his feet.”

Yeovil have now scored four goals in two games something which the gaffer hopes can be taken into the weekend’s game against Southend United and for the rest of the season.

“The fact that we have scored four goals in the last two games is good for us, it lifts everyone, it makes them believe in their attacking play a lot more, it’s probably the most amount of shots we’ve had here for a long, long time, that was really pleasing”.

Yeovil host the Shrimpers this Saturday, with their visitors losing against Maidenhead United on Tuesday night despite taking the lead.

 

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Ruben Reid comes on vs Bournemouth


Reuben Reid – “the best back to goal striker in the National League” (D. Sarll, 2022) – replaces Adi Yussuf in the starting line-up for tonight’s visit of play-off-chasing Bromley at Huish Park (7.45pm kick-off).

The change was one of two with Lawson D’Ath, who was a substitute for the 2-0 win at Dover Athletic at the weekend, coming in for Jordan Barnett.

Josh Staunton remains in the heart of defence alongside on-loan centre half Ben Barclay with skipper Luke Wilkinson only fit enough for the bench.

There’s still no place for Sonny Blu Lo Everton with Josh Neufville and Olufela Olomola the attacking options among the substitutes.

Yeovil Town: Ted Cann, Mark Little, Josh Staunton, Ben Barclay, Morgan Williams, Lawson D’Ath, Dale Gorman, Matt Worthington, Tom Knowles, Reuben Reid, Charlie Wakefield. Substitutes: Luke Wilkinson, Jordan Barnett, Alex Bradley, Josh Neufville, Olufela Olomola.

Bromley: Balcombe, Partington, Coulson, Arthurs, Cheek, Whitely, Vennings, Alexander, Webster, Cawley, Parsons. Substitutes: Alabi, Bloomfield, Wagstaff, Trotter, Forster.

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Adi Yussuf. Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

Yeovil Town striker Adi Yussuf has been called up for international duty by Tanzania for games against Central African Republic, Botswana and Sudan.

The call up means he will miss tonight’s National League fixture at home to Bromley and this weekend’s visit from Southend United to Huish Park.

Yussuf, who has five (ish) goals for the Glovers this season, joins up with Kim Poulsen’s side ahead of the games on Wednesday 23rd, Friday 26th and Tuesday 29th ruling him out of at least two Yeovil games in the process.

Yussuf was born in Zanzibar, an autonomas region of Tanzania and has made three appearances for the Taifa Stars without scoring, most recently playing the full 90 minutes of a 0-0 draw with Rwanda in October 2019.

All three games are set to be played at the Benjamin Mkapa stadium which can hold up to 60,000 people and we’ll bring you news of his ventures when we can!

Good luck (or should we say, ‘bahati njema’) Adi!




		


	







	


		
		


			

				
			


			
			
 
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Yeovil Town return to Huish Park following their first league win in ten on Saturday and welcome play-off chasing Bromley to town on Tuesday night.


The Glovers overcame Dover Athletic 2-0 at the weekend with goals from Ben Barclay and Dale Gorman whilst Bromley were holding the Hollywood boys of Wrexham to a goalless draw.


In terms of stats, Bromley’s form isn’t actually that good, draws against ten-man Torquay and Weymouth were sandwiched inbetween defeats at the hands of Stockport and Halifax.


They are still in the FA Trophy with their semi-final against York City scheduled for early April and currently sit 9th in the table, four points behind Notts County in 7th and 11 points ahead of the Glovers.


Yeovil won the reverse fixture 2-1 back in late November as part of that incredible run which had us all dreaming of our own crack at the top seven for a while; goals from Tom Knowles and Charlie Wakefield either side of a Michael Cheek penalty bringing all three points back to Somerset.


On that day, the Glovers could only name four subs including goalie Max Evans and youth prospect Ollie Haste.


Dan Moss (loan ended), Grant Smith and Luke Wilkinson (both injured) were all part of that impressive back line on the day and will all be missing this time around.


Since that game in November, the Ravens have added James Vennings, a young midfielder on loan from Charlton and Ali Al-Hamadi on a temporary deal from Wycombe, he will be expecting to start a third successive game alongside Michael Cheek in attack.


They could also have a new goalkeeper with on loan Brentford stopper Ellery Balcombe between the sticks, regular ‘keeper Mark Cousins hasn’t featured since the draw with Weymouth back in February.


FROM THE MANAGER


Bromley manager Andy Woodman is not expecting an easy game against Yeovil Town


Asked about the trip to the Glovers after Saturday’s 0-0 draw with Wrexham, he said:


“We have got to build on this (result v Wrexham) now, that’s the real important thing, a clean sheet against Wrexham, a good performance against Halifax although we didn’t get the result, we have got to keep plugging away at this stage of the season”


“It wont be easy, I don’t think any game is easy, we are all seeing that, we will prepare for that one and hopefully we can come back with the points”




TEAM NEWS


Michael Cheek will almost certainly lead the line for the Ravens, with three goals in his last three games against the Glovers he’ll be hoping for more of the same.


Former Glovers captain Omar Sowunmi hasn’t featured in either of the last two Bromley games.


 




A FOOT IN BOTH CAMPS


Two former Glovers defenders are currently in the Bromley squad, Wembley hero Byron Webster and Omar Sowunmi


Defender Omar Sowumni.
Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.


The giant 26-year-old defender spent four years at Huish Park having been signed from from Lowestoft Town by Paul Sturrock who infamously said he believed he could make the ex-Ipswich Town striker “the next Kenwyne Jones”.


Suffice to say, despite some impressive performances, Omar’s time at Huish Park will be remembered for captaining the side which whimpered out of the Football League in 2018-19.


In the Yeovil Town camp, Charlie Wakefield will be looking to show his old employers what they have missed out on.


The former Chelsea youngster was released by Bromley in the summer having made just four starts after joining in January last season.


Other players with a foot in both camps include Courtney Duffus, who it appears did not appeal to Woodman having been ignored for much of last season and then shipped out to Morecambe.


Winger Iffy Allen is another, having had a pretty iffy 12 match spell at Huish Park in 2015-16, before spending the 2017-18 campaign at Bromley.



		


	







	


		
		


			

				
			


			
			
 
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Ben Barclay
Pic: YTFC Youtube


Yeovil Town’s on loan defender, Ben Barclay has been names in the official Vanarama team of the week after scoring his first goal in green and white in the 2-0 win over Dover Athletic on Saturday.


With a clean sheet and a goal in the bag, Barclay is named alongside Grimsby’s Andy Smith and Woking’s Tom Champion in the mythical back three with a certain Patrick Madden also in the team for Barclay’s parent club, Stockport County.


Good work, Ben.


 






		


	







	


		
		


			

				
			


			
			
 
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In the latest Western Gazette column for the Gloverscast, Ben decided to open the briefcase of stats once more to try and crunch the numbers surrounding our lack of goals this season…


So, read on if you dare, the numbers are not great…




Yeovil players celebrate Charlie Wakefield’s FA Cup winner in Round 2


To quote to the great striker, Thierry Henry… “sometimes in football, you have to score goals”.


He’s not wrong, and he certainly knew how to find the back of the net and whilst that quote might be taken slightly tongue in cheek on it’s matter-of-fact stance, it actually comes in quite handy for the Glovers.


Our lack of prowess in front of goal has been well documented but it’s only once you break down the numbers do you realise just how poor our strike force have been.


So, if you’re sitting comfortably, here are those all too gruesome numbers.


Adi Yussuf fires a shot in on goal.
?Mike Kunz.


28 goals this season is the second lowest in the league, only already relegated (and Yeovil’s next opponents) Dover have scored less.


28 is a full nine fewer than Barnet managed as the lowest scorers last season (37) can the Glovers score 10 in the last 12 games to at least break that barrier?


Of those 28, only 12 have come at home.


12 goals in front of your home supporters, that’s a pretty expensive season ticket if you go by the tried and tested goals-per-pound method.


Of those 12 home goals, 5 have come before the 15 minute mark… don’t turn up late to Huish Park.


We’ve scored 57% of our goals away from home this season, a divisional high. 


Some light relief for those who travel away from home.


We’ve not scored twice in the league since the amazing win at Wrexham… in November, we’ve not scored at home in three.


We’ve only got two points from losing positions all season… let’s hope we don’t go behind.


Joe Quigley, still our top-scorer (7)
? Mike Kunz,


28 is at least seven less than Aleksander Mitrovic has this season, whilst at our level, its just four more than Kabongo Tshimanga has… and he’s not played since just before Valentines day.


Add together Paddy Madden’s 13 with Angelo Balanta’s eight and seven from Rhys Murphy and you’ve got a former YTFC strike force that matches Yeovil’s squad this season.


And here’s the cherry on top. When we crashed out the EFL we scored 41 goals in 46 games… that’s 0.89 goals per game.


Our current ratio is 0.88


It all makes for rather depressing reading. 


Goals win games… goals sell tickets… goals keep the season alive.


I don’t have the answers, we all know the context which surrounds our club right now, but with the season drifting to an end, the least the fans deserve are a few moments to savour.


Channel your inner Thierry Henry, lads, sometimes, you have to score goals.




Don’t forget to read our column in the Western Gazette every week, available in all good local outlets (and the rubbish ones as well)


 



		


	







	


		
		


			

				
			


			
			
 
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Yeovil Town midfielder Josh Staunton has said that whilst a play-off charge is unlikely (but not impossible), it was still up to the group to find the motivation to finish the season strongly.


“I think it comes down to us as a group of players, with the manager, we are not going to be allowed to sit on our laurels and just float through the end of the season.”


“We’ve had a difficult run in ourselves, where we haven’t produced result like we wanted to, even if sometimes the performances have been really good.”


“It’s now a case in pride is us as a group and finish as high up the table as we can and you never know, in this league, if you can put a run together like we did before Christmas, maybe we can make a really late challenge. But I think it comes down to pride, we have to go out there in every game with the intent to win and take club as high up the table as we can, finish the season positively and that gives us a way to carry it through to next season.”


With regards to Saturday’s game against Grimsby, who are themselves flirting with the play-offs, Staunton thinks that it could act as a catalyst for a positive run.


“Every game at this level is hard, as we’ve seen… we played well when we went up to Grimsby, we just couldn’t score.


“It was probably the start of our good run, Grimsby away (Editor Note: we went 11 unbeaten after) so I think we go into it with positive thoughts, we played well against them last time, we were just lacking goals, if we can get an early one, it’ll change the atmosphere around the place, atmosphere in the dressing room and some of that belief might come back.”


There was no question about his ongoing hernia problem which was referenced after the game on Tuesday, but the fact that Sam got him to do press duty suggests he should be fine for the game.



		


	







	


		
		


			

				
			


			
			
 
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Angelo Balanta in his loan spell at Yeovil Town in 2013. Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.


Yeovil Town are back at Huish Park after three matches away with Dagenham & Redbridge the visitors.


The original fixture was postponed when following Storm WhatsHerFace blowing  half the county of Somerset away.


Not much has changed since then in truth, the Glovers still sit midtable, with plenty of very decent “all guts, no glory” performances and more draws than a large Ikea warehouse and Dagenham still flirt with the play offs.


The Daggers sit 10th, seven points behind Notts County who occupy the all important seventh spot.


In terms of actual form, the visitors have actually only picked up one more point than Yeovil in the last five games, a 3-0 win over Maidenhead last time out and a 1-1 draw vs Woking in that time.


The Glovers of course have been picking up stalemate points for fun; five of the last seven Yeovil games have ended all square.


Goals (or lack, thereof) has been the talking point at Huish Park, Dagenham don’t have that problem, 53 league goals this season, that’s not a million miles off double Yeovil’s tally of 28.


Only one has made double figures though, that is Paul McCallum, who scored when these sides met earlier in the campaign… a 1-0 win for Yeovil… it’s enough to make your brain hurt.


He got a brace when they last played, but that was a week ago, against Maidenhead, he and his team-mates had a Saturday off as the Glovers lugged it up to Nottingham and back to be pegged back at the death by Notts County.


 




FROM THE MANAGER


Daryl McMahon is all too aware of what awaits his side at Huish Park telling the Barking and Dagenham Post:


“Darren (Sarll’s) teams are hard to play against, they always are, they’re always aggressive. Going down to Yeovil is always a tough game, but it’s another game in this division we look forward to.”


Whilst club captain and former Glovers’ loanee Angelo Balanta said:

“Yeovil will be tough. They’re below us in the table but they gave us a good contest and made it tough for us.


“They’re very resilient the way they go about their business and defend their goal really well.


“I think it will be similar but we’ve got to do what we’ve been doing, performing well and hopefully get the result.”




TEAM NEWS


McMahon is hoping to welcome a couple key players back into the fold, including a name Glovers fans will recognise, he should have Angelo Balanta (calf) and Matt Robinson (concussion) back in contention this week.




A FOOT IN BOTH CAMPS


Yeovil Town captain Josh Staunton.
Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.


Yeovil Town captain Luke Wilkinson and midfielder Josh Staunton seems likely to be the only players with experience of playing for both sides starting this weekend.


The central defender played 65 times for Dagenham following his release by Portsmouth in 2010.


He had a couple of spells on loan at Boreham Wood and one at Dartford during his time at Victoria Road before departing for Luton Town in 2014.


Staunton arrived in Essex following his release by Gillingham in the summer of 2016 and made 37 appearances as they reached the Conference play-offs missing out to eventual winners Forest Green Rovers.


Despite playing in most positions in defence, Staunton was allowed to leave and joined Woking for the following season and then moved to FC Halifax Town from whom he joined Yeovil in summer 2020.


Another in the green-and-white corner is Lawson D’Ath, the playmaker working his way back to fitness after nine months out through injury.


He had a 21-game spell on loan in Essex in the 2013-14 season.


Likely to be missing through injury is the visitors’ talismanic forward Angelo Balanta who was an unused substitute in Yeovil’s 2-1 League One play-off final win over Brentford which secured promotion to the Championship in 2013.


If you’ve not heard it, check out our podcast with former Yeovil Town press officer Jimmy Healey for a great story about Balanta’s celebration – here.


The Colombian had a spell at Bristol Rovers, helping them out of the Football Conference in 2015, before moving to Carlisle United, Boreham Wood and eventually arriving at Dagenham in October 2018.


There is a possibility of seeing ex-Glovers’ midfielder Joey Jones who played the first half against Spennymoor last weekend before being replaced at half-time.


He spent his youth career at Arsenal and Leicester but having signed for Yeovil in 2013 after playing in a behind-closed-doors friendly he failed to make an appearance.


In January 2014, he was loaned out to Woking who he eventually joined permanently at the end of the season and when on to play 162 times for the Cards.


He arrived at Victoria Road, via Eastleigh and Salford City, in November 2020.


Other familiar faces to both sets of supporters include….


    

  • Rhys Murphy – Dagenham (2013-15), Yeovil Town (2019-21)
    • 

  • Mitch Brundle – Yeovil Town (2012-13), Dagenham (2019-21)
    • 

  • Jake Howells – Yeovil Town – loan (2015), Dagenham (2017-18)
    • 

  • Gavin Tomlin – Yeovil Town (2008-10), Dagenham (2010-12)
    • 

  • Matt Harrold – Dagenham – loan (2004-05), Yeovil Town (2005-06)
    • 

  • Kirk Jackson – Yeovil Town (2002-04), Dagenham – loan (2004)
    • 

  • Paul Terry – Dagenham (1999-2003), Yeovil Town (2003-07)
    • 



 



		


	







	


		
		


			

				
			


			
			
 
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Luke Wilkinson.


Yeovil Town defender Luke Wilkinson has been given a place in the Non League Paper’s ‘Team of the Day’ following his performance against Notts County.


The Glovers may not have won, but Wilko has been listed along side Barnet’s Ben Richards-Everton and Jesse Debrah of Halifax in the mythical side’s defence.


Well in, Wilko.


The full team is as follows…





		


	







	


		
		


			

				
			


			
			
 
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Paul Fairclough has announced his England C squad for the upcoming game against Wales.





As expected it is full of the very best from the National League, but there are no current members of the Yeovil squad that make the cut.





Three former Glovers make the cut, Scott Loach (Cashterfield), Ben Tozer (Wrexham) and Nathan Ralph (Southend) have all been selected for the game on March 30th.





There does appear to be a ‘contingency squad’ with Wealdstone announcing two of their players had been called up, despite not appearing on the list.





If any of the current squad are also named in the back up squad they could be called upon for the game which is scheduled for inbetween the Southend and Barnet fixtures.





The team includes Paul Mullin who was being touted for a full Welsh call up this season and Dagenham’s Matt Robinson who will be in the visitors squad at Yeovil this coming Tuesday.


The full squad is as follows…