Ben Barrett (Page 117)

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Gime Toure fires in a shot. Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

Yeovil Town have announced that striker Gime Toure has left the club by mutual consent.

The Frenchman was signed then manager Chris Hargreaves on a “short-term deal” in August following his release by League Two side Carlisle United.

He impressed on his debut coming off the bench for the final 20 minutes of the 1-1 draw at home to Wrexham and got his first goal in the third game, the 2-2 draw at Altrincham.

However, the 28-year-old has played just 34 minutes of football under new Glovers’ boss Mark Cooper with his last appearance coming on for the final six minutes in the goalless draw with Maidenhead United.

He departs having made 12 appearances, scoring twice, getting sent off once.

Go well, Gime.

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There were just two of the four Glovers’ loanees in action on Tuesday night

Will Dawes, who is back on loan at Stratford Town after his five-figure transfer from the Bards in the summer, played the full 90 minutes as his re-adopted side lost 4-2 to Alvechurch.

Dawes did set up the 2nd goal for his side and saw an effort of his own cannon back off the bar.

Over in Plymouth, Ollie Hulbert had to wait until the 75th minute to get a taste of the action as Plymouth Parkway drew 0-0 with Bracknall.

There was no place in the squad for Toby Stephens.

On Wednesday evening, defender Ollie Haste, was an unused substitute in Truro City’s 1-1 draw with Beaconsfield. The defender had appeared as a 66th minute substitute for the first team in the Somerset Men’s Premier Cup win over Taunton Town the night before.

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Yeovil Town manager Mark Cooper has named a strong side for the Somerset Men’s Premier Cup tie against Taunton Town.

On loan Bristol City man Will Buse starts in goal, making his first competitive start for the Glovers against the side he started the season on loan with.

Charlie Wakefield returns to the side after a spell out with injury and there are starts for Ewan Clarke and Lawson D’Ath who have been short of minutes recently.

Louis Britton, who has been waiting for his chance due to the form of Alex Fisher, also starts up top with the Glovers’ top-scorer named on the bench.

Youth players Ollie Haste, whose loan with Truro City allows him to represent the Glovers also, striker and Benjani Junior both make the bench.

The side in full (with something of a guess of formation…)

 

Substitutes: Chiori Johnson, Ollie Haste, Jamie Andrews, Alex Fisher, Benjani Junior.

Taunton Town: Lloyd Irish, Joe Budd, Nick Grimes, Jake Wannell, Ollie Chamberlain, Lloyd James, Nick Mcootie, Ross Stearn, Ross Staley, Dave Sims-Burgess, Dylan Morgan. Substitutes: Dan Ball, Joe Guest, Zac Smith.

Referee: Stacey Pearson.

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All three of Yeovil Town’s loan players made team-sheets for their respective clubs on Saturday, but only two played and only one started.

Firstly, defender Ollie Haste was back in the Truro City side after missing a couple games due to a slight injury, he was an unused substitute, as the White Tigers found a last- minute winner to beat Harrow Borough 2-1 in the Southern League Premier Division South.

The young defender has sat out recent matches through injury.

Over at Plymouth Parkway, striker Ollie Hulbert played the full 90 for his temporary side in a 1-0 defeat to Hanwell Town in the Southern League Premier Division South.

Midfielder Toby Stephens was named on the bench for the game and game on shortly after the hour mark.

Both Truro and Parkwat have midweek games where the trio will all hope to get more game time.

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Plymouth Parkway boss Lee Hobbs has said he considers the loan signing of Ollie Hulbert as something of a coup with the Glovers’ front man heading to Devon until the end of the year.

Speaking to Plymouth Live, the Parkway boss said;

“It’s a big signing because he is a very good player,” Hobbs said. “Jared Lewington has gone back to Taunton and I am just waiting for the I’s to be dotted and the T’s to be crossed, but I am delighted to get him into the building.

“He is a very, very good centre forward and while he is only 20 years old, he has a lot of experience of non-League. He was a pro at Bristol Rovers and (Chris) Hargreaves took him to Yeovil, he’s been out on loan at Gloucester City and Hereford, he had half a season in the Welsh Prem – this is a very, very good addition for us.

Interestingly, he made a comment about the former Bristol Rovers striker’s future suggesting his future may lie at a higher level … and potentially away from Huish Park;

“He is experienced at the league above and scored goals in both the National North and South. He is joining us until January, he has an agent and his agent only wants it to be until January when he hopes to get him a move to a higher level, but if he comes in and does well and there is no interest and he enjoys himself, then hopefully we can keep him.”

Hulbert has had a short stint with Gloucester City in the National League North, scoring once in three appearances.

Toby Stephens (Centre) in action for Plymouth Parkway
? Harrow Borough FC

Plymouth Parkway is also temporary home of Toby Stephens, the midfielder has impressed for Hobbs’ side as they turned a corner in the form table.

“Toby has been very good for us. I am really pleased with Toby,” Hobbs said. “He is a very good footballer and a great kid. He works hard and is very tidy, a very good player.

Plymouth Parkway travel to Poole Town on Wednesday night (7:45) in the Southern Premier League

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The Football Association has confirmed that Glovers’ midfielder Matt Worthington will serve a one-match ban following his red card on Saturday.

Worthington was booked twice, with the second caution being given for simulation as Yeovil searched for a second goal.

After the match, Josh Staunton said he didn’t think Worthington was the sort of player to dive, whilst Halifax manager Chris Millington also questioned the officiating, telling the Halifax Courier;

“It’s interesting when a referee’s getting booed off by a team who are desperate for wins and they’ve just had a 1-0 from a penalty he’s given, so it shows what a poor game he’s had.

“I didn’t see the penalty clear enough but the lads tell me it was never a pen.

“And their lad getting sent-off, from what I could see, looked like a strange decision”

Post match, Worthington – who also scored the only goal of the game – tweeted:

Worthington will miss next Saturday’s game against Bromley but be available again for the home game against Scunthorpe.

The FA has also confirmed that manager Mark Cooper was also the recipient of a Yellow Card, which means both he and his predecessor Chris Hargreaves have found their way into the referee’s note book.

For the record, full-back Jamie Reckord is only one yellow card away from a two-match suspension, he picked up his ninth booking of the season in the win over the Shaymen, whilst defender Ben Richards-Everton and playmaker Lawson D’Ath are one yellow card away from a one-game ban. D’Ath has been an unused substitute in the past two matches.

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Glovers’ gloveman and ‘best keeper in the League’ Grant Smith has been named in the Official Vanarama team of the week.

He was the final line of defence as Yeovil became the first side to keep Notts County at bay at Meadow Lane for over 500 days.

We’re not shocked, he’s just damn good.

 

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Was it pretty? No. Was it effective? Heck, Yes.

The Glovers’ Wall stood firm to hold off wave after wave of Notts County attack and take home a well earned point from Meadow Lane in front of a National League record, 16,500.

Gloverscast Ben joined Gloverscast Dave in the away end for this one, it’s conclusion time….

I think it’s worth putting some stats together to just understand just how good that result was.

Notts County have scored in every game this season, in every competition, regardless of eventual outcome.

49 goals in 19 games prior to the weekend, doesn’t take a genius maths wizz to work out that’s a seriously good XG return.

County had actually scored in every game since drawing a blank against Stockport County at the back end of last season. The last time Meadow Lane didn’t see a goal from their side in a competitive match…. April 17th 2021 when Eastleigh kept them out, 520 days between away clean sheets.

Notts County will be fine, on that evidence, they’ll finish top three, no question.

Their ability to find short passes through lines of players is second to none, every pass is quick, crisp along the ground and presented with pin point accuracy, which for me, only makes the Glovers’ rear guard action even more impressive.

Notts County are probably the best footballing outfit I’ve seen this season, or maybe even for a couple of seasons… and the Parma Violet Party Poopers gave them a good old dollop of ‘thou shall not pass’. 

The difference between this game and the Oldham shambles came down to a very simple gameplan.

Be. Organised.

A very flat back five, a central but very flat four in front of them, and at times a rather defensively minded frontman.

I don’t think Scott Wickens’ running tracker would have had too much of a tough task getting the numbers for this one, it wasn’t expansive.

But that’s okay, sometimes, you have to dig in and get it done, what I want to highlight is the levels of concentration needed. To stay switched on at the back for basically 95 minutes is tough, mentally.

Only for maybe twice could messrs Hunt, Bevan and Williams dare to switch off as the ball made a foray forwards, but they kept their cool. Block, Tackle. Head. Clear. Repeat.

One misplaced foot and a penalty would have gifted their hosts a chance to undo all that hard work, one flung out limb could deflect a ball beyond Smith, one lapse in concentration and your (very good) opponents have a yard of space and a free chance to ruin it all.

It never happened once.

The legs might not have done quite so much of the hard work, but the brains would have done extra.

Owen Bevan in particular for me was outstanding, but I truly believe that was one of the most assured defensive displays I’ve ever seen from Yeovil.

Owen Bevan heads away. Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

Now… there were a couple of moments where the County barrage broke through the wall, that’s to be expected, they’re a wonderful outfit, but what they got when their half chances came around happened to be…

The best ‘keeper in the National League.

It’s not even close, the levels of trouble we’d be in as a team without Grant Smith is astronomical.

He makes the easy ones look easy, because his positioning is always foot perfect, he makes the difficult ones look easy, because he is quick, agile with spring powered boots.

It’s the boring stuff like he always gets the parries AWAY from goal, he never stopped marshaling his back line, and I’ve never seen a man take a slower goal kick in my life!

I joked to Dave that the reason Will Buse was on the bench was in case Grant Smith got booked twice for time-wasting, in the end, he didn’t once, he got warned, but it turns out he can even charm an official to keep his cards in his pocket. IS THERE ANYTHING THAT MAN CAN’T DO!?

Can I ask about the contract situation? Are we able to make that a longer deal? He’s a genuine asset and with January fast approaching and EFL teams looking to shuffle the pack, he’s worth a few quid, I’d quite like that protected.

Grant Smith. Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

Our new additions have really added something – something we were missing.

Andrew “What’s the Story” Oluwabori was the brightest attacking spark in a performance which wasn’t very attacking, but I found myself really appreciating the little nuances of his performance.

More than once, he held a defender off on or around the half way line, kept the ball and won a throw in, free kick or made the simple pass to someone who can get the ball forward.

He’s rapid, and the Notts County left back didn’t stand a chance when they got in a foot race, he’s direct and will cause plenty of decent teams trouble, I’d like him to stay for the season please, thanks.

Jamie “Taller than you think” Andrews is another one who really shone for me. Again, I know I’m talking about a different style of performance, but I saw enough in his resolute sideways defensive formation to know he’s got something.

Towards the back end of the second half, Josh Staunton was really starting to feel the injury that has prevented him from training, he came to a bit of a standstill in the middle, so Andrews did his chasing for him. Harrowing, closing down, side to side like a crab at times, blocking one path, then shuffling to the next and so on.

There were glimpses of his ability to take a ball and go from back to front quite quickly, but this wasn’t the game for that.

And finally, it was mentioned after the game that the team “couldn’t apologise” for their approach to this game.

I don’t want an apology, I don’t need an apology.

I think every one of the 452 fans there appreciated that it might be the toughest point we get all season, the toughest clean sheet (Not a ‘Cleano’) we might have to fight for all campaign.

I said as we left that if this game was a month or two further down the line, then yeah, ok, I dont mind if people get a bit disgruntled, but not now.

You can just start to see the beginnings of a run; that’s unbeaten in three, that’s just one goal conceded in three. That’s a game which can set up potentially massive clashes at home with FC Halifax, Scunthorpe United and Torquay United before the New Year is rung in.

It was a top draw defensive masterclass, but maybe, just maybe, we’ll look back in a couple of months and pinpoint it as so much more.

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Alex Fisher celebrates a goal in the 3-1 home win over Gateshead. Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

Alex Fisher, the two goal hero from Saturday is in the official Vanarama Team of the week.

Because of course he is.

The Fish was fed twice and scored twice… he had a glorious chance to notch a second Glovers hat trick… but, well, yeah.

Nice one Fish… same again next week!?

The full team can be found below.

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Only one of Yeovil Town’s two loanees was in action for their loan clubs this weekend.

Midfielder Toby Stephens played a pivotal role for Plymouth Parkway in a 3-1 win home win over Hayes and Yeading in the Southern League Premier Division South

He played through a “delicious” ball for former Glovers’ loanee Ben Seymour to score the opening goal and played the full 90 minutes.

Defender Ollie Haste wasn’t named in the matchday squad for Truro City’s trip to the Metropolitan Police, a result which keeps Paul Wootton’s side a point ahead of Weston-super-Mare at the top of the Southern League Premier Division South.

The Gloverscast understands he took a slight knock in training on Friday and was advised by the Yeovil medical staff to sit out this weekend, but should be back on the pitch sooner rather than later.