Ben Barrett (Page 143)

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Morgan Williams. Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

Yeovil Town have named a slightly altered side from the FA Trophy win over Woking with goalkeeper Grant Smith, defender Morgan Williams, midfielder Josh Staunton and forwards Adi Yussuf and Charlie Wakefield all returning to the starting line up.

Tom Knowles and Reuben Reid, who were  both in contention to continue their starring run in the side drop to the bench, along side new loan signing left-back Jaheim Headley and alongside Jordan Barnett, who has had a spell of illness in recent weeks.

Williams continues at left back, keeping both Headley and Barnett out of the side in their preferred position, which says a lot about his performances at full back.

For the home side, midfielder Connor Lemonheigh-Evans, who has barely featured for the past month, returns to the starting line-up.

On-loan QPR striker Sinclair Armstrong misses out isolating with COVID-19, but on-loan Exeter City full-back Jack Sparkes starts.

Yeovil Town (4-3-3): Grant Smith, Dan Moss, Luke Wilkinson, Max Hunt, Morgan Williams, Dale Gorman, Josh Staunton, Matt Worthington, Sonny Blu Lo-Everton, Adi Yussuf, Charlie Wakefield. Substitutes: Evans, Barnett, Headley, Knowles, Reid. 

Torquay United: MacDonald, Wynter, Martin, Lapslie, Lemonheigh-Evans, Wright, Little, Lolos, Moxey, Sparkes, Lewis. Substitutes: Omar, Hall, Johnson, O’Connell, Holman.

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In-form Yeovil Town head to the English Riviera on Boxing Day for the first of back-to-back fixtures against Torquay United – with the return fixture at Huish Park scheduled for January 2.

Gary Johnson’s Gulls are something of a hit-and-miss side this season, crashing out of the FA Trophy at the hands of Tonbridge Angels last weekend after back to back wins against Stockport County and W*ymouth in the National League.

Currently lying in 16th with 24 points, Devon’s yellowest side are no fewer that seven points behind the Glovers having conceded over twice as many goals as Yeovil.

That being said, they’ve also scored a fair few more (28, to our 20), more so at Plainmoor their form is pretty good; one defeat since mid-September, they’ve only failed to score once on home soil this season and will be feeling confident.

There’s been quite a turnover since reaching the play-off final – and eventually losing on penalties to Hartlepool United – at the end of last season.

Gone are goalkeeper Lucas Covolan, who scored a dramatic late equaliser and saved two penalties in the in the play-off final shoot-out at Ashton Gate, along with former Yeovil loanee Ben Whitfield, defensive kingpin Kyle Cameron and striker Aaron Nemane.

Nemane scored in the 6-1 drubbing handed out to Darren Sarll’s men on a Boxing Day to forget last year, and got the opener in the reverse fixture – only for late goals from Josh Neufville and Luke Wilkinson to win it.

Boxing Day encounters tend to be ones to forget for one side with Yeovil handing a can of the proverbial to Johnson’s charges with a 6-2 win at Huish Park in 2019.

Note: As a reminder that all of Dan Moss, Josh Staunton and Tom Knowles are one booking away from missing the reverse fixture on January 2.

Listen: You can still catch our pre-match chat with Torquay fan Danny from the Torquay Talk podcast on our latest edition – here.

FROM THE MANAGER

Former Latvia and Northampton (Cobblers, no it’s true…) manager *checks notes*… Gary Johnson told the Torquay official site:

“It’s a massive game for us, I always enjoy the Yeovil games because they’re always competitive.

“Last year we had one good one and one bad one in the space of just a few days.

“Yeovil are going very well at the moment as far as their form is concerned, I think they’ve won their last six out of eight (Ed: IThat’s in the League, Gary, and ten wins out of 12 in all competitions) , but our league form isn’t too bad either.

“So, it should be a good entertaining, competitive, match for the watching public, and I’m sure the Yellow Army will get behind their team and see them through.”

TEAM NEWS

Centre forward Danny Wright returned to goal scoring form against Tonbridge in the FA Trophy and will be in contention to start.

The match was the 37-year-old’s first game in three months and his return would be a boost for the hosts.

It is also expected that Shaun MacDonald (not that one, this one’s a keeper who played in the 6-1 result at Plainmoor last Boxing Day) will return in goal for the Gulls after sitting out the FA Trophy.

There’s no suspensions for Gary Johnson’s men, but midfielder Connor Lemonheigh-Evans has only managed six minutes in the last month suggesting he is an injury doubt.

As Danny from Torquay Talk told us on the podcast and as many Yeovil fans will no doubt recall, Gary Johnson is keen on playing his cards close to his chest about his team – so wait and see on that one.

The aforementioned Mr Johnson brought in Exeter City left-sided player Jack Sparkes, who can play left-back or further forward, last week, as well as winger Joe Felix who joined from Billericay Town a couple of weeks ago and is looking to make his debut,

Also on loan are giant striker Sinclair Armstrong, the 18-year-old who borrowed from QPR who scored the winner at W*ymouth the other week (kudos for that, Sinclair), and right-back Harry Perritt, who is on loan from Accrington Stanley.

One player who we’ll definitely from see is G**** *****s (name removed to adhere to Gloverscast Rule 5), the former Glovers’ youth team (and briefly first-team) winger who joined Torquay after his contract expired at Huish Park in the summer. He is on loan at Paul Wotton’s Truro City.

FOOT IN BOTH CAMPS

The obvious connection between the two sides is Torquay boss Gary Johnson, but he needs no introduction to Yeovil fans.

Glovers’ top-scorer Joe Quigley, who will not feature on Boxing Day having only just returned to training, spent a two-month loan spell at Torquay whilst an AFC Bournemouth player.

But more likely to feature is another visiting forward Reuben Reid who spent seven games on loan at Plainmoor in 2007 on loan from Plymouth, scoring twice.

There are also two members of the Torquay squad with a foot in both camps. One is goalkeeper Marcin Brzozowsi, out at National League South side Gloucester City presently, who played twice in a half-a-season loan at Huish Park in 2019, whilst naming the other would be a violation of Gloverscast Rule 5 – but he’s out on loan at Truro City. See Team News for a clue on that one.

Striker Martin Gritton is a legend in yellow having scored 22 times in 88 appearances between 2002 and 2004 but is less so at Huish Park where he failed to find the mark in two loan spells in 2001 and another a decade later.

He’s actually a commentator on BBC Radio Devon these days, so you can listen to him if you want to tune in to them – we’d recommend BBC Somerset though.

Others with a foot in both camps (and there’s undoubtedly more) include:

  • Rhys Murphy – Torquay 2017, Yeovil 2019-2021
  • Ben Whitfield – Yeovil 2016-17, Torquay 2019-2021.
  • Jakub Sokolik – Yeovil 2014-2016, Torquay 2018.
  • Ryan Dickson – Torquay – 2007, 2018-2020, Yeovil 2012, 2015-2018.
  • Alex Lawless – Torquay 2005-2006, Yeovil 2016-2017.
  • Jamie Gosling – Yeovil 2003-04, Torquay 2004-05.
  • Jimmy Aggrey – Torquay 1998-2001, Yeovil 2002-2003.
  • Ryan Northmore – Torquay – 1998-2002, Yeovil 2004.
  • Steve Winter – Torquay 1995-1997, Yeovil 1997.

 

There are no tickets on sale on the day, BBC Somerset have audio coverage, Three Valleys Radio don’t… and we’ll do everything we can to give you a post match breakdown here as well later on Boxing Day too.

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‘Jez’ Simpson. Photo @WestmorlandFA

Yeovil Town’s FA Cup third round tie against Bournemouth will be officiated by EFL referee Jeremey ‘Jez’ Simpson.

Simpson was congratulated by his home County FA on Twitter for the appointment on Wednesday, before the FA had made any official announcement on the referee and assistant appointments.

The FA Website says of Simpson;

“He has refereed over 200 EFL games, and since the start of the 2016/17 season, has been part of the Select Group 2 Referee list”

Simpson is vastly experienced, even if he does have a slight reputation for giving out a few cards… only twice in the last two and half seasons has he failed to give at least one card in a game he has been in charge of.

Going back through the records, he has taken charge of a few former Glovers’ games.

The Johnson v Johnson clash was played under Simpson’s watchful eye as Gary of Yeovil played Lee of Oldham towards the end of the 2012/13 season.

A year later he was in charge when Yeovil squandered a 2-0 lead to lose 3-2 vs Derby in the Championship.

But the last time he was in the middle for a Yeovil game, we won!

A 1-0 win over Swindon in League One in April 2015. James Berret the scorer.

The FA Cup third round clash with Bournemouth is scheduled to take place at Huish Park on Saturday the 8th of January with a 17:30 kick off.

 

 

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Monday’s FA Trophy fourth round draw produced far more emotion from me that I probably thought it would.

Firstly, having been promised a 2pm draw, I sat poised waiting with the Gloverscast.co.uk draft open, but we had the adverts, the travel, and chat about the cricket, Harry Kane red card shenanigans trophy… a quick dial into to TalkSport’s non league guru Tony Incenzo, who was quickly booted off air as he happened to be calling from what sounded like a wind tunnel at NASA… and then finally the draw.

The presenter made at least one error in team name – one can only assume the notion of reading a name next to a number is harder than it seems – we can only use our imagination at the looks the FAs independent adjudicator must have been giving him – but balls were drawn, names were called and Yeovil were drawn at home to Needham Market.

Who!? Not even a town, just a little Market..? “roll up, roll up get your 4th round opponents here…”

Ok, so it’s a bit more than a market, in fact some pretty famous people have come from there, the bloke who discovered Oxygen and June ‘Dot Cotton’ Brown is from there too.

But in football terms, they’ve got one FA Vase Semi Final to their name and not a lot more, they’re tiny and an away day at Yeovil is about as big of a tie since… well, putting Wealdstone out in the last round.

And it got me thinking about how in the space of just Seven days, the same 14 or 15 blokes will line up against a Bournemouth side almost certainly destined for the Premier League, and then little Needham Market.

It’s a stark contrast, the pressure free tie of welcoming some of the best in the 2nd tier and then being on the other side of that coin, hoping not to be the front page of Sunday’s Non League Paper for the wrong reasons.

You could argue that Bournemouth might not fancy the cup with bigger fish to fry and you could argue the part time side from Suffolk will probably have a torrid journey, a day off work and less chance of a hotel stay… but isn’t that what makes cup competitions so awesome?

Darren Sarll and Co will have no problem finding footage of Dominic Solanke, Gary Cahill and Ryan Christie, but I’m not sure how much scouting is possible for Luke Ingram, Callum Sturgess and Ben Fowkes (presumably not the England wicketkeeper)

This is cup football at its very best and that’s why we love it, Huish Park will bring us two very different ties on two very different Saturdays and I cannot wait… after all, the Quadruple is still on…

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Dale Gorman scores his penalty vs Weymouth
Credit: Weymouth Flickr

The Football Association has announced that FA Cup ties that finish as a draw after 90 minutes will NOT be subject to a replay in the 3rd and 4th rounds.

So, should Yeovil and Bournemouth, who meet in early January, play something of a stalemate and cannot be split after 90 minutes, instead of an away day at Dean Court 10 days later, the game will finish with 30 additional minutes, and if needed the lottery of a penalty shoot out.

An FA statement said that the decision had been taken… “in the wider interest of English football to alleviate the possibility of fixture congestion following several postponements in recent days and continued uncertainty ahead due to COVID-19.”

The Glovers have beaten W*ymouth, Yate Town and Stevenage to progress this far.

The game with Bournemouth takes place on Saturday 8th January with a 17:30pm kick off.

 

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Yeovil Town will host Needham Market in the fourth round of the FA Trophy

The Southern League Premier Division Central side put out National League rivals Wealdstone in the third round at the weekend.

The game will be played on Saturday, January 15.

The Suffolk-based side are managed by former Manchester City and Swindon Town midfielder Kevin Horlock and presently sit sixth-from-bottom of their division going to in to the Christmas fixtures.

The winners will receive £5,250 in prize money with £1,500 going to the losing side.

The draw in full is:

Alfreton Town v Bradford Park Avenue or FC Halifax Town

Dagenham & Redbridge v Southend United

Wrexham v Folkestone Invicta

St Albans City v Cheshunt

York City v Slough Town

Stourbridge v Guiseley

Tonbridge Angels v King’s Lynn Town

Southport v Solihull Moors

Notts County v Eastleigh

Dartford v Weymouth

Aldershot Town v Bromley

Boreham Wood v Maidstone United

Morpeth Town v Boston United

Yeovil Town v Needham Market

Stockport County v Larkhall Athletic

Spennymoor Town v Plymouth Parkway

 

 

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Adi Yussuf in action for Yeovil Town.
Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

Yeovil Town striker Adi Yussuf has spoken to BBC Somerset’s Sheridan Robins following the Glovers’ 3-1 win over Woking in the FA Trophy.

Yeovil, with Yussuf’s second half brace to thank, move into the fourth round of the Trophy and extend their unbeaten run to 12 first team fixtures.

The forward said the manager had a few words at half time which spurred the side into action.

“The team are doing well at the minute, the gaffer’s speech at half time, motivated us to kick on, he reminded us about the start at Dover (Yeovil went 1-0 down inside 2 minutes), he reminded us to push us on, to do what we’re good at which is run, tackle and that’s what we’re good at”

“We didn’t do that first half, but the gaffer’s half time speech – we came out second half a completely different team”

Yussuf now moves onto six goals across the League, FA Cup and Trophy games of which three have come in his last two, the Tanzanian said he knew the goals would come once he was at peak fitness.

“I’ve got absolutely no doubt about the goals, I just wanted to get fitter, so I could do what the gaffer has asked me for, I’ve never doubted myself about scoring, I’ve always believed I would score”

“You can’t buy fitness, it’s the one thing you can’t cheat and I know the hard work I’ve put in, the dedication, the sacrifice I’ve put in, I always know it is going to pay off”

Adi Yussuf celebrates vs Weymouth
Credit: Weymouth Flickr

With four trophies still up for grabs and a small squad, Yussuf – like so many others – has pointed to an immense team spirit in the camp as a reason for the recent success.

“The team bonding is probably the best I’ve seen, and every time we’ve had a team bonding like this at every other club I’ve been at, we’ve always had success, I’ve got absolutely no doubt we are going to be a success this season.”

“I’m a big believer in hard work, dedication will always pay off, no doubt, and self belief, everyone has got to believe we can do it…”

“The way we train, everyone is going to be ready. I’ve never been at a club where it’s that intense, every single day.

“On a Friday, it’s like a Monday, that’s how intense it is, anyone who comes in, everyone is putting a tackle in, every single day, the gaffer demands a lot from us, it’s only going to show on the pitch.”

Yussuf finished off his post-match chat by looking forward to local derbies vs Torquay and W*ymouth over the festive period, but he was adamant the side had ‘enough in the locker’ to keep this run going.

The fourth round draw of the FA Trophy will be announced on Monday 20th at 1pm with games played on Saturday 15th January 2022. 

 

 

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Yeovil Town manager Darren Sarll was proud of his side’s comeback after the Glovers turned a 0-1 deficit into a 3-1 in the FA Trophy game against Woking.

Speaking to BBC Somerset’s Sheridan Robins he said that he needed to give his players a ‘polite’ word at the half time interval.

“When we went in at half time, I thought about the interview afterwards and have to say I’d picked the wrong team, for the right reason, to try and give some players some extra minutes.”

“I reminded them the amount of balls we had to defend at Wrexham, the amount of commitment we had to show at Bromley, the amount of quality we’ve had to show over the last two months and I said ‘are you ready for that to be all in vein, for all that to end today?’”

“The second half, there was a different energy to us, the body language was different, because first half was absolute garbage”

“The attitude and energy of the players was magnificent second half and their spirit and their fightback – that’s a really experienced side, Woking, good players, good manager and I thought once we built our momentum and speed of our play I thought we became the team we’d become accustomed to seeing.”

Adi Yussuf in action for Yeovil Town.
Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

The introduction of Adi Yussuf on the hour mark was a key moment in the game as the Tanzanian international scored a brace to send the Glovers into the fourth round.

Sarll was full of praise for all three subs and the introduction from the start of Max Evans, Alex Bradley and Jeheim Headley

“It’s like a team of misfits and they’re broken pieces of a puzzle, so when any of these lads do well, there’s a real sense of achievement… we like to celebrate their successes and Adi is no different.

(He’s) another one who has done so well for us, it’s taken its time, but he looks so much fitter and stronger now and he made a real difference when he came on.

He was powerful, disruptive and destructive and took his goals well.”

“Young Max (Evans) in goal, didn’t have a lot to do, but I thought he kicked very well, I thought Reuben (Reid) did well – we are a different team to last year, so the service to him was different … Reuben is going to need time, Alex (Bradley) I thought did much better in the second half, I was worried about his booking, so instead of having him suspended and we go to Torquay with one sub, that we save him…”

Sarll also confirmed that winger Charlie Wakefield had a slight injury and had been ill this week and was unlikely to come off the bench, and hoped to have Morgan Williams back in contention for Boxing Day’s trip to Torquay.

 

 

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Yeovil Town Under-18s Head Coach Mark Challen has confirmed via social media that he has departed the club.

Writing on Instagram via his coaching company’s account “M1 Coaching” he confirmed that Wednesday was his final day.

He wrote; “Sadly, today (Wednesday) was my last game at Yeovil Town FC.”

He thanked all those who had made his time at Yeovil special during a nine-year stint with the club.

At time of writing, there has been no confirmation as to who will take over the running of the Under-18s.

First- team squad members Toby Stephens and Ollie Haste have both represented Challen’s side this season with Alfie Lloyd, who departed the Under-18s for QPR last season among those who thanked their coach in the comments.

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Matt Worthington drives forward.
Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

There’s a double reason to celebrate at Huish Park this week with both Matt Worthington and Darren Sarll picking up awards and recognition.

Midfielder, Worthington has been singled out for praise by his manager on more than one recent occasion and it seems others are starting to notice.

The former Bournemouth man made both the Non-League paper and the official Vanarama Team of the Day for his part in Saturday’s 1-0 win over Barnet.

As for the gaffer, he’s been rewarded as the National League’s Manager of the Month for guiding his side through three incredible away wins at Dagenham, Bromley and Wrexham and remaining unbeaten through FA Cup and Somerset Premier Cup ties too.

The official press release stated;
“Yeovil Town weren’t slow to start brewing this season but their cup ran cold just a few days into September.

Yeovil Town manager Darren Sarll.
Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

Darren Sarll never allowed some sticky results to distract from the bigger picture – and his team really started to get going again last month.

They begun November with a 5-0 FA Cup romp at Yate Town before points were earned with wins over Eastleigh, Dagenham, Bromley and Wrexham.

They may not have been able to polish off winless Dover Athletic but the Glovers fans and the Manager of the Month have their eyes firmly fixed on the top seven now.”

As an aside, we here at the Gloverscast can only find THREE FIVE* occasions where the Yeovil manager has been rewarded with the monthly gong since the start of the EFL era. If anyone knows of any awards prior to 2003 or if I’ve missed one, please get in touch – ben@gloverscast.co.uk

● GARY JOHNSON – LEAGUE TWO – SEPTEMBER 2003

● GARY JOHNSON – LEAGUE TWO – SEPTEMBER 2004

● GARY JOHNSON – LEAGUE TWO – DECEMBER 2004

● DARREN SARLL – NATIONAL LEAGUE – SEPTEMBER 2019

● DARREN SARLL – NATIONAL LEAGUE – NOVEMBER 2021

A huge congratulations to both for their well deserved recognition!!

*EDITORS NOTE, 
Originally, I only found three other examples of Yeovil Managers winning Manager of the month since 2003, but, Ciderspace OG, Huish Hugh spotted a gap in the Wikipedia history (imagine!) on the subject and pointed out two more Gary Johnson awards that probably lay atop his mantlepiece.

Happy to stand corrected.