Ben Barrett (Page 53)

It was cold, windy and hardly one for the football purists, but with three play-off pushing points on the line, it was Hartlepool United that got the better of the first ‘local’ festive fixture.

Ben was there for BBC Somerset, here’s how he saw it.

The conditions played their part

It was ‘blowing a hoolie’ for the full 90 minutes and the temperature really plummeted in the second half, the on-off rain showers and all round tough conditions made it less of a game of football and more of a battle to see who could make fewer errors.

I believe it was the right call to go with a more experienced line-up and for the most part the Glovers’ senior men did their best to mitigate the weather and situation, but there were so many misplaced, misjudged, mistimed moments in the game from both sides that it was a really difficult game to judge.

Another referee fiasco

I’m bored of talking about them, you’re bored of hearing about them, it’s boring that once again they’re the centre of attention.

For me, it’s never a penalty, never in a million years is it a penalty.

Hartlepool defender Tom Parkes feels a finger tip on his back and hits the deck because the ball is going to fly way above his head and the official falls for it.

But all game, Aaron Jackson was desperate to make it an even greater stop-start fest.

Not everything is a foul, not everything needs an interference.

At one point he stopped Pools from taking a free-kick from the wrong place, only to have them move it… maybe a foot? 

We created Rule 1 of the Gloverscast (All refs are rubbish at this level, get on with it, don’t moan about it and don’t let them be a defining factor) and I want to stick to it. But please, just one good one. Just one.

The perfect tens

The difference between the sides were the players playing in the bank behind the front man.

Emmanuel Dieseruvwe had so much support from Adam Campbell, Joe Grey, Anthony Mancini and Luke Charman interchanging at will and linking together so well.

Aaron Jarvis did not have that same support.

So many times he fought for the ball in the air and either won the header or caused enough hassle for the ball to break free. It all too rarely found a supporting Glover within touching distance of the former Torquay man.

That was the difference for me.

Frank Nouble is playing like a man low on confidence in desperate need of a goal.

Josh Sims came on and stuck to his flank just fine but never really bridged that gap, and Brett McGavin and Matt Worthington couldn’t fill the gap because they got dragged into a midfield battle with the ball just coming back at us time after time.

I am desperate for Jarvis to find a partner up there and it wasn’t until Kofi Shaw came on that he managed to find that space, fill it and do something with it. 

Our record against the top half sides stinks

…and actually, as a newly-promoted side, that’s probably OK. But as a side with genuine ambitions to make that top seven now or in the future, it’s the only way to secure progression.

The side that came up last year is slowly being evolved, and I’ll be honest, I don’t mind what I’m seeing in terms of player departures, so long as there’s incomings. So long as it is with the aim of turning a squad of players who are good enough to not get relegated from the National League into a squad of players who are good enough to not get relegated from League Two.

85 heroes in the away end.

We can’t avoid this hardy bunch can we? Yeovil fans are a really special group of people.

I don’t always agree with their opinions, I don’t enjoy some stuff on social media, but I am continually impressed by the desire to follow their team, no matter what.

85 of you bonkers lot put Christmases on hold to travel 700 miles and support their team.

You’re a real credit to your team, to your club and whilst the result might not have gone our way, I think 85 of you have a rightful claim to ‘Player of the Match’.