Ben Barrett (Page 67)

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Yeovil Town head north this Saturday, to Boundary Park, Oldham to be precise and as we all know, you can’t have a game of professional football without a referee.

Thankfully, we have one lined up – Mr Paul Marsden.

Mr Marsden has been in charge of a trio of National League games so far this season and hasn’t been afraid to reach into his pocket.

19 yellow cards (although two were for the same Hartlepool player) is a fair return.

We haven’t seen Mr Marsden since the behind-closed-doors era, he took charge of a rather uneventful 2-0 win over Altrincham at Huish Park were Messrs Murphy and Dagnall scored Yeovil goals.

If you the calendar way back, he could also be found awarding a penalty to Macclesfield Town – against Yeovil – in November 2018. Tom James breathed a bit too heavily on Elliot Durrell and down he went (See below). Former Glover Michael Rose did the rest from the spot.

Given his location, it’s no surprise he’s taken charge of more Oldham games, including twice last season.

He will be assisted by Jack Nield and Thomas Harland, whilst Ben Robinson is the fourth official for the game. 

 

 

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Yeovil Town’s Under 18s will play their South West Counties Floodlit Premier league games at Huish Park this season.

The Young Glovers were meant to get their league campaign underway last Thursday, but, due to Paulton Rovers still being involved in the early rounds of the FA Youth Cup, that was postponed,

So, this coming Monday 23rd September, the Under 18s will – at the second time of asking – get their campaign going.

Brislington have already played their first game, beating Portishead Town 3-1.

Brislington are the visitors and tickets are now available to all fans – CLICK HERE

Tickets are priced at £4 for adults and £2 for under 18s.

Kick Off is as 7:30pm

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Whilst the Glovers were drawing a blank at Huish Park on Saturday, plenty of our loanees were in action out and about.

Four of them were in the FA Cup, which renders them cup-tied for their parent club this season.

We’ll start with Will Buse who made his debut for W*ymouth. 

That lot by the sea beat Sholing 4-1 to progress to the 3rd qualifying round, Buse played the full 90 and was in the thick of it in the early exchanges, making a couple of big saves at 0-0.

 

Next, to another seaside, Weston-super-Mare to be precise.

The Seagulls also booked their place in the next round by beating Wimborne Town 2-0.

Both goals came early on in the game and Dylan Morgan played the full game.

Another team in the hat are Salisbury who beat AFC Stoneham (remember them!?) 7-1.

Jordan Thomas played the full game and was involved in at least one of Ronan Silva’s four goals in the game.

Jordan Thomas in action for Salisbury
PIC CO ThoseWhiteLines

Finally, there was a seven goal thriller down at Plymouth Parkway.

Parkway, with Corey Koerner in their starting line up, were on the right side of a 4-3 scoreline, despite being 2-1 down during the first half at home to Westbury.

Yeovil Town loanee Corey Koerner (L) in action for Plymouth Parkway
PIC C/O Viv Curtis – Tiverton Town

This means that all four loanees are ineligible for Yeovil in this season’s FA Cup.

Right, elsewhere, Street went top of the Western League Premier with a 2-1 win over St Austell.

Jacob Shore and Krystian Woods were both used from bench whilst Sol Padmore was also in the squad.

Mason Alden was in the starting line up for Welton who had a day to forget. They lost 10-0 to Barnstaple.

Young ‘keeper Will Howard kept (another) cleano for Cullompton Rangers, they beat Axminster Town 3-0 to stay top (and unbeaten) in the South West Peninula League East. 

Team sheets from Sherborne & Sturminster Newton are harder to come by, but we’ll edit as information drops.

 

 

 

 

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Out-of-favour Yeovil Town goalkeeper Will Buse has joined National League South strugglers W*ymouth on a one-month loan.

The local lad, who has not been given a squad number for the Glovers’ National League Premier campaign, has just completed a similar temporary stint with at Weston-super-Mare.

The Terras, who already have a number of ex-Glovers on their books, are in FA Cup action on Saturday with a trip to Sholing in the competition’s Second Qualifying Round.

Buse joins, defender Brooklyn Genesini, playmaker Jordan Maguire-Drew and striker Malachi Linton to have swapped Huish Park for that claret-and-blue lot down the road in recent months.

 

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Following a less than satisfactory Tuesday night at Huish Park, the Glovers are back and this time it’s Altrincham who make the long trip south from Greater Manchester.

Here’s our preview of an important game at Huish Park, our final home game before two more trips on the road to Oldham  Athletic next weekend and Sutton United three days after that.

Form Guide…

Yeovil Town are looking to get back to winning ways after falling to Solihull Moors 1-0 on home soil Tuesday night.

The Glovers have now lost three of their four home games this season (all by a 1-0 scoreline) so will hoping to get their Fortress Huish Park plans back on track.

Overall though, eight games and a record of four wins and four losses isn’t to be sniffed at. Yeovil sit ninth going into the weekend’s games.

Altrincham are sat in 16th at time of writing, but such is the nature of the table this season, they could overtake the Glover with a win, they have ten points from eight games and lost against Barnet on Tuesday night.

That game ended 2-1 to the Bees – Alty were 1-0 up on the night through striker Justin Amaluzor, but Barnet clawed back into the game and bagged a 92nd minute winner.

Their last win was last Saturday a 4-0 thrashing of Ebbsfleet United, a result which ended a three match run without a win, 

Key Players…

Yeovil – Aaron Jarvis

The Glovers’ frontman has done a lot of huffing and puffing over the last few weeks and has already scored twice, but both of those goals have come away from home.

The former Torquay striker is yet to find the net on home soil this season and with Mark Cooper challenging his forward players to show more quality in the final third, Jarvis might be the one to step up as he’s looked the most dangerous and likely to get on the end of something in the opposition box.

Altrincham – Alex Newby

Alex Newby is a midfielder who can do a bit of everything.

The 28 year old, joined Alty from Colchester United in January and has been at the likes of Barrow and Chorley before – he played against the Glovers twice for Chorley in the 2019/20 season.

This season he’s been one of their best players in terms of ratings and involvements at the business end of the pitch.

He scored (and picked up an assist) against Ebbsfleet in a 4-0 demolition job last Saturday and assisted Tyler Golden’s opening day winner at home toWoking. He can operate on either flank and either Michael Smith or Alex Whittle (or both) will have to have their wits about them.

That’s What He Said…

Mark Cooper told BBC Somerset on Thursday that Altrincham are a “very good football team” and was looking forward to the challenge.

“[They’re] very good to watch, they’ve got some really good forwards, some good players all over the pitch and they try and play real football, they try and pass the ball, rotate and it’ll be a difficult game. But listen, we’re at home, we’ve lost three home games 1-0…we have to put on a performance at home, our fans need to be invigorated and energised, we have to give them that.”

After their game against Barnet on Tuesday – whilst Dean Brennan was having a little rant – Phil Parkinson said that their defeat came down to a lack of concentration rather than a lack of a performance.

With regards to a trip to Somerset, Parkinson said that it was “critical” his side bounced back; “every game is the same, we didn’t come here [to Barnet] hoping to get a win, we believed we could get a win… when your fans have travelled a long way you want to entertain them, our fans demand that when we set the team up we want to win, so like every game, we’ll set up to try and force the issue and Yeovil will be no different.”

We’ve met before…

The last two meetings between the sides have been draws with a 1-1 draw at Huish Park in February 2023 the most recent coming together.

James Jones opened the scoring and was later sent off (he’s still with Alty, now) before some chap called Jordan Maguire-Drew equalised from the penalty spot. Matt Gould was on the bench for Altrincham that day.

Before that, Egli Kaja bagged a 90th minute equaliser in a 2-2 draw in August of the same season up north.

Malachi Linton and Gime Toure (now there’s a name!) the Glovers’ scorers.

Yeovil players applaud the fans after beating Altrincham on the final day of the 2021/22 season.

However the most memorable recent meeting was a 1-0 away win for Yeovil on the final day of the 2021/22 season.

A single Tom Knowles’ (DFILWF) earned the Glovers three points.

It was the first team debut of Max Evans and Ollie Haste and remains the match in which Josh Staunton earned his perfect 100% record as Glovers manager. 

We learned recently that Grant Smith had an outfield shirt printed with “Smith 1” on the back… just in case!

 

 

Don’t I know you?

Right, we won’t lie, we’re struggling here.

We can’t spot any direct YTFC links within the Altrincham squad, which makes this part of the preview quite short.

Matt Gould, the Glovers’ Goalkeeper/Coach joined Huish Park directly from Altrincham this summer though, so here’s a picture of him looking very happy about it.

Matt Gould signing for Yeovil Town. Pic C/O YTFC

Who’s been a naughty boy, then?

Neither club is dealing with any suspensions, but this feels like a good time to mention that five yellows will lead to a one-match ban, both sides have a number of players on three for the season.

Alty will hope that Ed Jones, Lewis Banks and Tom Crawford (all on three) keep their noses clean whilst the Glovers have the same concerns about Aaron Jarvis (also on three).

Here’s a handy graphic explaining the situation with regards to yellow card accumulation.

Our referee is Lee Swabey

How can you keep across the game?

In Person

Get to Huish Park! Tickets are available for the game here.

On the Radio

Ian is back on the mic with BBC Somerset alongside the returning “Stone Cold” Chris Spittles.

On the TV/ stream

National League TV has this game listed as available to watch outside of the UK

On the Gloverscast.co.uk

We’ll have team news, match report, Five Conclusions and our usual reaction podcast to follow on Monday.

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Devonshire-born Lee Swabey is the man in the middle for Saturday’s clash between Yeovil Town and Altrincham.

Swabey, who has been officiating for the most part in the EFL drops down into the National League for the first time this season.

It’s a name that Glovers fans might recognise as he’s reffed our matches eight times throughout his career, most recently just last season in the FA Cup.

He took charge of the Aldi v M&S 2nd round clash as Yeovil took on Wrexham.

He didn’t book Percy Pig, or Cuthbert the Caterpillar on that occasion.

But Jake Wannell and Charlie Cooper both had their names taken.

Of the eight games Mr Swabey has taken charge of for Yeovil, we’ve won three, drawn two and lost three.

He did send off Liam Walsh 16 minutes into a game against Cambridge in 2016 and took charge of a feisty game in the LDV Checkatrade Pizza Paint Pot Bristol Motors trophy between Yeovil and MK Dons earlier that same year.

The Glovers won 4-1, scored two penalties and Samir Carruthers saw red that night for the visitors (below). Ouch.

Mr Swabey will be assisted by Kevin Morris down one side and flying up and down the other will be Steven Plane. 

Samuel Fudge (who was an assistant at Huish Park for the opening day game against Hartlepool) swaps his flag for a Substitutes board instead.

 

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Well, I guess someone had to do the negative one.

Gloverscast Ben was watching on National League TV – with a Camera Operator who couldn’t keep track of the football – and watched the Yeovil Town produce a… flat… performance against Solihull Moors. Conclusions, five of them, incoming.

Are we unfit or just a bit knackered?

Post match, Matt Worthington called the performance, ‘leggy’ and ‘lethargic’ and it was absolutely evident from very early on we had some players really feeling it.

As early as the latter stages of the first half, some players were running in custard whilst our opponents were gliding across the pitch, making closing down and pressuring look really easy.

This staggers me, I cannot believe that a Mark Cooper side would ever not be fit, but I don’t quite know what else to think?

Is it the many, MANY motorway miles? The quick turnarounds? The sheer effort that as been exerted against Boston and Fylde or something else that it catching up with a few players? I don’t know, but it’s a long old season and on the face of it, we already look like we could use some time to rest.

For what it’s worth, only Olly Wright has played every minute so far this season, (820), with Nouble (669), Smith (649) and Matt Worthington (651) next on the minutes played list. 

We were done by the dark arts again.

Just like against Hartlepool, we not only gave our opponents something to hold onto, to defend, but we also… let them defend it.

Our very own Ian Perkins made a great point on commentary that when Laurie Walker, the Moors’ keeper was booked for time wasting on 79 minutes, it was really only the crowd who got on the official’s back to do something… are we being too nice?

Where was the oomph we saw at Boston? the Ability to give a bit back to let the referee know about every pulled shirt, every kick out of sight, every second delayed?

I don’t get it, make a song and dance about it lads, there were times that Frank Nouble literally had the shirt lifted off his back and it was just… let to pass by.

A couple of times Solihull players felt the whiff of a nearby passing of wind and decided to have a roll about and really take their time to get back going – I’m not knocking it, I’m wanting us to play those games too, or at very least put up a bit of a fuss that it’s happening.

A physical encounter on the opening game of the season against Hartlepool United. Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

Right, breathe, let’s do a positive one.

Jarvis is the real deal up top – let’s get with him

Aaron Jarvis chased back over 50 yards in the 94th minute to snuff out one final Solihull counter attack. He and Sonny – who had just been brought on – found more in their legs than just about anyone to get back and prevent a second goal.

Ok, that’s great, but Jarvis again was doing so much up front but really felt lonely at times.

We’ve chopped and changed the trio of attacking talent in behind the front man, but he’s been a fairly constant figure and for the most part and has put his body on the line and played really well for annoyingly little return.

Mark Cooper said he was underwhelmed with his attacking players, I say let’s give Jarvis a partner. He’s got all the attributes to either do the back to goal stuff or get himself into the box, but all too often there’s not enough bodies around him to either pick up the pieces or be a second body in the box for a cross, or even provide the cross for Jarvis to get on the end of.

Is it Sims, maybe a big-man-little-man? Could it have been Greenslade if it wasn’t for the injury? Is there a Sonny Cox-style striker out there? I’m not going to go full Mike Bassett here, but would 4-4…2… be worth a go?

…and actually maybe that’s the point.

What is our best team line up?

We’re heading to Oldham next week for the tenth game of the season, and even if the next two go badly, we’ll be sitting on 12 points from 10 games, not bad at all.

But there’s still this rumbling debate on the terrace (and on the pod… and in the WhatsApp chats)… “Is that a four at the back? Have we gone to wingbacks? Surprised to see him starting, I thought he’d be on the bench. Isn’t he more of an impact player?”

You’ve had those conversations haven’t you?

What is our preferred way of setting up? Because last year you could rattle the eleven off in seconds, you know where each of them are going to be and how well they’re going to do it.

This season, through injury, suspension and new faces and new opposition, I don’t think we do know.

We’ve now made the Half-Time double sub Hail Mary on each of the last two games, suggesting the first eleven probably wasn’t right, we’ve seen the defence chop and change more times in eight games than we did in 48 last year. 

Is it time to nail down a team, a style, a formation, a way of playing and sticking to it?

Picture Courtesy of Gary Brown

Let’s get Huish Park back to the fortress it can be.

In the National League South, Huish Park was essentially every team’s Wembley final, some loved it and pushed us all the way, some wilted under the pressure of playing in a stadium with more than three stands in it.

This year, it isn’t the same, teams have been to us before, it’s not the big day out for them. So, what we have now is an expectant home crowd, who’s heard our last two away games, watched on streams and heard the Gloverscast wax lyrical about them… now they want to see some of that for themselves.

Matt Worthington is right, it’s a two way street, the players need the fans behind them (booing in September, by the way, have a word… it was poor, but come on) but also, you need something to cheer.

How about this, on Saturday, Glovers fans promise to give you everything, the drum will beat, the ‘Everywhere we go…’ chat will fill the Thatchers stand..

But as the lyric says… ‘watching super Yeovil putting on a show’.

Glovers fans will do their bit, the team will do theirs… deal? Good.

You know what to do next weekend, people.

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Yeovil Town manager Mark Cooper has said that he felt that his side could have taken a point from the game against Solihull Moors on Tuesday night.

The boss said his side’s a lack of quality in forward areas, and a questionable offside call, cost his side from getting anything from the match.

Speaking to BBC Somerset’s Mark Stillman after the game, he was audibly frustrated at how easily the Glovers allowed their visitors to dictate the game.

He said: “We gave a team that wanted to counter attack and sit in, the perfect fillip with the goal, which means they can sit even deeper and catch us on the break and that makes us really tense and erratic.

“We huffed and we puffed, but we never really looked like scoring. We did score a great goal, a free kick that’s not offside, [I’ve] just seen it, it’s miles onside and a draw would have been a fair result.”

Speaking on the Glovers’ form at Huish Park, which has seen three 1-0 losses in their four home games since of the season so far, Cooper suggested there was probably more to it that the final scorelines.

He said: “We played really well against Rochdale for 70 minutes and deservedly lost, didn’t deserve to lose against Hartlepool and I didn’t think we deserved to lose tonight. 

“The second half, all the play was in their half, but we didn’t have any quality, our forward players produced zero quality, we had a really good attacking performance where all our forward player contributed on Saturday and tonight, apart from the free kick where we ‘scored’ the header, I don’t think from open play we’d have scored if we’d have been there until tomorrow night.”

“I don’t think from open play we’d have scored if we’d have been there until tomorrow night.”

The manager confirmed that his half-time substitutions were made with the fitness of both defenders Dom Bernard and Morgan Williams in mind saying that they both needed the minutes as they both work towards full fitness.

He did not want to evaluate the season’s start as a whole just yet, focusing on picking apart Tuesday’s showing instead.

“I’m just evaluating tonight, now we’ve got to look at why were so good on Saturday – really good offensively – and tonight, in the forward areas we were really, really poor.”

As for Saturday, Cooper said that it was full focus on their own actions, particularly in the final third.

“We want to win the game, it doesn’t matter what the opposition do, if we’re that toothless and we don’t ask enough questions in and around the penalty area, it’s not going to work.” 

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Yeovil Town captain Matt Worthington has said there will be no excuses from his side as the Glovers lost 1-0 at home to Solihull Moors on Tuesday.

A single first half goal from Conor Wilkinson was all that separated the sides in a game where the home side did not register a shot on target despite having two efforts off the woodwork. 

Speaking to BBC Somerset’s Mark Stillman after the match, Worthington said:

“It was difficult, I don’t think we really got going, we looked lethargic and quite slow I’d say.

“It’s disappointing, off the back of two wins we were full of confidence and to lose the way we did, at home, it’s disappointing.”

Yeovil did have the ball in the back of the net late on, a Jake Wannell header from a Charlie Cooper free-kick was deemed to have come from an offside position.

The skipper wasn’t convinced that was the right call, he said:  “I thought it was onside, a few times the lino didn’t really put his flag up, so the ref made the decision. It went against us, it was frustrating, we have to move on.”

“No excuses from us, we should have been better and we’ll look to turn it around on Saturday.”

The Glovers have now lost three of the four National League Premier Division games at Huish Park this season and supporters were audibly frustrated throughout.

The captain said: “It’s difficult, a few boos coming in at half-time, as players we need to feed off the fans really, but then again, if we put in a performance where we’re not at it, not creating enough chances, it’s hard for them to really get behind us, it’s a disappointing night all round, but we’ll look to bounce back on the weekend.

“There’s no excuses from us, obviously there’s been a lot of travelling, it was a game on Saturday where we had to chuck everything at it, really, so it took a lot out of the lads, and maybe that’s a factor why we looked leggy and lethargic today, no excuses from us, we should have been better and we’ll look to turn it around on Saturday. “

The Glovers are back in front of the Huish Park faithful on Saturday when Altrincham make the trip to Somerset, a chance to put Tuesday’s performance right, says Worthy.

“Every game is tough, there’s going to be no easy games in this league, we just have to prepare right, rest up and get ready to put a performance on Saturday.”