Ben Barrett (Page 73)

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With Hartlepool United making the short(ish) trip to Huish Park this Saturday, Gloverscast Ben caught up with former Yeovil Town manager – and now ‘Pools Manager – Darren Sarll.

Darren was in his usual good form, we spoke about Carl Dickinson, Billy Sass-Davies and Adam Smith as well as how the season is shaping up as a whole.

Good luck for the season, Darren… just after today and excluding December 21st, when we make the trip to the North East!

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Yeovil Town goalkeeper Will Buse has joined National League South Side Weston-super-Mare on a one-month loan.

Buse, who is essentially surplus to requirements at Huish Park, spent the majority of last season with Bath City and was not given a squad number at the start of this campaign.

The arrival of goalkeeper/goalkeeper coach Matt Gould last month means Glovers’ boss Mark Cooper has cover for number one, Ollie Wright, who has joined on loan from Premier League Southampton.

Buse heads to the seaside will go straight in to the Seagulls’ side for their opening fixture at home to Worthing on Saturday with first-choice gloveman, Kelland Absalom, who joined from Welsh side Bala Town at the start of June, missing through suspension.

Seagulls’ manager Scott Bartlett said: “Will is a very good goalkeeper with good experience of the level.

“He is someone we know well and with Kelland suspended for the first league game, Will’s arrival adds competition to an important area of the pitch.

“I’d like to thank Mark Cooper and Yeovil for helping us at short notice.”

All the best, Will.

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The Glovers are back in the (Non League) big time and welcome Hartlepool United to Huish Park from just up the road. Here’s all the info you need ahead of the 2024/25 season opener.

Form Guide…

Let’s start with the obvious, there is no league form for either side to call upon.

The Glovers ended their pre-season campaign with a trio of wins over Weston-super-Mare, Buckland Athletic and Farnborough Town whilst the Pools, lost to a youthful second-string Nottingham Forest side 3-1 at Victoria Park last Saturday. They have seen off Scunthorpe, South Shields and Sunderland U21s this summer, though.

Hartlepool finished the 2023/24 campaign with a win, coming out on top of a seven-goal thriller against already relegated Dorking, clearly the defenders on both sides were already on their summer holidays.

Jordan Young fires home. Picture courtesy of Iain Morland.

Key Players…

Yeovil – Jordan Young

The former Chippenham Town man ended the 2023/24 season with a total of 14 league goals as the Glovers cruised to the National League South title and he’ll be vital once more back in the top flight of non-League football, set pieces will be key for the hosts throughout the season and Young has shown he’s more than capable of scoring and providing from a dead ball – any chance of one on Jake Wannell’s noggin please, Jordan?

Hartlepool United – Adam Campbell

Signed from Crawley Town in the summer, Campbell was promoted out of League Two, scoring seven goals in 48 appearances, it’s perfectly feasibly that Campbell should be playing in League One this season, instead he’s been brought closer to home and a couple of levels down the pyramid.

Ref keeps an eye on Jordan Young! Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

That’s What He Said…

In his pre-match presser Mark Cooper said that he knew all about Hartlepool’s strengths, and knows exactly what kind of side former Glovers’ Manager Darren Sarll will bring.

“They have some really good, experienced players and Darren’s way of playing is full on pressing, getting after teams and looking to make it really uncomfortable. But we have our own style of play and being at home, we have to try and impose our style on them.”

You can read the headlines from the boss’s first pre-match presser of the season HERE

As for Sarll, you can hear an exclusive chat with the Hartlepool gaffer on match-day morning with Gloverscast Ben in the return of the ‘Foot in the Opposition Camp’.

Sarll told the HUFC official site on Thursday: “Like I’ve said all week with other press duties [he means us, here I think],  I have a connection there (to Yeovil). I had three years there, it was a big part of my managerial career… they’ve had an excellent year last year and to turn a relegation into a winning season is very hard and the coaching staff and the players deserve a lot of credit. They’ll have good momentum and positivity around them, so, we’ve got to lift our performances to match.”

We’ve met before…

Sorry stattos, but Yeovil Town have a quite frankly terrible recent record against the side from the uppest of the North.

Not since 2012 when in League One have Yeovil beaten Hartlepool. A single Joe Edwards goal was enough to earn the three points on that day. 

Last time we crossed paths in the North, the Pools won 2-1. Tom Knowles opened the scoring, but it meant little by the end. The last meeting at Huish Park – a behind closed doors game in November 2020 – was even worse. Three first half goals from Molyneux, Holohan and Magloire put the game and points well out of reach, even if Joe Quigley did get one back.

Want to watch that one again? No? Tough.

 

Don’t I know you?

Quite a lot of the travelling Hartlepool contingent are known to Glovers fans.

Darren Sarll is the gaffer, assisted by Carl Dickinson, and they will bring former Glovers’ loanee Adam Smith and central defenders Billy Sass-Davies and Tom Parkes back to Huish Park. They’re all expected to be in the match day squad.

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

Who’s been naughty then?

David Rock is our referee for this fixture, and as you’d expect for the first game of the season, there are no notable suspensions for either side, at least not in the playing squad. Yeovil Chairman and Owner, Martin Hellier, serves the first of his two-match stadium ban.

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 Jack Killah for BBC Somerset and Three Valleys Radio will have full match coverage too.

On the TV/ stream

National League TV has this game listed as available to watch. Match Passes are £9.99

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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“….if you smell… who the Rock.. is… booking….”

The first set of Officials for Yeovil’s return to the National League Premier have been confirmed with David Rock the man in the middle for The Glovers’ clash with Hartlepool this weekend.

Rock will be assisted by Paper and Scissors. (ok, not really)

Rock will ACTUALLY be assisted by Samuel Fudge and Ryan Saward, and we offer a warm welcome back to the use of a Fourth Official, something we didn’t actually have last season. Stephen Brown is the man holding the boards for us this weekend.

Rock has mostly been used as an EFL official over recent seasons, but there is a suggestion that there will be much more of a fluid take on officials chopping and changing around the lower EFL regions and the National League circuit.

The last time we crossed paths with Mr Rock, was a while ago, in the FA Cup.

In 2018, he officiated a 3-1 home defeat to Stockport County in First Round, Alex Fisher scored for the Glovers in a game with just three yellow cards.

Wind the clock back a couple more years and he also officiated the 2-2 FA Cup draw with Solihull in the first round of the 2016/17 edition.

On that occasion he sent off Kevin Dawson for two bookable offences as well as noting the names of two others in Green and White.

If ya smell, who the Rock is booking….

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Tickets for the Glovers’ trip to AFC Fylde are now on sale from the host club.

If you’re going to be making the trip up to Lancashire in early September and want to plan ahead, you can do so by purchasing tickets ahead of the clash on Saturday 7th September (3pm kick-off).

To buy your tickets – CLICK HERE

Away fans are situated in either the South Terrace for those standing or in Block A of the West Stand for those seating.

In the Terrace, Adults are £18 and Junior “Under 18s” are £9, whilst if you want the privledge of a seat, that’ll cost you.

West Stand tickets are £22 for Adults and £10 for Juniors.

According to the Ticket Purchasing portal, there are 1169 tickets available to Glovers fans with 169 of those being the seated portion. 

As with Boston, there does appear to be a requirement to sign up to an account with an email address and password. 

There is an option to purchase over the phone or in person on match day (via the ticket office – please allow additional time), please note that ambulant disabled and wheelchair user tickets cannot be booked online. Please contact the Ticket Office on 01772 682593.

 

Other Away Tickets on Sale at time of writing:

Braintree Town – Sat Aug 17th 3pm- CLICK HERE
Boston United – Sat Aug 31st 3pm – CLICK HERE

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Yeovil Town have been given a bye directly into the 2nd Round of the Somerset Men’s Premier Cup.

The draw for the first round took place on Monday evening and the Glovers were one of six teams given an automatic bye into Round Two.

Bath City v Larkhall is probably the stand out tie from the first round.

Yeovil won the SMPC two seasons ago, when Charlie Lee put out a strong side to lift the cup at Huish Park.

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Former Yeovil Striker, Alex Fisher has signed for National League South Side, Bath City.

Fisher, who scored vital goals for the Glovers as the Green and Whites secured the NLS title, has been on trial at the Romans and secured a permanent deal.

The former Exeter man joins Jerry Gill at Twerton Park.

All the best, Fish.

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Yeovil Town’s home clash with Gateshead in January has been brought forward to Friday night.

Originally scheduled in for Saturday 18th Jan, the Glovers will now host the Heed on Friday 17th with a 7:45 kick off.

This appears to be a direct reciprocation from Gateshead moving the reverse fixture to allow for a slightly more favourable travel schedule for the Yeovil players.

 

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Raphael Araoye. Pic courtesy of a green-tinted Robins insider

Teenage central defender Raphael Araoye has joined Yeovil Town on a youth loan from Bristol City until January 2025, the club has confirmed.

The 19-year-old, who stands 6’3″ tall, spent three months on loan in National League South with Weston-super-Mare and played the full 90 minutes at Huish Park in February, a match sealed by a late goal from his new defensive colleague Morgan Williams.

He is able to play in central defender, left-back or left wing-back and will provide options for Glovers’ boss Mark Cooper on the left side of defence, where Alex Whittle is his only current option.

Trialists Jacob Roddy and Brandon Haunstrup have both auditioned for a role in that position during pre-season, but they have both found opportunities elsewhere in recent days.

Araoye has been at Ashton Gate since the age of ten and progressed through the club’s youth system, signing a three-year deal with the Robins in August 2022. He joined Weston in January and stayed in north Somerset until mid-April when he returned to his parent club having made 15 appearances.

Welcome to Huish Park, Raf! 


 

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The Glovers take on one final pre-season opponent before the real stuff gets underway next week and here’s how Yeovil Town line up.

The highly-successful back four of Michael Smith, Morgan Williams, Jake Wannell and Alex Whittle are back together striker Aaron Jarvis, Brett McGavin in midfield and goalkeeper Ollie Wright the only members of the starting XI who did not finish last season at Huish Park.

There’s no spot in the squad for Dylan Morgan or Charlie Cooper – hopefully nothing too serious there, whilst Corey Koerner is the only member of the Under-18s side in the group.

There are no trialists listed; Jacob Roddy has today signed for Oxford City whilst Brandon Haunstrup is currently playing for Gateshead, listed as a trialist. The former Portsmouth player had a spell on loan in Tyneside whilst a Cambridge United player.

The Yeovil Town Team in full:

(4-2-3-1- we think)

Ollie Wright

Michael Smith – Morgan Williams – Jake Wannell – Alex Whittle

Matt Worthington – Brett McGavin

Sam Pearson – Frank Nouble – Jordan Young

Aaron Jarvis

Substitutes: Matt Gould, Jordan Thomas, Finn Cousin-Dawson, Harvey Greenslade, Sonny Blu Lo-Everton, Corey Koerner.