David Coates (Page 3)

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Yeovil Town have made three changes to their starting XI from Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Rochdale as they take on Aldershot Town at Huish Park tonight (7.45pm kick-off).

Loan defender Declan Skura is handed his first start having joined from Wycombe Wanderers with fellow loanee Terrell Works and Harvey Greenslade also brought in to the line-up.

Dropping to the bench at Joy Mukena, Josh Sims and Tahvon Campbell who are joined among the substitutes by midfielder Jonathon Page who has been missing since picking up an injury in the 2-1 defeat at Brackley Town.

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It’s the last eight of the FA Trophy for Yeovil Town for the first time in 23 years – albeit 16 of those years we didn’t compete in it – after an impressive performance and 2-0 win at AFC Telford United. Dave was in the away end at New Buck’s Head to watch the Glovers side-step a banana skin and here are his thoughts.

A banana skin avoided: We had all the excuses you could hope for to slip up at Telford. Having not played for two weeks, missing a number of key players through being cup tied or injury, facing a team in great form going in to this game and on a pitch which was not exactly a snooker table. But, the game plan could not have been better executed. We threatened from the first minute and looked comfortably the better side in the first half, nullified everything Telford threw at us including making their prolific strike Matt Stenson look average, and we took our chances – well, enough of them to matter, anyway. A thoroughly professional performance.

It could/should have been more comfortable: Going forward, we looked a threat and we should have won this game more comfortably than we did. Tahvon Campbell, Harvey Greenslade and Dakari Mafico all had great opportunities to make the scoreline far more convincing. Campbell took his chance coolly, but he’s still not the one for me. In his post-match interview, Billy Rowley said the striker was “on his back” when he came off in second half stoppage time, but I am not sure where he expended his energy. Then again, he scored a goal and if he does nothing but score all season, he’ll be right by me. Not that he cares much about pleasing me, I’m sure!

Yeovil Town celebrate Tahvon Campbell’s goal at Telford – but it’s just four goals in 26 appearances for him this season.

Defensively solid: I don’t mind admitting that seeing the number of goals Telford have scored in the past couple of months, I feared for our back line. I thought we looked more solid when Finn Cousin-Dawson came on in the second half, but I was really impressed with what I saw from Joy Mukena and, if he’s not match fit, he can only improve. Jake Wannell has had his critics this season – including me – but I thought he looked composed. A clean sheet will do them the world of good with some tough league fixtures coming up.

Vote for your top performer at Telford in our Man of the Match poll – click here.

The last eight looks good: Having scraped through the last two round of the Trophy on penalties, it was good to get a convincing win in the fifth round – and have you seen who’s left in the quarter-finals? We are one of four National League Premier Division sides with the others being Southend United, Wealdstone and Woking, and then four teams from lower divisions – Horsham, Kidderminster Harriers, Marine and Southport. In a season where not getting pulled in to a relegation scrap in the league feels like a success, the Trophy feels like a great opportunity for us to enjoy yourselves. The last time we made the quarter finals was 2002-2003 when we lost at home to Burscough in the last eight – but we did also win promotion to the Football League that season. I’m sure we’d all take that, but you can almost see the Wembley arch, can’t you?

Now for some league points: Asked about whether he was looking forward to the quarter-final draw on Saturday, Billy Rowley was very quick to point out we need to start picking up league points. A trip to Altrincham is next up next weekend and, as one of the teams below us in the table, that has to be seen as an opportunity to take the momentum of a positive Trophy performance in to the league. We have games in hand over all of the teams below us in the table – with the exception of bottom club Gateshead who have played the same number of games – but getting points on the board has to happen quickly.

23 years ago and all that….

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Gloverscast Fans' Quiz #7

It's the start of another month, so it's time to test your Yeovil Town knowledge with our regular fans' quiz. In this edition, we test your historical knowledge of the Glovers in the FA Trophy and we make no apologies for using 2002 in the 'Golden Oldies' section - it was 24 years ago! Good luck!

1 / 12

In 2001/02 YTFC won the FA Trophy, but the final was played away from Wembley due to it being re-built. Where was it played?

2 / 12

In the 2002-03 season, Yeovil Town defended their title in what would be their last appearance in the competition for 16 years - but who knocked them out?

3 / 12

Adam Stansfield memorably scored Yeovil Town's second goal in the 2002 FA Trophy final, but who put the Glovers ahead in that match?

4 / 12

Up to the end of 2024/25 season, how many goals have Yeovil Town scored in the FA Trophy?

5 / 12

Before the 2019-20 season was curtailed by COVID-19, how many goalkeepers did Yeovil Town field?

6 / 12

How many matches did Chris Hargreaves have as Yeovil Town manager? Clue: "Too many" is not an acceptable answer.

7 / 12

On 25th October 2017, Yeovil Town played Chelsea Under-21s at Huish Park in a Checkatrade Trophy group game, which finished 1-1. Which current Glover scored the Chelsea goal?

8 / 12

Which former Glover is currently the assistant manager to England boss Thomas Tuchel?

9 / 12

Current Under-19s Operations Lead Josh Staunton took charge of the Yeovil Town first team for one match, but against which opponent?

10 / 12

In July 2007, striker Lloyd Owusu signed for Yeovil Town from which club?

11 / 12

What international side did Lloyd Owusu play for?

12 / 12

On which Football League ground did Lloyd Owusu make his Yeovil Town league debut in August 2007?

Your score is

The average score is 64%

0%

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Yeovil Town stepped over a potential banana skin to make it through to the quarter-finals of the FA Trophy with victory at AFC Telford United.

The Glovers took the lead when Harvey Greenslade’s ball was deflected in to the net by Telford defender Amaar Dyer after 27 minutes before striker Tahvon Campbell seized on a defensive lapse to double the advantage just after the hour mark.

Telford, who were unbeaten at home since November, applied some pressure in the closing stages but Yeovil stood firm to make it in to Monday’s draw for the competition’s last eight.

First half

With three first-team squad members, Jonathon Page, Ryan Jones and Terrell Works, all cup-tied and striker Aaron Jarvis and midfielder Luke McCormick unable to start through injury, Billy Rowley had to shuffle his pack. Striker Tahvon Campbell was paired alongside Harvey Greenslade up front with Joy Mukena coming in for a debut as part of a defensive three, and there was a place among the substitutes for Under-19s defender Jaydon Biss and striker Liam Nardiello.
It did not take long for the first chance to fall the way of Yeovil who made a positive start against an in-form Telford side which had not lost at New Buck’s Head since November. Josh Sims combined with on loan Cardiff City midfielder Troy Perrett to pick out Campbell who had a shot blocked before falling to Greenslade whose effort was blocked by Amaar Dyer. It was good, positive play to create the opening, but Greenslade really should have opened the scoring.

The positive start continued with plenty of balls in to the box from the visitors with Sims in particular looking a threat down the right, but Mukena’s header in to the arms of Telford keeper Josh Gracey after 14 minutes was the nearest we came to another opening

Telford look like they are happy to sit behind the ball and hit their visitors on the break, whilst we played the ball around and looked for an opening. One almost came on 25 minutes when Sims got away down the right before finding Dakari Mafico just inside the area, but he lifted his effort over the bar. Telford’s first opening a minute later when Dylan Allen-Hadley found himself through on goal, only to scuff his effort allowing Jake Wannell to recover and clear the danger.

The breakthrough came on 27 minutes with another break from a wide position. This time it was Harvey Greenslade was released down the left and his ball in to the box found its way in to the goal via a deflection off Amaar Dyer. I’d love to give it to Harvey, but that has to go down as an OWN GOAL.

A couple of yellow cards for Josh Tobin and then Kyle Ferguson were about the only talking points for the final 15 minutes of the first half.

Half time: AFC Telford United 0 Yeovil Town 1

Second half

Tobin’s first half booking for an unnecessary challenge saw him withdrawn at the start of the second half with Finn Cousin-Dawson replacing him in a defensive midfield role.

Three minutes after the break, Mafico and Campbell linked up well but the Cardiff youngster’s effort was easily gathered by Gracey in the Telford goal.

With 55 minutes played, Telford striker Matt Stenson tumbled inside the box before getting straight up and pushing Ferguson to the ground. Stenson’s short temper and Ferguson’s reputation for sh*thousery combined for the inevitable yellow card for the striker.

Just before the hour mark, a moment of Yeovil dawdling in an attacking position was broken up by a solid Telford tackle on Cousin-Dawson to allow Allen-Hadley to break forward. He had Stenson available but his effort was deflected wide for a corner. Telford are making more of a game of this in the second half.

But, it was Yeovil who found the game’s next goal just after the hour mark. A moment of indecision by the Telford defence was pounced upon by Tahvon CAMPBELL who found himself one-on-one with Gracey inside the area and coolly finished. To be fair to the striker, he’s done little all game, but he’s turned up when it counts there.

Stenson had a great opportunity to reduce the arrears soon after good play by the dangerous Hadley found the in-form striker who lashed his effort over from an angle after 68 minutes. Telford were not giving up and with 77 minutes on the clock, a ball in to the box just evaded Hadley who would have had an easy opportunity.

Jacob Maddox replaced Joy Mukena with Cousin-Dawson dropping back in to the back line. Yeovil have looked controlled and handled the pressure which the home side have applied.

The final ten minutes saw Telford turn up the pressure with a number of balls in to the box, but the back line stood firm to book a place in the quarter finals.

There was a nice moment in second half stoppage time played as Under-18s’ players Jaydon Biss and Liam Nardiello replaced Campbell and Greenslade to make their Yeovil debuts.

Full time: AFC Telford United 0 Yeovil Town 2

Match Details

Venue: New Bucks’ Head
Date: Saturday 31st January, 3pm kick-off

Competition: FA Trophy, 5th Round

Scorers: Ammar Dyer o.g. 27, Tahvon Campbell 63

Pitch: A bit bare in places, but playable which is enough after the past couple of games.

Conditions: Dry but dull

Attendance: 2,162 (507 away supporters)

Bookings:
Yeovil Town: Josh Tobin 32, Kyle Ferguson 37, Tahvon Campbell 78
AFC Telford United: Matt Stenson 55, Oliver Cawthorne 78.

Referee: Aaron Farmer

Vote for your top performer in our Man of the Match poll – click here.

Yeovil Town (3-4-1-2)

Substitutes: Finn Cousin-Dawson (for Josh Tobin, 46), Jacob Maddox (for Joy Mukena, 72), Jaydon Biss (for Tahvon Campbell, 90), Liam Nardiello (for Harvey Greenslade 90+2, Matt Gould (not used).

AFC Telford United: Josh Gracey, Amaar Dyer, Jordan Cranston (for Rhys Hilton, 81), Jordan Piggott, Oliver Cawthorne, Alex Fletcher, Khanaya Leshabela, Remi Walker (for Jimmy Armson, 71), Jamie Meddows, Matt Stenson (for Ricardo Dinanga, 71), Dylan Allen-Hadley.

Substitutes (not used): Jahdahn Fridye-Harper, Ola Lawal, Edward Ikpakwu, Charlie Williams.

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Aaron Jarvis misses out on the FA Trophy squad having not recovered sufficiently from a concussion.

He misses out from the squad altogether, whilst Luke McCormick is only fit enough for the bench, having fought with an ankle problem recently.

Troy Perrett comes into the starting line up, with Jonathon Page, Terrell Works and Ryan Jones all missing through their status as cup tied.

Joy Mukena comes into the back line whilst there’s room on the bench for Alex Whittle as well as youngsters Liam Nardiello and Jaydon Biss.

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Defender Michee Efete has become the second departure from Yeovil Town today.

The 28-year-old arrived in mid-October under former manager Richard Dryden following his departure from Scottish Premiership side Ross County.

He becomes the latest exit from Huish Park on Friday after confirmation young midfielder Max Jolliffe has returned to his parent club Colchester United.

Efete came off the bench in the FA Trophy fourth round penalty shoot-out win over Alvechurch and was an unused substitute in the last National League fixture, the 2-1 defeat at Bromley Town.

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Midfielder Max Jolliffe has been recalled from his loan spell at Yeovil Town by League Two Colchester United.

The 20-year-old, who arrived under former boss Richard Dryden at the end of October, has not started a game since the end of December and not featured since appearing as an 89th minute substitute in the 3-1 home win over Braintree Town at the start of the month.

He was not even named on the substitutes’ bench in the previous two games with manager Billy Rowley bringing in a number of other midfielders including Cardiff City loan duo Dakari Mafico and Troy Perrett and Bromley’s Josh Tobin.

Under National League rules, a club can only name five loan players in a matchday squad. The current Glovers loanees are goalkeeper Jed Ward, midfielders Mafico, Perrett and Tobin and forward Terrell Works. Both Andrew Oluwabori and James Plant returned to their parent clubs, Exeter City and Port Vale, earlier this month.

Jolliffe was named in the National League Team of the Week for his performance on his debut in a 1-1 draw with Carlisle in October.

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It was a disappointing first visit to Brackley Town for Yeovil Town as they went down to a 2-1 defeat in Northamptonshire with former loanee Ben Wodskou netting the winner late in the first half. Dave was among the more than 300 travelling Glovers who made the journey and here are his conclusions.

What’s the point of possession if you do nothing with it? For long periods of this game, we created absolutely nothing with it and even more frustratingly we never looked like we even might. There were countless times when our players stopped and put their foot on the ball and looked around to see everyone in green-and-white completely static with no-one making a move to try and create something. The second half was a complete non-event with Brackley, who were ahead in the game, very happy to watch us pass it ponderously around, whilst we never seemed to have an idea of how to get through them. So slow, so lacking in intensity.

We look so fragile defensively: If you haven’t seen them yet, go back and watch both Brackley goals. Do you see anyone taking responsibility in our side? Tell me who they are if you do, because I see no-one. The first goal comes from a sloppy back pass from Kyle Ferguson but even after that Shane Byrne is completely unchallenged to tap in it. Then the second, it is far too easy for the Brackley player to win a header from the corner and Wodskou is the only one who seems to want it in the ensuing scramble. There is a huge Morgan Williams-shaped hole in our defence and, sorry, but Jake Wannell is not a captain for me. Either in his performances – and no, not just today – or his demeanour, he doesn’t do enough to warrant the armband. But, who does? It’s leadership again, isn’t it? We simply do not have it.

Danny Newton rises highest for a header whilst the Yeovil defence look on.

WE NEED A STRIKER!!: We have brought in six players in the past fortnight and we have so many ‘creative players’, ‘attacking midfielders’ or wingers – but WE NEED A STRIKER. Yes, I understand they are hard to come by, they are the ones who cost money, they are hard to come by in January, but surely anyone we bring in cannot be worse than what we have. Aaron Jarvis was completely anonymous in his 45 minutes and Tahvon Campbell was not much better when he appeared in the second half. There was a moment in the second half where Campbell found himself offside when there was an opportunity to have an effort on goal, cue screams of frustration from the away end. That noise sums up my feelings on everything about our attacking play at the moment.

Perrett offered something: If I had to pick a glimmer of hope it would the substitute Trey Perrett. The Cardiff City loanee who was given the last 20 minutes of the game to show what he has. He – and to a lesser extent fellow substitute Terrell Works – were the only players who looked to move in a positive fashion going forwards when we had possession. Perrett got a couple of shots away before he was able to lay one off to Luke McCormick to get a shot away late on. Let’s hope there is more of that to come.

Rowley needs to figure it out: There were boos from the away end at Brackley at the final whistle and the criticism was aimed at the performance, not the manager. Those people I spoke to after the whistle know that this HAS to be a project and we have to give Billy Rowley time to figure it out. He spoke after the game and said “I will figure out the players that want to come on this journey and don’t” and I will bet that there are many of those who made a five-hour round trip to see that performance can help him out with his list.

Billy Rowley and his players applaud supporters after the final whistle at Brackley.

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Yeovil Town manager Billy Rowley has said he believes that an influx of new faces at Huish Park have the makings of a side moulded in his image.

The Glovers have brought five new players in recent weeks in the form of Cardiff City loanees Dakari Mafico and Troy Perrett, centre half Joy Mukena, midfielder Jonathon Page and Fulham attacker Terrell Works.

Speaking to BBC Somerset reporter Jack Killah ahead of this weekend’s trip to Brackley Town, the boss said he expected that to be the end of his recruitment for the season and called on fans to be patient with the new arrivals.

He said: “I have been really pleased with what I have seen from the current squad and it is nothing against them, I just feel we needed a bit of a freshen up and a bit more depth in certain positions. This last four or five weeks has been like a mini pre-season for me, I have figured out what I like and what I want to see less of and with these boys coming in I think we can start to look a bit more like my type of team.

“We still have 20 games this season, so there is a lot of work to do and when you have a turnover of five or six players in such a short space of time, we have to understand we have to give a bit of time for them to bed in.

“But I am aware we are in the winter months of a tough division and we haven’t really got time to do that, but we are going to have to be a bit patient with the boys whilst they understand what we want from them. I am certain that with 10-15 games left we will look smooth and good to watch.

“I can’t see any other signings this season and I am aware we have loaned a lot of players and the truth is that is where you get the best deals at this time of year. I am in contact with a lot of Premier League clubs who have boys that need to play games and you do not have to pay their full wage, but if you sign a player that is going to start for Yeovil you are going to have to pay a fee and a huge wage, so you probably get the best bang for your buck with loans.”

The boss said that he had seen an upturn in training following the influx of new recruits with the existing players upping their game in the face of a new competition and gave an assessment on some of the arrivals.

He said: “Training has been the highest level since I have been here. When you bring new players to a club, faces that have been here for a while step up a bit because they want to show they want to stay and fight for their shirt and the new boys come in and want to show what they are all about.”

Dakari Mafico: “Dak got Man of the Match on his debut (in last weekend’s FA Trophy win over Alvechurch) which is incredible for such a young lad, I felt he dealt with the occasion brilliantly, had a lot of composure, skill and intelligence and the other lads we have brought in are of a similar level.”

Joy Mukena: “He’s a similar mould to (the recently-departed Morgan Williams), very good stature and very composed on the ball. He has played at a couple of teams which are pretty possession based in leagues higher than this, so he has fitted in pretty seamlessly.”

Troy Perrett: “Another Wales Under-21 international, a goal-scoring midfielder with good timing to get in to the box, good receiver and I think he will contribute well.”

Terrell Works: “I have known Terrell for a couple of years from Fulham, I think he got 15-20 goal contributions in the Premier League Under-21s League which is a tough division with a lot of quality players in it. I think he will be a player the fans enjoy watching, he is a bit of a magician, he can take people on both ways, he can score and assist. Terrell was Braintree’s top scorer, so he knows where the net is and he always has, he can finish off both feet in tight spaces and he can work stuff out of nothing which is something we need as well.”

Terrell Works

He concluded: “I am really excited about all these lads, a lot of them are young and they are probably going to need a couple of weeks to bed in and feel familiar with the surroundings but I think the fans can expect a lot of good things from those boys.”

Alongside the incomings, there were two departures announced last weekend with the return of loanees James Plant and Andrew Oluwabori to Port Vale and Exeter City respectively, and Rowley said he felt bringing in new faces was preferable to keeping the pair.

He said: “There potentially would have been scope (for them to stay), we looked at the squad, the balance of positions and what we need and we felt we could bring in three or four players in place of those two and it made sense to get cover in a couple of different positions.
I have nothing but good things to say (about James Plant and Andrew Oluwabori), they are great professionals and always trained well, but I felt like we needed a couple of different faces that could do different things.”

Yeovil return to National League action as they make their first-ever trip to Brackley Town to face one of the division’s few part-time outfits on Saturday. The Northamptonshire club sit in 18th place in the table going in to the match, albeit with games in hand over come of the other teams around them, and having already defeated high-flying Rochdale and Forest Green Rovers on their own patch this season.

They were put out of the FA Trophy by Rowley’s old side Walton & Hersham last weekend, but did win their last league match at Boston United with Ben Wodskou scoring the winner. The on-loan Birmingham City striker was on the books at Huish Park earlier this season, scoring the winner for Yeovil when the two sides met in Somerset in late August.

Asked about Brackley, Rowley said: “I know what they are all about, very organised team, solid and do not let a lot of goals in especially at their place. We know how we are going to look, but the pitch, the weather and the environment plays a part in how you approach the early part of the game.

“We know what we are walking into and I think we are going to have to be our best version of ourselves. We want to go there and get a good result and they are no pushovers at their place, they get some good results, so it is going to be difficult but we are going there to win, that is for sure.“