Ian Perkins (Page 45)

Ian was in the Torquay Press Box for Yeovil’s 3-1 win last night. Here are his Conclusions from an enjoyable night in the English Riviera.

We got to show off our attacking depth, again. The contrast in the two sides couldn’t have been clearer from the starting line ups. Torquay are ravaged by injuries and missing key players and Mark Cooper was able to bring Jordan Young and Sonny Cox back into his line up, with Jake Hyde, Jordan Stevens and Will Dawes ready to come off the bench. Last night we got to see Cox in left-midfield rather than centrally and he gave a battling performance up against Shaun Donnellan. He faded as the game wore on, but showed another string to his bow in the green and white shirt. Frank Nouble had another good performace, Rhys Murphy should have bagged and Young was at his mercurial best again.

It was a man of the match performance from Sonny Blu Lo-Everton. That was probably Lo-Everton’s best performance in a Yeovil shirt. He was diligent defensively, certain in possession and full of energy. His first half goal was brilliantly struck, showing that when allowed the space Torquay did, he’s able to punish teams. He’s had to wait for his chance, much like Josh Owers did, but there’s so much competition in centre midfield at the moment and anyone who does get dropped will feel harshly done by right now. 

Torquay didn’t really lay a glove on Yeovil. For all the talk about Torquay being our closest rivals this season (and their good home record) we’ve definitely faced tougher tests this season. They’ve got their injury woes, and have added loanees in the past couple of weeks but we kept them at arm’s length for most of the game and for a spell in the first half they couldn’t get near us. There is a long way to go still and we have all the momentum. If, as many predicted, the Gulls are to be our title rivals this season, they have a lot of work to do.

The run continues. This unfathomable, unbelievable run of wins keeps going and off the back of dismal lows of April (and the decade prior) it feels so much sweeter. BBC Devon’s commentator asked if ‘Yeovil always play like that?’ after the match and my answer was ‘yeah, pretty much.’ The performances has been remarkable in these past few weeks, different game plans for different opponents from different levels have shown how prepared Mark Cooper is for any challenge. The supporters are well and truly on board and each game feels more winnable than the last. The connection with players gets closer with each victory too. I don’t think you can underestimate how much closer the HP Source series makes you feel to the players too. Seeing those moments where people’s guard is down, and they appear more relaxed makes such a difference.

Mark Cooper still wants more. Even with 12 wins in a row, it feels like Cooper knows there’s even more to come from this squad. But for a lapse on their goal, Yeovil were pretty dominant throughout at Plainmoor, but you can sense that Cooper really wanted to make it a statement victory. Murphy could have, probably should have scored two. Nouble cuts it back to Worthington when he probably should have smashed it goal, Jordan Young has a great 1v1 in the second half and a couple of better final balls could have seen even more chances to score. I think he wants to really put a team to the sword and Saturday’s visitors are second from bottom, Dover Athletic…

Yeovil Town’s 11th win in a row came against National League opposition yesterday, as the Glovers despatched Gateshead in the FA Cup. Here are Ian’s conclusions from Huish Park…

It felt pretty comfortable, despite the scoreline. As with the Southend game in the previous round, the early goal (sorry Rhys, it looks like an OG) got us off to the best possible start and it could have been 4-0 at half time. Stevens misses a sitter before he scores and Matt Worthington should have scored form close range too. There was no doubt about the third goal though as Murphy fired in after a slip from a Gateshead defender in the box. Gateshead’s two goals came from the softest of soft penalties and a lucky ricochet and while it was nervy in the stands, the players looked composed to see it out. For all the talk about Gateshead’s style, there was lots of style but they didn’t produce much substance against our defence.

It’s Michael Smith’s world and we’re just living in it. If he blocked one cross yesterday, he blocked one hundred. The impact he’s made on our performances and our right side is huge. Morgan Williams, who was already solid, has excelled with Smith outside of him. Jordan Steven’s attacking movement is better with Smith’s ability to pick out those runs. He’s composed under-pressure and yesterday was another quality performance. Does anyone else still feel like he’s in third gear?

Jordan Stevens is starting to show he’s a difference maker. Despite Mark Cooper saying he wanted to take him off after five minutes, Stevens showed his quality throughout. His pace is undeniable, just when you think he’s going at full-tilt he shows another level and leaves opponents behind. He took his goal well, when you watch it back he had a lot of time and gives it the subtlest Peter Dinklage of Mair’s leg. Without getting too Football Manager, he’s getting in all the right areas in an attacking sense, if he continues to improve as he has since returning from injury, we’ll have suitors to warn off.

We have so many attacking options. We left out Jordan Young yesterday. Just think about that. He’s arguably our most in-form player and he didn’t start. There was room for Will Dawes who impressed again. We reverted back to Nouble and Murphy up front too, which is my preferred pairing up top. We’ve seen how important partnerships are up front, Madden and Hayter, Jackson and Gall, Jevons and Tarachulski, Forinton and Patmore. If you get one that works you can become unstoppable. 

The supporters were out in force once again. 3241 were at Huish Park yesterday, many of whom would have had to negotiate some iffy roads after the storm. This wasn’t a part of any ticket deal or included in season tickets, but there’s a feeling building around the club. Each win brings more confidence on the pitch and that is now translating off the pitch. The grumbles about the quality of the football feel like they were a lifetime ago. If I said in April that Mark Cooper would lead Yeovil to 11 wins in a row by the end of 2023, I think most would have questioned my sanity, but here we are. And I like it…