Ian Perkins (Page 47)

It was a Boxing Day Bonanza at Huish Park, as Mark Cooper’s Glovers put four past Taunton in front of a record-breaking crowd. Here are Ian’s Conclusions from a packed Huish Park…

It was a day when everything clicked. From the outset, Yeovil were dominant yesterday. The Glovers controlled the ball brilliantly, the attacking play was free-flowing and, in the first half in particular, it felt like every attack could have been a goal. Defensively we were strong and controlled and it was the type of performance which clearly showed the gulf between the two teams. The early change saw Rhys Murphy come on much sooner than expected and his impact was devastating as the front four caused chaos for the Peacocks defence.

There were big performances across the pitch, in each department. Jake Wannell was in a wrestling match for the first half and was extremely impressive in not taking any bait against his former side. I thought Charlie Cooper had a great game in midfield, picking passes, making the play tick over and breaking things up. Alex Whittle, back in the side from injury, picked up where he left off. Morgan Williams, as reliable as they come. Frank Nouble was absolutely purring up front. His goal was well taken in a free-flowing move, but his assist for Michael Smith was something else. As was the performance from the right back…

Michael Smith. What else can be said about the man? He finally scored his goal, in front of the Thatchers Stand and his adoring congregation. He was relentless on the right hand side with pacey running, great deliveries into the box and was an overlapping outlet all afternoon. As I said in conclusion one, it all clicked. His partnership with Jordan Young on the right is a joy to watch on days like yesterday. This team is a result of some brilliant recruitment from Mark Cooper, but the decisions to bring in Joe Day and Smith have been game-changers for this squad.  

It was great to see another record-breaking crowd at Huish Park. There was anticipation in the air upon arrival to Huish Park yesterday. The Ciderspace was packed, the Chairman was behind the bar and it was all hands on deck. A club that was on life-support this time last year, is absolutely thriving, with a wave of good-will and optimism behind it. With a performance like that, in front of a crowd of 6301, some casuals will have turned into die-hard Glovers! A great afternoon on and off the pitch for a club that is unrecognisable from 12 months ago.

Ten Points Clear. Results below Yeovil all went the right way and the gap – which was already big – has got even bigger. We’ve had the blip and come out of it on the other side looking strong and head into the new year with momentum again. We can go to Taunton with confidence, welcome Bath for another West Country derby and make another statement. You can’t help but look at the fixtures and feel confident. And now you’re gonna believe us…

It wasn’t quite the fairy tale return to Huish Park after four weeks on the road, in-form Hampton and Richmond came to town and battled to a 0-0 draw. Ian was at Huish Park and here are his conclusions…

It was another game where we spurned chances. It’s become a growing theme in recent games that we’ve not been able to finish good chances. We saw it at Chippenham and Dartford on the road, and it was the same on the return to Huish Park. Rhys Murphy had two good opportunities in the first half and Frank Nouble should have scored when he was played through by Sonny Blu Lo-Everton. With Hyde and Stevens injured, Fisher still finding fitness and Cox back at Exeter we could do with a top up up top.

You can see why Hampton and Richmond have enjoyed a good run. They had early chances in both halves and we struggled to break them down. They were disciplined defensively and when they our press and got the ball to Jake Gray they had good moments around the edge of the box. When they brought on Bloomfield in the second half if gave them an extra man up top and his physicality gave our defence an extra battle to contend with. While Joe Day had more routine saves to make, I thought we were pretty comfortable defensively.

We took too long to get some pace on.  It wasn’t until the 88th minute that Will Dawes was introduced and he had one sprint down the wing which had Hampton backpedalling towards goal. It was a flat atmosphere at Huish Park, and we needed a spark to get the fans going. Dawes gives us that with his direct running so it was a shame to not see him earlier. Without Stevens, Dawes is the only attacking pace we have and when Mark Cooper says he wants to strengthen in the forward areas, that’s where I think we could do with more.

Jay Foulston had a solid debut. Our Friday night signing came straight into the team while Alex Whittle is still recovering. He got himself into good positions going forward and looks to have fitted in straight away. Before the match, Mark Cooper said he’d been on the club’s radar for a while but the deal wasn’t financially possible until now with Taunton’s troubles. We’ve been wanting depth at left back to provide cover for Alex Whittle and now we’ve got a genuine battle for position.

I have questions about the midfield. We’ve reverted to a three, with Charlie Cooper, Matt Worthington and Lo-Everton. Matt Worthington was given a license to roam yesterday but spent of a lot of time in left midfield in the 2nd half as it became more of a 4-4-2. In the switch to 4-3-3, I feel we’ve taken away from the attack. It was a familiar tale to the start of the season with a lot of possession in between the boxes but that lack of magic as we entered the box. I think we’ve got four good centre midfielders in Cooper, Worthy, Lo-Everton and Josh Owers and I think we’ve played better with two in midfield rather than three. Three gives us control of game but if Jordan Young doesn’t produce a moment there’s no one else who can.