Ian Perkins (Page 54)

The 3-2 win over Eastbourne Borough was the second in a row to take Yeovil three points off the top (not that we’re looking) and continue the unbeaten run at home. Here are Ian’s conclusions from Huish Park…

You can’t say we weren’t entertaining. Was it classic National League South? I hope to not find out, but it sure was entertaining. The early goal from Nouble, shooting ourselves in the foot and conspiring to concede 2, Nouble’s second goal with an onrushing keeper, Joe Day making huge saves, Josh Owers sublime winner. It was a toasty day which undoubtedly led to errors from both sides, but it was an enjoyable end-to-end game of football that ended with us getting the three points.

Joe Day had to makes some big saves again. Both Day and Will Buse have been busy in goal this season with the amount of opportunies we give oppostions. Day had to make two brilliant saves in the first half, the first of which seems impossible to get to. There’s little doubt he has improved our defensive unit and we walked away with the sponsor’s Man of the match for his performance.

That the best we’ve seen of Frank Nouble so far. For someone who’s best position is allegedly not at centre forward, Nouble has had two good games leading the line. He rose above everyone to head home, held the ball up nicely, had the desire to get on the end of Sonny Blu Lo Everton’s ball before the Eastbourne Borough goalkeeper to get us level before half time.

The changes were needed at half time. Mark Cooper said he thought Eastbourne Borough were the better side and certainly in the first half they were cutting through our midfield and defence like a hot knife through butter. The introduction of Charlie Cooper and Jake Hyde saw us match up Eastbourne and change to a 3-4-1-2. The change in shape saw us get more control and prevent Eastbournes wingbacks having as much freedom as they did in the first half.

It’s been a good week for Josh Owers. He had a solid game in his first start against Weston and he was my man of the match yesterday. He’s busy, never stops running and looks to get the ball forward as much as possible. He worked hard to keep possession after a loose pass from Jake Hyde and was in the right place to hit a wonderful, controlled finish into the top corner to win the game. He’s been a part of two wins on the spin and certain given his manager something to think about in the centre midfield.

PS. I liked the drum.

Chelmsford left Huish Park with a point yesterday after a late couple goals saw it finish 1-1. Ian was in the commentary box and here are his conclusions…

Joe Day had an impressive debut. The signing of another goalkeeper was no surprise following Lewis Williams departure, but an experienced EFL keeper who was on loan in the National League probably was a surprise. Day didn’t put a foot wrong, his distribution was solid and he pulled off three great saves. Firstly in a one on one situation, the second a low firm hand from a close range header and his third was a great reaction save to Josh Staunton’s miscued clearance. Will Buse is a good, young goalkeeper, but adding day makes the goalkeepers union stronger, more experienced and has strengthened the defence.

Is there anything Morgan Williams can’t do? I’m not sure I can conclude with a question, but oh well. Morgan Williams started in defensive midfield yesterday, shielding the centre backs. When I saw the line up it felt like Josh Staunton was the natural fit there but Williams took on the role and had another good game. He left the ball-playing to Sonny Blu Lo-Everton and Charlie Cooper and was a good disrupter to Chelmsford’s attacking midfielders who were in perpetual motion. With all the attacking talent on the pitch (more on them in a bit), Williams was probably not the player people expected to pop up with the equaliser. #DFILWF might have a new ambassador…

I’m not sure how we didn’t score more. It was two quite different halves for the attacking end of the team. The first half, I felt we never got in a flow. If I saw one diagonal pumped toward Frank Nouble I must have seen 1000. Everything good came through Jordan Young and Jake Hyde struggled to get any joy from Chelmsford’s lofty defenders. We picked up in the second half as Chelmsford tired with crosses flying into the box. Hyde had a golden 1v1 that he should have buried to open the scoring. Rhys Murphy entered the fray, Jordan Stevens returned and Jordan Maguire-Drew came on when we went 1-0 down. It was one way traffic for most of the second half, but I don’t think we stretched Chelmsford’s goalkeeper enough.

We need to find our best attacking unit. We’ve tried different combinations this season but we’re still yet to really make it click up top. There’s so much talent at the top end, Murphy, Hyde, Nouble, Young, JM-D, Stevens, Lo-Everton that should be able to unlock teams. I’m excited to see Stevens come into this team and I think he and Young in a front line will give us more energy and unpredictability in attack.

I’m not sure why people are grumbling about keeping the ball. Yet again, it’s another game where Yeovil recycle the ball, retain possession and work it down the other side to moans of some supporters. Chelmsford’s defence won everything in the air yesterday, Hyde and Nouble got no joy from the giant Winfield. Credit has to go to Chelmsford – the only unbeaten team in the league – who defended from the front and cut those forward passes out. I understand some of the frustration, but we’re a club that’s been losing for a decade and right now, we’ve got more in the wins column than the lost and that’s a good place to be.