Tom Bailey (Page 12)

On a chilly Saturday afternoon, Yeovil registered their fifth consecutive win, as they avenged their opening day demons against Hemel Hempstead. In a minimised running order (thanks Mother Nature!), let’s see what else happened in the NLS this weekend.

We start in Essex, where Aveley twice surrendered a lead to record a 2-2 draw at home to Chippenham Town, while a surprise came at Slough Town, where a Josh Jackson double gave the hosts a brilliant 2-1 win over playoff contenders Maidstone. Another 2-1 win came at Havant & Waterlooville, as visitors Weston-super-mare left the south coast with all 3 points.

In the final two games of the day, there were 1-0 wins for two playoff chasers; Ollie Pearce bagged his 21st goal of the league campaign to give his Worthing side the win away to Tonbridge Angels, meanwhile Gary Johnson’s Torquay United scraped a 1-0 win at home to Dover Athletic, courtesy of yet another thunderous Brett McGavin strike.

Tuesday’s hosts, Truro City, weren’t in action as their trip to Welling United was postponed, however a positive to take is that it’s likely our fixture will go ahead with them, as their ground-sharing hosts Plymouth Parkway played at Bolitho Park on Saturday with no issues.

National League South results – in full

Aveley 2-2 Chippenham Town
Bath City P-P Dartford
Braintree Town P-P Taunton Town
Farnborough P-P Chelmsford City
Hampton & Richmond Borough P-P Eastbourne Borough
Havant & Waterlooville 1-2 Weston-super-mare
Slough Town 2-1 Maidstone United
Tonbridge Angels 0-1 Worthing
Torquay United 1-0 Dover Athletic
Welling United P-P Truro City
W*ymouth P-P St Albans City

National League tables

With Aveley in FA Trophy action, and Yeovil’s scheduled fixture with them this weekend being postponed as a result, it gave Mark Cooper’s men the weekend off! Let’s look at what the rest of the league have been up to in the league leader’s absence.

We’ll begin in the FA Trophy, as there were 8 NLS teams left in the competition. The biggest shock came at Park View Road, where Welling United saw off runaway National League leaders Chesterfield with a 2-0 win to book their place in the next round. Also causing upsets against tougher opposition were our expected hosts Aveley, and Hampton & Richmond, as they defeated AFC Fylde and Hartlepool United respectively.

Torquay United fell to a 2-0 defeat away to Hereford, while Chippenham Town and Weston-super-mare put on admirable performances away to National League opponents, both losing on penalties to Bromley and Gateshead. Chelmsford City fell to a narrow 1-0 defeat at home to Wealdstone, courtesy of former Glover Tahvon Campbell, while a shock came at Twerton Park as Bath City lost on penalties to Coalville Town. With the Fourth Round completed, our 8 league representatives drop to 3, and we will continue to bring coverage of their progress.

Onto league action now, and we’ll begin with Worthing, who hammered an in-form Truro City with doubles from Ollie Pearce and Danny Cashman handing the visitors a 4-1 win and three points on their travels. Slough Town remain winless against W*ymouth in all competitive fixtures, as the visitors fell to a 3-0 defeat on the South Coast, ex-Glover Brandon Goodship getting on the scoresheet once again; meanwhile next weekend’s visitors Hemel Hempstead recorded a 2-0 win at home to Tonbridge Angels.

Another ex-Glover was on the scoresheet on Saturday, as Ryan Seager’s double handed Havant & Waterlooville a surprising 2-1 win over Maidstone to assist in Yeovil’s title push, as well as aiding Havant’s relegation battle. Another relegation threatened side fell to a defeat, as Eastbourne Borough lost 2-1 at home to St Albans City, Shaun Jeffers getting himself involved in the goals, while Taunton and Dover Athletic played out a 1-1 draw that doesn’t really help either team.

National League South results – in full

Eastbourne Borough 1-2 St Albans City
Havant & Waterlooville 2-1 Maidstone United
Hemel Hempstead Town 2-0 Tonbridge Angels
Taunton Town 1-1 Dover Athletic
Truro City 1-4 Worthing
W*ymouth 3-0 Slough Town

FA Trophy 4th Round results (NLS teams in bold)

Aveley 1-0 AFC Fylde
Bath City 0-0 Coalville Town (Coalville won 4-3 on pens)
Bromley 1-1 Chippenham Town (Bromley won 4-2 on pens)
Chelmsford City 0-1 Wealdstone
Gateshead 2-2 Weston-super-mare (Gateshead won 4-3 on pens)
Hartlepool United 0-0 Hampton & Richmond Borough (H&R won 4-2 on pens)
Hereford 2-0 Torquay United
Welling United 2-0 Chesterfield

National League South table

What’s better than a 1-0 win over your south-west rivals? Well, a 2-0 win of course! That’s exactly what happened on Saturday as Yeovil extended their unbeaten run to 6 games. Let’s look at what went down on a busy Saturday afternoon.

Before we get stuck into National League South action, I feel it’s right to give Maidstone some well-earned attention. They would’ve faced Havant & Waterlooville, but instead they were in FA Cup action hosting Stevenage in the 3rd Round, and they didn’t disappoint. Stevenage continued their recent poor form against non-league outfits (looking at you 2021 2nd Round tie) as a Sam Corne penalty handed the Stones a famous 1-0 win, booking their place in the 4th Round for the first time in their history!

Back to league action, and we begin in Essex, where Hampton & Richmond’s 16 match unbeaten run finally came to end in a surprising 3-1 defeat away to Braintree Town, Shaquille Coulthirst’s brace proving to be the difference maker. There were two 3-2 thrillers, with the better of the two coming at Hardenhuish Park. George Williams slotted a 90th minute penalty to win the game for 10 man Hemel Hempstead over Chippenham Town; in the other fixture, Chelmsford City left Worthing with all three points, with NLS top scorer Ollie Pearce’s double proving too little too late for the hosts.

Welling United’s relegation worries were deepened with a 3-1 loss at home to Aveley, the visitors leading 3-0 at half-time. Taunton head into Tuesday’s visit from the Glovers with concerning form, as they were easily dealt with by Slough Town, the 3-0 win giving the hosts a serious boost to their season. And in the only other 2-0 win of the day, Truro City left Dover Athletic with all three points, as they registered their 4th win on the bounce.

There were two 2-2 draws to discuss, with two injury time equalisers involved! Decarrey Sheriff got a 93rd minute equaliser for Eastbourne Borough‘s new manager Adam Murray’s first game in charge, taking a point away from Torquay United. In the other game, a 96th minute Reuben Reid goal rescued a point for Weston-super-mare as they hosted a stop-start Dartford side. St Albans City held on for a vital three points in a 2-1 win at home to Farnborough, and in the final game of today’s roundup, Tonbridge Angels climbed to 9th place in a 2-1 win over W*ymouth.

National League South results – in full

Braintree Town 3-1 Hampton & Richmond Borough
Chippenham Town 2-3 Hemel Hempstead Town
Dover Athletic 0-2 Truro City
Slough Town 3-0 Taunton Town
St Albans City 2-1 Farnborough
Tonbridge Angels 2-1 W*ymouth
Torquay United 2-2 Eastbourne Borough
Welling United 1-3 Aveley
Weston-super-mare 2-2 Dartford
Worthing 2-3 Chelmsford City

FA Cup 3rd Round results (NLS teams in bold)

Maidstone 1-0 Stevenage

National League South table

Well, on what was meant to be matchday 25 for Yeovil, there were plenty of goals to make up for the absence of our fixture against Taunton. Let’s look at what took place across the New Year weekend!

We start with the two fixtures that took place on Saturday, with Aveley coming away as 2-1 winners against bottom placed Dover Athletic, a 90th minute winner from Emmanuel Ogunrinde separating the two sides; meanwhile, Dartford dropped two points at home to Welling United with a 90th minute own goal from Moussa Diarra handing the visitors a much needed point. There was meant to be a third fixture on Saturday, but Truro City v Torquay United was called off due to a waterlogged pitch.

Moving onto the New Years Day fixtures, and we head to Hampshire, where Farnborough fell to a 4-2 defeat at home to Havant & Waterlooville in a barnstormer. Another cracker came down on the south coast at our noisy neighbours, as W*ymouth rescued a point at home to Weston-super-mare in a 3-3 thriller, two former Glovers finding themselves on the scoresheet in Brandon Goodship (W*Y) and Reuben Reid (WSM).

Eastbourne Borough’s depressing Christmas period finally came to an end, as did their manager’s tenure – Mark Beard was sacked shortly after their 4-0 home defeat to Worthing, who climbed to 3rd following their second win in a row by more than 3 goals. North of London, St Albans City completed a dramatic comeback away to Hemel Hempstead, with ex-Glover Shaun Jeffers finding himself on the scoresheet in a 3-2 win, while Chelmsford City made it two 3-0 wins over Braintree Town, despite finding themselves down to 10 men in the 33rd minute!

Our final three fixtures involve playoff contenders – Hampton & Richmond continued their unbeaten run with a dramatic 2-1 win at home to Slough Town, another former Glover in Ben Seymour snatching the 90th minute winner, allowing the hosts to close the gap at the top to *just* 7 points. Maidstone posted their first win in 4 league games with a 2-0 win at home to Tonbridge Angels, while Bath City and Chippenham Town played out a 0-0 draw at Twerton Park.

National League South results – in full

Aveley 2-1 Dover Athletic
Dartford 1-1 Welling United
Truro City P-P Torquay United
Hampton & Richmond Borough 2-1 Slough Town
Bath City 0-0 Chippenham Town
Chelmsford City 3-0 Braintree Town
Eastbourne Borough 0-4 Worthing
Farnborough 2-4 Havant & Waterlooville
Hemel Hempstead Town 2-3 St Albans City
Maidstone United 2-0 Tonbridge Angels
W*ymouth 3-3 Weston-super-mare

National League tables!

How we feeling today then, Glovers fans?! Another record attendance in the bag, our biggest league win of the season, and a double digit lead at the top of the table… following our 4-1 win against Taunton yesterday, let’s see what all our opponents got up to on a historic Boxing Day schedule!

We begin in Berkshire, where our closest rivals Hampton & Richmond travelled to Slough Town in one of three early kickoffs. This encounter proved to be the best for the neutral, where the hosts found themselves in a surprising position, taking a 2-0 lead after 20 minutes. The visitors hit back with 3 second half goals to seemingly take all 3 points, until a 98th minute equaliser from Slavi Spasov meant both sides left Arbour Park with a point each. In the other early kick-off’s, Tonbridge Angels scored a 94th minute equaliser at home to Maidstone to continue their good league form, and Dartford left Welling United as 1-0 winners.

The first game we’ll look at from the 3pm kick-offs took place in North Somerset, where Weston-super-mare fell to W*ymouth in a 3-2 thriller, the visitors registering their first win in six. There were two big 3-0 wins for playoff contenders yesterday, with Chelmsford City winning away at Braintree Town in a 15 minute raid in the second half, and Worthing hosting Eastbourne Borough, pulling off a similar 15 minute heist across the two halves of play.

There were three 2-1 wins, the first coming for Bath City where they defeated Chippenham Town, Hemel Hempstead came from a goal down against 10 man St Albans City (Shaun Jeffers was the departee for St Albans), and for the first time in 22 games, Dover Athletic have won a game, coming from behind as they hosted Aveley.

A big surprise came at Plainmoor, where Truro City nabbed a 1-0 win over playoff contenders Torquay United, and in the final game of the day, Farnborough moved to within 2 points of the playoffs with a 1-0 win away to Havant & Waterlooville.

National League South results – in full

Slough Town 3-3 Hampton & Richmond Borough
Tonbridge Angels 1-1 Maidstone United
Welling United 0-1 Dartford
Braintree Town 0-3 Chelmsford City
Chippenham Town 1-2 Bath City
Dover Athletic 2-1 Aveley
Havant & Waterlooville 0-1 Farnborough
St Albans City 1-2 Hemel Hempstead Town
Torquay United 0-1 Truro City
Weston-super-mare 2-3 W*ymouth
Worthing 3-0 Eastbourne Borough

National League tables!

Festive spirit has descended upon the country, and that spirit has only grown stronger as Yeovil left the South Coast as 1-0 winners against Eastbourne Borough. Let’s dive into the rest of the league action, and see if Santa has left us any early Christmas gifts!

We start back in Somerset, where Bath City hammered Welling United at home to register their first league win since Remembrance Day. Ex-Glover Shaun Jeffers got himself on the scoresheet once again as St Albans City downed Dartford 3-0 away from home to make it 3 wins in their last 5, while late drama at our holiday opponents Taunton went down, as Tonbridge Angels scored in the 89th and 94th minutes to give themselves a win… or so they thought, as a 96th minute equaliser from Nick Grimes meant both sides shared the points.

Santa was feeling generous this season for Yeovil fans, as there were many favourable results for the league leaders! Aveley fell at home to Slough Town, Torquay United were sent packing away to Chelmsford City, and Worthing were defeated away to Hemel Hempstead, all ending in 2-0 defeats. Maidstone also lost at home to Chippenham Town to further aid Yeovil’s title push, the only threat to their lead coming at Hampton & Richmond, as they won 2-1 against Weston-super-mare to continue their unbeaten run.

Dover Athletic extended their winless league run to 21 games, albeit with a credible 1-1 draw away to W*ymouth, while Farnborough and Truro City ran out as 1-0 winners, against Braintree Town and Havant & Waterlooville respectively.

Before the full results list and the tables below, I just want to wish everybody a Merry Christmas, up the Glovers!

National League South results – in full

Aveley 0-2 Slough Town
Bath City 4-0 Welling United
Chelmsford City 2-0 Torquay United
Dartford 0-3 St Albans City
Farnborough 1-0 Braintree Town
Hampton & Richmond Borough 2-1 Weston-super-mare
Hemel Hempstead Town 2-0 Worthing
Maidstone United 0-1 Chippenham Town
Taunton Town 2-2 Tonbridge Angels
Truro City 1-0 Havant & Waterlooville
W*ymouth 1-1 Dover Athletic

National League tables!

Well, that wasn’t the most entertaining of afternoons, however it was still a good point, as Yeovil drew 0-0 with high flying Hampton & Richmond Borough. Thankfully, there were goals aplenty across the league, keeping me in a job for another week! Let’s take a look at who’s done what, and how it impacts the league table.

We begin in West Sussex, where a top-end clash went down, with tons of goals to boot. Worthing hammered 10 man Maidstone, an Ollie Pearce hattrick handing the hosts a 5-1 win. Last week’s hosts Dartford were on their travels, and probably wished they weren’t, as they fell to a 4-0 drubbing at the hands of Tonbridge Angels. Another contender for game of the week came at Plainmoor, where Torquay United recovered from a two goal deficit to win 3-2 at home to Hemel Hempstead, a Dean Moxey winner coming in the 89th minute.

Another 3-2 thriller was played out on the North Somerset coast, where Truro City travelled back home with all 3 points over Weston-super-mare, former Glover Ryan Law getting himself on the scoresheet for the visitors. Havant & Waterlooville continued their revival as they dismantled Taunton to win 3-0, lifting themselves off the bottom of the table for the first time since matchday 8; meanwhile, Slough Town and Farnborough dropped a “Desmond”, the draw doing neither side any favours.

St Albans prevented Chelmsford City from winning 3 away on the bounce with a 2-1 win to continue their inconsistent season, Shaun Jeffers finding himself on the scoresheet with a penalty, while next week’s hosts Eastbourne Borough secured a huge 2-0 win away at Welling United to move level on points with Slough at the cusp of the relegation zone, albeit with 4 more games played. Chippenham Town and W*ymouth played out a 1-1 draw to leave the noisy neighbours hovering above the drop zone.

In the final two games of the day, Braintree Town moved themselves back into the playoff spots with a 1-0 win over Aveley, who now find themselves winless in the league in their last 7 games. Finally, under their new management of Jake Leberl and Mike Sandmann, Dover Athletic held playoff contenders Bath City to a 0-0 result.

National League South results – in full

Braintree Town 1-0 Aveley
Chippenham Town 1-1 W*ymouth
Dover Athletic 0-0 Bath City
Havant & Waterlooville 3-0 Taunton Town
Slough Town 2-2 Farnborough
St Albans City 2-1 Chelmsford City
Tonbridge Angels 4-0 Dartford
Torquay United 3-2 Hemel Hempstead Town
Welling United 0-2 Eastbourne Borough
Weston-super-mare 2-3 Truro City
Worthing 5-1 Maidstone United

National League tables!