Tom Bailey (Page 13)

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The second round of the FA Trophy began yesterday, with National League North and South teams entering the competition. Plenty of games to discuss, so let’s dive right in and look at some of the highlights (and lowlights).

22 National League South teams were in action today, and there were a few all-NLS clashes (including Yeovil’s defeat at Torquay). The highlight of the round came at Dover Athletic, who played out a 4-4 classic with W*ymouth, who won 4-1 on penalties to progress, while Slough Town handed Farnborough their second defeat of the week with a 2-1 win. In the final all-NLS clash, Dartford fell to a narrow defeat at home to Maidstone.

There were cupsets-a-plenty too, with multiple NLS sides falling at the first hurdle to lower league opposition. Hemel Hempstead lost 5-3 on penalties to 8th tier Walsall Wood, Havant & Waterlooville continued their woeful season with a 2-1 loss to AFC Totton, while Hendon knocked out Eastbourne Borough with a 2-0 win. 8th tier Frome Town defeated Worthing on penalties, as did Hythe Town against Tonbridge Angels, while Hungerford Town got the job done in 90 minutes against Truro City.

There’s only one more fixture involving NLS teams, and it’s an all-NLS clash between Welling United and Taunton, which was played on Tuesday 21st November. An enthralling 2-2 draw (in which Yeovil loanee Malachi Linton bagged a late equaliser!) went to penalties, where Welling ultimately prevailed. Yeovil’s journey ends at the first hurdle in the FA Trophy, and will look to get themselves back on track against Chippenham Town on Tuesday (who defeated Basingstoke Town on penalties).

 

FA Trophy 2nd Round results (NLS teams in bold)

AFC Totton 2-1 Havant & Waterlooville
Aveley 2-1 St Ives Town
Bath City 1-0 Beaconsfield Town
Bishop’s Stortford 3-1 St Albans City
Chippenham Town 1-1 Basingstoke Town (Chippenham won 3-2 on pens)
Cray Valley Paper Mills 1-5 Hampton & Richmond Borough
Dartford 0-1 Maidstone United
Dover Athletic 4-4 W*ymouth (W*ymouth won 4-1 on pens)
Frome Town 2-2 Worthing (Frome won 4-3 on pens)
Gloucester City 3-0 Braintree Town
Harborough Town 0-2 Chelmsford City
Hemel Hempstead Town 1-1 Walsall Wood (Walsall Wood won 5-3 on pens)
Hendon 2-0 Eastbourne Borough
Hungerford Town 2-0 Truro City
Hythe Town 0-0 Tonbridge Angels (Hythe won 3-1 on pens)
Slough Town 2-1 Farnborough Town
Weston-super-mare 4-1 Cray Wanderers
Welling United 2-2 Taunton Town (Welling won 8-7 on pens)

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Well, the run was fun while it lasted, but all good things must come to an end. Three Valleys Radio were there, and so was our very own Tom Bailey was there to give us his Five Conclusions on Yeovil’s exit from the FA Trophy.

Changes were a win-win. Not sure if this was just me, but I was still impressed with the majority of the changes made today by Mark Cooper. It was great to see Josh Staunton back in the side, and the same can be said for Jordan Maguire-Drew, who was my personal Man of the Match (for Yeovil at least). While it’s disappointing for the run to end, I can’t imagine this competition was high on the priority list of Mark Cooper, so resting key players like Michael Smith, Morgan Williams and Rhys Murphy was the right call.

Torquay were much improved. We can say all we want about Yeovil’s performance (which I didn’t think was that bad considering the amount of changes made), but we have to give Torquay credit where it’s due, they did a much better job than last time out at nullifying any attacking threat that came their way. Considering the only goal we scored was an own goal from a Torquay defender, they can go home with their heads held high, even with the wholescale changes for Yeovil.

 

 

Duncan Idehen had a decent debut. A baptism of fire for the 21 year old loanee, and a big gap in the defence to fill. It didn’t matter for Duncan Idehen though, who looked shaky in the opening stages of the game before growing into a dominant performance, commanding his area and putting in vital tackles to cut out attacks from the hosts. We’ve got him until the end of January, and I’m personally looking forward to seeing how he grows with us!

The pitch was… certainly something. We had concerns over the state of Yeovil’s pitch following the run of home games recently, and I think Torquay have reason to be concerned over their own. Players were slipping and sliding, and nobody really looked comfortable on a surface that was coming up from the first whistle.

 

Tricky conditions left quality football few and far between.

 

Back on track for Tuesday, then. There are positives to take from today, less games for us to think about, allowing us to focus on the league, as well as run outs and rests for a lot of players in the squad. The bus ride home was quiet but not a bad atmosphere, it was an “ah well, maybe next year” feeling, as we clearly have bigger fish to fry. Shout out to the 300+ fans that made the journey today too, plenty of noise from them!

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With Yeovil registering win number 14 in a row on Tuesday night against Farnborough, let’s take a look at what else went down in a minimised running order following the weather and scheduling.

We start with 2nd-placed Aveley, who faced off against Chelmsford City on Monday night. The hosts couldn’t find a way back from two goals down, leaving them in 2nd, while the win for Chelmsford jumps them up into a playoff spot.

Onto Tuesday’s action, and the five games that were played certainly made up for the lack of fixtures! We’ll begin with Worthing, who conceded a calamitous 83rd minute goal to fall at home against Dartford, their progressive style of play perhaps coming back to bite them. Back in Essex, Braintree Town recovered from their weekend defeat to batter Welling United at home, leaving the visitors stuck in the bottom 4 with no games in hand on those around them.

Eastbourne Borough’s inconsistent start has turned into an inconsistent season, as they lost 3-0 at home to Tonbridge Angels to leave them close to the drop zone as we approach the halfway mark. And in the final fixture of the night, Maidstone condemned Dover Athletic to another defeat, Levi Amantchi finding himself back among the goals.

There were five postponed fixtures which I’m sure will be re-scheduled in good time, with Bath City v Slough Town, Hampton & Richmond Borough v St Albans City, Truro City v Taunton and Weston-super-mare v Chippenham Town all called off. Havant & Waterlooville v Hemel Hempstead Town was also postponed on Wednesday night.

 

National League South results – in full

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

National League North/South table

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I’m starting to lose count now, 13 wins in a row! While Yeovil made light work of Dover Athletic (best wishes to Peter Ojemen following his injury by the way), let’s have a look at what else happened in a goal-filled day!

We start on the outskirts of London, where Hampton & Richmond continued their brilliant run of form by ending Maidstone’s 8 game unbeaten run away from home, a Mason Bloomfield hattrick contributing to a 5-2 win to send the Beavers into 4th. Another goal-fest came in the 4-3 win for Welling United over Slough Town, Welling bagging a 91st minute winner to bring them level on points with Slough, who now sit outside the drop zone on goal difference.

The first away win to be mentioned today comes at St Albans City, where Tonbridge Angels recovered from a 2-0 deficit to leave as winners, a Jordan Greenidge double helping the Angels up to 14th. Braintree Town’s impressive run of wins (outside of the customary Yeovil defeat at this point) came to an end at the hands of Eastbourne Borough, who ran out 3-1 winners, while a massive clash at the top end of the table ended up as a one-sided affair, as Bath City inflicted a 3-0 defeat on Aveley. Cody Cooke scored a hattrick, including two penalties, as Aveley went down to 10 men in the 90th minute to compound their miserable afternoon.

Chelmsford City grabbed a 93rd minute equaliser at home to extend their unbeaten run in the league to 7 games, albeit including 5 draws, as they drew 2-2 with Chippenham Town. Meanwhile, Torquay United recovered from their midweek defeat to win 2-0 at Havant & Waterlooville, leaving the hosts 10 points adrift at the bottom of the table. Tuesday’s visitors Farnborough salvaged a point at home to W*ymouth, and in the last match of the day, Hemel Hempstead scored a 90th minute winner to defeat Taunton 1-0.

There were two fixtures that were unable to be played due to the weather, with Truro City v Dartford, and Weston-super-mare v Worthing both being postponed.

 

National League South results – in full

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

National League South table (all 3 this week!)

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What’s better than 11 win in a row? Well, 12 in a row of course, and that’s exactly what happened last night in Torquay, as Yeovil swept aside the pre-season title favourites. Let’s see what the rest of the league have been up to in midweek action!

We start with Aveley hosting Hemel Hempstead on Monday night, where the home side escaped with the three points in a 2-1 win, a late Joe Iaciofano penalty not enough for the visitors. The win sent Aveley joint top on points, of course this was before the win for Yeovil last night so the gap is now 3 points once again (Yeovil still have a game in hand as well).

Onto Tuesday’s action, and we start in Dorset, where 10-men W*ymouth fell at home to 3rd-placed Bath City. A 5-1 drubbing will certainly inspire the Romans ahead of a vital clash against Aveley at the weekend. Braintree Town continue their impressive form with a 4-0 win over St Albans City, with loanee Shaquille Coulthirst bagging a brace to send the hosts 9th. Another 4-0 win came at Slough Town, where they hammered Truro City to build off of their impressive draw with Grimsby at the weekend.

Havant & Waterlooville continue their woeful run of form with another heavy defeat, this time at the mercy of Worthing, to leave them stranded at the bottom of the table. There was another win for Maidstone to continue their good run of games, as they defeated Eastbourne Borough 2-0 to send the visitors into the drop zone. There were plenty of goals at the Crabble Stadium, where this weekend’s visitors Dover Athletic recovered from 2-0 down at half time to share the points with Welling United.

A fiercely contested game came east of London, as Dartford lost at home to Chelmsford City, as top scorer Harvey Bradbury was sent off following some handbags on the hour. Chippenham Town put an end to Farnborough’s good run, as they held onto a lead to win 2-1 and send the hosts 12th. In the final fixture of the night, Tonbridge Angels and Hampton & Richmond played out a 0-0 draw.

 

National League South results – in full

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

National League South table

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As a lot of us have said… into the hat! With Yeovil’s 3-2 win over Gateshead yesterday booking their spot in the next round of the cup, let’s see what’s been going on for the other sides in the National League South.

There were only two teams from our division in action in the FA Cup yesterday, one being Yeovil, and the other being Maidstone. They travelled to Chesham United and posted a 2-0 win on their travels to book their spot in the next round. There is one more team from the NLS in FA Cup action this weekend, with Slough Town hosting Grimsby Town on Sunday afternoon.

Looking to NLS matches now, we start with Chippenham Town, who played out a barnstorming 4-2 win at home to Eastbourne Borough to leave the visitors hovering above the drop. Last week’s visitors Braintree Town got themselves back on track with a thumping 4-1 win over bottom placed Havant & Waterlooville, leaving Havant winless since that fated day in August… you know the one.

Following departures of important first team players, Aveley have stared in the face of adversity and continue to stand strong, registering a 2-0 win at home to Weston-super-mare. This moves them up to second behind Yeovil, but we have a game in hand. There were two 1-1 draws, with Tonbridge Angels holding on for an important point against Chelmsford City after dropping to 10 men within 15 minutes, while W*ymouth were held at home to Welling United.

There were also two 1-0 wins, both for sides nearing the top of the table. Firstly, Hampton & Richmond continued their fantastic run of 6 wins on the bounce, beating Dover Athletic away from home, while Torquay United took a much needed win at home to Bath City ahead of their home clash with Yeovil on Tuesday. The win takes Torquay up to 5th, with Bath matching Torquay’s form of 1 win in their last 5.

A final fixture that was meant to take place but didn’t, was Taunton hosting Farnborough, however it was postponed due to pitch conditions. Slough, as previously mentioned, are in FA Cup action on Sunday, so their match against Hemel Hempstead has also been postponed.

The draw for the FA Cup Second Round will be televised, and will commence at 2:30pm on Sunday 5th November. Fixtures are scheduled for the weekend of 2nd December, we look forward to hosting/visiting whoever we draw!

 

FA Cup 1st Round results (NLS teams in bold)

Chesham United 0-2 Maidstone United
Slough Town v Grimsby Town (14:00 kickoff)

National League South results – in full

Aveley 2-0 Weston-super-mare
Braintree Town 4-1 Havant & Waterlooville
Chippenham Town 4-2 Eastbourne Borough
Dover Athletic 0-1 Hampton & Richmond Borough
Tonbridge Angels 1-1 Chelmsford City
Torquay United 1-0 Bath City
W*ymouth 1-1 Welling United

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Have you dried off yet?! In adverse conditions, Yeovil came through to win a 10th game (in all competitions) against a good Braintree Town side, to give us a wonderful ending to a fantastic day for the club, and for the fundraising efforts of Yeovil Hospital. Let’s take a look at what went down across the rest of the league!

We start on the south-east coast at Eastbourne Borough, who hosted Slough Town in an enthralling encounter. The hosts took the lead twice, but were pegged back by the visitors, who showed great spirit to salvage a point from this whirlwind of a fixture. Another fixture where goals were raining in (pun intended) was at the Saunders Transport Community Stadium, where Farnborough proved they could cope just fine without their top scorer Alfie Pavey, who left for Woking earlier this season, as they hammered Dover Athletic 4-0. The visitors had a man sent off in the dying seconds, to make matters worse for a side winless since matchday 2…

Hampton & Richmond continued their march up the table, by handily defeating Torquay United, with a double from Mason Bloomfield handing the hosts their 5th league win in a row, while condemning Torquay to their 4th loss in 5 games. Hemel Hempstead recovered from their midweek defeat to beat Dartford 2-1, a Joe Iaciofano penalty proving the difference between the two sides, and in another 2-1 result with a red card for both sides, Tonbridge Angels ensured hosts Truro City remained winless in October.

In a repeat of their FA Cup clash, Worthing once again defeated Bath City 2-0, dealing a blow in Bath’s chase for the top spot in the division. Another top of the table side struggled today, with Maidstone registering a 1-1 draw on their travels to Weston-super-mare, with ex-Glover Reuben Reid scoring the penalty to equalise for the hosts. Down at the other end of the league, a slog between Havant & Waterlooville and W*ymouth ended up in a 1-1 draw, a result that doesn’t help either side.

Aveley appear to have got their season back on track, with a 1-0 win away to 10 man St Albans City, the win firing the visitors up to 2nd in the league. In the final two fixtures, there were 0-0 draws, between Chelmsford City and Taunton, and Welling United and Chippenham Town.

 

National League South results – in full

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

National League South table

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Well, what a night that was! Yeovil’s 2-0 win over W*ymouth is one of the highlights of the matchday, let’s take a look at the rest of the action from the rest of the division.

We start in Essex, where Chelmsford City and Dover Athletic played out a Monday night cracker. Dover took the lead on THREE separate occasions, but the hosts pegged them back each time in a breathless 3-3 encounter.

Onto Tuesday, and there were certainly some shocks once again at the top. Last weekend’s opponents, Worthing, proved no match for Hampton & Richmond, who easily dispatched of the visitors in a 4-1 victory. Another 4-1 result came about 20 miles west of Hampton, where Farnborough continued their good run of form against Tonbridge Angels. In a top of the table clash, Bath City got back to winning ways with a 3-0 win over Taunton, with their top scorers, Jordan Thomas and Scott Wilson both getting on the scoresheet.

There were two 3-2 victories for home sides last night, with St Albans City getting the better of Slough Town, who showed fight by bringing it back to 2-2 before a winner from Ibrahim Akanbi gave the hosts the points. In a dramatic end to the second 3-2, Weston-super-mare stopped their 3 game losing streak, beating Torquay United, special shoutout to former Glover Reuben Reid, who notched a double for the hosts! A late own goal in the visitors favour wasn’t enough to rescue anything for them.

Saturday’s visitors, Braintree Town (join us in painting the park pink on Saturday!) defeated Hemel Hempstead on their travels, with Will Davies scoring a double to set up a tasty weekend clash. Eastbourne Borough and Dartford played out a 1-1 draw to continue Eastbourne’s indifferent start to the season, while in the last game of Tuesday night, Welling United and Maidstone finished in a 0-0 draw. There’s one more fixture for the matchday, with bottom of the table Havant & Waterlooville falling to a 4-1 defeat at home to Aveley on Wednesday night.

 

National League South results – in full

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

National League South table (once again, North automatically provided)

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Tom was in the Thatchers Stand for tonight’s derby against, err… the opposition. Here’s his five conclusions from tonight’s match!

SIX THOUSAND, TWO HUNDRED AND EIGHTY NINE. Well, Yeovil fans showed up in their droves, and from my spot in the Thatchers, I could tell something special was happening tonight. A sellout in the Thatchers, the Bamfords Stand looked positively packed, and the Screwfix stand looked pretty full too, what a turnout in a record-breaking evening! Even without any of the opposition’s fans, we would’ve broken the record regardless, which goes to show how impressive tonight’s turnout is.

Not our finest performance, but it got the job done. We certainly began the first half as you’d hope, plenty of confidence, and had plenty of possession. We successfully pinned the opposition into their own half at times, and looked good for two or three goals going into half time. As the second half began, W*ymouth did look a little better, but both sides huffed and puffed, with both sides struggling in the never-ending rain. But as they say, performances like that are what champions produce…

Substitutions proving important once again. I’ve said it before when I’ve given conclusions, and I’ll say it again – Mark Cooper nailed his subs. The double substitution to bring on Jake Hyde and debutant Sonny Cox was inspired, with their fresh legs causing trouble for a tired W*ymouth defence. It proved a masterstroke when Sonny Cox dinked the ball into the middle for Jake Hyde to bury his second goal in a Yeovil shirt. Will Dawes proved a valuable introduction too, his energy assisting Alex Whittle in defence, and bombing forward in his 20 minute cameo.

Jake Hyde, appeared after 70 minutes on Tuesday night.
Picture courtesy of Iain Morland.

Momentum is massive now. 9 wins in a row in all competitions, now that’s not something I expected to be able to say when we started the season off! The momentum we’ve built in this time, with wins over playoff contenders in Worthing and Aveley, as well as the continued unbeaten run at home, is proving huge for not only the squad, but the fans (as we saw with tonight’s attendance). There’s a real sense of optimism and excitement around the ground now, let’s keep it going!

Michael Smith is still the real deal. As a self-admitted member of the Michael Smith fan club (applicants are more than welcome!), I continue to be blown away at the fact we even have this man at our club. The experience he brings is unmatched at this level, and he showed it tonight, having a tricky time in the conditions and with the attacks he faced. He linked up brilliantly with Jordan Stevens, and later Jordan Young, causing chaos all down the right hand side. Keep it up Michael!

Michael Smith. Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

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Despite Storm Babet hitting the country hard, the National League South escaped with no postponements, meaning I get to bring you a full round-up of the league’s action! Here’s what went on across the rest of the division, following Yeovil’s last-gasp victory over Worthing.

We start down in Devon, where Torquay United had their goalscoring boots on, hammering 10-man Welling United 5-1 with Aaron Jarvis taking his league tally to 6 for the season. Elsewhere, there was a shock for a title contender, with Tonbridge Angels coming from a 2-1 deficit to win in the 89th minute over Bath City. W*ymouth warmed themselves up for Tuesday night’s derby by dispatching of Eastbourne Borough by a 3-1 score line.

Dover Athletic continue to search for their first league win since Matchday 2, as Hemel Hempstead crushed their dreams with a 95th minute penalty to draw 2-2. Meanwhile, Braintree Town and Dartford both secured 2-0 victories at home, against Weston-super-mare and Havant & Waterlooville respectively. St Albans City came from behind to beat Chippenham Town 2-1 to put a stop to their 2 game losing run.

Aveley‘s strong start to the season appears to be tailing off, as they were held at home once again, this time by Truro City who showed fight to grab a 90th minute equaliser, and in another draw for a playoff contender, Maidstone rescued a point at home to Farnborough, thanks once again to Levi Amantchi. Another upset at the top saw Taunton lose at home for the first time this season, Mason Bloomfield scoring in the second minute to hand Hampton & Richmond the three points, while in the final match of the day, Slough Town and Chelmsford City finished in a 0-0 draw.

 

National League South results – in full

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

National League South table

(you lucky devils get the North standings too, up the Yeo!)