Tom Bailey (Page 14)

Well, qualifying for the FA Cup has concluded, and Yeovil are one of many that find themselves in the hat! With a fabulous 2-0 win over a talented Southend United side, let’s have a look at how the other NLS sides fared in their ties, as well as taking a look at the three league fixtures that took place yesterday.

We start in Essex, where last week’s visitors Aveley took on National League challengers Barnet. The hosts found themselves 2-0 down within twenty minutes (much like last week!) before getting a goal back before half time. They grabbed a 90th minute equaliser courtesy of Jon Benton, but not before going down to nine men, the 2-2 score line leading to a replay on Tuesday 17th October. Another tie between an NLS and National League side was Boreham Wood hosting Welling United. The visitors gave it their all, but ultimately fell short of making the first round for the first time since 2015/16.

Another replay for a NLS side will be played out by Braintree Town, who played out a 0-0 stalemate with Chesham United. In a not-so-southern section tie, Chelmsford City face a 9 hour round trip on Tuesday to Whitby Town, as they played out a 2-2 draw, coming from 2 goals down to prevent an upset. Dover Athletic weren’t so lucky, falling to a 1-0 defeat away to National League side Eastleigh, while two more replays were set up, with National League side Ebbsfleet United finding themselves in a replay with Slough Town. The NLS side took the lead twice, but Rohan Luthra scored 2 own goals to cut his own side’s lead and set up the replay, while Hemel Hempstead played out a 0-0 draw to set up a replay with ex-Glovers manager Darren Sarll’s Woking.

Our first all-NLS tie comes in the shape of Torquay United hosting Maidstone, replaying their league fixture from last week. The visitors left victorious once again, thanks to September’s NLS Player of the Month, Levi Amantchi’s double. Weston-super-mare struggled at home to National League opposition, as Maidenhead United coasted to a 3-0 victory. The second all-NLS tie was another mouth-watering tie, with Worthing hosting Bath City. It was the hosts who would take the tie, a quickfire Danny Cashman double booking their place in the first round.

There were three National League South fixtures to look at, and we’ll start with the obvious candidate for the best of the three. Hampton & Richmond played out a classic with Dartford, a 92nd minute winner from ex-Glover Jake Gray handing the hosts a 4-3 victory to kick-start their season. Farnborough would seal their first win without their top goalscorer Alfie Pavey since his move to Woking, as they defeated St Albans at home, winning 2-1. And in the final match of the day, W*ymouth and Tonbridge Angels stuttered to a 1-1 win, a result that doesn’t benefit either side.

As mentioned above, replays will take place on Tuesday 17th October, while the 1st Round draw will take place today (Sunday 15th October) on ITV at 2:30pm – League 1 and League 2 sides enter the competition, posing opportunities for even more shocks!

FA Cup 4th Qualifying Round results (NLS teams in bold)

Aveley 2-2 Barnet
Boreham Wood 1-0 Welling United
Braintree Town 0-0 Chesham United
Chelmsford City 2-2 Whitby Town
Eastleigh 1-0 Dover Athletic
Ebbsfleet United 2-2 Slough Town
Hemel Hempstead Town 0-0 Woking
Torquay United 0-2 Maidstone United
Weston-super-mare 0-3 Maidenhead United
Worthing 2-0 Bath City

National League South results – in full

Farnborough Town 2-1 St Albans City
Hampton & Richmond Borough 4-3 Dartford
W*ymouth 1-1 Tonbridge Angels

Well, there were goals galore across the division yesterday, with 41 goals across 12 fixtures! With 4 of them coming at Huish Park, as Yeovil defeated Aveley to go top of the table, let’s see what their fellow contenders, and the rest of the league got up to…

The fixture between Chippenham Town and Dartford starts us off, with the hosts falling to a 4-1 drubbing courtesy of 2 penalties from Harvey Bradbury, and a 3rd going into the break from Brandon Barzey. A frantic end to the game came at Tonbridge Angels, who scored a 90th minute equaliser against Hemel Hempstead after falling to 10 men with 10 minutes to go, ending the game at 3-3. In another thriller, a hattrick from Zac Emmerson grabbed Eastbourne Borough a massive 3 points against an in-form St Albans City, Emmerson’s goals handing the visitors a 3-2 win.

There were 3 draws ending in a score line of 2-2, so we’ll run through these nice and quickly, Dover Athletic did us a favour by holding Taunton to a draw, Welling United  and Farnborough played out a slightly more dramatic encounter, with goals in the 87th minute for Welling, before a 90th minute equaliser for Farnborough as they share the points. And finally, Worthing held on for a draw at home to Truro City, who  played against 9 men for the last 10 minutes (including injury time). A 95th minute equaliser for the visitors meant the spoils were shared here too.

Chelmsford City took the Yeovil approach to handling Weston-super-mare, with quick fire first half goals giving the visitors a 3-0 victory, and another away win came in the “we’ve got the longest name derby” as I’ve dubbed it, where Hampton & Richmond took the 3 points away to Havant & Waterlooville. 10-man Torquay United fell at home to a 1-0 defeat to Maidstone courtesy of a Sam Bone goal to send the visitors 4th, Braintree Town scored a 94th minute equaliser to hold Bath City to a 1-1 draw, and in the final fixture of the day, Slough Town and W*ymouth played out a 0-0 draw.

National League South results – in full

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

National League South table

Another weekend, another FA Cup tie… the 3rd Qualifying Round of the FA Cup kicked off this weekend, and there were certainly some “cupsets” to mention for our fellow National League South opponents. Here’s a rundown of what went down in this weekend’s action.

There were certainly goals in the south-west, but this time for Torquay United, as they found themselves 5-0 at half time against Hungerford Town, and 5-0 was how it ended. Last weekend’s hosts, Hampton & Richmond found out the hard way that lower league opposition are no pushovers, as they crashed out at Lewes, losing 3-0. And in a second half goalfest, Braintree Town got the better of Brackley Town in an all-6th-tier affair, coming from 2-0 with 20 minutes to go to win 3-2.

There were a number of replays that will be played on Tuesday for NLS sides, with Aveley dropping a 2 goal lead to tie with Hornchurch, Chelmsford City twice being pegged back by Bromsgrove Sporting, and Welling United and Slough Town both being held away from home against Gosport Borough, and Salisbury respectively.

There were also two National League South fixtures played yesterday, with some of the early leavers from the FA Cup continuing their league campaigns. Taunton Town played host to Eastbourne Borough, winning 2-1 to temporarily take top spot off of Bath City (who beat W*ymouth in the FA Cup yesterday), while a Matt McClure double handed Chippenham Town a 2-0 win away to Truro City.

Replays, as mentioned above, will be played on Tuesday 3rd October, with the 4th Qualifying Round draw taking place on Monday 2nd October (not televised), where National League teams will enter the competition.

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

Aveley 2-2 Hornchurch
Billericay Town 1-0 St Albans City
Braintree Town 3-2 Brackley Town
Bromsgrove Sporting 2-2 Chelmsford City
Dover Athletic 2-1 Haringey Borough
Farnborough 0-1 Weston-super-mare
Gorleston 0-2 Hemel Hempstead Town
Gosport Borough 2-2 Welling United
Lewes 3-0 Hampton & Richmond Borough
Salisbury 0-0 Slough Town
Torquay United 5-0 Hungerford Town
W*ymouth 1-2 Bath City
Winchester City 0-2 Maidstone United
Worthing 2-1 Whitehawk

National League South results – in full

Taunton Town 2-1 Eastbourne Borough
Truro City 0-2 Chippenham Town

And… breathe. Following a hard-fought win for Mark Cooper’s men yesterday in south-west London, let’s dive straight into the scores from the other games today, and how it impacts the league standings.

We start in Kent, where one of many shocks for top sides went down – Maidstone took down 10-man Worthing, with a double from Levi Amantchi contributing to a good day for the home side. Another shock took place at the site of our opening day hosts, where Hemel Hempstead got the better of Torquay United in a frantic end to the game, with 3 goals in 3 minutes causing chaos for scorekeepers! A final shock took place closer to home, where Bath City came back from 2 goals down to recover a point against a struggling Dover Athletic.

There were two more 2-2 draws, with Eastbourne Borough recovering a point at home to Welling United, while Farnborough were twice pegged back by a stubborn Slough Town. A former Glover had a great day out at Chelmsford City, as Shaun Jeffers grabbed a double in a rare start for St Albans City, handing the visitors a 2-0 win.

Our next league match is at home to Aveley, who were held to a 1-1 draw by 10-man Braintree Town, and in another 1-1 draw, 10-man W*ymouth earned a point at home to Chippenham Town, who are now without a win in their last 5 games in all competitions.

Dartford put a stop to their 4 game losing run (including the FA Cup) by edging past Tonbridge Angels by a scoreline of 1-0, while back down south, Truro City went down to 10 men with Ryan Law being sent off, before Kieran Thomas scored the winner for a visiting Weston-super-mare in a 1-0 result. And staying south, we finish up with a 0-0 draw between Taunton and Havant & Waterlooville, where the only action was a 92nd minute red card for the visitors.

National League South results – in full

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

National League South table

With National League South teams coming into the FA Cup this weekend, this means a lack of league football to talk about. Instead, we’ll give you a quick rundown of any “cupsets” that may have gone down, or teams to keep an eye on when we return to league action.

As you’ll all be well aware, Yeovil set their FA Cup campaign off with a bang, defeating AFC Stoneham 7-1, you can find a match report here! There were also big wins for Maidstone and Torquay United, as they defeated Steyning Town and Wimborne Town respectively on their travels. Bath City had a mountain to climb in a local derby, finding themselves 2-0 down at Larkhall Athletic by half time. They came back to secure their place in the next round with a 3-2 win.

There were a few all-NLS ties, with Dartford and Welling United playing out a 3-2 thriller in favour of Welling, while Worthing continued their strong start to the season with a 1-0 win at Eastbourne Borough. In the final all-NLS tie, Weston-super-mare dealt with a visiting Truro City, coming out 2-0 winners.

And the magic of the cup, is that anyone can beat anyone, and we saw that today, with a few NLS teams falling to lower league opposition. Havant & Waterlooville fell to a 2-1 defeat away to Bracknell Town, while Chippenham Town were humbled by Hungerford Town, losing 4-1 at home. Finally, Tonbridge Angels were tripped up on their visit to Haringey Borough, losing 4-2.

Any games ending in draws are scheduled for a replay in the coming days (18/09-19/09), with the 3rd Qualifying Round draw taking place on Monday 18th September (not televised).

FA Cup 2nd Qualifying Round results (NLS teams in bold)

Merthyr Town 1-1 Taunton Town
Bracknell Town 2-1 Havant & Waterlooville
Canvey Island 1-1 Braintree Town
Chippenham Town 1-4 Hungerford Town
Dartford 2-3 Welling United
Dover Athletic 3-2 Hastings United
Eastbourne Borough 0-1 Worthing
Haringey Borough 4-2 Tonbridge Angels
Hayes & Yeading United 0-2 Slough Town
Highworth Town 1-3 W*ymouth
King’s Lynn Town 0-0 Aveley
Larkhall Athletic 2-3 Bath City
Leiston 1-2 St Albans City
Royston Town 1-3 Hemel Hempstead Town
Southall 1-2 Hampton & Richmond Borough
Steyning Town 1-4 Maidstone United
Ware 3-3 Chelmsford City
Weston-super-mare 2-0 Truro City
Wimborne Town 0-3 Torquay United
Wingate & Finchley 0-0 Farnborough Town

Yeovil Town have completed the signing of experienced defender Michael Smith until the end of the season with an option for a further year.

The 35-year-old has been a free agent since he left Scottish Premier League side Hearts of Midlothian.

Speaking on the club’s official channels, the new man said: “Speaking to the gaffer [Mark Cooper] and the coaching staff, they want to build something here. The club’s probably lower than it should be at the minute but you know with a good squad, I thought it’s a good opportunity to create something and help the team and hopefully get promoted this year.”

On how the move came about Smith said: “I was moving back to Bristol anyway, that’s where my family home is now. I wanted to be based around the area. I had a chat with the gaffer, came down, seen what it was all about and had a good chat with the staff, trained with the boys and decided ‘yeah it fits’. I’m just looking forward to the challenge now.”

He made over 200 appearances in all competitions for the Edinburgh side, including appearances in their Europa Conference League campaign last season.

Smith also boasts a wealth of experience elsewhere, including 200 appearances in the EFL for Bristol Rovers and Peterborough United, and 19 caps for Northern Ireland, scoring 1 goal for his country.

He was seen as a trialist at Cheltenham Town this summer, but has shuffled down south to join the Glovers. Smith is primarily a right back, but can also fill in at centre back, or defensive midfield, giving manager Mark Cooper plenty of options across the field.

Welcome to Huish Park Michael!

What’s better than one 3-2 win? Well, two 3-2 wins of course! That’s exactly what happened yesterday, as Yeovil defeated Eastbourne Borough at a baking hot Huish Park. Let’s go around the grounds and see what else went down on a sweltering Saturday afternoon.

We’ll begin with two 3-1 fixtures, both ending in victories for the away side. Truro City had too much for Havant & Waterlooville and their new manager Steve King, while W*ymouth picked up their first points since matchday 4 with a win over Dover Athletic. Another big win came for a travelling side in Taunton, who dismantled Tonbridge Angels by 3 goals to nil.

Torquay United continued their good start with a late 2-1 win over Chelmsford City, who can feel unlucky to not come away from the south west with a point following a 94th minute own goal from Samir Carruthers. Two sides going into the day with the same record were Chippenham Town and Maidstone, who came away with a 2-0 win. A surprise result came west of London, where Slough Town ended Aveley’s good run of form with a 2-0 victory.

There were some 1-1 draws across the division, with Braintree Town and Farnborough getting off to a frenetic start with 2 goals in the first 6 minutes. A match that took a little longer to warm up was at the site of Yeovil’s midweek win, where Weston-super-mare and Hampton & Richmond settled for a point each, while Worthing came back to earn a point at home to 10 man Hemel Hempstead.

St Albans City continued to get their season back on track with another win, winning 1-0 at home to Dartford, and another 1-0 win came for a team who already have their season well and truly on track, with Bath City leaving Welling United with all 3 points.

National League South results – in full

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

National League South table

Well, what an evening that was! With a cracking game at the Optima Stadium ending in Yeovil’s favour by 3 goals to 2 against a solid Weston-super-mare, let’s take a look at how the rest of the teams got on.

There was action on Monday night at Saturday’s visitors Chelmsford City, as they fell to a 2-1 defeat against Hemel Hempstead, thanks to 2 penalties converted by Joe Iaciofano, who scored the only goal in the Glovers’ visit on the opening day.

Onto Tuesday’s fixtures, and we start with Chippenham Town, who played out a 3-3 thriller with Taunton Town, after playing 75 minutes with 10 men. It took two goals in the last 10 minutes to save Taunton a point, but their strong start continues. Torquay United comfortably defeated Farnborough with a brace from Aaron Jarvis sandwiching a Brad Ash goal, as the hosts posted a 3-0 victory.

Slough Town lifted themselves off the bottom of the table with a 2-1 win away to Dartford, while there were two 2-0 victories, both coming for home sides. St Albans City registered their first win in 4 against Dover Athletic, and Worthing got back to winning ways following their weekend thumping, defeating Welling United.

Tuesday night also ended with new league leaders, as Aveley defeated Maidstone 1-0 to continue their fabulous start to the season. They replace Bath City, who rescued a point against a spirited Truro City with a 93rd minute equaliser, the score line ending 1-1.

Tonbridge Angels and Braintree Town played out a 0-0 draw, while in the final fixture of the night, Hampton & Richmond bagged a 1-0 win over visiting W*ymouth, with the unusual stipulation of finishing the game at 10:25pm (all fixtures kicked off at 7:45pm) as the floodlights went out not once, but TWICE! An 88th minute penalty settled the result, with the hosts dropping the visitors into the relegation zone.

And in Wednesday night’s fixture, Havant & Waterlooville played host to Saturday’s visitors, Eastbourne Borough. It was a dramatic affair, with all 3 goals coming in the final 10 minutes, and a red card for the home side to boot. A 90th minute penalty from Callum Kealy wasn’t enough, as it was immediately cancelled out by the eventual winner from Decarrey Sheriff for Eastbourne Borough, as they left as 2-1 winners.

National League South results – in full

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

National League South table

So, September is here, and with Yeovil recovering for a 1-1 draw against Chelmsford yesterday, let’s see how everyone else got on around the grounds on a lovely Saturday afternoon (weather-wise!)

And we kick off with Tonbridge Angels, who made an example of Slough Town by hammering them 5-2 (at Slough’s ground no less), deepening the host’s worries to start the season as they find themselves bottom of the table. Elsewhere, a massive shock came at Braintree Town, as they hit the ex-league leaders Worthing for 4 without reply, showing that anything can happen in this league.

Maidstone came from behind to take all 3 points at W*ymouth, defeating the south coast side 3-2 with a double from Levi Amantchi, while another double came from Alfie Pavey at Farnborough, as they defeated Hampton & Richmond 3-1 – an own goal being the only dampener on the host’s day.

A huge scalp was taken by, yet again, Aveley, as they toppled a visiting Torquay United 2-1, holding on for the win even after going down to 10 men following Bradley Ash’s goal. They continue to sit near the top of the tree, alongside the new league leaders Bath City, who made it 4 wins in a row thanks to a brace from Scott Wilson, who is now the NLS’ joint top scorer (alongside the previously mentioned Alfie Pavey!). They defeated Monday’s hosts, Havant & Waterlooville 2-0, sending them top of the table with the most goals scored so far this season across the 6th tier (NLS and NLN).

A vital win came at Eastbourne Borough as they battled back for a 2-1 win over Weston-super-mare, who’s strong start has faltered ahead of the Glovers’ visit on Tuesday (let’s hope we can capitalise on this!), while on the east coast, Dover Athletic and Chippenham Town settled for a 1-1 draw.

Taunton have continued their strong start to the season with a 1-0 win over Dartford, making it 5 games unbeaten for the Peacocks as they jump into the playoff spots, while in the last two games of the day, there were 0-0 draws for Hemel Hempstead and Truro City, and Welling United and St Albans City.

National League South results – in full

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

National League South table (can we look now?!)