Tom Bailey (Page 15)

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?!)

The final round of fixtures for August has finished, and with Yeovil being involved in the true “belter of a match”, with their 4-3 defeat to Havant & Waterlooville, I fear this may be a quiet rundown. Nevertheless, I’m here to bring you the scores on the doors from the rest of the league.

We start down in Plymouth with Truro City, who groundshare with one of our pre-season hosts, Plymouth Parkway. They got themselves another 3 points with a 3-1 win against Farnborough. Another 3 goals came in the match between hosts Aveley and Hampton & Richmond, with the newly promoted side continuing their strong start with a 3-0 win.

Chippenham Town condemned Slough Town to another defeat with a 2-1 win, while a 94th minute penalty from Aaron Jarvis rescued all 3 points for Torquay United, as they defeated Braintree Town 2-1.

There were three 2-0 wins, with Dartford having the measure of Dover Athletic, Bath City requiring some luck with a penalty and an own goal handing them the win away to St Albans City, and Worthing comfortably beating 10 man W*ymouth at home.

Taunton capitalised on their man advantage following an 84th minute red card for Maidstone as they drew 1-1, while 10 man Weston-super-mare also drew 1-1, with Hemel Hempstead.

Eastbourne Borough’s slow start continued at the hands of Chelmsford City, who defeated the visitors 1-0, and in the final game of today’s roundup, Welling United registered their second win in a row by defeating last week’s visitors Tonbridge Angels 1-0.

National League South results – in full

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

Matchday 5 brought plenty of excitement across the league, with Yeovil playing their part in their 2-0 victory over Tonbridge Angels yesterday. Let’s see what’s went down around the grounds.

We start with two 3-2 corkers, where Taunton got the edge over St Albans City, thanks to a 97th minute winner for the hosts. Previously point-less Welling United played host to the other 3-2, defeating Havant & Waterlooville and sending the visitors bottom of the league in the process.

Bath City continued their fine goalscoring run with a 3-1 victory over Hampton & Richmond, with ex-Glover Ewan Clark finding himself on the scoresheet. There were two 3-0 scorelines as well, with Farnborough comfortably beat 10 man Weston-super-mare, while Chelmsford City battered 10 man W*ymouth.

A double from Bradley Ash handed visitors Torquay United a 2-1 win over Slough Town, with league leaders Worthing also winning away from home, beating Dover Athletic 2-0.

Last week’s opponents Maidstone earned a 1-1 draw against Hemel Hempstead, with the visitors going down to 10 men in the 70th minute, with another draw coming at Braintree Town, where they finished goalless with Chippenham Town.

There were more victories for visitors, both finishing 1-0, as Aveley’s winning run came to an end thanks to a 95th minute winner from Dartford man Harvey Bradbury, while Eastbourne Borough lost to a 74th minute Truro City winner.

National League South results – in full

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

So, matchday 4 has been and gone, and not a 0-0 in sight at all this season, I could get used to this! As Yeovil drew 1-1 with Maidstone yesterday, let’s see what else went down in the National League South.

We start in Weston-super-mare, where Slough Town got their first points on the board with an emphatic first half performance landing them a 3-0 win against the 10 men hosts, George Alexander firing home a first half hattrick.

It was a good day if you were on your travels, with all but one win in the division coming away from home, a lot of them being 2-1 victories too. 10 man Tonbridge Angels held on to beat Chippenham Town, Bath City continued their goalscoring by beating Eastbourne Borough, W*ymouth defeated Hemel Hempstead, Hampton & Richmond got the better of Yeovil’s midweek opponents Truro City, and Aveley made it 3 wins in a row to end Worthing’s 100% winning start.

There were some draws around the grounds too, all ending 1-1, these came at Chelmsford City, where they clawed a goal back against 10 man Havant & Waterlooville, a 98th minute penalty rescued a point for Farnborough away to Dartford, and nothing could separate Dover Athletic and Braintree Town.

Two more wins to tell you about, both coming from sides in the South West – St Albans City fell to a 1-0 defeat at home to Torquay United, and Welling United are the only team yet to register a point as they lost 1-0 to Taunton.

National League South results – in full

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