Five Conclusions: Yeovil Town 1 Aldershot Town 1
Yeovil came from behind to draw 1-1 with Aldershot in an exciting afternoon at Huish Park. Here are Ian’s Five Conclusions from the Press Box.
It was an open game. With both sides having struggled to find the back of the net in recent weeks, I wondered if this would be a cautious, cagey affair but it was far from that. Aldershot were open, we were open and both sides created plenty of chances. I think Jordan Young should have put Yeovil 1-0 up when he was through on goal and then from the resulting corner Aldershot break and open the scoring. The visitors rattled the bar from a corner, Charlie Cooper was denied by a save from Dewhurst and Frank Nouble should have done better when he was through on goal too. I thought it was an entertaining afternoon, with both teams going for it.
We were shaky at the back in the first half. The quest for goals left us susceptible to the counter attack and I was impressed by the running of Hady Ghandour and the string-pulling Josh Barrett. He seemed to always find space and be one step ahead of everyone and scored a wonderful opener. We’ve not found ourselves cut open very often this season but in the first half, Aldershot could have scored three or four. We seemed a behind in moments at the back, and shot ourselves in a foot a couple of times, but we rode our luck and did what we had to do to get a point.
That was Jordan Young’s best game in some time. I think we got to see a Jordan Young that looked more like last season’s player. He was picking up the ball facing goal and taking opponents on. He had a couple of his trademark efforts cutting in from the right onto his left foot. Although he should have put Yeovil ahead, you can see that he’s starting to gain confidence and re-discover a bit of form. As well all know, he can be a difference maker when it comes to those attacking areas and he had a big role in the equaliser…
Ciaran McGuckin was a handful. The loanee was preferred ahead of Aaron Jarvis for Aldershot and offered another dimension to Yeovil’s attack. McGuckin was less of a squabbler with defenders and more of a runner. He linked play well and his energy levels kept the pressure on the Shots back line. His goal was a good example of everything he’d been doing well. He gets on the ball – looking like he’s about to cramp up in a big way – knocks it to Young before getting beyond his teammate for the return and puts a great finish past Dewhurst. It’s a tricky angle, there’s Aldershot bodies getting back and there’s plenty to do to find the bottom corner.
The supporters stuck with the team. As always there’s been a lot of talk about the reaction of supporters at Huish Park. The home supporters, who have not been given a great deal to cheer about thus far in 2024/25, were on form yesterday and no doubt contributed to that second half performance. Frank Nouble won the toss, which meant the Glovers had their preferred second half attacking the Thatchers Stand, and you could feel that energy compared to previous matches this season. That energy was fuelled by some decisions by the match official, who decided there was no need to stop play when Sam Pearson nearly had his head kicked off, nor the repeated shirt pulling on Aaron Jarvis.