Five Conclusions

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York City go in to the final day top of the pile after a 3-0 win over a patched up Yeovil Town side who finish their away day schedule with a bit of a damp squib in North Yorkshire, here are Ben’s Five Conclusions.

We showed relatively good discipline in defence.

York have an abundance of quality in every department and move the ball with such ease and pace in the opposition half the result itself was probably no great shock. But, with so many players missing and literally nothing to play for, I was pleased with how the back three (or five) and those in front of them kept their shape and discipline in the first half to nullify the waves of attack – for the most part – not pretty, but it really was the only way we could go about it.

Brett McGavin and Dan Ellison | Pic by Gary Brown

Tired legs, tired minds.

We’re knackered. Properly knackered, and I know we’ve been saying it for weeks (months?) but I think this was the first time I’d seen tired minds too. We didn’t play to the whistle for the first goal (more on that in a moment), and assumed the play would stop for the second ball on the field, countless times we lost a battle and you could see it take that little bit longer to fight back into position. We made two or three excellent blocks in the area by players who had made the error to create the chance for York. Effort remained high, execution wasn’t always there.

The ref wasn’t very good.

In a game with such an imbalance, you need an official who keeps things level. Mr Drysdale played the occasion more than once.

The two ball situation was odd because both were in the same area of play, should Yeovil have played to the whistle? Yes. Should there have been a whistle? Probably. Would there have been a whistle if the teams attacking were reversed? Almost certainly.

Josh Stones got a yellow card for an early challenge that fit an ‘orange card’ on another occasion that’s given as a red. There’s definitely contact on Will Merry in the penalty area, he makes a lot of it, but it’s a penalty. Ollie Banks got three or four final warnings before finally getting booked for being a constant menace off the ball, there was a definite handball in the build up to the second goal. Sour grapes, yeah sure, but the least you want is a level playing field. It’s hard not to feel harshly treated.

Page showed what we might have been missing.

What a pleasant little cameo from Jonathon Page. Some neat little touches in midfield, a real little terrier attitude in the battle, against some giants he more than put himself about and you have to wonder if he might have been something of an asset all along had he been fit.

Merry showed why he’s an option beyond this season

Will Merry didn’t really get into the game first half, playing right in front of the dugouts, he had a tough time getting on the ball, but in the second period he really upped it getting at the York defence on a number of occasions. The more I see of him the more I think he’s exactly the sort of player who we should be looking at to supplement our attack next season, glides with the ball, attack minded and has a physical element to his game too.

Will Merry on the attack

I could write about Jed Ward being ridiculous for the level, but you knew that. I could write about 200+ fans in the away end who drew praise from the home side’s press pack at the end of the game, but you knew that. I could talk about our injury problems mounting up again with McCoy-Splatt’s shoulder popping out, but you knew that.

I’m exhausted (you knew that too), the lads are exhausted, the gaffer is exhausted, let’s get this post-season friendly against Solihull out the way and get next season rolling… after a little nap though, yeah?

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Yeovil Town played out a 0-0 draw against play-off hopefuls FC Halifax Town on Saturday. Green and White Radio’s Tom Bailey was there, here’s what he took from the game…

It wasn’t one for the neutrals: That was a tough watch, if we’re being totally honest. Neither side threatened much in the first half, and while the game kicked into second gear in the second half, it never really felt like either side were truly going to take the game by the scruff of the neck. However…

A good result: While not the most entertaining game, from a result perspective this was a solid showing and a good result for us! Halifax have shown throughout the season that they’re a good footballing side, capable of taking complete control of games. We saw glimpses of that play today, but a steady Yeovil defence did a good job of keeping the likes of Adam Hmami and Will Harris at bay in challenging conditions.

James Daly vs Halifax
Pic C/O Gary Brown

Finn Cousin-Dawson: Now Finn is a player who will always prompt discussion among Yeovil fans (myself included). He’s good in defence, then he isn’t, then he’s rubbish in midfield and then he isn’t, then he gets hot-headed and sent off and then… you get the idea.

Called straight back into the starting XI today, originally as a midfielder before Kyle Ferguson’s injury in the warm-up forced him into the back three, Finn did a good job of helping lead the backline at such short notice. Big thumbs up from me, Finn.

Finn Cousin-Dawson
Pic C/O Gary Brown

Clean sheet: The defence has taken on many different forms this season, with yet another new partnership taking shape today with FC-D, Mukena and Ellison starting and finishing the game. Along with the usual heroics from Jed Ward, they very much earned their crust today.

Will Harris has a great scoring record in the league, but he barely had a sniff today, and other threats from deep really didn’t cause much concern for the backline either. They may well be asking more questions for Billy Rowley to answer about their futures at Huish Park, with just the two games to go.

On to York: One more away day, and I’d argue it’s one of my favourites – the opposition have stacks upon stacks of talent, and with the *ahem* history between these two sides in recent years, it’s sure to be an intriguing game. Let’s take the positivity from this game, alongside the return of the likes of Dakarai Mafico and try and cause a stir on the big stage next weekend.

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Survival in the National League Premier Division is now a mathematical certainty for Yeovil Town, but it was Groundhog Day again as the injury-ravaged Glovers went down to defeat at Eastleigh on Easter Monday. Dave was watching in on the stream and here are his conclusions – expect Jed Ward to be brilliant, us to have lots of injuries and there to be a need for investment this summer.

582 heroes: The first conclusion of this match has to be that away end. 582 Yeovil Town supporters made the 150-mile round trip on a bank holiday for a fixture which meant very little to us at the end of a season to forget – on top of the season to forget before that. And they did not stop singing and supporting their team for the entire 90 minutes. Yes, we supporters have our moans and groans, but if anyone ever thought to question the commitment we have to this club, the response is right there. The Man/Woman/Child of the Match without question.

582 heroes. Picture courtesy of Luca Manley.

What I wouldn’t give for Aaron Blair up front: Before the match, Yeovil boss Billy Rowley was singing the praises of Aaron Blair and the Eastleigh striker showed exactly why with his performance. Even if you put aside two very different goals – the first a poacher’s finish and the second a lovely chip over Jed Ward – Blair and his strike partner Harvey Saunders did not give the Glovers’ defence a moment’s peace all match. Full of energy, a complete pest to play against, makes lovely runs in behind and he knows where the goal is.

The Jed Ward Show – again!: How many times have we written this?! I’d say give Steve Evans at Bristol Rovers a blank cheque, but given his previous with financial misdeeds, that may not be wise. In all seriousness though, has one player ever stood so far head and shoulders above everyone else in the Player of the Season vote? In the first 30 seconds he air kicked at a ball and almost let Blair in, but he more than made up for it with another string of outstanding saves. Some goalkeeper.

Goalkeepers may be ten a penny in the summer, but are they as good as this one? | Picture courtesy of Gary Brown.

Dead on our feet or simply not interested: It’s been said in conclusions for weeks, but we have players who are literally running on empty. James Daly and Brett McGavin both played through injury and illness, Joy Mukena was so injured he came on and then came off again and these are the players that started against Eastleigh. The “small squad of quality” which was the brainchild of former boss Mark Cooper is really coming back to bite now. There were players out there putting their bodies on the line on Monday, but there were some who simply looked disinterested. With safety now mathematically assured, I think I would rather give the Under-19s who at least looked like they care a taste of first-team action than some of these others.

Let’s do our part as supporters: Saturday’s visitors to Huish Park, FC Halifax Town, still have a (very) outside chance of the play-offs and then it’s the small matter of a trip to title-chasing York City the following weekend. It is going to be a tough ride for the next couple of weeks and whoever turns out in green-and-white between now and the end of the season is going to need every boost they can get. The unbelievable support which was at Eastleigh and that which has been at Huish Park in recent week is the perfect example of what we can do to help. We’re across the mathematical safety line now, we just need to close this season out. The Community can remain Calm and supportive and then it’s over to the owners to show their commitment to Competitiveness in the summer.

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It was another three points for the Glovers and another unconvincing performance, but who cares? Ian was at Huish Park for the 1-0 win against Truro City and here are his Five Conclusions…

We looked exhausted in the first half. It was the main point Billy Rowley made in his post-match interview, but from kick off we looked dead on our feet. Terrell Works, normally buzzing around pressing, wasn’t. Delano McCoy-Splatt and Brett McGavin weren’t able to control the midfield – I thought the first half passed them by in truth – and we ended up lumping it to the Truro defence for them to rebuild over and over. The wingers were on the ball sparingly and Truro could have gone in 2-0 up at half time was it not for poor finishing and Jed Ward in the middle of our goal.

Terrell Works puts the pressure on | Photo by Gary Brown

We improved in the second half. I’m not so sure if the players got a rocket at half time or not, but you didn’t need a body language expert to understand how the manager was feeling in the first half. Rowley praised Darren Simpson for the positional tweaks which improved the Glovers and I think it was evident early on in the higher press and the early chances. Until…

We started dropping like flies. Our threadbare, (small squad of quality™) patched up team started to fall victim to their gruelling schedule. Since Morecambe, Yeovil have travelled more than 1300 miles in round trips. Away trips to Wealdstone, Gateshead, Southend in seven days will have killed any sort of meaningful preparation. Aaron Jarvis and Jake Wannell both exited through injury, Joy Mukena was on one leg and we found out pre-match the Josh Sims is out for the season too. Fitness has been an issue all season and the importance of getting it right in pre-season is even more evident given our current situation.

Will Merry still had some fuel in the tank. The youngster was full of running throughout the match and was Yeovil’s brightest spark. When a bit of space opened up in front of him in stoppage time he only had one thing on his mind and as he glided past the Truro defence and put the ball past Aidan Stone the roof came off Huish Park. It was, once again, pure relief as we found a way to grab all three points.

Will Merry slots home | Photo by Gary Brown

We need this season to finish. In my five conclusions following Sutton I said “each game will be it’s own cup final with varying levels of severity as we muddle through until May.” I think that’s generally how it’s gone. We’ve not seen much of a playing style come through for various reasons but with us now (all but mathematically) safe and sat in 13th we can relax. As I said on Friday’s podcast, I think we can go into the summer with calm off the pitch, but there is pressure on the Jamie ‘the HR guy’ Hedges, and the brain trust behind the recruitment plan to get it right to make us competitive. I hope we’ve spent all this time working on a strategy so as soon the final whistle goes after Solihull we know exactly what we’re going after in summer and we get our business done early.

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Gloverscast Ben was in the commentary box at the Gateshead International stadium. Here are his five key takeaways from the game.

Knackered. This has been a long ol’ season, even by Yeovil Town standards. I thought that yesterday started to show just how much energy our recent schedule had taken out of us. We definitely missed the energy and running of Daly and Sims from the off and, without question, have a few players feeling the effects of their recent exertions. There wasn’t a lack of effort, I think the legs just didn’t work like they had done prior.

Discipline and officials. Now, if you can’t control the fatigue in the body, you can control the mind. I actually thought Finn Cousin-Dawson played rather well in the middle of the park, we had a lot of defending to do at times and he certainly offers us that protection. But in a game that got feisty, and got away from the ref, he really didn’t need to make that challenge in the 93rd minute, 2-0 down away from home, with a busy schedule ahead of us.

Now, let’s caveat that by saying the ref helped absolutely no-one all game. He could (should) have sent one, maybe two, Gateshead players off for different altercations and bizarrely didn’t send off Jake Wannell for giving away the penalty. (My theory is, he probably regretted booking him for the offence of being elbowed in the head by a Gateshead player). He had no control over the game and everyone got unnecessarily frustrated. Gateshead played that situation better than us.

Finn Cousin-Dawson. Picture courtesy of Frank Reid.

The curious case of Millar Matthews-Lewis. I can’t figure this one out, he gets his start after a couple of cameos and unused sub appearances and it was a strange 20 minutes from him. He tried to hold the ball up, but a couple of times he looked to be on a different wavelength/planet to those around him and nothing really stuck. We assumed he was nursing an injury when taken off, but we were told it was tactical after the game.

Jarvis came on to get his shirt ripped off on every occasion and did offer far more. But we’re going to need our entire squad for the next six games, is he destined to be filed alongside Jahmari Clarke and Reo Griffiths as strikers that happened, but we dont quite know why..? Maybe.

More the Merry-er. Yes. I tell you who isn’t looking knackered, Will Merry. I know it’s the smallest of sample sizes, but this lad has something. Simple, direct, he almost floats with the ball at his feet. He has an eye for a run too and is happy to drift off a defender and find a position. Let’s get this lad on the pitch a lot over the next six games and see what he’s about. In the name of planning for next season, these might be the sort of raw youngsters that come in to the group.

How to motivate a side on the beach? As we edge closer to the end of the season, the maths will start getting worked out and we’ll soon discover our spot somewhere in the lower-middle pack. But, over 100 people went to Gateshead yesterday, plenty will be at Southend and so on and so forth. They deserve that effort to be matched, if not bettered.

It’ll be interesting to see how we show up for this run in with the ever-decreasing jeopardy this season holds. Those fans still need something to cheer and something to get behind and remember, there’s season tickets and new kits and sponsor board to sell for next season.

 

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A resurgent Yeovil Town ran out as 2-0 winners at Wealdstone on a bitter Wednesday night; Tom Bailey was there for Green and White Radio, here’s what he made of it…

What a great team performance! There were concerns post-Woking that the team looked unmotivated, that there was a lack of fight, togetherness and desire… well that did a complete 180! Every single player looked like they would run through a wall for each other, FCD and McGavin put their bodies on the line in a powerful midfield display, variations of Sims, Jones, Daly and Works all pressing as duos, and an organised backline showed that these guys can be a team, as they outworked and outsmarted a rotated Wealdstone side.

Before I call out my man of the match, I want to give an honourable mention to Ryan Jones for pulling off a roulette inside his own half under pressure from multiple Wealdstone players, nerves of steel on that man in a fantastic individual display.

James. Daly (again). Can I just use last Saturday’s thoughts for this bit? Once again, an electric performance while in the central striker role – have we had our missing striker at the club the whole time?? His turn of pace is elite for the level, causing defences headaches all game, and his linkup with both wings was exceptional. Take a bow son, take a bow!

He’s done it again. James Daly celebrates his sixth goal of the season.

The pressure has been eased tremendously now. There were concerns among fans headed into this trio of games (Morecambe, Wealdstone, Gateshead) that they could define our season. Two wins from the first two of those games have made that gap to the bottom four look like a chasm in comparison to a week or so ago.

The fans, the staff and the players should all give themselves a pat on the back for stepping up when it’s mattered most, as we look increasingly like a National League side for next season!

The red. Yes I’m afraid I’m going to mention it, we can’t have all five points be positive can we?! Troy Perrett has come in for criticism at times this season, with a bright start to life in green and white dying off pretty quickly. In absence of Dakarai Mafico, he’s started the last two games and while there were sparks of brilliance, it’s not quite come together for him yet.

However, having slept on it (important here on Gloverscast) – that’s really poor for me. I came in for stick when I said Jarvis shouldn’t have been dismissed against Rochdale (I WAS VERY WRONG), and this incident felt weirdly similar to me. In the moment, I didn’t quite understand how it was even a booking, never mind a red, but upon seeing the replay, he’s earned every bit of that red. Hopefully this is a learning experience that he can take forward in his career, marking a low point of an uninspiring loan spell.

Troy Perrett
Pic c/o Gary Brown

Let’s end the season with a flourish! I was keen to just stay up, even if it was close, I just wanted to stay up. Maybe I’m giddy from seeing us sit in the dizzying heights of 15th, but I feel weirdly relaxed about the rest of the season now. Let’s enjoy ourselves, keep up the impressive performances and end the season with a high. Wins against the likes of Gateshead, Truro, Eastleigh and Solihull would see us very comfortably into mid-table, let’s manifest a few more wins!

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Yeovil Town’s topsy-turvy season continued on Saturday, as they defeated Morecambe at Huish Park in what had been billed as a six-pointer. Tom Bailey was there for Green and White Radio, here’s what he thought.

Well that was great fun… What an entertaining game of football! Entertainment value has often been criticised at Huish Park this season, with Cooper-ball and Copper-lite-ball under Richard Dryden leading to some turgid performances. If this is what we should expect under Billy Rowley next season, then sign me up! It was a game of high quality, but it didn’t disappoint in the entertainment department!

James. Daly. Boy am I glad we have James Daly in this team. A slow start to the season, followed by injury saw Daly’s stock fall as Christmas approached. But after finding fitness, and a regular run of games allowing him to build momentum, he’s come into his own, particularly following the absence of Luke McCormick.

His pressing and relentless energy makes him a joy to watch, and his goal was well taken today, taking his league tally to five for the season. Even his 99th minute press of the Morecambe ‘keeper was the perfect example of why we need to play to Daly’s strengths next season.

James Daly reflecting the mood inside Huish Park.

The players showed a bit of something today. I mentioned above that while entertaining, the quality of the game wasn’t necessarily great. Both teams were desperate to win this game, which was a stark contrast to the drab midweek defeat at Woking for the Glovers. Everyone put in a hell of a shift to earn those three points today, and even if they aren’t staying beyond the end of the season, that is a performance that Yeovil fans should be proud of.

Delano McCoy-Splatt, welcome to Yeovil! When McCoy-Splatt’s signing was announced midweek, there were mixed responses, with some relief that we had more midfield depth, but some concern over his age and lack of game time. Thankfully, he made a brilliant start to life in green and white, coming on as a substitution on the right hand side. His linkup play with Josh Sims and Finn Cousin-Dawson was excellent, and his vision for the pass to Terrell Works for Daly’s goal was awesome. More of that please and thank you!

Onto Wealdstone. Let’s take the positive feeling following a hard-earned victory and carry that momentum into the midweek game at Wealdstone. A lot of people earmarked these three fixtures (plus Gateshead next Saturday) as our three biggest games of the season, and with three points on the board already, let’s carry on this good work into Wednesday’s game.

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The roller-coaster season took yet another dip as defeat at Woking last night put Yeovil Town fans’ stomachs in their throats. Ollie Marsh was among the almost 500 who turned out for the rearranged midweek fixture in Surrey and here are his thoughts.

You know what I’m going to say don’t you? The ‘some halves maybe good, some halves maybe s***’ trend continued, albeit in reverse to Saturday’s defeat at Boston. This time we got the rubbish half out the way first, and marginally improved in the second – and it was at least encouraging to see us come out after the break with a bit of spark. Unfortunately, that 15 minute spell of pressure and a late surge failed to create any clear cut chances of note.

Second half action inside the Woking area. Picture courtesy of Ollie Marsh.

These players don’t look like they’re standing up to be counted. We’ve now entered the final ten games left of the season, and you’d hope for players to be raising their levels – whether that’s for the club’s position, or for their own Yeovil Town careers. There are a few individuals who can come out of last night with a modicum of credit in that regard, but there are also so many members of our team that simply aren’t showing what you’d want to see from the players in their roles.

Billy’s post-match interview didn’t make for pleasant listening. Our gaffer criticised the mentality of the team, urging them to “show some passion.” I’ll be honest, I haven’t noticed a complete lack of effort or commitment from the group – as they have been throughout this season, they look simply unfit and low on confidence rather than not trying. But a group of professional footballers playing in front of 400+ fans who have travelled on a Tuesday night shouldn’t have to be reminded at half time to “give their all.”

Screenshot

Millar Matthews-Lewis, the floor is yours. With Aaron Jarvis now missing two games through suspension thanks to a tenth yellow card – and it was a bit of a silly booking to pick up in truth – we’ll surely be seeing a bit more of our new man against Morecambe on Saturday. It’s partly for this reason that I was surprised he wasn’t introduced earlier last night, instead being brought on with just six minutes of normal time remaining. In his limited game time – he also got 12 minutes against Boston – MML has at least shown he’s capable of getting in good positions, and has held the ball up well on a couple of occasions.

With this defence, we’ll do well to keep the Shrimps out. Morecambe have scored 17 goals in their last six games, and that fills me with dread. Woking cut us open incredibly easily last night, destroying us in the channels without really having to do too much. Our back line will have to be far more resolute at Huish Park this weekend, in what could be a season-defining clash. A win is almost essential and could see us rise enough places in the table to quell the nerves. Lose, and I fear an impending sense of doom could loom over us…

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80 travelling Yeovil fans were left disappointed after the Glovers saw Aaron Jarvis’ opener cancelled out by two Boston goals. Here are Ollie’s five sad conclusions from Lincolnshire.

It’s that old cliché again… We’ve been saying it a lot lately – and Alex Whittle said it post-match too – but it really was a game of two halves. Yeovil looked relatively in control and composed on the ball in the first 45, and looked dangerous going forward on a few occasions. After the break, it was a different story – with the Glovers unable to build anything of note and having to deal with pretty much one-way traffic from Boston. It’s hard to pinpoint exactly what causes the second-half drop off, but whether it’s a lack of fitness, a lack of options from the bench, or an inability to adapt when our opposition turn the screw, it’s incredibly frustrating.

Ryan Jones and Josh Sims formed a good double act. Aside from Aaron Jarvis’ bolt from the blue that put us ahead, most of our dangerous moments in the first-half came from Jones and Sims’ good work down the right. The two were very much on the same wavelength, linking up well on a number of occasions, with Sims in particular causing trouble. Jones has been at the heart of a lot which has been good in recent weeks and it was a shame to see him taken off on the hour mark. Although Sims still showed endeavour, he wasn’t as effective without his mate.

We should have lost by more. Make no mistake about it, although there was only a goal in it, the hosts had more than enough clear cut chances to put the game out of sight – and they probably should have taken them. In-form Tom Cursons had two showdowns with Jed Ward – the first saw him round the keeper only for Kyle Ferguson to slide in heroically on the line, and the second saw our number one manage to get down not once, not twice, but three times to stop Cursons from slotting home. Despite riding our luck at one end, we did little to take advantage at the other – even the introduction of new striker Millar Matthews-Lewis with 15 minutes remaining did little to shake things up.

I’m not going to blame James Daly. The substitute may have given away possession in the lead-up to Boston’s winning goal, but he was surrounded by three yellow shirts with no teammate within 15 yards of him – it wasn’t the first time he had battled away for balls only to have no support to help him out. And of course, when you look back at the replay of the goal, it’s hard to see much determination to win the ball back as Boston break.

We’re putting pressure on ourselves here. We may have ended the day still seven points clear of the drop zone, but the longer we go without getting the points required for survival, the more precarious our position will seem. Results at the weekend went our way and we have a fairly favourable run-in all things considered, including games against three of the current bottom four. What a shame it will be if those games mean something by the time they come around. Anyone see how Tuesday night’s opponents Woking got on today by the way? If you didn’t, maybe try not to look.

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Yeovil fell victim to a professional performance against Scunthorpe United. Here are Tom’s Five Conclusions from Huish Park.

We definitely weren’t bad! This sounds like I’m scrabbling for positives, but genuinely we performed really well in the first half. We looked like a team hunting for a win, not just accepting a 0-0 like we may have in previous years. Sure, things unravelled towards the end of the 90 minutes for us, but I don’t think I could sit there and say we didn’t give it a damn good go, we just need that final finish… speaking of which…

Goodness me, we need a striker. The majority of Yeovil fans can see that Billy Rowley is having to make do with the sum of the parts available to him, but one glaringly obvious gap in the recruitment this season has been the lack of a competent striker.

Aaron Jarvis looked better today, but I don’t think it’s hard to look better than he has in recent performances (looking at you Rochdale…), meanwhile Tahvon Campbell continued to look lackadaisical at best, and lazy at worst. Both players have had opportunities across their last few performances to take the striker spot as their own, but neither have done so. Put it this way, if we had someone like Danny Whitehall in our side today, I think we’d have stood an even better chance…

The lads looked tired. It’s easy to say something like that considering the scoreline and the run of fixtures in recent weeks, but it’s unfortunately true. Right from the off, even in our better periods during the game, we looked somewhat leggy, unable to get that extra yard of space we may have found with rested legs.

The second goal completely sucked the life out of the squad, which was telling for the third goal, so hopefully this week of rest will help us come back against Boston all guns blazing.

Let’s not panic. Yes, we’re still eight points above the drop, and yes the team’s behind are picking up points. But, teams are also sinking; look at Sutton and Braintree from just today as an example. We’ve proven we’re capable of picking up points too. Looking at the table with the glass half full, if results go our way next weekend, we’re 12th again. Suddenly, we can look up again, rather than behind.

Today will hurt, but let’s stay calm, back the squad and the staff, and they’ll get us over the line, one way or another.

Billy Rowley
Pic c/o Gary Brown

Roll on the summer. As mentioned above with the striker situation, we need to get some holes filled in this squad in the summer. A heavy reliance on the loan market has had mixed results, and while a lot of the recruitment has been alright, we’ve built a squad for FOUR different managers.

We can see the foundations being laid for the next season, but we’ve just got to get through these last 11 games and look forward to next season; some strikers, some proper wing-backs, and a replenishment of contracted (and preferably good) midfielders, and then we can really begin to judge the Billy Rowley era. Up the Yeo, and all that!