Five Conclusions (Page 12)

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At 4.45am on Wednesday morning, a supporters’ club coach pulled in to Huish Park filled with 50-odd of the Yeovil Town supporters who were part of a travelling contingent of 141 at Tuesday night’s 4-0 defeat at Gateshead, a warped trick of the fixture machine that they had to do that midweek.

Here’s the morning after the night before thoughts of Dave, who made it back to his (northern) home at 1.30am, on what he saw from the other side of the athletics track….

That’s it then. We’re down. “We’ve been to Elland Road and Bramall Lane, Coventry away……now we’re off to Taunton, Taunton awaaaaaay…….Taunton awaaaay!” echoed (to the tune of Rotterdam by The Beautiful South) from away end at the International Athletics Stadium in the second half. A bit of humour in response to what we were seeing unfold in front of us. If I have seen a worse Yeovil Town performance than that (and I remember the last time we played in regional football) then I cannot recall it. That was a team* without commitment (sorry, Mark, you might not be able to question it but after that you must be blind), without quality or at least not showing it, and without any pride to play for the badge or themselves. It’s National League South next season, I just don’t see how it is anything but. Please just put us out of our misery now.
*- as ever, Josh Staunton and Grant Smith came out of it with some credit.

Even the defence has lost it. The blunt attack has been there all season, heck it was there last season as well. It doesn’t even count as a conclusion to say that we’re rubbish at scoring goals – but the defence was the one thing we had to hang on to. Just watch the goals that Gateshead scored on Tuesday night and tell me if you have seen worse defending? Owen Bevan (who I still believe has a very bright future ahead of him) was targeted and turned inside out playing at right back (I mean, he’s not a right back) but Gateshead were literally taking the mick by the end of it. Playing little one-twos inside the box whilst we floundered around trying to stop them.

Can it get any worse if Cooper goes? Mark Cooper looked like a beaten man after that. I get he’s not a particularly smiley guy when the cameras roll, that he feels he’s been let down by the wrong recruitment and (even if he won’t say it himself) by many of his players. It’s hard to argue with ‘if we had a decent striker, we’d not be in this mess’ argument and that comes down to recruitment which he obviously feels it is not of his doing. But, can it get any worse if he was to be given his P45 today? We have been poor all season (just look at the results) but now we have a team and a management utterly demoralised. Chris Todd stayed after Chris Hargreaves left and looked to be the only one trying to direct proceedings on the touchline at Gateshead – why not put him in charge for the rest of the season? Honestly, can it get any worse?

If you claim you love this club – show it! Our absent owner Scott Priestnall told us he was a fan, Matt Uggla speaks with passion about how he’s fallen in love with the club – but whatever glacially slow process is holding up the transfer of power from one to the other is killing the thing they both claim to love. There’s blame everywhere for that – with those two, the owners prior to them, South Somerset District Council, players, managers, directors, you name it. But the time for pointing fingers and saying “it’s their fault” has passed. Supporters will (barring a miracle) be watching regional football next season, there’s staff at Huish Park (on and off the pitch) who will be wondering where their futures lie next season and a very public civil war breaking out all over the place. It’s time for people to grow up, put their differences aside and show their allegiance to the only thing we all care about – Yeovil Town Football Club.

Spare a thought for JG-W. In a few weeks time we will mark the 20th anniversary of the club’s promotion to the Football League. It took 108 years to get there and now things have never felt bleaker. I thought back the other day to Jon Goddard-Watts, the founder of Screwfix Direct whose generosity created all of that. He invested to take us from part-time to full-time football, he invested to get us in to the Football League – he had no desire for minor celebrity status in fact I am not even sure how in to football he was. He wanted to do a good thing for the community which had served his business and when he resigned from the board in 2005, he wrote off a £1m loan to the club. I imagine he’d roll in his grave to see what those who followed him have allowed to happen.

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Yeovil Town suffered a damaging defeat at the hands of Southend United on the telly last night and find themselves in huge trouble in the relegation battle in the National League. Here are Ian’s Five Conclusions (although there could have been more!) from Huish Park…

It couldn’t have gone much worse. A devastating injury to Alex Fisher will inevitably see him out of action for a long time. It was horrible to see the reaction of players and supporters in the immediate aftermath of the incident and I hope he makes a strong recovery. Miguel Freckleton picked up a red card, albeit a harsh one, which put to bed any hope of a comeback. It feels like a damaging defeat mentally as much as anything. Social media is sapped of belief, Huish Park was sapped of belief and rebuilding that belief will not be easy.

I thought we started well. We came out quickly and Scott Pollock should have put us ahead in the first five minutes. If he scores there it totally changes the complexion of the evening. As it was, Southend handled pressure and as we’ve seen so many times this season, they kept our attackers at arms length. Jake Hyde took the Shrimpers first chance when it came to them and once they were ahead it Southend could be confident that they were heading back to Essex with three points. So many times this season we’ve talked about how we’ve played well in spells, or for a half, but rarely for the full 90 minutes. Is it any wonder that we are where we are?

Scott Pollock in action for Yeovil Town. Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

How we miss Matt Worthington. The yellow card at Halifax looks absolutely pivotal now. We tried Freckleton in there last week and it didn’t work and yesterday with Pollock in there it didn’t work either. Pollock is still finding match fitness and it showed. The energy Worthy gives us in midfield is irreplaceable. Charlie Cooper tried to take on some of that role but it’s clear how much Worthington’s energy is missed in the team. 

We never looked like scoring, whereas Southend had two chances and took them both. [Insert story of the season line]. We look a better team with Jordan Young in the side but we could have been there until next week and Southend’s keeper would have claimed everything comfortably. The injury to Fisher scuppered our plans to change anything. The tactical response was to bring on Max Hunt, which I understand. Knock it long and bring others into it, but no one got near him and we struggled to get the ball to him in good areas. Malachi Linton came on after but there was no pattern to rhythm to our attacking play for him to make a difference. The script was written for Rhys Murphy to settle matters with a typical poachers effort on his return.

I don’t know how we get out of this. It’s hard not to be defeatist in this position were in, so I apologise for that. The next three matches are huge and right now it feels an impossibility that we come away with anything from Gateshead, Aldershot or Dorking. The inquest of this season will come (probably on this website) but my overriding feeling yesterday was that we’re facing the abyss. Conspicuous by their absences yesterday were the players we’ve signed to get us out of this predicament, it’s clear they are either unfit or not good enough. When the time came to make signings that could help us, we’ve got it absolutely wrong. Mark Cooper cut a dejected figure yesterday after the match and I’m not sure even he can save us.

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In what might have been one of the worst footballing spectacles the National League has ever seen, FC Halifax Town and Yeovil Town played out a 1-1 draw at The Shay on Saturday.

Gloverscast Ben was on co-commentary duty for BBC Somerset in the press box and explores the reasons for this, of which plenty were out of Yeovil’s (or anyone’s) control for that matter.

A point on the road should be taken as a good thing on the whole.

I’ll get to the game itself in a moment, but I think it’s worth noting that we are at the stage of the season where we can’t really worry too much about style of play, or level of performance, but it’s now about getting as close to 50 points as possible.

As mentioned on previous podcasts, ten 1-1 draws between now and the end of the season might be enough. Although you’d rather get it wrapped up far sooner.

After the game Yeovil manager Mark Cooper told of his pride in the squad for coming back from 1-0 down and for putting their bodies on the line.

I’ve slept on it (Rule 2) and with some of the teams below us in the table dropping points – Torquay and Gateshead drawing and Dorking losing – it goes down as a ‘good away point’.

Now to the match… well, actually no, to the pitch now.

Manager Mark Cooper leads the applause for the away supporters at the end of the game.

The Shay stadium pitch was an utter disgrace.

Yes, I know it was the same for both teams, but I have to include something on the sandy surface.

I got the chance to stand on a little bit after the game, it was exactly like running across the beach when the tide had just gone out.

It was tough to get any grip if moving at speed, but in tight areas it was sticky and sludgy enough to get your foot stuck in it.

It was basically like playing on a non-Newtonian liquid. (Ask your science teachers, kids).

There’s no doubt in my mind it prevented any kind of a football match from breaking out and could well have contributed to one – or maybe both – of the serious injuries suffered by Lawson D’Ath and Edwin Agbaje.

Lawson D’Ath is lifted to his feet after suffering a hamstring strain.

Speaking of which, I’ve heard rumours that if you win the Golden Gamble next week, the prize has been changed from cash to a place on the bench for the second half. Bring your boots if you’re coming to the game on Saturday.

Edwin Agbaje looks set to be out for a considerable amount of time, Lawson D’Ath broke our hearts again by pulling up chasing to correct an error by Ryan Law, and Matt Worthington is out for two games after a tenth yellow card of the season after ‘taking one for the team’.

Goal-scorer Malachi Linton looked more like Malachi LIMPton as he came out of the tunnel to chat after and Charlie Cooper and Josh Staunton are bandaged up enough to represent an ancient Egyptian artefact.

Alex Fisher and Jordan Maguire-Dre both looked to be nursing something or other as well.

It’s a big week in the physio room as we patch a few bodies up and get them ready.

If Agbaje is out for a while, it would make sense to try and replace that loan spot, but my word do we need some bodies.

I still haven’t mentioned the football have I?

Let’s talk playing out from the back.

Grant Smith. Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

I love the commitment to the cause, it’s clearly something Mark Cooper wants to see and maybe the personnel we have doesn’t suit long goal kicks, but oooof does it make me nervous.

The best keeper in the league, two centre backs in Josh Staunton and Owen Bevan you’d hang your hat on more often than not, but with the margins so fine and meaning so much, the risk-reward balance is right on the line and at times it was inviting more pressure than it drew on us.

Finally then. What happens now? A week off, but only for the players. 

Well, the assumption is that we need to bolster the ranks (see Matt Uggla’s tweets from Saturday night – here), which is far easier said than done, we’re already oversubscribed on loans but may need to roll that particular dice again.

We appear to have already earmarked targets for the summer (what is this forward thinking… and why do I like it?) but the suggestion is we might be in a position to move a bit earlier for those, which would be helpful.

Do we need to think about recalling some loans? We have two players in Will Dawes and Ollie Hulbert playing reasonably well in the division below, we have Ollie Haste, who is incredibly highly thought of, who can play as a back up to the left side.

But more than that, we have two home games in a row, the first of which falling on Non League Day. Is there time to try and do something to entice Bristol City fans, Southampton fans… any fans of Premier League/Championship clubs to spend their international break at Huish Park?

I’ve seen some clubs offer any season ticket holder of a Premier League or EFL side a £10 ticket, or similar, but having a bouncing Huish Park will only help the lads get through 90 more minutes against a very good team.

Nine more cup finals to go…

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Only one of the Gloverscast trio got eyes on the 2-1 defeat to Barnet.

Gloverscast Ben watched on the stream as Yeovil lost at the Hive and had to do so in silence as to not wake the youngest mini Barrett, here’s how he saw (but not heard) the game… he’s off to source some headphones.

Physically, it was a game too far.

The previous two results against Eastleigh and Chesterfield have been positive, four points from play-off contenders, who have gone on to put in good performances since.

Let’s not underestimate how good those outcomes were, but this one felt like we’d spent a lot of energy and had very little left.

The team news suggested as much, the slow nature of our counter attacks confirmed it.

We’re clearly nursing a few players through some games.

I’m not going to fault effort, but you are left wondering if we’re paying the price for having no physio for as long as we did.

That being said, we did have moments, but…

If you’re going to only get a few chances, you simply have to take them.

It’s perfectly acceptable to soak up pressure away at good sides, it’s fine to try and get a stereotypically away performance and try and scrap a 1-0 win and call it a day.

But, we did make chances, and I’d argue we could have made more of them.

Ryan Law had a first half header, we had moments on the edge of the box where shots were snatched at rather than placed or forcefully put into the far corner, we made some silly decisions at times which were counter productive in the final third and we had more than one cross or melee in the box crying out for someone to take the moment by the scruff of the neck.

Let’s starting chucking our bodies in the line of crosses, be a bit ugly in attack, be forceful… be a bit nasty up top.

Malachi Linton fires in a shot. Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

If in doubt… keep it simple.

I’ve really enjoyed the freedom Mark Cooper has brought to this side, we’ve added play makers, we’ve given midfielders licences to play and try and get involved.

We’ve got a defence, who for the most part, have been solid and want to get involved, but sometimes, we need to keep things a bit simple in tight, important games.

Ryan Law lost the ball twice trying a little pirouette in midfield, we played ourselves into trouble at the back when a pass to or from the keeper got a bit close for comfort and finally, the second goal came from Owen Bevan trying to morph into peak Rio Ferdinand and take the ball out from the back.

Owen, you’re good, very good and I think you’re destined for the top, but just launch that one please.

Maybe, we’re not just feeling the effects physically (see point 1) but also, mentally.

It’s a fine balance and quite how Mark Cooper finds that level of releasing the handbrake, but also keeping things simple is how he’ll earn his corn over these final 10 or so games.

The game changed with the addition of Nicke Kabamba, I mean, of course it did.

He got his 18th league goal of the season when pouncing on Bevan’s mistake and it goes to show exactly what we have been missing.

That depth in quality just hasn’t been there, bringing on Reo Griffiths was a nice little addition, but how Mark Cooper would have liked to have turned around to see a Charlie Wakefield or Scottt Pollock to try something a little different or add a little star quality.

Matt Worthington ran himself into the ground (again), there’s no way he can be fully fit all the time – he’s only one yellow card from a two match ban, with an England call up to squeeze in next midweek too, you can see why M Cooper wanted to keep C Cooper out of the firing line for as a long as possible. This side is going to be squeezed for every sinue before the season is up.

Charlie Wakefield. Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

and finally, The season may hang on those all important games against Gateshead and Dorking.

There was a point last night where we were one goal away from being in 17th, leaping above York and Aldershot and putting seven(!) points between ourselves and the drop zone, we are instead wondering about Gateshead’s games in hand and if they’ll start catching us up.

Fine margins don’t just decide games, they decide entire campaigns.

Scunthorpe and York both came unstuck on Tuesday night, it’s impossible not to look at other results as we play, but after a run against three play off contenders we face the teams currently in 16th, 17th, 20th and 21st before the season is out… they will define our season.

 

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Huish Park was rocking last night as Yeovil Town picked up a crucial win in the battle to stay in the National League. Here are Ian’s conclusions from the 1-0 victory over Eastleigh.

A great leap (definitely not a push, ref!) by Matt Worthington for the opener.

The atmosphere at Huish Park was incredible last night. I can’t remember a night like that in a long long time. More than 2900 were at Huish Park last night, an increase of 700ish (minus the Eastleigh travelling supporters) versus last Tuesday. The reduced ticket offer brought people back and helped create an electric atmosphere. The crowd were vocal from the off, and in the second half they roared Mark Cooper’s side home. The celebrations at the end we reminiscent of the old days – I could get used to this feeling. 

We played for the whole game. It was a night where the Yeovil players put in a performance across the pitch for the whole 90 minutes. Cooper’s side were patient when they had to be, and forced the issue when the opportunity arose. Play off hopefuls Eastleigh, who were unbeaten in seven, could not have begrudged going in 2-0 down at half time. Jordan Young came inches away from heading in and fingertips and the post kept Jordan Maguire-Drew from scoring a cracker. With 45 minutes towards the raucous Thatchers Stand, Yeovil got their goal, could have got more and lifted the gloom after the recent run of results.

Jordan Stevens. Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

The Jordans are stepping up. With no shortage of Jordans in the squad and all three starting last night, they all put in a performance of quality. Jordan Young continues to improve. He held the ball up well, was direct with his running and is getting closer to finding that all-important goal. Maguire-Drew looked the classy player who made things happen over Christmas. He threaded passes, got shots away and with 60 minutes in the tank, looks to be rebuilding fitness. And, our new signing Jordan Stevens, looked a totally different player from the one against Woking. Comfortable running with the ball and rapid when hunting down opponents, he looks like to be a real coup for the club.

The system suited the players. Look, I’ve been very clear I don’t like three at the back. I’m open to it working eventually, but we’ve not been able to get a consistent tune this group all season. So when I saw our defensive unit warming up as a four, there was a bit of relief on my part. It worked as well. It was a pretty fluid front five, with Stevens, JMD, Worthington, Young and Law making forward runs and getting into the final third. A shout out for Charlie Cooper, who’s discipline in centre midfield is so crucial to allow his teammates to get forward. Matt Worthington, who had one of his worst games on Saturday, was immeasurably improved and leapt highest to score the winner after a great run into the box.

We need to stay grounded. There’s been so much happen in the last week. After the turbulence of the last regime, we’re all understandably excited. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves after this win. The teams around us good results last night, and we needed to keep up. We’re three points ahead of the relegation zone, but we’ve got some tough away matches coming against Chesterfield, Barnet and Halifax. We’re not out of this battle yet, but with new ownership in the door (although the deal isn’t quite complete) we can be more hopeful of staying in the league than we were over a week ago.

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On the day when Matt Uggla and Paul Sackey were officially presented to supporters, our former manager returned to burst the bubble at Huish Park. Here’s Ian’s conclusions from our 1-0 defeat by Woking.

It was a familiar story up front. Woking’s centre back pairing of Cuthbert and McNerney dominated Alex Fisher and Jordan Young in the first half. While Young is still adapting to this level, I felt Fisher should have been more prepared for a physical battle and he really struggled against Woking’s duo. While both strikers improved in the second half and Young should have equalised when he was one-on-one with Jaaskelainen. We’ve been saying it since the start of 2021/22, but we need to find a solution in the final third. Jordan Stevens showed glimpses, our wingbacks struggled to get any joy in attacking areas and Matt Worthington struggled to get on the ball to make things happen.

Jordan Young heads at goal. Image courtesy of Mike Kunz

Woking’s goal was a sloppy one. The other trend in recent weeks is the conceding of soft goals and Woking’s ticked that box. A good cross into the box from Edwin Agbaje was met by the head of Jordan Young, who could only head it at Jaaskelainen. Thirty seconds later, the ball was in the back of Grant Smith’s net. Woking pushed forward and when the ball reached Owen Bevan at an awkward height, he couldn’t head it, knee it or kick it and the ball was bundled to Lofthouse who smashed it in. While goals are obviously the big concern in the attacking third, the issue isn’t going away in the defensive third.

Darren Sarll.
Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

We got Darren Sarlled. Woking’s goal came after a golden opportunity for Jordan Young and once the Cards were ahead we saw a familiar pattern emerge. Yeovil returned from the break with momentum and put the pressure on Woking for the first 10 minutes, until our opponents got to grips with the situation and became masters of disruption. Players went down needing treatment innocuously, took forever to collect the ball for set pieces and goal kicks and showed their penchant for the dark arts – all facilitated by a referee who took no control of the time-wasting tactics. Yeovil just couldn’t get any rhythm in the second half and Woking saw the game out.

We need to start playing for the full game. Yesterday really was a rinse and repeat of our season. We struggled in the first half and then started playing after the break, until we got Sarlled. Mark Cooper referenced it post-match, our inability to play towards the away end. It’s a growing pattern that we only play towards the Thatchers. It has to be a mentality thing, as we’ve had plenty of teams over the years who’ve been able to score at either end. Of our 13 remaining fixtures, we’ve only got five more at home to make Huish Park a fortress and keep this team above the line.

Matt Uggla, left, and Paul Sackey, right, meet with some guy who we assume is part of their group! Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

A cloud has lifted at Huish Park. Despite the result, there was a feeling of relief at Huish Park with the presentation of Paul Sackey and Matt Uggla of SU Glovers before kick-off. There’s a lot of work to do, on the pitch and off of it, but it feels like we’ve got something we can get behind. Our new custodians introduced themselves to supporters, signed autographs, took photos, and mingled after the match too. Plenty returned to Huish Park yesterday for the first time in a long time and I’m sure more will come. While the result wasn’t what we might have scripted, it finally feels like we’ve got an ownership group who are genuinely invested in the future of our club.

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On the night SU Glovers Ltd announced they’d taken over the ‘stewardship’ of Yeovil Football and Athletic Club Ltd, the Glovers played a game of football. Here are Ian’s Five Conclusions on the 1-1 draw with Altrincham.

I think this was a good point. I’d have snapped your hand off for a point going into the game given our form and Altrincham’s. With 11 goals in three matches prior to the visit to Huish Park and our run of five without a win, the mood was not hopeful. Altrincham worked hard in the opening spells of the game and Tyrese Sinclair was their out ball every time. Yeovil were evidently low on confidence and it wasn’t until the second half that Mark Cooper’s team started to take the game to Alty. We had decent control of possession, looked mostly comfortable and deserved an equaliser. It’s fair to argue that with 10 men we should have gone on to win the game, but a good point gives us something to build on.

Jordan Maguire-Drew converts his penalty. Image courtesy of Mike Kunz

We didn’t fall apart without Josh Staunton and Matt Worthington. Aside from Grant Smith, Staunton and Worthington have been absolutely pivotal this season, but with a pile up of fixtures, there was always going to be a point where they needed a rest. Josh Staunton has played every minute of every League game up until Tuesday and has been sporting the black knee tape in recent fixtures. I can’t be the only one wincing every time he goes to ground to make a tackle. Matt Worthington has been the engine room all season and has somehow upped it since Mark Cooper’s arrival. They were surprise exclusions and we successfully navigated a tricky fixture without them, maybe we do have a bit of depth?

A game of two D’Aths. In the first half the way Altrincham harassed Lawson D’Ath when he was on the ball and managed to dispossess him had me worried. On more than one occasion he got caught with the ball and allowed Altrincham to break. In the second half he, like others, really stepped up. Carrying the ball and driving forward with a real purpose. We’re managing his minutes, and whisper it, he’s keeping injury free…(apologies in advance.)

Alex Fisher – Image courtesy of Mike Kunz

I’d love another striker. I’m sure I’m not the only one who would. Alex Fisher’s early effort was a huge chance to put Yeovil ahead and he had a couple of chances in the second half, his unorthodox header brought a good save from Byrne in the Altrincham goal. Seb Palmer-Houlden looks to have something about him and has a good physicality but we just don’t have time to wait for things to click. Jordan Young looked bright when he came on, but we’re still missing something. Malachi Linton (hopefully inconvenienced enough to be fired up for the weekend) didn’t make it off the bench and struggled to make an impact against Notts County. Afterwards Mark Cooper said: “At this stage of the season it is difficult for people to let you have really good players, because they would not be coming here at this stage of the season. If we are going to do that we have to be really picky or it is going to cost an awful lot of money.”

We’ve entered into a new era. The announcement prior to kick off was met with a muted reaction. Obviously we’re still awaiting plenty of detail but we’ve seen snippets from Matt Uggla on social media today and he won’t need anyone else to tell him what needs doing at Huish Park. With media activity on the cards tomorrow, hopefully some further detail, a 40 goal a season striker, we could actually make a bit of day of it on Saturday and spoil Darren Sarll’s return.

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Back-to-back defeats in relegation six pointers left Yeovil Town a point and a place below the dreaded dotted line at the bottom of the National League table.

A second half winner from York City striker Lennell John-Lewis earned our relegation rivals (yes, don’t kid yourself this isn’t a relegation scrap) their first win in six matches and meant the Glovers are five without a win.

Here’s how Dave saw it from his position in the West End at the LNER Community Stadium…..

 

That first half performance was a team destined for relegation
Yes, there are a lot reasons (excuses?) which the players have – no physio, uncertainty over the ownership of the club, a crowded fixture list, too few players, the list goes on.
But, the body language of too many players was at best disinterested and at worst simply evidence they are not good enough.
I lost count of the occasions when Grant Smith got the ball and looked for options to distribute the ball to it, no-one was moving, no-one looked like they wanted the ball.
The biggest insult I can offer to that performance was it had echoes of the team which took us out of the Football League in 2019. Believe me, boys, that is not a comparison you want.

There was more effort in the second half
Whatever Mark Cooper said at half-time it got a response – but why does it always take that for us to get a response?
There was a lot more effort in the second half, we controlled the game and deserved our equaliser no matter how scrappy it was, but the quality where it was needed was missing – again.
It was needed in the putting the ball in the back of the net region, by the way.

What happened to our defensive solidity?
I feel like I have said this before, but if we can conclude we need to be better up front, I can repeat this one. What has happened to us in defence?
Yet again if it wasn’t for Grant Smith and wasteful finishing from the York attack this could have got much worse.
Even with Owen Bevan back there it felt like we were flying by the seat of our pants with us looking a disorganised mess at the back. The first goal was evidence of that.
We are definitely missing the heading ability of Max Hunt back.

Shopping in a bargain basement again
It is not a conclusion to say we are sorely lacking up front. Seb Palmer-Houlden was given a go up front alongside Jordan Maguire-Drew and Jordan Young, but struggled to get the better of a physical York defence.
It was an awful lot to ask an 18-year-old whose previous experience has mostly been in under-23s football to lead the line in such a crucial match.
I totally understand we have to try different things up front, but this combination looked utterly National League South, especially in the first half.
At the other end, our opponents who only recently came from the tier down (North, not South) had an experienced head in Lennell John-Lewis up top. If you are in a relegation scrap (and we are!), the moments of quality he showed are what you need – but we’re shopping in the bargain basement. We all know why that is.
And, whilst we’re on the subject, how bad do we have to begoing forward before Charlie Wakefield gets a go?!

Man of the match? I’ll give you 167 of them.
If there was one positive from our first ever trip to the LNER Community Stadium it was the 167 souls in the away end.
Many of them of them travelled the length of the country to be there despite everything which has been thrown at them by this club.
If ever there was a group of people who had excuses for not bothering it was us and yet for the vast majority of the game there was a tremendous noise to try and inspire the team – even if some of the noise was linked to throwing various toys around.
These are people who have paid hard earned money for the privilege of being there, and they did put a proper shift it.

 

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In a game that was more of a must-win than Dorking Wanderers earlier this season, Yeovil fell to a 2-0 defeat at the hands of fellow strugglers Maidenhead United last night. Ian watched it on National League TV through his fingers and here are his conclusions.

We are in trouble. I feel like we kind of knew it, but thought Mark Cooper could see us through to the end of the season. If anyone can, it’s probably him. But once again, we failed to test the keeper enough, had to change the system at half time again and barely mustered an effort on target. This fixture was big, York is now even bigger. We’re now without a win in four, York are winless in six, you know the script right?

We had to change the set up again. After a great performance with a back four against Notts County, we switched to wingbacks again and it didn’t work. We struggled to keep possession and other than Jordan Young’s first half free kick we didn’t test the Maidenhead goalkeeper. The half time switch to a back four brought us to life for the first five minutes of the second half but Maidenhead adapted like the Borg and rendered our attacks useless.

I, Borg - Wikipedia

We’re conceding sloppy goals. Our strength this season has been our defence, but in our last five games we’ve conceded 12 goals. Quite rightly we’ve tried to get on the offensive to solve our goalscoring woes, but the result of that is we’re more vulnerable at the back. The first goal came from a pretty poor delivery into the box that an unmarked Sam Barratt was able to bundle in. The second was shambolic defending too, Ryan Law’s shanked clearance fell to Reece Smith who smashed home with no one near to block the shot.

The lack of depth is costing us. Mark Cooper said he was worried about the fixture after the energy expended against Notts County. He does not have enough players to rotate in this dreadful run. We’re asking players like Lawson D’Ath to play every game. Josh Staunton is hobbling around the pitch in pain. How long until we break Matty Worthington? We don’t have a physio to check if the players are fit enough. We need more players. We need more staff. Mark Cooper said without Martyn Starnes and Stuart Robins, “the club would have folded ages ago”. If you need help reading between the lines there, I don’t know what more there is to say.

Nothing changes until everything changes. Sorry to Coatesie for stealing his line, but here we are again. Anyone else getting flashbacks to 2019? Some people might be getting flashbacks to early ‘90s. It could be even worse. If we manage to stay up this season, and nothing changes, the direction of the club is one-way. While plans for houses surrounding Huish Park go into SSDC, the part we all actually care about is withering away. A win on Saturday will not change the trajectory of a club that won promotion to the Championship ten years ago.

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Yeovil conspired to draw yet another game yesterday after being 2-1 as the game entered stoppage time. Here are Ian’s Five Conclusions after the draw against bottom of the table Maidstone.

This one is blindingly obvious, the first half performance was nowhere near good enough. I went into yesterday’s game pretty confident after our performance on Tuesday. I thought we were excellent against Wealdstone in the first half but we didn’t come close to matching that level. As Yeovil tried to figure out their own system, Maidstone got comfortable on the ball and scored a brilliant team goal. After fifteen minutes we switched from a back three to a back four and only with a double substitution at half time did we really start to impact the game.

Alex Fisher is Yeovil’s top scorer this season with five goals. Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

Alex Fisher made the difference. I was surprised that we started with no recognised striker and as the first half wore on it was apparent that it wasn’t working with Andrew Oluwabori through the middle. Fisher’s arrival immediately brought about a focal point to the attack and gave Maidstone defenders something to contend with. When Morgan Williams launched a hopeful ball towards the Maidstone box, Fisher had to watch it travel some distance and executed a fantastic volley into the top corner. He has so many different types of finishes in his locker but as Mark Cooper said afterwards, he needs to do it in every game.

Once again, Matt Worthington put in the ultimate team player’s performance. He didn’t see much of the ball when he started in his usual midfield role, but the half time change saw him move to right wing back. Much like Torquay on New Years Day he made an impact on that side as we focused our play down Maidstone’s left. Our second goal came from his cross with either an opposition player or Chiori Johnson getting the decisive touch. Worthington finished the match at left wing back – he really has become Mark Cooper’s Swiss army knife. (Honourable mentions to Morgan Williams and Edwin Agbaje who moved around as required too.)

Matt Worthington. Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

I thought I could manage to conclude without using the word frustrating, but Maidstone’s leveller was the epitome of frustrating. From an attacking position Yeovil attempted to kill some time and hold the ball in the corner rather than go for the third. Maidstone regained possession and got the ball forward quickly forcing Morgan Williams into a foul. Then, much like Yeovil’s first goal, a hopeful ball into the box was met by the man mountain Jerome Bindon-Williams who headed home. It felt like an avoidable series of events, which Mark Cooper put down to a mentality issue. We worked so hard to get ourselves in front and to somehow draw it was….frustrating.

It seems like things are moving on the takeover front. Rumours were rife yesterday that the club’s potential new owners were at the match. That’s a promising step that things are moving in the right direction. If we’re at the point where they’re comfortable to attend matches, it would be a welcome time for an update or an introduction to supporters. I understand the reluctance to get out there until the deal is done, Yeovil Town is a probably a case study in going public too soon. However, there are takeovers going on up and down the country at the moment and most supporters have an idea of who’s coming in (spare a thought for Morecambe). Let’s have a bit of clarity and some idea of what the future could hold.