Five Conclusions (Page 15)

By:
On:
In: Five Conclusions, Gloversblog, Latest Yeovil Town News

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.

By:
On:
In: Latest Yeovil Town News, Five Conclusions, Gloversblog

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.

 

By:
On:
In: Gloversblog, Five Conclusions, Latest Yeovil Town News

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.

By:
On:
In: Latest Yeovil Town News, Five Conclusions, Gloversblog

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.

By:
On:
In: Latest Yeovil Town News, Five Conclusions, Gloversblog

Another draw… that’s 13, another clean sheet… that’s 12… and another 5 conclusions to go alongside.

Gloverscast Ben had his stream beaming into Barrett HQ, here’s how he saw it.

Edwin Agbaje

I was fearful of Jamie Reckord’s absence, but the introduction of Edwin Agbaje might rank very high for debut performances for a young loanee.

Just 18 years of age, I thought the borrowed Ipswich man looked assured beyond his years, trying to get forward at every opportunity, linking well with his team mates and not afraid to stick a boot in where it hurt at a vital time.
I’ve said before I wanted a little more in the full back areas and based on that introductory 90 minutes, I’m hopeful we’ve got a good one.

The Thatchers Gold End – Photo Chris Fox

We need to talk about the pitch.

Just seven days on from the original postponement of this game the pitch was an early focal point.

The troublesome Thatchers End goal mouth was primed for sand castle building competition and the rest of it had its moments.

Lawson D’Ath tripped over nothing when trying to defend a through ball, the edge of the 18 yard box made a wonderful tackle on Andrew Oluwabori and if a Wealdstone attacker hadn’t turned his back on Grant Smith early doors, the keeper’s stumble and slip would have left a gaping goal.

There was plenty of misplaced footsteps and wobbles, the football you play is only as good as the surface its played on. Whatever has happened in the past couple weeks has clearly taken its toll on the surface and we could do with looking after it… not training on it to make a point.

Owen Bevan sees red from referee Scott Jackson.

The red card of course changed the game.

Firstly, I think it was a red card, not malicious or particularly dangerous, but certainly out of control and certainly worthy of the red circle of doom from Scott Jackson’s back pocket.

I think it forced our hands to make changes we didn’t want, or need to make and it means that our most assured defender will miss three games.

Ben Richards-Everton looked fairly comfortable when he came on, but Staunton is clearly hobbling more and is a warrior to the end.

I’m confident in Hunt, Williams or BRE to fill that gap, but I’d much rather have Bevan for the next few games.

Jordan Maguire-Drew. Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

JMD is human after all!!!

Our new star man had his first off day, his Sat Nav hadn’t been configured properly, his radar needs some recalibration.

A couple wayward shots, a few set pieces not quite on their mark and suddenly we’re taking off our new number 10 as the reshuffle followed the red card.

He will turn the machine off and on again and be back again for Saturday.

Finally… time for an unpopular opinion…

Jordan Maguire-Drew, left, talks to Alex Fisher. Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

I cannot celebrate or even enjoy a home performance in its entirety, when we have 0 shots on target.

Off the back of a very good away win, it was important to back that up with another positive result.

The Wealdstone keeper didn’t have to get muddy (or sandy) at any point.

He was never troubled. Not with 11 Glovers on the pitch, not with 10.

I found myself getting increasingly wound up as the game wore on, I found myself begging players to pull the trigger, to get a shot in on goal that at least wakes the keeper up.

Yes, we are OK at the back, but let’s not pretend we didn’t give up chances, Grant Smith cements his title as the best keeper in the league and a better opposition strike force probably score 2 or 3 with minimal fuss.

If we’re happy with that as a 0-0, wrap the season up, call it a day and let’s try again in August.

We enter February sat in no man’s land (on and off the pitch), and I want to be entertained.

I don’t want to try and win 1-0 but settle for a stalemate, I want to try and win 4-0 but settle for a 3-3.

I’d like us to set our standards higher. Our players our better than they were, the manager is better, the whole club is better than enjoying another 0-0 draw.




By:
On:
In: Gloversblog, Five Conclusions, Latest Yeovil Town News

Yeovil Town became the last National League side to pick up a win away from home as they saw off ten-man Dagenham on Saturday.

The win keeps the Glovers five points clear of the relegation zone with many of the division’s struggling sides picking up wins, but also means there are ‘just’ nine points between them and the play-off places.

Here’s what Coatesie thought of his most recent visit to the Chigwell Construction Stadium……


An away win, and what an away win. It would be easy to point to the fact Dagenham played for an hour with ten men, but let’s not forget they were in the play-offs at the start of the game and we had not won an away match all season. Far from the rusty display we saw after a period of not playing last time out against Bromley, we were at it from the off. We stepped off the gas after half-time which allowed Dagenham to create some good chances, but we were more than worth the win – plus two goals and a clean sheet.

The new boys made a difference. In the first half, the combination of Jordan Young’s hard work, the quality of Jack Clarke, Jordan Maguire-Drew and Andrew Oluwabori caused Dagenham all kinds of problems. We pressed them and, for players who are presumably still getting to know each other, there was enough to think we could have a way to improve our goals scored rally. Further back, I did not really notice Charlie Cooper much and that is to his credit. In a defensive midfield position, he was neat and tidy and seemed to do what he needed to do.

We finished enough chances, but still plenty to do. We scored goals – two of them! A coolly taken penalty from Maguire-Drew and then an absolute beauty from outside the box from Matt Worthington. But, if I am being greedy (and I am), it really could and should have been more. As he did at Bromley two weeks prior, Oluwabori had a great chance to add another. His pace causes problems and he gets in a lot of the right positions, if he could add finishing to his game he’d be almost complete. Then, right at the death, Alex Fisher will have been disappointed not to have added another to his tally.

Stay where you are, Josh. Josh Staunton back in defence alongside Owen Bevan brought that solid feel back to us which was sadly lacking at Bromley. It is early days, but if Cooper proves a good anchorman in midfield, I would be quite happy to see Staunton stay back for the foreseeable. Equally, Morgan Williams on the right and Jamie Reckord on the left coped well against a lively Dagenham forward line. I’d be quite happy to keep that defence…….what’s that about Reckord being banned?!

Now we need to follow it up. An away win on the board, three points, two goals – mission accomplished. But we need to follow this up with a win at home to Wealdstone on Tuesday night. Looking at our games throughout February it feels like we should be going in to next weekend’s home game with bottom club Maidstone United and the trips to Maidenhead, York to get three points. If we can do that, the taller tasks of a trip to Wrexham and a visit from Notts County can be free hits.

By:
On:
In: Gloversblog, Five Conclusions, Latest Yeovil Town News

It was a perfect start to 2023 at Huish Park as the Glovers earned a 2-0 win against Torquay. Here are Ian’s Five Conclusions.

Mark Cooper got experimental. When the team sheet came out it was quite easy to put the line up into a 5-3-2 with Malachi Linton leading the line. When the players emerged for the first half and Ben Richards-Everton was in the front two with Linton many will have wondered if Mark Cooper had a few NYE drinks. The Richards-Everton experiment didnt produce much attacking flow, but after the match Cooper said it softened Torquay up. He also said Alex Fisher was sick and hadn’t trained and was only able to make a cameo from the bench. It wasn’t pretty at points but he managed to find a combination that got a result.

Andrew Oluwabori and Lawson D’Ath come on at half-time.

We had to change it at half time again to unlock Torquay. It was surprising to see Max Hunt and Jamie Andrews replaced, given that they have been two of Mark Cooper’s mainstays, but I think it was a nod to Ben Richards-Everton to move him to the back 3. Lawson D’Ath didn’t see much of the ball, but Andrew Oluwabori’s impact was instant. What we saw against Maidenhead and Gateshead in November was on display again. His ability to run directly with the ball and scare defenders in unmatched in our squad. There are moments where he choose the wrong option but in 80th minute when he drove down the left hand side and put an inviting ball across the six yard box for Matt Worthington, he showed what he can produce.

I thought Torquay played well. The table doesn’t lie, and many will be calling for Gary Johnson to be replaced, but in the first half they opened us more than most teams have this season. Grant Smith was the busier of the two goalkeepers all afternoon and had to make plenty of saves. They created several openings inside the 18 yard box where had they managed to connect more cleanly with the ball, it could have been a very different story.

Jordan Maguire-Drew. Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

That was some finish by Jordan Maguire Drew. The player who struggled through his debut against Dorking is long gone. How we’ve missed a player with his radar for a pass. He got on the ball in the first half and came close to unlocking Torquay. His second half was quieter as we took a more direct approach to getting something from the game but he was in the right place at the right time to seal the game with a cute finish in stoppage time. While Grimsby have said the deal is just a loan, Yeovil are confident that it’s more than that and on the evidence of the last two matches, he’s going to be a key player for us this year.

It’s been a great start to the year. It’s been difficult to find positivity this season but as we move into 2023, we’ve won a game by two clear goals and kept a clean sheet, we’ve announced that we’re relaunching a women’s club and there’s a potential takeover on the horizon. The year has kicked off with hope at Huish Park, and although we’ve been here before and detail is limited, I think a bit of hope is a nice position to be in.

By:
On:
In: Latest Yeovil Town News, Five Conclusions, Gloversblog

Yeovil Town’s FA Trophy campaign came to an end in familiar fashion with an exit after penalty shoot-out for the second successive season.

Last season it was lower division Needham Market, this time around it was Dorking Wanderers – who are at least in the same division – but the result was the same, it’s concentrate on National League survival and the Somerset Men’s Premier Cup for Yeovil Town.

Here’s how Ian saw it…….

 

It wasn’t a game of quality in the final thirds. Yeovil were defensively strong (as per usual) and were barely troubled by Dorking going forward, whilst at the other end, Will Buse had a quiet afternoon stepping in for Grant Smith. Josh Staunton had Yeovil’s first attempt on target in the 70th minute with a header that was straight at the keeper. The Glovers rallied for a spell in the final stages, and thought they’d got it through Staunton but for an offside flag. We probably deserved the win on the balance of the second half, but without finding a goal we are always at risk of defeat.

We don’t like a penalty shootout. It feels like it’s becoming a bit of a thing now. We scraped through in the lowest quality shoot-out ever last season again W*ymouth in last season’s FA Cup, lost horrendously to Needham Market and yesterday we struggled again from the spot. The early work Mark Cooper did with building confidence will have taken a bit of a hit yesterday off the back of this, but what surprised me was who stepped up. Our usual takers Alex Fisher and Matt Worthington were off the pitch, but we had attacking players Malachi Linton, Charlie Wakefield, Andrew Oluwabori on for the shootout – but Jordan Drew Maguire, Max Hunt and Jamie Andrews took them. 

I’m not sure where the goals are coming from. We tried another combination in the attacking areas yesterday, with Chiori Johson in at left wing and Maguire-Drew on the right. Maguire-Drew looked like a player who hasn’t played a lot of football and although he added quality with his set pieces, he needs match fitness. Is a one-month loan enough to get it in? Alex Fisher, a mainstay in Cooper’s side so far, didn’t have his greatest afternoon and I wonder at what point we start Louis Britton. He’s been billed as a goal scorer who gets in the six-yard box which was what we were crying out for as the game wore on.

Alex Fisher battles for the ball. Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

The attendance yesterday has to be of concern. It was our first sub-1000 attendance for a first-team fixture for years. If we disregard SMPC and friendlies, the last time we played a first team fixture with less than 1000 supporters was in November 2018 against West Ham United Under-21s in the Check-a-Trade Trophy which was in the thick of a boycott of that competition across the country. Before that, we played Kingstonian in the Nationwide Variety Cup in April 2001 in front of 295. In the same season and competition we played Kettering in front of 709 supporters. In 1997, we played Boreham Wood in the ICIS Charity Shield with 873. Last season when we played Woking in the same round of the competition there were 1493 at Huish Park. Obviously, there were circumstances which would have led to that, the freezing cold, the late notice of pitch inspection, the last weekend before Christmas, but the level of drop off is a damning indictment of the progress (or lack of it) at the club.

Survival is all that’s left to play for. With defeat yesterday and no FA Trophy run on the cards now, all that’s left to play for next season is survival. On Friday’s podcast we spoke about how a cup run would give us a lift and something to get excited about in a season which has provided very little in the way of excitement. Alas, the “drama” of the penalty shootout put an end to it in the first hurdle and all we have now is to hope we have enough quality to remain a National League club.

By:
On:
In: Gloversblog, Five Conclusions, Latest Yeovil Town News

The stars aligned this weekend, a stomach bug combined with the launch of a National League streaming service meant Ian was able to stay warm and watch Yeovil’s 0-0 draw with Scunthorpe from the comfort of home. Here are his Five Conclusions…

That was a drab affair. This game won’t go down in history as the Notts County 0-0 will. With a heavily depleted squad, players on the pitch on antibiotics, two of the League’s poorer sides and an increasingly difficult surface, the quality was at a premium at Huish Park. In hindsight, a postponement of the match probably would have benefitted the Glovers. Mark Cooper said given the circumstances with the squad, it’s one of our best points of the season. But his comments after the match made it abundantly clear that…

The playing budget is tight, and that is an understatement. We knew it already right? Chris Hargreaves leant on the local loan network to bring in players and was definitely not shopping in Waitrose. Yesterday we named three subs, with only two outfield players, in a week where we let Gime Toure leave and had to let Anthony Georgiou return to his parent club to ‘balance the books’. The manager cited Jamie Reckord, Morgan Williams, Matt Worthington and Ben Richards-Everton as players missing, but Jake Scrimshaw has vanished, Will Dawes (our five-figure fee signing no less) has got back from whence he came on loan and Hulbert has gone out too. Parts of the summer recruitment has left a lot to be desired and a combination of factors left us really short yesterday. We’ve had two managers this season, who’ve both talked about the lack of budget, what exactly has the injection of taxpayers money done to the playing budget?

I think there should have been a red card for Scunthorpe. There was a heated 20 seconds in the second half where a great tackle gets penalised for a free kick to Yeovil and what followed was a blatant punch to the side of Ewan Clarke’s head. The referee’s intention was solely on sorting out the tackle (which ironically didn’t need sorting) so he misses the hit, if he keeps his eye on Clarke for a split second longer there’s no way he doesn’t give a red. National League refs, eh? What do you think?

Scunthorpe looked like they were there for the taking. There were moments in the first half where we seemed to have acres of space inside the 18 yard box, but rather than shoot we tried to over work it and the chance went away. Friend of the Gloverscast Chris Weale said on commentary that he thought the Iron’s defence was big, slow and narrow and that that Yeovil could get round them. Unfortunately we didn’t seem to do that enough and gave Scunthorpe their first clean sheet of the season.

And they probably should have won it. Scunthorpe grew into the second half as we tired and they looked much more of a threat. In a game that looked like it was going to be settled by one goal, they had the chance of the afternoon through a combination of Tom Pugh and Rob Apter, who somehow conspired to miss. It was the biggest chance of the afternoon and fortunately for the Glovers, Scunthorpe didn’t capitalise.

It was the kind of game where you’re grateful for the request to build a bug hotel during it.

On to Barnet…

By:
On:
In: Latest Yeovil Town News, Five Conclusions, Gloversblog

Was it pretty? No. Was it effective? Heck, Yes.

The Glovers’ Wall stood firm to hold off wave after wave of Notts County attack and take home a well earned point from Meadow Lane in front of a National League record, 16,500.

Gloverscast Ben joined Gloverscast Dave in the away end for this one, it’s conclusion time….

I think it’s worth putting some stats together to just understand just how good that result was.

Notts County have scored in every game this season, in every competition, regardless of eventual outcome.

49 goals in 19 games prior to the weekend, doesn’t take a genius maths wizz to work out that’s a seriously good XG return.

County had actually scored in every game since drawing a blank against Stockport County at the back end of last season. The last time Meadow Lane didn’t see a goal from their side in a competitive match…. April 17th 2021 when Eastleigh kept them out, 520 days between away clean sheets.

Notts County will be fine, on that evidence, they’ll finish top three, no question.

Their ability to find short passes through lines of players is second to none, every pass is quick, crisp along the ground and presented with pin point accuracy, which for me, only makes the Glovers’ rear guard action even more impressive.

Notts County are probably the best footballing outfit I’ve seen this season, or maybe even for a couple of seasons… and the Parma Violet Party Poopers gave them a good old dollop of ‘thou shall not pass’. 

The difference between this game and the Oldham shambles came down to a very simple gameplan.

Be. Organised.

A very flat back five, a central but very flat four in front of them, and at times a rather defensively minded frontman.

I don’t think Scott Wickens’ running tracker would have had too much of a tough task getting the numbers for this one, it wasn’t expansive.

But that’s okay, sometimes, you have to dig in and get it done, what I want to highlight is the levels of concentration needed. To stay switched on at the back for basically 95 minutes is tough, mentally.

Only for maybe twice could messrs Hunt, Bevan and Williams dare to switch off as the ball made a foray forwards, but they kept their cool. Block, Tackle. Head. Clear. Repeat.

One misplaced foot and a penalty would have gifted their hosts a chance to undo all that hard work, one flung out limb could deflect a ball beyond Smith, one lapse in concentration and your (very good) opponents have a yard of space and a free chance to ruin it all.

It never happened once.

The legs might not have done quite so much of the hard work, but the brains would have done extra.

Owen Bevan in particular for me was outstanding, but I truly believe that was one of the most assured defensive displays I’ve ever seen from Yeovil.

Owen Bevan heads away. Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

Now… there were a couple of moments where the County barrage broke through the wall, that’s to be expected, they’re a wonderful outfit, but what they got when their half chances came around happened to be…

The best ‘keeper in the National League.

It’s not even close, the levels of trouble we’d be in as a team without Grant Smith is astronomical.

He makes the easy ones look easy, because his positioning is always foot perfect, he makes the difficult ones look easy, because he is quick, agile with spring powered boots.

It’s the boring stuff like he always gets the parries AWAY from goal, he never stopped marshaling his back line, and I’ve never seen a man take a slower goal kick in my life!

I joked to Dave that the reason Will Buse was on the bench was in case Grant Smith got booked twice for time-wasting, in the end, he didn’t once, he got warned, but it turns out he can even charm an official to keep his cards in his pocket. IS THERE ANYTHING THAT MAN CAN’T DO!?

Can I ask about the contract situation? Are we able to make that a longer deal? He’s a genuine asset and with January fast approaching and EFL teams looking to shuffle the pack, he’s worth a few quid, I’d quite like that protected.

Grant Smith. Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

Our new additions have really added something – something we were missing.

Andrew “What’s the Story” Oluwabori was the brightest attacking spark in a performance which wasn’t very attacking, but I found myself really appreciating the little nuances of his performance.

More than once, he held a defender off on or around the half way line, kept the ball and won a throw in, free kick or made the simple pass to someone who can get the ball forward.

He’s rapid, and the Notts County left back didn’t stand a chance when they got in a foot race, he’s direct and will cause plenty of decent teams trouble, I’d like him to stay for the season please, thanks.

Jamie “Taller than you think” Andrews is another one who really shone for me. Again, I know I’m talking about a different style of performance, but I saw enough in his resolute sideways defensive formation to know he’s got something.

Towards the back end of the second half, Josh Staunton was really starting to feel the injury that has prevented him from training, he came to a bit of a standstill in the middle, so Andrews did his chasing for him. Harrowing, closing down, side to side like a crab at times, blocking one path, then shuffling to the next and so on.

There were glimpses of his ability to take a ball and go from back to front quite quickly, but this wasn’t the game for that.

And finally, it was mentioned after the game that the team “couldn’t apologise” for their approach to this game.

I don’t want an apology, I don’t need an apology.

I think every one of the 452 fans there appreciated that it might be the toughest point we get all season, the toughest clean sheet (Not a ‘Cleano’) we might have to fight for all campaign.

I said as we left that if this game was a month or two further down the line, then yeah, ok, I dont mind if people get a bit disgruntled, but not now.

You can just start to see the beginnings of a run; that’s unbeaten in three, that’s just one goal conceded in three. That’s a game which can set up potentially massive clashes at home with FC Halifax, Scunthorpe United and Torquay United before the New Year is rung in.

It was a top draw defensive masterclass, but maybe, just maybe, we’ll look back in a couple of months and pinpoint it as so much more.