Five Conclusions (Page 18)

Yeovil Town slumped to a 2-1 defeat to Wealdstone on Tuesday night. Darren Sarll said he was ‘angry and frustrated’, Josh Staunton said the team had ‘let everyone down’. The Gloverscast has asked one of BBC Somerset’s finest co-commentators, Marcus Duncomb what he thought… here are his Five Conclusions.

Reuben Reid. Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

We could really do with some more goals. This one is somewhat obvious but it’s the main thing which is holding us back. In our 26 league games this season, we’ve only managed to score more than one goal in six games – the last time we did so was away at Wrexham in November. While it’s all well and good having a solid defence (not last night mind you…), you cannot rely on scoring one goal a game to win you matches. The more concerning factor is that it wasn’t like we had missed opportunities against Wealdstone. Reuben Reid was fairly ineffective and his replacement Adi Yussuf had a similar impact on the game. I heard there’s a striker Chesterfield have just signed who they don’t seem to be starting – wonder if they’re willing to loan him out yet?

I wonder if it might be time to start playing some full-backs. Morgan Williams has been one of our most consistent performers this season but, through no fault of his own, I wonder if we need to begin playing a back four of two centre-backs and two full backs rather than three centre-backs and one full-back. When we’re defending a lead or trying to keep a clean sheet, Williams is perfect for that role. Similarly when playing against a big side, you can see why Sarll puts him at full-back. However, when chasing an equaliser and struggling to create chances (as has been the case more often recently), I think it’s worth having a natural full-back there who can take on players and put quality balls into the box.

Lawson D’Ath. Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz

We needed a playmaker to unlock Wealdstone’s defence. Throughout the game, as soon as we brought the ball to the halfway line, Wealdstone’s back five would drop deep onto the edge of their penalty area and their midfield trio would be just in front. At this point our midfield would pass it around and be unable to find that crucial pass. Sarll has said previously that it doesn’t suit his side to have more of the ball and that was evident last night. I think we missed someone like D’Ath last night to orchestrate play for us.

Defensive errors are starting to creep into this team. When a team is built on its defensive stability and ability to win games by not conceding, there can be no room for errors. We saw it with the goal we conceded against Weymouth and both goals against Wealdstone were really poor goals to concede. If you concede goals like those then you have to go up the other end and make amends by scoring a few. Unfortunately, this team never looked like doing so and the only way we scored was by being gifted a penalty.

Finally, and this isn’t exactly a revelation, but we are mid-table team. Before the season I think pretty much everyone predicted a mid-table finish this season. The pre-Christmas run gave us some great memories and away days, but what it also gave fans was a tiny glimmer of hope to sneak into the play-offs. Sarll said during that period that his players were playing at levels much higher than they should and that fans need to manage expectations. Unfortunately, the way of mid-table is that if you go on a good run, you should expect it to be balanced out by a not so good run later on and that is exactly what has happened this season.

Charlie Wakefield. Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

As always, we’ve drawn some conclusions from yesterday’s 0-0 against Solihull Moors. Here are Ian’s key takeaways from the afternoon…

Oh Charlie! Our star man had the most golden of opportunities to take us into the half time break with an advantage. A through ball from Tom Knowles gave Wakefield freedom of the Solihull Moors half, but as he bore down on goal you could just feel the confidence ebbing away. He had so long to make a decision and in the end his shot was poor and easy for Boot to make the save. It was a big moment and it felt like it was weighing on Charlie for a while, before he got back into his rhythm.

We defended with our lives. I thought the match was a good tactical battle. Neither side let up, and both changed their shape. We weathered the storm in the first quarter of an hour, with Grant Smith making a good save from Maycock and Sbarra missing a header. The game ebbed and flowed after with both sides sharing possession and territory. As the game wore on though, and fatigue set in Solihull took a bit more control and we had to defend resolutely. There was that typical defensive determination as shots were charged down by Staunton, Wilkinson, Williams, Barclay et al as we clung on to a clean sheet.

Lawson D’Ath gives us something different. Forced into an early change with Jordan Barnett’s injury, I was surprised to see Darren Sarll opt for Lawson D’Ath over Sonny Blu Lo Everton. But Lawson gave us all a timely reminder of what he’s capable of with an unexpected 70 minutes. He’s always offering to take the ball of his teammates, in any position and he’s always looking forward. The way he brings the ball down is always positive and forward-thinking. I think his arrival forced Solihull to be a bit more wary of us than they were with Barnett. Although we didn’t anticipate it, this amount of time from D’Ath will be beneficial for him. It gave him enough time to influence and get in to a flow and built up a good chunk of fitness ahead of next week.

Lawson D’Ath. Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz

People are voting with their feet. Less than 2000 were in attendance on Saturday after a midweek game which had roughly 3400 home supporters. Did Friday’s statement about anti-social behaviour have anything to do with that? Maybe, but the statement was the right thing to do. But let’s be clear, there are a plethora of reasons why supporters aren’t at games. Chiefly, Scott Priestnall and his absenteeism as the owner and chairman. Huish Park needs more than a lick of paint. You can read a blog here about that though.

We are actually unbeaten in three games. It’s been quite challenging to reconcile thoughts these past few weeks, but we’ve stopped the run of defeats and, in-truth, picked up good points. Had we drawn at Woking with 10 men, then beaten Weymouth and then drawn with in-from Solihull I think we’d be happy? The last three results have yielded the same points tally at that hypothetical scenario, yet there’s still a cloud. Personally, I think the off-the-pitch uncertainty and lack of clarity keeps this cloud hovering over us, no matter what happens on-the-pitch. A 0-0 draw against Solihull is a decent result given both teams’ form, position and resources. I just think I want to be able to enjoy it without the opaqueness which surrounds our future. We’ve got a big week ahead of us on the pitch, but what I would give for a big week off it.

We drew with Weymouth, yet again, and we probably shouldn’t have. Here are Ian’s Five Conclusions from a game of two halves at Huish Park last night.

Darren Sarll
Yeovil Town manager Darren Sarll.
Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz,.

The first half performance was bad. We were disjointed and looked like a group who hasn’t played together before. Our dynamism up front against Wrexham and Woking just wasn’t there. We knew we’d feel the absence of Tom Knowles, but maybe not THAT much. W*ymouth controlled possession nicely and seemed to have an answer for whatever we threw at them. The first half was littered with misplaced passes, one of which put us on the backfoot in the fourth minute, loose touches and Darren Sarll reacted at half time.

Our second half performance suggests we may actually have a Plan B.  The half time introduction of Reuben Reid and a switch to 4-4-2 changed our fortunes, and allowed us to unlock our wide areas a bit. I thought Reid improved us and the switch allowed us to see more of Charlie Wakefield and Jordan Barnett. It took Weymouth a bit of time to adapt and we managed to grab a fortuitous equaliser before they did. With Knowles back, I think we’d all prefer to see the exciting front three including him Wakefield and Sonny, but if we need to change it up, we do have an option of a 4-4-2.

It was great to see Lawson D’Ath back. I don’t think we can overstate the quality of Lawson D’Ath. But for his injuries, he’d be an EFL player for sure. His composure, his technique and his vision are supreme at this level. His cameo in midfield didn’t help us to victory, but he managed to remind us of what he’s capable of and with some more games under his belt, he has the opportunity to make an impact in our midfield.

Adi Yussuf should have scored that chance at the death. He could have scored just after W*ymouth’s opener. I think we did enough in the second half to deserve the win but as has been the case on sixteen times this season, we could only score one goal when he needed more. Is Adi Yussuf the man to do it? It feels increasingly likely that he is not. Yussuf is a marmite player. Wealey was very complimentary of him during commentary, and he’s far more qualified to pass judgement than I am, but I thought he was poor. He didn’t hold the ball up, I felt he struggled to influence when he had the ball. Even his shot for the goal was diverted in. He does run around though, and cause defenders problems by being a nuisance. I suppose it depends if we want a striker who impacts games in that way, rather then putting the ball in the net.

Charlie Wakefield. Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

Give Charlie Wakefield a new contract, please!  The highlight of the night was the ‘Star Man’ on the right. (I can’t think of a player ever having two great chants). His running, his desire and effort for the cause is unparalled in this team. The hope and expectation when he picks up the ball vibrates around Huish Park and more often then not he beats more than one player to find a cross, get a shot away or do something impressive. In my view, he’s been our signing of the season. For a player who had a patchy injury record and struggled to cement a place at Wealdstone and Bromley, truthfully I didn’t expect a great deal from him. He’s f*cking dynamite, though.

Well, it wasn’t pretty, but a hard-earned three points for ten-man Yeovil Town at Woking are the first we’ve got on the board in 2022. Here’s how Coatesie saw it from his vantage point at the Kingfield Stadium….

 

It probably doesn’t bear counting as a conclusion any longer, but this team really is putting everything on the line for points this season.
In a profession where there is a dwindling amount of loyalty, we have a team constructed of those at either ends of their careers who are playing like their lives depend on it.
There’s no experienced heads looking to see out their autumn years on easy street, or youngsters who see this as simply a step on the ladder – or if they do, they are going to kick and fight their way up it.
I cannot help being drawn back to the comparison of the side which took us out of the Football League…..if that side had half the spirit of this one….anyway, that’s a conversation for another day.

Luke Wilkinson.
Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

How much do we need Luke Wilkinson? The manager described his performance as “great, rubbish and great all in the same game” but even at his most ‘rubbish’ he was inspiring.
Ben Barclay alongside him looks a useful addition and when the kitchen sink came from Woking with us down to ten men, they ran in to a Wilko and Barclay-shaped wall.
The stats in all competitions where he’s featured speak for themselves.
With Wilko: P17 W11 D1 L5.
Without Wilko: P12 W1 D6 L5.
That is if you count the penalty shoot-outs against W*ymouth and Needham Market (both without Wilko) as draws at 90 minutes, and give him a win for his two-minute cameo at the end of the victory at Wrexham.

Whilst you can only beat what’s in front of you, this was a very poor Woking team.
Missing their only decent player in Max Kretzschmar and now without their only goal threat, Tahvon Campbell, who moved back in to the League at the, they were devoid of any quality.
A better side or one with a player able to find a bovine’s behind with a string instrument would surely have put away some of the chances Woking wasted.
Even with ten men for half-an-hour, there was only one occasion where Grant Smith was forced in to serious action.
The effort we put in saw is over the line, but let’s make no mistake this was a poor opponent.

I could complain about the referee, Tom Bishop, who was seemingly intent on sending someone off from the opening moments….oh, I just did a bit!
But, there were too many occasions where we gave the referee an invitation he didn’t need to go to his pocket.
Darren Sarll described Tom Knowles as a “daft bugger” for getting his fifth yellow for delaying play, and it felt like both sides gave away fouls which you can afford to do  against a trigger-happy referee.
When both benches are throwing their hands up in frustration at decisions, you get the impression of the kind of game Mr Bishop had.

Finally, who’s still standing? With Tom Knowles now suspended for Tuesday’s derby with W*ymouth, Jordan Barnett having limped off with a hamstring strain to go with the ankle injury he went in to Saturday with, it’s looking threadbare.
The addition of Barclay was a plus and it was great to see Lawson D’Ath back on the bench – oh how we could do with his skill in midfield – but more reinforcements are needed.

Wrexham fought back to clinch a 2-1 win at Huish Park yesterday, here are my Five Conclusions from the match.

The supporters have turned. I believe there was a vocal minority of negativity towards Scott Priestnall not so long ago. But it felt different this weekend. The chants were the loudest they’ve been and even found their way to the Screwfix Stand. We can only hope the his statement on Friday was his final toy thrown out of the pram and there’s not more to come. He’s shown his contempt for supporters and from the reaction at Huish Park, that vocal minority isn’t such a minority any more.

Tom Knowles in action for Yeovil Town.
Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

There were times that our front three looked unplayable. The interplay between Tom Knowles, Charlie Wakefield and Sonny Blu Lo-Everton was the best we’ve looked going forward all season. Knowles’ goal was classic Knowles and I thought Wakefield looked to be back in a decent form. That said, we should have put the game to bed. Wakefield’s miss was a sitter and he won’t need to be told that again. There was a decent chance right at the start of the second half too. If we can get that trio working like that regularly, I think we’ll score more goals. And, a shout out for Sonny – I think that was the best I’ve seen him play for us. Calm on the ball, sharp with his passing and I think he held his own in circumstances he wasn’t when he first joined. He’s such a technically gifted player and I think/hope that’s beginning to show.

I thought Mark Little had a good game. He showed his experience and he showed why Darren Sarll hyped him up so much at the start of the season. He was always talking to his teammates and I felt he had some decent moments in attacking situations. Sarll said he shouldn’t have been on the pitch after 60 minutes, let alone move to centre back. He’s been talked about as a big influence behind the scenes, hopefully he can start having an influence on the pitch, stay fit and help drag us out of this run of form.

We need to get out of this run, soon. This feels a bit familiar, after a decent run of wins we now find ourselves on a run of six without a win. I felt we played well today and we probably could have won it, but the suspect officiating really did break our flow and the loss of Josh Staunton afterwards compounded that. We need to find a way out of this run to keep our season alive or I fear the playoffs will be out of reach. The problem is, our squad is thinning out be that through injury or the owner selling them.

Yeovil Line Up vs Weymouth

The spirit amongst these players is first class. Despite all they’ve had thrown at them in the last couple of weeks, this ever-depleting squad is as close as any other squad I can recall. This young, hungry group work for eachother and for the supporters. We said it early in the season, but the the bond between this group and the Huish Park faithful is wonderful and as Darren Sarll said after the match, they’re so close. They lost a big player, forgive the pun, in Joe Quigley yesterday, Luke Wilkinson has been out, Max Hunt is on crutches and Josh Staunton hobbled off but still they go on with energy and positivity. They are an infectious bunch of lads who the supporters are firmly behind, they are the antithesis of the owner of the football club.

Yeovil whimpered out of the FA Trophy at the hands of Needham Market yesterday. I soaked it all in and fortuitously managed to condense it in five conclusions.

Well, that wasn’t very good was it? It goes without saying that losing to a team in the Southern League Premier Division is unacceptable for Yeovil Town Football Club. The game should not have reached a penalty shootout and we should have had enough about us to put them away. But, as everyone knows and Darren Sarll said, on the day it’s 11 men vs 11 men and Needham Market’s 11 men earned victory. Too many players performed far below the level expected and we were the ‘giants’ that were killed on this occasion.

It’s blindingly obvious but we’re horribly out of form. We’ve gone through this pattern before. A good run of form followed by a rough patch of form. We need to get out of this patch sooner rather than later if we’re going to keep within touching distance of the play offs. How we get it back, who knows? Darren Sarll didn’t seem hopeful of any additions any time soon, which we obviously need. Once again, we’re round to talking correlation between what happens off the pitch and how important it is to what happens on it. We’ve gone from nine subs to four in seven days and the manager needs reinforcements.

Oh, Reuben. This wasn’t a performance of the rejuvenated Reuben Reid we’ve been anticipating. This match was Reid’s return to Yeovil in a nutshell. Loose touches, misplaced passes, a lot effort but a lack of quality. His penalty was disappointing and summed up his afternoon. This isn’t the Reid who was training almost immediately after the 2020/21 season finished. This is an experienced pro, at the latter stages of his career recovering from a serious hamstring injury having to start from square one again and get himself match fit in a side which is on a bad run. And instead of being able to be eased back into it, we’re reliant on him to come back into the team and drag us out of a mess.

There was a feeling of deflation around Huish Park. Perhaps it was the contrast of 8,000 last Saturday versus 1600 yesterday, but the rumours circulating before kick-off about Terry Skiverton’s departure (coupled with his notable absence during the warm up) certainly took the wind out of my sails. To lose a legend like Skivo in the middle of the season, without a proper send off is really sad. It’s not how I thought it would happen and I daresay it’s probably not how he thought it would happen. His departure is sad for supporters and also the players he works with on a daily basis and the staff he’s worked with since joining Yeovil in 1998.

Darren Sarll cut a frustrated figure. It felt like Darren was on the cusp of saying what he really felt about the situation after the match yesterday. That’s not to say he doesn’t normally, he clearly does. But, what must have been a highly emotional week for him has ended in, probably, his worst defeat as Yeovil manager. He’s lost his assistant (and friend), he’s lost his captain to injury and the team he’s worked miracles with so far appear to be in a rut. Next weekend we welcome Wrexham to town which will undoubtedly demonstrate the gulf in resource, but we did ‘em last time didn’t we?!

It was another defeat for Yeovil Town on Tuesday night as we went down to our fourth loss in a row at Southend United.

Here one-time Gloverscast quiz champion and Glovers’ supporter Ed Turnbull was among the 80 hardy souls in the North Stand at Roots Hall, and here are his five conclusions:

Unfortunately, the most obvious takeaway is the performance level was substantially lower (at least for the first hour) than what we were treated to during our stunning 12-match unbeaten run. The first half in particular, we had very little fluidity in attack and invited Southend onto us, struggling to get anything resembling a foothold in the game. To make matters worse, our defence seemed nowhere near as solid as the backline that stood firm to bombardments from the likes of Solihull, Bromley and Wrexham in previous away games this season – Southend could easily have scored more than two. Various wise heads including Darren Sarll and Ian Perkins have referred to the team looking tired of late, and this was further proof. Mind you, it must be said that Southend seemed a lot better than a team that has spent most of the season battling it out with W*ymuff for 20th place.

Joe Quigley battles for the ball.
Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

Things improved significantly with the introduction of Joe Quigley and Reuben Reid (if you ignore for a second the fact Southend made it 2-0 right after they came on!). Adi Yussuf very rarely, if ever, got the ball to stick to him, and nobody was surprised when the fourth official’s board went up with a red 23 next to a green 10. I think getting the ball under control back-to-goal isn’t one of Quigley’s strengths either, but he’s negated that possible weakness by instead looking to win flick-ons for team-mates to run onto (take his assist for Yussuf’s goal against Eastleigh as a perfect example). Last night I was very impressed how he seemed to win every header against big centre-halfs, and it gave us (often Reuben Reid to be precise) a platform to work off, that saw us become a lot more threatening and gave us a fighting chance of getting something from the game. Quigley was also unlucky not to score himself when he did brilliantly to make space for a shot, which was excellently saved. I’ll be picking Joe ahead of Adi in my next FanHub line-up predictions in the future, for sure (unless Quigley get’s injured, I suppose). 

Luke Wilkinson. Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

Ordinarily, you’d probably say that the phase of play which ended with us scoring our only goal was the best 15 seconds of the match from a Yeovil point of view. But on this occasion I would argue it was the worst, and that’s because Luke Wilkinson went down innocuously immediately before we scored. I didn’t see whose shot it was from the edge of the box (sounds as though it was Wakefield’s) that wasn’t gathered by Southend keeper Steve Arnold, and Reid nudging in the rebound was only in my peripheral vision, because I was more focused on our captain clutching his leg in obviously severe discomfort. If you look at our record in National League games this season, I make it now W7 D1 L2 when Wilkinson has played the whole match, compared to W2 D3 L6 when he hasn’t – I think that’s enough said about how big a miss he’ll be. If anything, I was relieved to hear Sarll’s prognosis of “a good six weeks“, because I feared it could have been even worse.

Rhys Murphy did not get a welcoming reception from the Yeovil fans, it’s fair to say. Perhaps it’s understandable after his absence at the end of last season which did leave a sour taste in the mouth. Murphy later stated this was “due to some personal issues“, and given we’ll probably never know what he meant by that, one could argue he should be given the benefit of the doubt. Personally, I’d rather remember Rhys for his incredible return of 34 goals in 65 games, and for memories such as Torquay away (the 2-0, not the 6-1, if that wasn’t clear). The bloke literally scored a hattrick against W*ymuff, after all! He certainly showed enough quality last night to remind us what we’re missing.

Lastly, and most importantly, I think it should go without saying we need to stick by these players. Yes, it’s four defeats in a row, but it’s also four defeats in our last 16. I fully agree with Darren Sarll when he says this young group needs to be positively supported rather than have fans on their backs if we want them to perform to the really high bar they’ve set in November and December as frequently as possible. These players seriously care about Yeovil Town FC, and that was shown again last night in the way we kept trying our socks off for an equaliser despite being visibly shattered and ending the game with 10 men after Wilkinson went off. On another day, the ref might not have penalised Max Hunt for a hand ball, Reid’s goal would have been an equaliser rather than a consolation, and the lads would have secured a heroic comeback for which we’d be singing their praises.

 

 

 

 

 

It wasn’t quite a magic night at Huish Park, but there is always something about Yeovil Town in the FA Cup. Here are Ian’s Five Conclusions from the 3-1 defeat.

It was fantastic to see a crowd. Not since Manchester United’s visit in 2018 have we had such a turnout. Despite Bournemouth not being a ‘superclub’, Huish Park was packed and full of anticipation of more FA Cup history. While the result wasn’t what we’d have wanted, seeing supporters in their volume to watch the match was a pleasant remind of what Yeovil Town FC can be on its day. Let’s just hope the mud bath surround the stadium didn’t put people off attending less glamourous matches in the future.

Bournemouth’s quality was clear to see. But for the keeper’s mishap, we didn’t cause them any major issues. Their technical prowess allowed them to totally control the game and keep us at arm’s length. Emiliano Marcondes was everywhere for the Cherries and he earned his hattrick with his clever runs and positioning. Jamal Lowe showed what a talent he is with his dizzying runs and electric pace. We performed admirably, but Bournemouth showed why they are three points clear at the top of the Championship.

Max Evans should have got his chance. Dillon Barnes has had two disappointing performances in his loan spell for us. The corner at Torquay was bad and I felt he had another poor game in the FA Cup. He pushed the ball back into the middle of the goal for Bournemouth’s third goal and he seemed to struggle with crosses and corners again. There’s a lesson to be learned for Grant Smith, don’t mouth off at officials again. He’s missed two big games for Yeovil and we’ve really suffered for it. Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but I think giving Max Evans an opportunity in these two games would have been a good thing. It couldn’t have gone much worse.

We looked tired. Playing against Bournemouth is totally draining, obviously. But we looked like a side which hadn’t had a proper week of preparation. Tom Knowles and Charlie Wakefield aren’t at the energetic levels they were, Matt Worthington isn’t getting forward like he was and our threat was diminished. I’m not sure having Worthington and Dale Gorman on yellow cards for the majority of the match made it trickier for us to take any risks. On the plus side, we had nine substitutes and seem to have some genuine depth in positions. Without downplaying Needham Market, we could do with playing Needham Market after these last three games. Instead, we’ve got a quick turnaround and a trip to Southend having not left the South West since November.

Scott Priestnall decided to grace us with his presence, albeit under the radar. That there’s even speculation about whether or not the owner of the football club will attend a match is appalling enough in itself. We can only guess as to the reason why this match was worth a visit, perhaps it was to see what a proper occasion at Huish Park can look like. Perhaps it was to sort out some contracts for players and the manager. Maybe we’re days away from seeing his long-term plan. Hopefully he was there to clear out his desk. Plenty on the terraces let him know their feelings last night.

It wasn’t the best afternoon at Huish Park yesterday, but there were positives sprinkled amongst the defeat. Here’s Ian’s Five Conclusions…

Darren Sarll has some decisions to make up front. Adi Yussuf started yesterday, and it was one of those games where nothing lands right for him. He never really got hold of the ball, didn’t win many headers and was out muscled on most occasions. Joe Quigley returned from the bench after his injury and caused issues for Torquay and was an instant upgrade. The arrival of Reuben Reid was also promising, he got the ball under control and held off Torquay defenders well too. For the first time this season, Sarll has three out-and-out striking options and decisions to make.

Morgan Williams is becoming Mr Dependable. When we signed Williams in the summer after two decent loan spells, I though we were getting a good centre back option. A young player who would improve with us and either progress with us or move on for a nice fee. Not only is he all of those things, but he’s also becoming a trusted, versatile member of the squad who’s filling in at both left and right back. I think there is a question to ask about Alex Bradley’s absence, and what he gives us going forward compared to Williams. But, defensively Williams is proving that he’s dependable across the back four.

I think that’s enough of Dale Gorman’s speculative shots from distance. When Gorman lined up a freekick from forty yards yesterday, I thought he it was just a decoy run up. I anticipated a delicate lob or a disguised pass to a sneaky full back on the run. Instead, Gorman opted to attempt the unlikely spectacular and belted the ball into a two man wall allowed Torquay to break and force the corner from which they equalised. Now, we should have dealt with the corner, but we shouldn’t have gone from that position with an attacking free kick, to an exposed defensive situation in under a minute. He had another attempt later in the match, where he was tackled cleanly and tried to claim a foul as Torquay broke and but for a shirt pull, could have scored again on the counter. Gorman is great at breaking up play and keeping our possession ticking over, but the frequent attempts at worldies are letting him down.

I felt we lost our width. It may have been (and probably was) a tactical plan to get narrow, but as we chased the game we didn’t seem to get players in the wide areas to make a difference. We didn’t see Charlie Wakefield didn’t get to areas where we’ve seen him cause teams problems, Knowles didn’t get wide to cut back inside. With Quigley and Reid on the pitch, we could have got more crosses in the box and caused Torquay more problems.

We don’t need to panic. Two losses on the bounce isn’t great, but it’s not the end of the world. The late withdrawal of Luke Wilkinson meant we had to shuffle the pack even more than we thought we’d have to with Dan Moss and Grant Smith suspended. A back five that might have just had a couple of changes had four. This group has plenty of credit in the bank and this is part of the journey.

The run had to come to an end at some point – but yesterday’s Boxing Day match unravelled following a crazy five-minute period. Here five conclusions from a Boxing Day to forget from BBC Somerset’s Sheridan Robins.

It had been an even game up until the 65th minute but at that point our inexperience finally told. Throughout the good run of form, things have gone Yeovil’s way and they have stood firm well and except for the Woking game, they have avoided too much frustration on the pitch. But tempers were flaring early doors in this match and Torquay were street smart – while Yeovil lost their heads. Sonny Blu Lo-Everton can feel aggrieved he wasn’t given a yellow – but he gave the linesman and referee a decision to make and with how things were going, a red card at some point was inevitable – and it was against Yeovil. It was clearly not with intent to hurt his opponent – but it was reckless and silly none the less.

We need to get Charlie Wakefield in the game more. We are most dangerous when he gets the ball, runs with it and creates space. In the first half, it was a defensive masterclass once again, but Wakefield did not get the service he needs. Early in the second half, it was clear Darren Sarll wanted to utilise the right-hand side, but then it was always going to be difficult with 10 men. He is our danger man, and we need to use him more.

Gary Johnson had a game plan – and it worked. Speaking to BBC Somerset pre-match, the former Yeovil manager spoke about ‘shenanigans’ and while I don’t think Yeovil were cynical, the way Torquay won their free kicks was much more impressive than us – and they frustrated us. They have some talented players, but so do we and their work in midfield to win the ball back was one of their strengths. We must be aware of that in the return fixture.

Following Dan Moss’ fifth yellow card, Lo Everton’s red and Smith’s post-match dismissal, there will be several changes for next Sunday, but we do have some strength in depth now. Don’t get me wrong, we cannot afford many more suspensions or injuries, but with Mark Little on his way back, Jack Robinson recovered, Joe Quigley working towards fitness, and Alex Bradley, Reuben Reid, Jaheim Headley and Max Evans all available, it might not be the unmitigated disaster it could have been a couple of months ago. It is a huge chance for the squad players to stake a claim on a team which has been in wonderful form.

Lastly, in true Yeovil Town fan style, there is no need to panic. The manner of the collapse was concerning, but this group have a huge amount of character and desire – and for spells they kept Torquay at bay, who are in decent nick in league. I have no doubt they will bounce back – and what better way than against the same opponents? I will mention that I had to wait a long time for the post-match interviews but – as ever – both Sarll and Staunton assessed the performance honestly. It may well be a blessing in disguise that there is a full week for next week’s new-look side to gel and get back to winning ways.