Five Conclusions (Page 19)

Another Yeovil Town fixture, another win. What are these feelings we’re feeling? Here’s Ian’s take on a pleasant afternoon at a chilly Huish Park.

This one’s a bit obvious, but Adi Yussuf changed the game. His arrival just after the hour for Reuben Reid gave the Glovers an injection of ramshackle chaos at the top end of the pitch. He just bumps into to people and wreaks havoc and it’s brilliant to watch – when it ends in goals. He was in the right places and took his chances superbly, a brilliant finish with his left and then one with his right in stoppage time. Sleep well Adi – we need a lot more of them!

It wasn’t the return for Reuben Reid we all dreamed of, but people need to show patience. This was Reid’s first start since injuring his hamstring in pre-season and while Darren Sarll may not have helped manage expectations by hyping him as the ‘best back to goal striker’ in the National League and League Two, we do have to remember he’s a 33-year-old returning from a pretty serious injury. I don’t think we played to Reid’s strengths in our first half display yesterday. We know he’s better with the ball in at his feet and we just didn’t give him that service. We’ve been patient with Yussuf as he’s gained fitness and we need to do the same with Reid.

It was a decent debut for Jaheim Headley. The youngster was thrown straight into it on his debut and he grew into the game as it wore on. Yeovil did get exposed on the left in the first half but Headley gained confidence in the second half and showed real intent to get forward and influence the game. He looks to be a powerful runner with energy to spare. It’s early days in his Yeovil career but, once again, Darren Sarll seems to have done some good business in the loan market. Side note: Dan Moss was sensational again. What a tremendous player he is.

We had to show character. It’s become a cliché and we do say it a bit tongue in cheek at times, but the first half performance wasn’t great – presumably down to the changes we made. But, after the break we were a different team. Woking resorted to slowing it down wherever they possibly could, but it felt like we were always likely to get something as the game progressed. We got back to doing what we’ve been good at this season, we got the ball down and we played and Woking didn’t have an answer to it.

Don’t Fall In Love With Footballers. Back along, I said this because players always break your heart when they eventually leave. I said it at the start of the 2021 when Tom Knowles was scoring for fun (Nice header Tom!) and just becoming our talisman. This mantra is becoming increasingly difficult with this team. Every single one of them is playing for the shirt and for the club and it’s brilliant to see. As we’ve said ad nauseum, the manager is working miracles with his stretched squad and these players look like they’ll run through walls for our club. It’s painful to see how many could leave at the end of the season. Time for someone to start drafting contracts up, or we’ll all end up with broken hearts.

A 1-0 win over Barnet in miserable conditions with a referee who wanted to be centre of attention was far from a classic, but it did move Yeovil to within two points of the play-off places with a game in hand over many teams above them.

Here are Ian’s Five Conclusions on an eleventh match unbeaten….

Dale Gorman’s importance to this team is understated. I touched on this during last Monday’s

podcast. Like many of this team, Gorman has taken a bit of time to make his mark but he’s well and truly doing it now. His assist for Yussuf was a deliciously-flighted cross to the back post with his weaker foot and it invited the Tanzanian to head home. He played, in match where he really had to concentrate, on a yellow card from the 22^nd minute. He moves the ball nicely, keeps the game flowing and he has the edge that Darren Sarll likes his players to have. We can’t afford to be without him, and I think if we were to lose him for a game or two, we’d really notice his absence.

That FA Cup atmosphere wasn’t there. What a difference seven days make. A gate of 2024 (with 98 away fans) meant there were less than 2000 Yeovil Town supporters in the ground. That electrifying atmosphere wasn’t there. There’s a new variant in town which might ruin Christmas, thus people could be taking extra precautions, but this is an in-form team without a loss in 11 matches who are on the verge of the playoff positions and in the 3^rd Round of the FA Cup. We all know what needs to happen, though.

As matches go, this wasn’t the most enthralling. It was pretty bleak conditions at Huish Park, with two teams looking to break each other down. Barnet were restricted by our ever-resilient defensive unit and our huff and puff attack didn’t create many clear cut chances. It made for a rather drab affair which was made entertaining (apologies for the Rule #1 break here) by a referee who insisted on being the centre of attention. Ephram Mason-Clark’s red card and the subsequent booking of four members of the Barnet coaching team was the pièce de resistance of refereeing performance art from Ryan Atkin.

We should have killed the game off. Yussuf’s opener was the perfect start, and our performance in the first

part of the match suggested we might do something special. As it happened, things evened out and it was a tough game. While we didn’t create and clear cut opportunities at goal, there were moments when we could have put the game to bed. Worthington teed up Gorman centrally, on the edge of the box, but Gorman miscontrolled and couldn’t get a shot away. Knowles could have put Lo-Everton in on goal but didn’t get his pass right. Lo-Everton was put through by Yussuf and worked a decent effort into the side-netting. Those moments would make things a little less stressful if they resulted in goals.

We are unreal at defending. I don’t recall ever being comfortable with Yeovil Town defending a one goal advantage. Come to think of it, I don’t recall being comfortable with Yeovil Town defending a two goal advantage either. But, this lot can defend. Luke

Wilkinson, Max Hunt, Dan Moss, Morgan Williams and Josh Staunton were the obvious standouts in their defensive duties yesterday. But the  way Yussuf, Wakefield, Lo-Everton, Worthington and Gorman press is a real difference maker. We know this team work hard for each other, but the confidence they’ve given supporters when we’re 1-0 up is remarkable.

Well, what a night under the lights and on the Beeb that was. Here’s are Ian’s Five Conclusions from a special night at Huish Park…

That was a proper FA Cup match. Huish Park was bouncing from kick-off with the supporters right behind the boys in green and white. There’s something special about FA Cup ties at Huish Park and last night was no different. The atmosphere was electric throughout and when Charlie Wakefield smashed the ball home, the roof came off.

Can we keep Dan Moss forever? Another man of the match performance, a goal-saving tackle and a performance far beyond his years. Our history of developing loanees is continuing with Moss. He’s falling into the category of Steven Caulker, Connor Roberts, Shaun MacDonald and others as loanees who are ‘ours’. Moss has been impressive from his debut and he’s just growing in this team. If we can’t get his loan extended, there’s going to be a massive hole in our squad without him.

Reuben Reid is going to improve us. Reid’s return from injury feels like it’s coming at a pivotal time. Adi Yussuf struggled to make an impact in the first half. He put himself about but didn’t really produce. He was key in for Charlie Wakefield’s goal though, keeping the ball away from Stevenage’s defenders and moving the ball to Sonny Blu Lo-Everton. Reid’s introduction, cheered by the Huish Park faithful, was welcome and in the short time he was on the pitch he showed what he was about. He held the ball up when we needed to kill time, he out-muscled defenders and he was always looking for the ball.

Clarity is needed. Prior to the match, social media was awash with rumour and speculation. Scott Priestnall has obviously checked out of Yeovil Town Football Club. He hasn’t been seen at a match since Chesterfield. The sooner he comes and out says he wants out the better. What this small squad of players and manager are doing with finite resources is nothing short of miraculous, but the lack of leadership from Priestnall is seeping it’s way into the manager’s press conferences now and that’s not right. Is he hanging on for a plum FA Cup tie? Is there a third group? Is Glenn Collis still at the table? What’s happening with Simul Sports? No one really knows except the people negotiating.

I think I was wrong. At the end of October, after our torrid run of results at Huish Park that culminated in the draw with Weymouth and I thought the writing was on the wall. We looked lost, we lacked identity and ideas. Since then, it’s been unbelievable. Darren Sarll has turned it around in a huge way and I’ll gladly eat humble pie. These players have struck form and are an infectious group. Well done Darren – and sorry!

The dream of the Quadruple remains a mathematic possibility for Yeovil Town after progressing through to the third round of the Somerset Premier Cup with a 2-0 win at Larkhall Athletic.

There were not a huge number of travelling supporters at the tie but one of them was Jake Farrant, a member of the Green & White Supporters’ Club, and here are this five conclusions…..

Finding the ground is a total mystery. I’ve heard reports before that getting to Larkhall’s ground is a bit difficult – but even so I still didn’t imagine it being that much of a problem to find. Famous last words I suppose – even though we were using a sat-nav we ended up going round in circles on some quiet, steep, narrow sub-urban roads in Bath and then ended up on a newly built housing estate down a dead end street as the sat-nav didn’t appear to know where it was either! Eventually we managed to find our way there and had plenty of time for a pre-match pint! The ground is in a very remote location and it reminded me of Forest Green Rovers whereby you drive down a single track country road and all of a sudden it just appears in front of you. If we ever draw them again in the Somerset Cup I would recommend leaving with plenty of time to spare, use a sat-nav and take somebody with you to try and understand where the sat-nav is trying to take you!

Sonny Blu Lo-Everton continues to impress. I personally have liked Lo-Everton since he came here. It took him a while to settle down and find his feet but in more recent games he has looked very sharp, created chances and just generally looks like one of our more lively players. During the match it was the same story whereby his ability to run forward and provide Yeovil with opportunities was good to see. It was also nice to see him grab another goal as well even if it was a tap in from a free kick as any goal that he can score will hopefully increase his confidence levels and potentially raise his game even further.

Max Evans looked solid. Evans has been a regular on the teamsheet all season and with him being reserve keeper we naturally haven’t seen that much of him of late. Maybe it’s just me but I always like to have a backup keeper on the bench in every match we play in just in case Smith gets injured. It doesn’t happen very often but I do like to have comfort in the knowledge that there is another keeper we can call upon. Seeing Max make some excellent saves during the game and looking like a more experienced keeper than he currently is gave me even more confidence that he would be able to be first choice keeper if we needed him to be. He came to Yeovil’s rescue a few times in the match and it was nice that he kept a clean sheet and had something to show for his efforts.

Yussuf’s needless bookings continue. Whether you like Adi Yussuf’s presence on the pitch or not – I think there is something we can all agree on – and that is that he often picks up yellow cards for needless challenges and niggly fouls. The second yellow at Boreham Wood is a classic example of this and even getting booked at Yate Town when we were well ahead in the game also springs to mind. It was a similar story at Larkhall and it often prevented him from creating potential goalscoring chances as there were a few occasions where he had got himself into a good position but ended up giving away a foul or ended up trying to look for a free kick rather than taking the player on. It would be interesting to see how much his game improves if he manages to overcome this as he may be able to create a lot more chances for us going forward.

David Coates needs to hang his head in shame. I’ve known David for a good few years now and I was lead to believe that he was a die hard Yeovil Town supporter who would follow his club to the ends of the earth. Unfortunately that doesn’t include Larkhall Athletic! I looked everywhere for him at the game and after a while I had to come to the simply shocking conclusion that David simply wasn’t there! The Somerset Cup is a prestigious tournament – and the game at Larkhall last night was the biggest game in Yeovil’s season so far. I therefore don’t think that it is too much to ask for Mr Coates to make the trip from his home in Preston to Larkhall for a mid-week Somerset Cup tie – unbelievable!