Gloversblog (Page 11)

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Yeovil recorded an important win against Weston-super-Mare on Tuesday, here are Dave’s conclusions from watching on the stream…

Morgan on the rise. In his post-match questions, BBC Somerset reporter Ian Randall spoke about the importance of the goals Morgan Williams has scored this season – and boy did he have a point. A late equaliser at home to Chelmsford, at late winner at Worthing, a winner at Bath City, and now a vital winner against Weston-super-Mare on the night our nearest rivals slipped up. But, what is even more impressive is that this time he did it in a match when he had not played well. He was at fault for Weston’s equaliser and, at times, struggled to maintain an impressive Weston side. As Mark Cooper said afterwards, that says everything you need to know about his character. 

Picture courtesy of Gary Brown.

Missing the poophousery: The first half saw a Yeovil Town side which was too nice. Great opening 10 minutes, great opening goal, great start, then we looked soft. There was a Charlie Cooper shaped hole in the midfield and that allowed Weston to do what they wanted and they did. Things changed it the second half but let’s not underestimate the importance of a bit of poophousery.

Thanks Welling: Who loses 4-1 away at Welling, eh? Yeah, you got the joke. Mark Cooper may say he does not look at anything else other than the stats on his next opponent, but be assured he will have recognised the significance of winning on a night our nearest rivals did the opposite.

Rhys Murphy scores goals
? Gary Brown

Don’t underestimate the players we’re missing: Rhys Murphy, Jake Hyde, Charlie Cooper, Alex Whittle, Olly Thomas months of Jordan Stevens missing, how many squads in any division could hope with such absences? Take Ollie Pearce out of Worthing’s side and are they the same team? Rhys Murphy has had a similar impact on our season. It’s great to know that there’s a chance of Cooper and Whittle returning for Chelmsford with Thomas not far behind, we’re going to need them.

Saturday’s another big one: 13 points clear at the top of that table, air smells great up here, eh? But, Chelmsford this weekend will be another big examination. Over the last ten games they have the same amount of points as we do, but a lot of their success has come on the road. Get out of there unscathed and…. 

 

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Yeovil Town picked up another win at home on a wet and windy afternoon at Huish Park yesterday. The Glovers remain ten points clear at the top of National League South. Here are Ian’s conclusions from the Press Box…

The conditions played their part. The rain wasn’t that heavy before kick off but through the afternoon it got worse and worse. Yeovil enjoyed plenty of control in the first half, but couldn’t make the possession count. You could see the pitch getting heavier and by the time the second half kicked off the sideways rain and wind was directly at Joe Day’s goal. The familiar tactic of playing out from the back and drawing our opponents in before beating the press became increasingly difficult in the second half. The weather wasn’t conducive to quality football but the Glovers did manage to create some excellent chances…

Sam Pearson. Picture courtesy of Gary Brown.

…that should have been buried. San Pearson, Frank Nouble and Jordan Stevens all had 1 v 1s with Worner in the Havant goal and should have done better. The keeper managed to save from Pearson and Stevens when they had all the time in the world to pick their spot. Nouble could only put his effort over the bar as did Pearson when Worner dropped it in the six yard box. We’re in a position (10 points clear baby!) where we can afford to be profligate in front of goal, but if we have the tiniest eye on next season, we need to be getting used to putting those type of chances in the back of the net.

Frank Nouble. Picture courtesy of Gary Brown.

Another set piece routine was the difference. After last week’s success with Jake Wannell bagging two goals from headers, yesterday’s was a very different routine. The short corner grumblers can grumble no more, as slick interplay between Pearson and Sonny Blu-Lo Everton put Sonny in acres of space to put the ball on a plate for Wannell to bundle in on the line. There will always be an element of a hopeful hoof into the mixer for someone to try and get their head on, but if you can get some of these routines in the bank, it’s an added dimension to a team that relied on that solitary goal yesterday.

The referee seemed to want his moment. I’m breaking Gloverscast Rule #1 here by bringing up the man in the middle, but I thought George Lafin had a poor game. Jordan Young should have had a penalty in the first half, after he was cut down by a Havant defender who had to go through him to get to the ball. He gave Nouble and Young bookings for kicking the ball away. Nouble’s was ridiculous and Young barely touched the ball for his after conceding a cynical foul. He was also quite willing to allow Havant the time to chew his ear off without repercussions. The assistant gave two throws to Havant which we’re clearly for Yeovil. The lack of consistency among referees from the top to the bottom of English football is far more of an issue than blue cards.

Picture courtesy of Gary Brown.

Fortress Huish was a bit muted. I’m not sure if it was the weather or that we’d not been at home for a couple of weeks but it did feel quiet from where I was. For a club that’s not lost a single match at home, it’s strange to feel a lack of atmosphere. People out there will have better ideas than I do on how to fix it. Mark Cooper alluded to it afterwards and said his players “need the fans behind us”, especially for this final run. Yeovil have fourteen matches left this season and only six of those at at Huish Park. For many, that’s just six more chances to see this team, which is on course to win the club a League title for the first time since 2005. League titles don’t come round very often, it’s time to start enjoying it!

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With 15 games to go, the gap between Yeovil Town and the rest of National League South remains at ten points after a 4-2 win at Tonbridge Angels yesterday.

Dave was in the away end at the Longmead Stadium and here’s his conclusions on wjhat he saw….

Worried? Not for a second: Okay, I will not deny there were a few hairy moments in our defence after Tonbridge scored their two goals. We gave them some hope and they took, but scoring four goals away from home against a side sat in mid-table, let’s not underestimate that. Yes, our defending left a bit to be desired, but Worthing scored six and yet conceded four against a Dover side at the bottom of the league and they are the darlings of the division. Let’s just keeping on winning, boys. 

Jake Wannell was Skiverton-esque with his goals. You heard me right!
Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

Goals from all over: With 17 goals out injured in Rhys Murphy and Jake Hyde up front, goals will have to come from other places between now and the end of the season. So seeing Jake Wannell scoring two headers straight out of the Terry Skiverton’s playbook (yes, I went there), Dylan Morgan showing his creative quality and Young and Worthy chipping in is vital.  By my (questionable) maths, Jordan Young now has as 13 goals in all competitions – the same as Murphy.

Great to see you back Jordan: Having looked wrapped up for his previous substitute appearances, seeing Jordan Stevens’ shin pads as he took his place on the bench gave me confidence he’d see some action yesterday. As soon as the third goal went in, the outstanding Dylan Morgan was withdrawn and Stevens introduced. He showed a few turns of pace, got us worried by needing some treatment after falling heavily on his shoulder, but above gave me confidence he can still play an important part in this season.

Jordan Stevens replaced Dylan Morgan after 67 minutes.

No segregation. No problem: There’s about 15 miles between Maidstone and Tonbridge, but the difference between the way the two clubs treat away supporters could not be more different. There was no segregation at Tonbridge, unlike the set up of putting home and away fans head-to-head at Maidstone, stewarding was sensible and, funny thing, no issues. Just like there were no issues at St Albans two weeks prior where there was (again) no segregation, or the rest of the season, for that matter. Now I’m not making excuses for idiots in our fanbase at Maidstone, but to read them issue a statement – read it here – effectively saying the issue was solely with away fans is beyond delusional. No doubt the innocent little flowers who chucked bottles and coins from the Maidstone end enjoyed their Sunday morning choir practice today.

I’m beginning to believe: I’ve been trying so hard to stick to the Mark Cooper philosophy of not getting carried away, not looking at league tables, games in hand, other teams’ fixtures, and I am just about holding it together. But, this performance showed me the spirit which has got me starting to believe. Two home fixtures are to come and good results there from a tricky trip to Chelmsford and I’ll be fully converted. Champions elect ole, ole, oleeeeee! 

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Yesterday was not a great day for anyone involved with Yeovil Town with a hopeless first half performance and then stupidity in the stands culminating in a 2-1 defeat at Maidstone United. Dave made his second journey to the South East in as many weekends and here are his conclusions.

 

The first half killed us: For months we have said that “if we do what we do well, we’ll win” and the simple fact is we didn’t yesterday. Defensively we were all over the show in the first half. Mark Cooper described it as “soft in the box” and he was being generous, we looked like strangers playing together. I can count on one finger the amount of times Jake Wannell has looked exposed this season and now I need two. But he was not alone, throughout the team we allowed ourselves to get bullied by a Maidstone side who looked like world-beaters in the first half. Every credit to them, they deserved their win.

Michael Smith. Picture courtesy of Gary Brown

We missed Cooper and Smith: There was a Michael Smith-shaped hole down the right side of our defence. We started with Morgan Williams out there and, after the first goal, we went back to Matt Worthington there, and all Maidstone’s threat came from that side in the first half. The quality and experience of Smith cannot be underestimated, but the control, bite and experience of Charlie Cooper was also noticeably absent in midfield. The things he often gets criticised for doing – putting his foot on the ball, retaining possession – we missed them all.

Sam Pearson is not a number nine: It was our mistakes in defence which cost us the game, but going forwards we never got going. Sam Pearson is a talented player, the kind who gives defenders nightmares with his pace and trickery but we persisted with knocking long balls against the 6’5″ Reiss Greenidge in the Maidstone defence. It didn’t work and we could not seem to find another way through in the first half. Second half things improved. When Olly Thomas came on, he was more of a number nine, but the damage was done by then.

Setting off a pyro at 1-0 down is as embarassing as our defending for the goal.

No-one comes out looking good: Sadly, the off-the-pitch stuff has to be referenced for the first time this season. My conclusion? Everyone looks bad. Pyros lit and then thrown in to the away supporters – idiotic. Pictures of Lee Collins being held up by home fans – disgraceful. This is the first time this season I can say a small section of our support have let themselves down, just last weekend St Albans City fans (no segregation there) were saying how good we were. There’s a place for banter, atmosphere, having a go at opposing fans, but this quickly turned in to something which was none of those things. There was blame on both sides and no-one comes out looking good.

‘Only’ ten points clear: Let’s not get carried away, there wasn’t a huge amount to be positive about our performance, but that is why our advantage at the top is so important. Those battling wins at places like Eastbourne, Taunton and Bath the last-gasp winner at Worthing, our unbeaten home form, they have all put the ground work in. It was a poor performance, Maidstone deserved their win, but we move on to Tonbridge.

If you take one thing from yesterday, make it this.

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Another home win for Mark Cooper’s side saw Yeovil Town go thirteen points clear of second placed Worthing. Ian was in the press box at Huish Park to see the 3-1 win over Slough and here are his conclusions…..

I thought it was an entertaining first half. Yeovil dominated the ball and controlled things, but the way Slough pressed in the first half and tried to prevent Yeovil from playing out from the back impressed me. Clearly it was impossible to maintain, but the visitors gave a good account of themselves and made things hard for Yeovil to get the rhythm going. That said, the Glovers had chances that they should have done better with, Pearson in particular had two big chances that you’d want him to make more of.

Matt Picture Courtesy of Gary Brown

Matt Worthington stepped up again. When the team news came out with know obvious right back on the graphic, there was a question around formation. Thankfully (you know my feelings on wingbacks by now reader) we retained the shape that has made us so successful this season with Worthington filling in for the injured Michael Smith. It was clear from the outset that we were looking to get Worthy in the same positions that Smith occupies so successfully. While he didn’t get a massive amount of joy in the first half, at the beginning of the second half Charlie Cooper’s perfect pass picked out the skipper who finished superbly. We all want Michael Smith back soon, but it looks like we’ve got someone else who can do the job too.

Charlie Cooper was a force in the middle of the pitch. He gets his criticism, unfairly at times, but I thought Cooper was crucial centrally with Worthington out wide. His assist was as good as they come, and he did the dirty work that he does so well. I thought he and Sonny Blu Lo-Everton worked well together, proving there’s another partnership that works nicely in the middle. Unfortunately, he hobbled off before the final whistle after putting in a tackle (that I winced at to be honest) and getting booked. Fingers crossed on that one…

Frank Nouble’s experience is so important in the run in. Is it too soon to call it a run in? Either way, with the experience of Rhys Murphy, Michael Smith and Jake Hyde all missing right now, and with uncertainty around the timeline of their returns, Frank Nouble is the experience at the front end of the pitch now. Mark Cooper described him as the “Guv’nor” (see also Governor) following the win last night, and you can feel his influence on the young players around him. He took ownership of the penalty, as you’d expect, and dispatched it calmly. What a spell he’s enjoying right now. Also, he’s top of the league.

Picture Courtesy of Gary Brown

Alex Whittle is Mr Dependable. It might sound like a bit of a lame superhero, but every team needs an Alex Whittle in my book. He didn’t do anything spectacular last night, in fact, I’m not sure he’s done anything spectacular all season. However, you can absolutely bank on him to put a brilliant shift in, work his socks off (© C.Hargreaves) and get the job done. He doesn’t get the credit he deserves, in fairness there’s a lot to go round, but if you roll back to the summer and look at our signings he’s one of the best we’ve made. Quality left back, no fuss, no nonsense. Mint.

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A 1-1 draw against a decent St Albans City extended Yeovil Town’s unbeaten run to nine matches and keeps them top of the National League South table by ten points with games in hand over many promotion rivals.

But, they also lost defender Michael Smith to injury and we learned strikers Rhys Murphy and Jake Hyde are out for “the foreseeable future.” Here’s what Dave made of it all.


A great advert for National League South: Before the game, we’d heard about two sides on good runs of form who were capable of playing exciting, attacking football.In the first half, it was Yeovil who were in the ascendency and really should have gone in at the break with more than a 1-0 advantage. Second half, it was St Albans’ game and they showed excellent spirit to cause us more problems than any team I have seen us play this season. Their interim manager said they should have taken all three points, but I thought a draw was a fair reflection of the game. How many times this season have we heard opposition managers say they should have beaten us when they haven’t?Add John Meakes to the list.

Put yer laces through it, Jordan: I mentioned on the podcast the other week that Jordan Young needs to be more clinical. It sounds ridiculous to say about a player with 12 goals this season, but he had two glorious opportunities to either score of set up a team mate at 1-0 and another in the second half. Take one of those and we’re talking about three points rather than one. He does so well to get in to those positions, if he could find a more clinical edge he could be running away in the scoring stakes.

Jordan Young put the Glovers ahead in the 19th minute. Picture courtesy of Gary Brown

Super Joe Day’s in goal: It’s been a season where Joe Day has often not had a lot to do between the posts, but in the second half he showed exactly what he’s about. On a number of occasions he had to be on his game to keep St Albans out and was unflappable even in the nervy moments when the ball was pinging around inside our box. Sign him on!


Injuries starting to bite: If there were three players that were poster boys for Mark Cooper’s minute management, they would be Michael Smith, Rhys Murphy and Jake Hyde. Two players only at this level because of their injury records (Murphy and Hyde) and one who is 35 years young. In reality, we have done well not to lose them for longer. Smith will be the biggest loss, he’s been beyond exceptional this season, but hopefully he is not out for too long. Up front, we definitely missed the bit of devilment that either Murphy or Hyde give us off the bench at St Albans, but we have options. Hopefully the new arrival on Monday offers a focal point a’la Nouble for the links of Young, Pearson and hopefully Jordan Stevens to revolve around.

 
Michael Smith limped off with a hamstring injury late in the second half at St Albans. Picture courtesy of Gary Brown
 
Three points on Tuesday, please: This game feels like a point gained against a decent side, and pick up three points at home to Slough Town on Tuesday and it looks even better. Win your home games and pick up points on the road is the recipe for success. Up the Glovers!

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With the club already breaking the National League South attendance record twice this season and with only eight home games left, let’s look at what records or targets the club could be looking at.

The current highest average attendance in National League South is 3,219, set by AFC Wimbledon in 2008–09.
 

Yeovil are currently averaging 3,710, the club only need to average 2,301 in their remaining games to break the record. I think this record is being broken with two games to spare (Torquay at home).

If we look North the record attendance in National League North is by York City FC at 7,488 (21 May 2022). It would be nice to beat that as well.

How does this compare to previous seasons?

The table below shows how many people have attended Yeovil league games over the last 10 seasons
 
SeasonLeagueNumber of Home League GamesAverageTotal Supporters2023/24 vs Percentage Difference
2023/24NLS15371055653N/A
2022/23NLP2327306279036%
2021/22NLP2223785231656%
2020/21NLPCOVIDCOVIDCOVIDN/A
2019/20NLP18 (Covid)29515311826%
2018/19EFL 22329526789626%
2017/18EFL 22329416764326%
2016/17EFL 2233566820184%
2015/16EFL 223393590505-6%
2014/15EFL 123434699958-15%
 
Currently the club have their highest average attendance since the 2015/16 season. To beat the 2015/16 season, YTFC would need to average 4,357 for the remaining games. Possible.
 
Despite still have 8 home games left, the glovers have already seen more fans through the turnstiles than in the 2021/22 season and are only 7,137 people through the turnstiles away from topping last season total.
 

Have Yeovil’s attendances grown over the season so far?

As you can see in the first chart attendances have improved as the season has progressed.
 
 
If we take the big attendances out and look at the trend, it is still upwards, with nearly 500 extra supporters coming on average.
 
 
Average attendance before W*ymouth was 2,977. The average attendance after W*ymouth and before Taunton and Bath was 3,366. Last game was 3,591
 
6301 People in Huish Park, another NLS record ? Gary Brown
 

Possible Targets

The number of people through the turnstiles is one that the club hierarchy might be keeping an eye on. The club is currently on course for over 95,000 people through the turnstiles this season (Cup & League).
 
The 100,000 barrier being broken is a real possibility. The club would need to average 4,299 in the remaining eight games to make it a reality.
 
Here are my predicted attendances to break the 100,000 barrier:
 
Slough Town 3500
Havant & Waterlooville 3500
Weston-super-Mare 4500
Welling United 3500
Chippenham Town 3750
Torquay United 7000
Worthing 4000
Dartford 5000

This would give Yeovil a total of 100,361 fans through the turnstiles this season and an Average League Attendance of 3931.

? Gary Brown

The club is going great guns. Much of the plaudits need to go to the new owner, bringing back the club to the community and making it feel connected again. The team winning on the pitch has meant more have turned up each week, people like winning teams. Finally the general supporter who have come cheered and helped the team to victory.

Lets get behind the team for the remaining eight games and help get the club over that 100,000 barrier.

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Yeovil Town picked up another victory at Huish Park yesterday against Hemel Hempstead thanks to two goals from Sam Pearson on his return in green and white. Here are Ian’s Conclusions from Fortress Huish…

We’ve got a player in Sam Pearson. We kind of knew this anyway, but with the circumstances in which he left last season, it felt like Pearson had a point to prove. And he sure proved it. He was non-stop and a constant thorn in the side of Hemel’s defenders. The Welshman was always available for his teammates and showed real bravery on the ball. His first goal was an acrobatic effort (which he described as his trademark goal) and the second had a giant chunk of fortune about it, but they all count. The 22-year-old has made a brave decision to leave Bristol City and is motivated to show what he can do. What a piece of business.

Sam Pearson celebrates his second goal. Picture Courtesy of Gary Brown

Despite our small squad, we’ve got so many attacking options. Last season, our recruitment was infamously terrible. This season, it couldn’t be more juxtapose. When you look at the combinations yesterday, and who’s missing, this team could do damage to most teams on its day. Here’s who we’ve seen play at the top end of the pitch this season so far: Sam Pearson, Frank Nouble, Jordan Young, Sonny Blu Lo-Everton, Jake Hyde, Dylan Morgan, Will Dawes, Jay Foulston, Rhys Murphy, Jordan Stevens. (+ Alex Fisher and JMD) There won’t be many teams in the National League with as many fluent, exciting combinations as that.

It should have been more than 2-0. Over the course of the 90 minutes, Yeovil were the dominant team and should have scored more. There were a lot of nearly moments in and around the box, including some well-timed interceptions by the Hemel Hempstead defenders. Jake Hyde’s header looked destined for the back of the net, but for an excellent save from Craig King in the Tudor’s goal. If the Glovers can turn a few more of those nearly moments into goals, things could get even more comfortable.

Jake Hyde heads at goal. Picture courtesy of Gary Brown

It got a bit spicy! Clearly, the Glovers have not forgotten about the defeat on the opening day. After the game Mark Cooper revealed how Hemel were banging on the changing room walls and doors following the 1-0 defeat in August, so revenge was on the cards yesterday. In the second half, some of that animosity started to come through and there were some rough tackles. Charlie Cooper was victim to a tackle which you’ve definitely seen red cards for, but Craig Scriven only though it was worthy of a yellow. Jake Wannell took a whack in the face in the first half. Mark Cooper said “we can give it out as well and we have to have that nasty streak. I don’t know any team that wins things that has not got that streak in them that they will look after each other.”

Picture Courtesy of Gary Brown

It was another professional performance. This team turn up, get the job done and move on to the next one. They have had a laser focus on getting out of National League South at the first time of asking and we’re on course to do that – by the end of February according to Frank Nouble. We’re unbeaten at home and playing some great football at times and everyone in that squad steps up when required to. It’s eight without loss since the Welling game. We’ve won five in a row now and with the upcoming fixtures, belief and professionalism, what’s to say we can’t go another run like we did earlier in the season? 

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And now you’d better believe us.

Fire up your favoured live scores app and you’ll notice that Yeovil Town are top of the National League South by way of 13 points. Thirteen(!) points clear and we’re not even close to the end of January. You could argue that for a full-time club in a part-time division with the budget we have, 13 points clear is exactly where we should be. But for the sake of this piece, and for the sake enjoying the moment to the fullest, I’m going to ignore that and pour praise onto the manager and the players for what is, so far, a monumental effort. After all, saying you’ll piss the league and actually pissing it, are two different things.

So why are we so far clear?

Compared to last season’s National League South it does seem like the quality in the division may have dropped slightly. In terms of points tally, after 26 matches last season, the eventual winners of the league Ebbsfleet United were top on 57 points – two fewer than where Yeovil are now.

The key difference being the teams around Ebbsfleet in 2022/23. The above graphic shows that Dartford and Havant were keeping pace with the league leaders last campaign, whereas the below graphic shows that this season Yeovil have no competition towards the summit of the division.

Whilst we now know the Glovers are the best team in the league by miles, let’s for argument sake look at who might challenge in the final three months of the run in.

Maidstone United don’t score enough goals, Worthing concede too many goals and Torquay United, the pre-season bookmakers’ favourites for the league, are a huge 18 points adrift of the Glovers. Mind The Gap. Hampton have been winning games narrowly and won’t last the distance near the top while Bath City’s Plan A; Get It Wide To Jordan Thomas lacks a Plan B when they’re having an off day. You only have to look at our decision to loan out Will Buse to Bath (who were 3rd in the table at the time) to see how Mark Cooper rates their chances of challenging Yeovil.

The fact is, we’re better in every metric. We’re scoring more goals, we’ve started keeping clean sheets, we’re controlling games as Cooper wants us to and even the underlying statistics such as xG suggest the table isn’t lying. There is no team in this league that will be able to mount a sustained challenge from here on in – they just don’t have the depth or quality. It does, at times, feel like watching the Year 11s vs the Year 7s in terms of resources and experience, but we must enjoy every ounce of it because it will not be this good in seasons to come.

The squad seem to be able to grind out performance after performance and each display shows off a different weapon to the armoury. Go long against us and you’ve no chance. Jake Wannell engulfs strikers like a white blood cell protecting the body from infection and Morgan Williams gobbles up long balls like Bruce Bogtrotter. Go short against us, play us at our own game like Farnborough and Aveley tried, and our passing quality, our pressing and fitness will almost always win the day. Try to bully us like Taunton on Boxing Day and we just bully back, but harder.

Picture Courtesy of Gary Brown

Joe Day has now kept five clean sheets in the last seven games and we’ve begun showing a sturdy, robustness that has allowed the team to string runs of wins together without playing all that well on occasion. In the past four games we’ve dug out 1-0 wins at Eastbourne and Taunton – these are the gritty, determined performances that wins you leagues in the cold, winter months.

The quality we have in the squad is genuinely mind-blowing for the level. In the past month the club have been able to loan out Jordan Maguire-Drew and Alex Fisher, two players who can’t get near the starting line-up, to teams in the division above. We’ve too lost Josh Staunton, who also couldn’t get a sniff of a game, to a National League outfit. Staunton has started life well at Boreham Wood, earning Man of the Match on his home debut for the club and finding himself in the National League Team of the Week.

https://twitter.com/Vanarama/status/1744328380659495162

If these players couldn’t get a game at Yeovil but are shining in the division above, that surely bodes well for next season.

There are still 20 games to play in this league though – the manager referenced as such in his post-match interview after the 1-0 win away at Taunton Town. Complacency might be our biggest danger from now until April. The facts would say there are still 60 points to play for so promotion is far from wrapped up but if the evidence of the first 26 games is anything to go by, Yeovil Town are going to win the league.

And now you’d better believe us.

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Ian’s fingers have finally thawed out after a chilly evening in Taunton as Yeovil Town ran out victors. The gap at the top of the National League South has widened and here are his conclusions from the County town.

Frank Nouble was the difference maker. It was a game of few opportunities and when they weren’t kicking lumps out of Yeovil players, Taunton defended well. When the big chance came, Frank Nouble took it with conviction. The assist from Worthington was laid on with precision but Nouble still had work to do before beating Taunton’s keeper. It’s four goals in four games for Nouble and his connection with supporters is getting stronger each week.

Frank Nouble celebrates his fourth goal in as many games.

Sonny Blu Lo-Everton took his chance. After an exciting cameo against Bath, Lo-Everton was given the opportunity from the start against Taunton and I really enjoyed his performance again. He was direct, carried the ball through midfield and some of his touches were sublime. When he plays like that, Sonny is a joy to watch and to see him further forward gives yet another attacking combination up top.

We seemed to pick up a few knocks. The break couldn’t come at a better time. Rhys Murphy came on and went back off again after feeling his hamstring. At the time, Josh Owers was poised to come on at Charlie Cooper appeared to be struggling. Jordan Young was subjected to some pretty forceful tackles. With ten days until the visit of Hemel Hempstead, there’s a nice chunk of time to rest, recuperate and come back refreshed for the home stretch.

Courtney Senior. Picture Courtesy of Gary Brown

I’d be surprised if we extended Courtney Senior’s loan. The midfielder has shown glimpses of trickery and pace and I totally understand the logic behind his signing before Christmas. He was swapped for Rhys Murphy at half time and with the addition of Dylan Morgan I think we’ve got strength in depth in that position now. Will Dawes is growing increasingly popular and Jordan Stevens will return to training at the end of January, so we’ve got plenty of options. There’s definitely a player there, but I’m not sure we’ve seen the best of him. We were worried about options a few weeks ago, and we have managed that situation well.

And now you’re gonna believe us. Thirteen points clear. Momentum is with Mark Cooper’s team. The players are a close-knit group, that clearly believe. The teams below are wildly inconsistent and we are anything but. I know we’ve been scarred from the last decade, and as supporters we will always keep our expectations low, but come on, deep down know what’s happening here…