Gloversblog (Page 29)

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With the Yeovil Town Legends game just under a couple of weeks away we thought it was nigh on time to dig out the old Ciderspace photo archives again, so we searched for an image of each of the Glovers legends from the 2002, 2003, 2005 and 2007 sides who will be back to represent the Green and White army once more against a select South West Legends side.

Tickets are stil available for the match on Saturday May 14th – Starting at £8 for adults, £4 for kids with family tickets on offer as well.
Click HERE to buy yours, now!

Chris Weale

Steve Collis

Adam Lockwood

Andy Lindegaard

Terry Skiverton

Colin Miles

Roy O’Brien

Nathan Jones

Abdou El Kholti

Paul Terry

Chris Cohen

Lee Johnson

Darren Way

Arron Davies

Gavin Williams

Nick Crittenden

Chris Giles

Phil Jevons

Kevin Gall

Kirk Jackson

Gary Johnson

Steve Thompson

A little trip down memory lane… and i’ve saved the best until last…

Just look at those fans…

Tickets are stil available for the match on Saturday May 14th – Starting at £8 for adults, £4 for kids with family tickets on offer as well.
Click HERE to buy yours, now!

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Ahead of Yeovil Town‘s 2-1 win over Stockport County last weekend, a number of the club’s supporters received an invitation to come to the Alec Stock Lounge at Huish Park to speak with chairman Scott Priestnall.

It was the first time the owner had been seen at the club on a matchday since the BBC television cameras were in town for the FA Cup third round tie with AFC Bournemouth in January, and he was providing an update on the on and off-the-field situation.

This followed a tumultuous 24 hours including the resignation of fellow director Glenn Collis and a statement from the club saying the chairman was seeking to assemble a new board including “local business people.”

Owner Scott Priestnall, flanked by Commercial Manager Mark Robinson, right, and matchday announcer Ian Welch, left, speaks to fans in the Alec Stock Lounge at Huish Park.
Picture: @YTFC Twitter

From Monday, the club has released a series of video clips showing the chairman speaking with matchday stadium announcer Ian Welch on a series of topics and, to try and summarise, we have put them together in to a Gloversblog – so here goes:

 

Video 1: Managerial Update: Priestnall updated around the long-term situation around the club’s vacant manager’s job, saying:

  • There have been “40 or 50 applications” submitted for the club’s vacant manager’s job and interviews are scheduled to take place in the coming weeks.
  • Charlie Lee will be spoken to as part of the club’s selection process for a new manager.
  • Darren Sarll was released from his contract following an offer from National League rivals, Woking.

Find out more in our news article on this update – here.
Watch the video on the club’s Twitter feed – here.

 

Video 2: Player contracts and recruitment

In the second video, the chairman spoke about the situation with the club’s current crop of players and gave his thoughts on future recruitment, saying:

  • He has spoken with a number of the club’s current playing squad and made offers to some to extend their stays at Huish Park.
  • The club is targeting a play-off finish in the National League next season, and the chairman believes changes in the playing staff are required to achieve that.

Find out more in our news article on this update – here.
Watch the video on the club’s Twitter feed – here.

 

Video 3 – Financial situation: With the club having lost almost £400,000 last year, the chairman spoke about the club’s financial situation and his plans to bring new investment in, saying:

  • He believes the club’s financial position is “pretty healthy” considering the challenges it has faced with COVID-19 in the past couple of years.
  • He has had conversations with a number of people about investment in the club, including people joining the board at Huish Park.

Find out more in our news article on this update – here.
Watch the video on the club’s Twitter feed – here.

 

Video 4 – The long-term vision: Released on Tuesday morning, the chairman spoke about nearly £1m in loans the club has taken from Sport England and his plans to create a long-term vision for the club, saying:

  • He is still hoping that the Sports Minister will write off loans taken by non-League clubs which initially it was believed would be available in the form of non-repayable grants.
  • He is hoping that a long-term vision for the club will be in place over the summer.

Find out more in our news article on this update – here.
Watch the video on the club’s Twitter feed – here.


Video 5 – Communication with supporters: In the last (gripping?) instalment of The Priestnall Tapes, the chairman spoke about his relationship with the Supporters’ Alliance, a group which represents the main fans’ groups at the club, saying:

  • He felt the club was “put up for sale without my knowledge” when the Glovers’ Trust activated its Asset of Community Value and backed a takeover offer from Simul Sports.
  • He hoped to be able to rejoin Alliance meetings but said he believed the group needed to set out some objectives.

Find out more in our news article on this update – here.
Watch the video on the club’s Twitter feed – here.


Video 6 – Matchday experience: In this video, Commercial Manager Mark Robinson discusses the work which has been ongoing to improve the matchday experience, saying:

  • Work is ongoing with the Supporters’ Alliance to improve the matchday experience and plans for further improvements are “in the pipeline.”
  • Scott Priestnall adds that he continues to “run the club on a day-to-day basis” saying he speaks with Stadium Manager, James Hillier, “five or six times a day.

Find out more in our news article on this update – here.
Watch the video on the club’s Twitter feed – here.

And the one that wasn’t a video: The chairman spoke about the situation with a takeover of the club by the Simul Sports consortium and insisted he could not speak about South Somerset District Council’s proposed purchase and lease back of Huish Park and land around it, the headlines were:

  • He accepted an offer to takeover the club from Simul Sports, but said the consortium “never put money on the table.“
  • The deal to sell Huish Park and surrounding land to South Somerset District Council “remains an option.“
  • A new manager, players and a board of directors will be appointed by Priestnall before he releases details of season tickets.

You can read about this one – here

 

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Not many would have thought that Yeovil Town would complete the double over National League big-spenders Stockport County. But that’s exactly what Charlie Lee’s Glovers managed yesterday. Here are Ian’s Five Conclusions from an excellent game at Huish Park.

It was another match which showed how crazy our season has been. I said before the match that it wouldn’t have surprised me if we nicked the game given some of our results against the better sides this season. And boy did we. It felt like Stockport were banging the door down for the entire first half, but we held firm and after a slick bit of skill from Tom Knowles (#DFILWF) he finished brilliantly just before half time. His goal was the springboard which seemed to galvanise the Glovers and Charlie Lee’s side grew in confidence as the match progressed.

It was amazing to finally see a Josh Neufville goal at Huish Park. A quick break and our lockdown hero was in behind the Stockport defence. He showed

Josh Neufville wheels away after scoring Yeovil’s second.

the calmness of a seasoned striker and coolly sent Hinchcliffe the wrong way to send those that were at Huish Park wild. He’s had to play a different game than he did last season. Yesterday he was starved of the ball at points and really had to make the most of his own possession and when it mattered he made it count.

We didn’t let Stockport’s changes count. Dave Challinor made a double substitution at half time and before Crankshaw and Hippolyte has a chance to settle into the game and make a difference, we were 2-0 up. Another change followed swiftly and although Hippolyte scored against his old club, the red card of Will Collar two minutes later meant they had another on-pitch change to make. It felt like Stockport never managed to get going as cohesively in the second half as they did in the first, and we managed to deal with most of their threat comfortably.

Stockport’s own supporters took their side’s momentum. After Hippolyte’s goal a blue smoke bomb was thrown into Grant Smith’s six yard box. County players had swiftly grabbed the ball to force a quick restart, but their momentum was totally lost as a stewards had to wait for the smoke bomb to extinguish before they could safely remove it. Collar’s deserved red card for a dangerously high foot on Dale Gorman shortly after the delay just exacerbated things for County’s evidently frustrated players. Dave Challinor thought the same:

Central defender Max Hunt. Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

Max Hunt stepped back in supremely. You wouldn’t have known it was Hunt’s first game back after months out injured. The centre back was dominant against the National League’s lethal pairing of Paddy Madden and Scott Quigley. The deadly duo had moments of freedom in the first half, but Hunt was a man mountain, winning everything in the air and throwing himself in front of efforts at goal. His confidence shone through and was clear to see when he executed a textbook Cryuff turn on the halfway line before getting Yeovil on the attack. It was the kind of performance from Hunt which hammered home the urgent need to secure the futures of some of these players.

 

 

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After another draw against the seagull botherers, Ian reflects on an afternoon at The Bob Lucas Stadium…

The first half was a non-event. Weymouth definitely took the Derby Day feeling in their stride and it wasn’t until the second half that Yeovil found their rhythm. We kept bypassing out midfield with long balls up to Reuben Reid which always expose his weaknesses. For whatever reason we couldn’t get any passing game going and Weymouth had a comfortable first half from a defensive perspective and but for a couple of offside flags, they could have gone into half time with a lead.

This was our final big opportunity to get another moment out of the season and we couldn’t manage it. It was another game where we’ve not got a result against a side that everyone else seems to. Weymouth’s form has been dismal as of late and the 1300 expectant travelling Glovers anticipated a positive result. We conspired to not win, yet again, and we’ve failed to beat Weymouth in 90 minutes in four games this season.

It wasn’t quite the same old story. Yes we struggled going forward, especially in the first half, but I thought we looked vulnerable in defence where we haven’t previously. Barclay and Wilkinson were given a difficult afternoon by Weymouth’s harassing forwards. The wingbacks nullified the threat of Barnett and Knowles in the first half and put pressure on Williams and Little going forward too.

Josh Staunton disagrees with Brad Ash of W*ymouth in the FA Cup replay at the Bob Lucas Stadium.

The YTFC faithful turned out in force. It was great to see such a strong following at The Bob Lucas Stadium. They were quietened by the performance of Weymouth in the first half but they found their voice again and helped create an electric atmosphere. If we can replicate that passion and that noise at home, our results at Huish Park might have been a bit different this season. But, we know what needs to happen there.

I won’t miss Weymouth. We’ve had a dull time against our old foes this season. While we have the stress of an awful penalty shootout in the eye of a storm in the FA Cup 4th Qualifying Round, we’ve not been able to dispatch them over 90 minutes. As a supporter who hasn’t experienced that rivalry with Weymouth, I’ve found it difficult to haven strength of feeling about them, other than annoyance that we couldn’t beat them this season and begrudging acceptance of our plight.

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Charlie Lee’s debut in front of the Huish Park crowd ended in defeat as Yeovil Town failed to take their opportunities and gifted an Aldershot Town side battling against the drop two goals on a sunny Good Friday afternoon.

Coatesie travelled down from his northern home for the match between his hometown team and his adopted hometown team (no, he wasn’t the away fan who needed medical treatment), and here are his conclusions….

Even the glorious sunshine could not hide the cracks at Huish Park. I’m not just talking about on the pitch – although there were some of those, which I’ll come too – but this was my first home game in well over two years and it’s sad to see the state of the place. Even if you can look past the unloved, run down infrastructure, I heard at least half-a-dozen people complain at the lack of a printed programme (not a problem for me, but it clearly it is for some supporters), the tea bars were shut for away fans meaning big queues in the Screwfix Family Stand. Yet again, it’s the same relentlessly cheery volunteers and underappreciated staff who are fronting up, whilst the only sign of our absent owner, Scott Priestnall, were the chants calling for him to go. If I were him, I wouldn’t want to face up to what my lack of interest and investment was doing to more than 125 years of history either……but I’m not the one who bought a football club less than three years ago.

On the pitch, it wasn’t a great day either. We seemed to forget how to score goals again. The freedom we

Josh Neufville. Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

been playing with in recent weeks deserted us and we were unable to find our way through an Aldershot team who had absolutely no reason to do anything more than keep it tight and hit us on the break. Josh Neufville was paired alongside Reuben Reid in a front two and ran tirelessly but too often in the first half there were aimless balls played up to him. At the start of the second half we got it down better and laid siege to the visitors’ goal but just could not find a way through, and when we gifted Giles Phillips the freedom of the area to head home the opener, it felt like game over. I think we could have stayed out there all Easter and not scored.

Our full-backs didn’t not look comfortable. When I saw Mark Little and Jordan Barnett on either side of defence, I was pleased that we had a recognised right and left back on the pitch. However, from the start, Mark Little did not seem to be running comfortably and had problems containing Aldershot down his side. Barnett looked rusty in his first start in almost a month and, although he can still put in a fantastic sliding tackle when he needs too, does seem more effective further up the pitch. I’d put Morgan Williams back in for W*ymouth on Easter Monday.

Dale Gorman. Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

Please can we get Dale Gorman off free-kicks with a shot on goal? I know he scored that one at Dover, but surely we have other players who have the potential to get a more meaningful effort on goal. There was one in the first half of this match about 25 yards out which I thought was crying out for a Luke Wilkinson pile driver to test the keeper, but no. Or, to quote my Thatcher’s Stand companion, Chris Fox: “Oh, f*** off, Gorman!” It was funny to start with (tequila and all that) but I’m now starting to see what the Glentoran supporters were telling us when we signed him – he shoots from literally everywhere.

Tom Knowles was a bright spot – again. I feel like I have done nothing but complain in my previous four conclusions….so let me end of at least one positive. There were some bright spots and, as is often the case, Tom Knowles was one of them with his relentless desire to attack. When we got the ball to him, Aldershot didn’t know what to do and when we repeated that with other players (especially early in the second half) the same occurred. You know what you need to do on Monday, boys.

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A late equaliser from substitute Charlie Wakefield spared Yeovil Town’s blushes by salvaging a point from the trip to a King’s Lynn Town side fighting for survival in the National League.

Coatesie made the trip to north-west Norfolk for what was the Glovers’ first visit to The Walks in more than 20 years. Here’s what he made of it all….

Having spent the first decade and more of my Yeovil Town supporting life in non-League football I have not had these thoughts too often in the past three seasons, but this was the most non-League of non-League days. For large parts it was a scrappy performance with very little in terms of quality from either side and a referee who seemed desperate to put his hand in his pocket for a card, yet missed some clear and obvious fouls perpetrated by both sides. Luke Wilkinson getting a hand round the throat as he jumped for a corner with the official in close proximity with quite baffling. Add to that the over-zealous stewarding from King’s Lynn – a supporter frog-marched out of the ground for sitting on a barrier, for goodness sake – and a serious risk of starvation whilst waiting for food in the away end – it could almost have been Huish Park!

To start with it looked like it could be a comfortable afternoon after Dale Gorman’s penalty put us ahead after just four minutes, but we failed to press our advantage and we gave King’s Lynn too much encouragement

Grant Smith. Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

and they took it. Mark Little has looked unflappable when I have seen him this season, but he was ‘got at’ on more than one occasion and undone by a great pass from Brett McGavin for the first and then by the tricky Josh Barrett for the second goal.

On loan goalkeeper Ted Cann had a bit of a stinker with both goals as which makes me think let’s get Grant Smith back in between the posts. Charlie Lee has said the first-choice keeper is fully fit again although he was not named among the substitutes for this one. I have no doubt Cann will be a highly competent goalkeeper, probably at a higher level than this, but you had to cringe when he spilled Barrett’s shot right at the feet of Gold Omotayo who could not believe his luck to poke home against his old employers.

Thank goodness then for a moment of magic from Charlie Wakefield. The substitute’s 91st minute equaliser was a moment of pure quality which is everything we have seen time and again he is capable of. When he collected the ball on the left (isn’t he supposed to play down the right?) and cut inside, there was only one thing on the star man’s mind and he executed it in some style.

These relegation threatened sides are not going to roll over and let’s not forget we have two more of them to come in our next two matches. Our next opponents, Aldershot Town, gave their hopes of survival a boost with a win over a Boreham Wood side whose league season appears to have been ruined by their FA Cup exploits, whilst our seagull bothering friends down the road earned a point with a goalless draw against Grimsby Town. King’s Lynn were not pretty, but they dragged us down to their level through sheer hard work. We have to make our quality count if we are not going to come unstuck in these next two games.

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After the past seven days at Huish Park, there was talk from the Barnet side of convincing victories coming their way but did we expect anything other than this Yeovil Town side to turn up at The Hive?

Goals from Tom Knowles and Reuben Reid earned a 2-2 draw in North London at the weekend, and here are Coatesie‘s conclusions on what he saw from the away end….

After the week they have had with the exit of Darren Sarll and remembering former captain Lee Collins a year after his death, Yeovil Town’s players could have found an excuse for sub-par performance. But, this group of players never fail to give it everything they’ve got and they did that once again.
If this was a ‘dead rubber’ match between two mid-table sides with little threat of troubling the top or bottom of the division, get me along to more of them because it was thoroughly entertaining and that was down to the desire of both sets of players.
Glovers’ caretaker manager Charlie Lee has promised that he will make sure his players give absolutely everything in every match he is in charge of and after his first 90 minutes there can be no questioning the commitment of this squad.

However, this was not the vintage performance we have seen in our last couple of outings against Southend or Bromley.
Reuben Reid summarised it perfectly when he spoke after the match and said that the start and the finish from his team-mates was on the money, but the bit in the middle needs some working on.
Both goals conceded will have been a disappointment to both Charlie Lee and his players as on both occasions Barnet seemed to waltz through out midfield without too much challenge.
For the first goal, Morgan Williams was at fault against a very good player in Ephron Mason-Clark, and for the second there were multiple guilty parties for not stopping the hosts’ attack.

Reuben Reid. Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

Remember when scoring more than one goal was a problem? Nope, me neither. These last few games have seen us reborn in an attacking sense and seeing Tom Knowles’ desire to win the ball after just nine minutes, then tear forward and smash home the opener was fantastic.
Where does he get his energy from? All through the match he was a constant thorn in Barnet’s side.
And, yes, I have said I will judge Reuben Reid on goals this season (well, I did last season as well) and with two in his last two games, there’s nothing more I can say than – keep it up!

Perhaps one of the reasons for the reigniting of our attacking play is the arrival of Josh Neufville and Olufela Olomola and surely it’s time we saw Neufville and Fela given a start.
Charlie Wakefield looks to be trying so hard and it’s just not happening for him at the moment, so why not take him out of the firing line and give one of the loanees a start against King’s Lynn next weekend?

Josh Neufville. Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

Lee spoke after the game about how Luton has told us to be careful with Josh and I am sure Hartlepool would not thank us for breaking Fela, but both feel like they need more opportunities to show what they are made of.

Finally, on Monday’s podcast I said the one thing supporters can do to help in these worryingly uncertain times was to turn up in numbers and make a racket and boy did we.
Every single one of the 288 fans in that away end did everything they could to show Charlie Lee and his players exactly what their efforts and this football club means to us.
I suspect we don’t need to tell show them, but at a time when these players who have put in so much effort appear to be being shown so much disrespect by others at the club – see here if you don’t know what I mean – it was great that we did.
And for those who either are or seek to be the custodians of this club, I hope you witnessed exactly what it means. History will judge you for your actions. Do not fail these people.

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Listening to Josh Staunton talk to the ‘Football, Bloody Hell’ show on 3 Valleys Radio this week was not easy.

Here we have a 26-year-old man with an injury which, in any other walk of life would have been operated on weeks ago, saying that he and his (in many cases even younger) team-mates have absolutely no idea if they have a job at the end of next month.

Any Yeovil Town fan knows all about the ‘will they? won’t they?’ situation with the takeover of the club, the apparent complete absence (at least publicly) of chairman and owner Scott Priestnall and a rudderless ship at Huish Park which has allowed manager Darren Sarll to walk away and join a rival club – and who can blame him?

Just read this that Josh told Adi Hopper at 3 Valley Radio:

Yeovil Town captain Josh Staunton.
Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

“We are surrounded by uncertainty now and it is disappointing when you get to this stage of the season and you don’t know if you are wanted or unwanted.

“That is not just me, that is every player that is out of contract, we would like some sort of clarity of whether we need to look elsewhere or are going to be offered something.

“One of the benefits of having a younger team, that blind loyalty is there. If we had a group of older players who were more family-orientated, I think it would be a lot more toxic around the dressing room.

“Especially at this time of year when people are worrying about their futures.”

Now the first thing to say is to praise Josh for his honesty and openness. There are few players in our squad – or indeed any squad in recent years – that clearly have the best interests of the club at heart more than Josh, so this is clearly something he has deep concerns about.

You can read more of what Josh said here or if you want to listen to the full show – try and skip the bits where Adi talks about things vibrating on his thighs (!), you can do that – here.

Now, I know that a footballers’ career is naturally more transient, but, even if you justify this situation that way, what of the other people who are employed by the club? The people looking after the stadium, running our community organisation, doing the finances, the media, all the other things that keep our club going.

Yesterday we paused and reflected on the tragic death of former captain Lee Collins and read heart-breaking tales about the demons which tormented him off-the-field.

As you will have heard Ian say on the latest podcast, we need to make sure the memory of Lee’s story stays with us as a football club – in our thoughts and our actions.

Lee’s concerns included about his future. Yet we have young people who find themselves with the same concerns and yet this seems to be happening. I ask again – how is this being allowed to happen?

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Darren Sarll. Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

Darren Sarll has stepped away as Yeovil Town’s manager to take up the vacant position at Woking. Here are Ian’s Five Conclusions from today’s shock announcement and Darren Sarll’s time in charge.

He was the man we needed when we were on our knees following relegation. When he came in to club in the summer of 2019, he picked up a threadbare club that had whimpered out of League Two. He brought Carl Dickinson and Craig Alcock back in from the cold after his predecessor’s abysmal decision to exclude them. He reinvigorated Courtney Duffus and turned him from profligate to prolific. And he brought in experienced players we could only have dreamt of recruiting the season before. 

He hasn’t had a fair crack. With just one month to build his first squad, he managed to build a squad of senior, experienced pros who made us dream in that first season before COVID-19 curtailed football. He admitted the recruitment pre-Christmas second season was poor and the only bright sparks were the discovery of Tom Knowles and the loan signing of Josh Neufville. With Scott Priestnall’s attempt to sell the club’s most valuable assets prevented, and his subsequent disappearance, Sarll was left with a shoestring budget to build a squad which has run itself into the ground, in what is now, his final season.

Like us all, he had his faults. When we’ve been in-form, our performances have been electric and results have followed. But when the form drops off, it really seems to drop off. Our run of six without a win after Christmas in 2019 saw us slip down into the play off spots after our bright start had us dreaming of an immediate return to the Football League. It took us 12 matches to pick up a league win in 2020/21 as we struggled repeat the start of 2019/20. Autumn 2021 saw an incredible run which was abruptly ended by Torquay on Boxing Day and with just one win from the turn of the year until March 19th, it was a bad start to 2022. At times supporters have criticised his lack of Plan B during these runs and his unwillingness to try different tactics, although this season he was left with little room for manoeuvre with his small squad.

You can’t blame him for leaving. With just three months left on his contract and a family to look after, he can’t gamble on his future. The uncertainty that wilts the football club off the pitch has infiltrated the dressing room. Certainty and clarity has been provided by Woking and he’s seen an opportunity to grab with both hands, rather than wait for any new regime to make a decision.

He carried himself immeasurably in the wake of Lee Collins’ passing. Darren Sarll’s reign at Huish Park can be split into two. Since the tragic passing of our captain, Sarll was the face and the voice of the club. He carried a grieving club on his back and dragged a team of young men to finish a season in unfathomable trauma. Lee’s passing will forever be a part of Yeovil Town and the way Darren Sarll picked us up in the aftermath will be too. You would not have blamed him for wanting to have a break at the end of last season, but he went about building a third squad in the three years, that embraced the club and memory of Lee Collins as a driving force. For all his faults, the way he carried himself as the ambassador of our club in this tragedy was exceptional and I’ll forever be grateful that we had him when we did.

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It’s three in a row for Yeovil Town and the Darren Sarll’s men put on a good show at home for the second time this week.

Here are Ian’s conclusions from a sun-drenched Huish Park.

This team appears to be out of its sticky spell. They proved that the performance against

Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

Bromley wasn’t a one off. This was another confident and energetic from a team that have clearly turned a corner. The passes were slick, the one touch football was joyful, the defending was resolute. In the space of a couple of weeks we’ve gone from hopeless to maybe a tiny bit hopeful. Oh come on, you’re all thinking it. 

The early goals killed Southend off. We fell victim to it against Dagenham, and against Southend it was our turn. Goals from Reuben Reid after four minutes (fitting on the day we celebrated the life of Lee Collins) and then Tom Knowles four minutes later put the game to bed. It felt like we challenged Southend to break us down and they just couldn’t do it.

Ben Barclay. Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

Ben Barclay was imperious. From his crunching tackle on Matty Dennis to his chance to grab our third, it was a complete performance from the Stockport loanee. He’s developed a good relationship with all his defensive partners (and the ever-reliable Morgan Williams) and he had another stellar performance. Good with ball, timing on his tackle and was unlucky not to score. We’re lucky to have him for the rest of the season.

Lawson D’Ath. Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

Lawson D’Ath was the missing piece of the puzzle. We knew Lawson was good. We knew he was a cut above any other midfielder in the league, let alone the club. But I’ll admit that I’m surprised at how much he has improved us. The way he has helped our midfield bridge the gap between our defence and attack is abundantly clear. We look happier on the ball and our attacking players are freer knowing D’Ath will find them.

It was nice to feel some positivity around Huish Park. Yes, things haven’t been brilliant on the pitch up until last Saturday. Yes, things off the pitch are still uncertain. But on a glorious sunny afternoon, with a Disney-infused playlist chosen by the daughters of Lee Collins, there was positivity in the air. And a very timely reminder that there is more to life than football.

Goalkeeping coaching Craig Wight chats to Charley-Mae Collins, one of Lee’s three daughter of Lee, who w