Foot In The Opposition Camp – Braintree (H)
2024-12-14
Braintree come to Huish Park today and have gone through a fair bit of change in recent weeks. Ben caught up with Warren Muggleton, part of BBC Essex’s team that covers the visitors.
Match Preview: Yeovil Town vs Braintree Town
2024-12-13
Yeovil Town will be back in league action this weekend as they host fourth-from-bottom Braintree Town at Huish Park.
Form Guide…
It has been a tough week for the Glovers after they were beaten by local rivals W*ymouth on Tuesday night in the FA Trophy. Our focus will now solely be on the National League Premier having been knocked out of both cup competitions.
Even if Yeovil’s form in the cups hasn’t been great their league form has been more stable, they sit 10th in the table after 21 games. Over their last five games in the National League three have been losses and two have been wins although their last victory came in their last league outing, a 2-0 win away at Woking.
It has been a difficult start to life at this level for Braintree, who came up alongside us from National League South after winning a dramatic play-off final against Worthing. They currently lie 21st in the table, just the wrong side of the relegation places dotted line on goal difference and sacked manager Angelo Harrop a few weeks ago.
His replacement is well-known in Essex having been Harrop’s assistant at Cressing Road and has immediately put his mark on the team with the departure of big name strike Inih Effiong, sold to Woking less than 24 hours after Harrop’s departure. That exit could have as much to do with the shaky state of the finances at the club with chairman Lee Harding telling BBC Radio Essex the club were 50% over budget approaching the midway point of the season.
In their last five National League Premier fixtures, Braintree have won two, lost two, drawn one. With wins coming against Eastleigh and fellow strugglers AFC Fylde, but the defeats came second-from-bottom Boston United and Maidenhead United.
Pitt took charge of his first match last weekend when he saw his side exit the FA Trophy on penalties to Forest Green Rovers at Cressing Road, before winning 1-0 at home to Nottingham Forest’s kids in the world’s most pointless cup competition on Tuesday night.
On Friday, the club announced former Plymouth Argyle player Karl Duguid as Pitt’s assistant manager along with the appointment of an analyst and goalkeeping coach.
Key Players…
Yeovil – James Plant
The winger has been integral to Mark Cooper’s plans since coming in on loan from Port Vale. Out of his 10 league matches so far for the Glovers, Plant has started 90% of this games, whilst also bagging four goal contributions in that time.
The 20-year-old has consistently looked like the Somerset sides biggest threat when going forward, creating multiple chances including Brett McGavin‘s goal against Woking. Plant will be missed when his loan ends in January.
Braintree – Kyrell Lisbie
The winger has been Braintree’s bright spark in what has been a tough season so far. The 21-year-old has scored four times across 20 matches since joining from Cray Valley Paper Mills in the summer.
He has outscored big name summer signings like John Akinde and the now departed Effiong this season including a spectacular strike last weekend against Forest Green Rovers in the FA Trophy.
The 21-year-old will be looking to make his mark at Huish Park this weekend, although manager Steve Pitt has said he has told his wide players to improve on service to their frontmen.
Thats what he said…
Yeovil boss Mark Cooper spoke to media ahead of the upcoming fixture. He said: “We know they’re going to work really hard, they have got a new manager…they are going to try and impress him. The previous manager did a terrific job getting them promoted with us last year. They have chose now to go a different route and Steve [Pitt] will want to put his stamp on them.”
Newly-appointed Braintree manager Steve Pitt gave his thoughts ahead of Saturday following last weekend’s FA Trophy exit to Forest Green. He said: “We will train Thursday and Friday, prepare for Yeovil away. We will go there in a positive frame of mind to get a positive result.”
We’ve met before…
Having spent the last two seasons in the same division the two clubs have acquainted themselves with each other well. The head-to-head over that time has been played three, won three for Yeovil.
They last met in August of this year when the Glovers headed to Essex and returned with maximum points after 0-1 win. The sole goal coming from centre-back Morgan Williams.
Don’t I know you…
There are no ex-Glovers in the Braintree Town squad. Charlie Wakefield turned out for The Irons last season when getting promoted alongside Yeovil, but has since departed for pastures new.
Who’s been naughty then…
Jake Wannell, and Dom Bernard both return from suspension for Yeovil Town.
SUPPORT THE GLOVERSCAST
The Gloverscast is a volunteer run website which costs money to maintain. If ever you feel like supporting with our running costs, which include our website hosting, Zoom subscription, The Daily Glove, we’d be extremely grateful for your donations.
Gloverscast #383 – “More likely to see pigs fly than a 4-4-2”
2024-12-13
It’s been a couple of days since the Glovers lost to W*ymouth and the dust probably hasn’t quite settled. Ian, Ben and Dave chat about the defeat, the reaction to it and look ahead to Braintree and what has now become a big game this weekend.
National League Wrap Up – FA Trophy 3rd Round
2024-12-12
It was embarrassment for the Glovers, as they were defeated 2-1 by W*ymouth in a night that will be remembered for all the wrong reasons. Let’s see how the rest of the National League clubs got on in their own opening fixtures of their FA Trophy journeys.
We start with the earliest fixture of the round, where the 1pm kickoff produced the highest scoring match, as Southend United defeated 8th tier Brentwood Town. The underdog hosts actually took the lead, but an Aribim Pepple hat trick helped the Shrimpers ease through with a 5-3 victory. There were two 3-3 crackers, both ending in victory for the home sides; Woking scraped through against 7th tier Havant & Waterlooville, despite the best efforts of former Glover Ryan Seager as he scored a hat trick to take the game to penalties, while Sutton United came from behind against National League basement boys Ebbsfleet United to win on penalties, former Glover Callum Harriott getting a goal on his debut for the visiting losers.
Two home 3-1 wins for National League sides next, as Aldershot Town and York City defeated Wealdstone and Darlington respectively, while two upsets came in 2-2 draws – 7th tier Basford United knocked out FC Halifax Town, and Kidderminster Harriers won away at AFC Fylde. In another FA Trophy derby, it was another NLS side toppling their National League counterpart, as Slough Town defeated Maidenhead United in a 2-1 win, while further north, a NLN side knocked out National League opposition as Radcliffe left Solihull Moors as 2-1 victors. On Tuesday night, a final 2-1 scoreline was played out, this time in favour of the “overdog”, as Eastleigh won at Hanwell Town.
Three playoff sides all took part in 2-0 scorelines, with varying successes, as Oldham Athletic were surprised by Stockton Town, while Rochdale and Barnet knocked out 6th tier opposition in Leamington and Aveley. Two all-NL clashes ended in penalty wins for the visitors, as Forest Green Rovers and Tamworth defeated Braintree Town and Hartlepool United following 1-1 results, while an upset came on Wednesday night as Chertsey Town knocked out Dagenham & Redbridge.
Boston United won a narrow affair against Alvechurch, Altrincham won on penalties against a charging Macclesfield, and there is still one more result to be determined; following the collapse of Farsley Celtic captain Lewis Turner, the decision was made to abandon the fixture between Gateshead and Farsley Celtic, our best wishes go out to Lewis and his family.
It’s a bumper round-up today as there were four National League fixtures on Tuesday night to accompany the rescheduled fixtures following Storm Darragh!
We start with a barnstorming 3-3 draw between Wealdstone and Altrincham, where two in-form forwards in Alex Reid and Regan Linney couldn’t add to their doubles in a pulsating encounter. A Jack Stevens screamer rescued the three points for Solihull Moors against Aldershot Town, meanwhile it was the end of the road for another Ebbsfleet United manager, as Harry Watling was sacked following a 2-0 defeat to AFC Fylde, leaving the Fleet 11 points from safety, rooted firmly to the bottom of the table. The final clash of the week saw a 0-0 draw between FC Halifax Town and Sutton United.
FA Trophy 3rd Round results (NL teams in bold)
Brentwood Town 3-5 Southend United
AFC Fylde 2-2 Kidderminster Harriers (Kidderminster win 3-0 on pens)
Aldershot Town 3-1 Wealdstone
Altrincham 0-0 Macclesfield (Altrincham win 4-2 on pens)
Barnet 2-0 Aveley
Basford United 2-2 FC Halifax Town (Basford win 6-5 on pens)
Boston United 1-0 Alvechurch
Braintree Town 1-1 Forest Green Rovers (Forest Green win 5-3 on pens)
Slough Town 2-1 Maidenhead United
Solihull Moors 1-2 Radcliffe
Stockton Town 2-0 Oldham Athletic
Sutton United 3-3 Ebbsfleet United (Sutton win 4-2 on pens)
York City 3-1 Darlington
Gateshead A-A Farsley Celtic
Hanwell Town 1-2 Eastleigh
Hartlepool United 1-1 Tamworth (Tamworth win 3-0 on pens)
Leamington 0-2 Rochdale
Woking 3-3 Havant & Waterlooville (Woking won 4-2 on pens)
Yeovil Town 1-2 W*ymouth
Chertsey Town 1-0 Dagenham & Redbridge
National League results – in full
AFC Fylde 2-0 Ebbsfleet United
FC Halifax Town 0-0 Sutton United
Solihull Moors 2-1 Aldershot Town
Wealdstone 3-3 Altrincham
Match Officials: Braintree (Home)
2024-12-12
Yeovil Town’s home game against Braintree this coming Saturday will be officiated by a fairly regular face around Huish Park.
Elliot Swallow has officiated no fewer than 11 Glovers’ games, in fact only Wealdstone (12) have seen him in the middle more.
None of those 11 games have come this season though, Mr Swallow has issued 31 yellows (and turned two of them into reds) across six games at this level this season.
He did referee us twice last season, both in local derby games, a 2-0 home win over Bath City and a 3-1 away win at Torquay. In the former, Messrs, C Cooper, Wannell, Morgan and Whittle all saw their names taken, whilst Whittle and Cooper (M) were cautioned down at Plainmoor in a game where a chap called Brett McGavin scored a heck of a goal from long range … I wonder what happened to him?
Mr Swallow has sent off one Yeovil player in his career, Chiori Johnson saw red for two bookings in a home defeat to Dorking Wanderers towards the end of the doomed 2022/23 season. Mark Cooper was also booked in that one.
Kevin Howick and Stuart Kane are on flag duties with Phillip Eddie is on dug out watch this Saturday.
Five Conclusions: Yeovil Town 1 W*ymouth 2
2024-12-11
It was a night to forget at Huish Park as Yeovil’s old rivals came to town and knocked them out of the FA Trophy. Here are Ian’s Five Conclusions from a dreadful night under the lights.
It was not good enough. What more can you say? Early goals in each half from Brandon Goodship caught Yeovil off guard and left us chasing both halves but for a team that was looking to get back into the match in a fierce local rivalry, the quality in the final third was sorely lacking. At times it was ponderous and W*ymouth were able to prevent the Glovers playing through the lines. There were crosses a-plenty into the box in the second half but no one willing to take ownership and finish them.
We were found wanting in attack again. Ever since the Ciaran McGuckin returned to Rotherham, the attacking unit hasn’t clicked. Aaron Jarvis, Josh Sims, Frank Nouble, Kofi Shaw, Pedro Borges, James Plant, Sonny Blu Lo-Everton, Harvey Greenslade, Jordan Young and Sam Pearson have all had chances (albeit sparingly for some of those names) in the attacking end of the pitch this season and, for either through injury, suspension or lack of form, none of them have provided a consistent output in the form of goals and assists.
The derby feel off the pitch wasn’t matched on the pitch. Yeovil haven’t lost at home to W*ymouth since 1988. In that time we’ve moved to a new stadium, risen up the leagues and come back down find ourselves at the same level as our old rivals and last night the team that ended the night bottom of National League South were more up for it than Yeovil were. That’s a damning indicment on the players and the staff and a result they will have to live with. The celebrations at the end were painful to see but well-deserved. (He said begrudgingly.)
Our cup performances have been so disappointing. For a club that’s history is rooted in cup-exploits, it’s been a real frustration to see us whimper out of the FA Cup and FA Trophy at the first time of asking to clubs from the league below. We know better than anyone that you can’t take anything for granted in cup competitions but to miss out on a genuine chance of silverware (in the Trophy of course) leaves us hanging on to the hope of keeping pace with the play-off chasers and sneaking into that group come the end of the season.
We can expect more change. Speaking after the match, Mark Cooper said he needs to get ruthless and that means yet more changes on the pitch. Based on last night that could mean a number of players. But once again we’re looking the final third and wanting more from the attacking players. For all the combinations, the style and philosophy hasn’t altered so there’s an argument to make a change on that front in a bid to get the attack firing. Mark Cooper has already done his fair share of player trading and will know what’s out there to bring in, but moving players out to make room will be the challenge.
Nouble: We embarrassed the supporters
2024-12-10
Striker Frank Nouble said he was “embarrassed” for Yeovil Town’s supporters after they exited the FA Trophy at the hands of local rivals W*ymouth.
The 33-year-old played missed an opportunity with the final chance of the 2-1 defeat, spurning an opportunity to take the third round tie to a penalty shoot-out.
He faced up to BBC Somerset’s Mark Stillman after the game and called on supporters not to direct their anger at the loss towards the younger players in the squad.
He said: “We were not good enough to win the game. I just feel embarrassed for the supporters and everyone who supports this football club, that is the main thing. It is nothing to do with the opposition, in this game you get remembered for winning these games and also losing them. That is where we are right now.
“We are quite down in (the dressing room). A few words were said and we have to react now. I just hope the supporters can keep supporting the young boys in this team. If they want to give stick to the boys, give it to me and the older boys, I will take it all on. All I care about is this club doing well, but we lost today, so we have to take that on the chin.”
The striker played the full 90 minutes against W*ymouth having put in 89 minutes in the 2-0 win at Woking ten days earlier.
Yeovil have three days to pick themselves back up ahead of the visit from Braintree Town to Huish Park in the National League Premier Division, but Nouble said that he was not thinking about that fixture with the pain of a derby defeat still raw.
He said: “The supporters turned up and made a noise for us and we embarrassed them with that result and a large part of our performance. I thought we gave them too many opportunities to do well against us and we ultimately we lost the game. We will deal with (Braintree Town at home) on Saturday when that comes and the Gaffer has to select a team now that he can trust will go out and win that game, but I am not thinking about Braintree today. Today is about the fact let the club down, we let ourselves down and most importantly we let the supporters down.“
Cooper: It’s time be ruthless
2024-12-10
Manager Mark Cooper has said it is “time to be ruthless” with his Yeovil Town squad after they crashed out of the FA Trophy at the hands of local rivals W*ymouth.
The final whistle of the 2-1 defeat was met by a chorus of boos from the home supporters in the Huish Park crowd after a brace from former Glovers’ striker Brandon Goodship secured a famous win for the visitors.
Speaking to BBC Somerset’s Mark Stillman after the match, the boss said: “We have to change some players. There are some now who have had lots of chances and are not producing, so the attacking players have to produce. They have had lots of chances and they have not taken them, so I have to try and solve that.
“This year I have been really loyal to the boys, I love them to bits, but I have a job to do for the football club. That is to try and make us more efficient in front goal, from tee to green our play is really good, we get in the opposition box a lot really calmly and then the last little bit we need a bit of quality and it is not there.”
He added: “It is a really tough one to take, I am really angry with that and I have to be ruthless because that (performance) is a slight on me. We let the fans down tonight, they were brilliant and got behind the players. I always look at myself first, I tried every combination at the top of the pitch but it is time to be ruthless.”
Goodship gave W*ymouth the lead with a sumptuous curling strike after just 12 minutes and despite pulling one back when Aaron Jarvis put his head in where it hurts to get an equaliser ten minutes before half-time, Goodship restored the advantage early in the second half.
Cooper brought on a number of attacking players in the form of Kofi Shaw and Dylan Morgan as Yeovil looked for an equaliser, but they never troubled visiting goalkeeper Joey Casa-Grande.
The manager said: “We should score eight goals, but that has been the story of our season, we are not ruthless enough in the final third of the pitch. We gave away two goals, but we still did enough in and around their penalty area to win three or four games but we are not ruthless enough. If we keep going like that we will win one, lose one, draw one because cannot to put teams to bed.
“We are hitting people up the backside with the ball when we should be putting it on someone’s head, we are trying to have a touch inside the six-yard box when we just need to side foot it in to the goal and we are not brave enough. Jarv was brave to get his goal tonight but he should have two or three, but we should win the game tonight on territory and chances created.
“Both goals we conceded were individual errors and a lack of professionalism, but that is why we are at this level because we make mistakes, me included. Fair play to W*ymouth, they set their stall out and they dug in and defended their box, but I think me, Toddy (assistant manager, Chris Todd), Weso (Head of Football Operations, Ian Weston) and the goalie coach (Matt Gould) could have played in the W*ymouth defence and kept a clean sheet tonight.”
The goal tonight was Jarvis’ sixth of the season which makes him the club’s top-scorer ahead of midfielder Brett McGavin who has five. The club’s only other recognised frontman, Harvey Greenslade, joined National League South side Weston-super-Mare on loan ahead of the match.
Asked whether Jarvis needed more support up front, Cooper said: “I don’t know much more help we can give him, we had five up front for the second half with lots of balls going in to the box. He scored a great goal, he was very brave, but I will say there were opportunities (for him to score more) there.“
Match Report: Yeovil Town 1 W*ymouth 2
2024-12-10
Former Yeovil Town striker Brandon Goodship came back to haunt his old employers as he scored twice to earn the old enemy W*ymouth a place in the fourth round of the FA Trophy at Huish Park.
The frontman opened the scoring after 12 minutes when he curled in a brilliant effort before Aaron Jarvis’ brave header saw him draw the visitors level with ten minutes of the first half remaining.
But, with just five minutes of the second half played, Goodship was picked out at the back to post to net what turned out to the winner. There were changes from manager Mark Cooper, but they failed to make any difference.
The final whistle was met by a chorus of boos from the home supporters with those travelling over the hill from Dorset cheered and the most sickening thing is you cannot argue they deserved it.
First half
The 257th meeting between these two old rivals saw Josh Sims replace on loan Bristol Rovers’ youngster Kofi Shaw in the starting XI, the only change from the 2-0 win at Woking ten days before this rearranged tie. The original tie was scheduled for the previous weekend but fell foul to the bad weather brought by Storm Darragh.
There were a couple of opportunities for Yeovil in the opening quarter-of-an-hour. Firstly, a great incisive pass by Nouble and Plant looked like he was through on goal, but the Port Vale loanee could not under control as the ball hit the back of the winger’s leg, and then Plant poked one wide at the near post after good effort by Pedro Borges,
But with 12 minutes gone, it was a moment of magic which broke the deadlock. Fabien Bartolo burst down the right and picked out former Glovers’ striker Brandon GOODSHIP who curled a beautiful effort in from 20 yards out past a helpless Ollie Wright. I hate to give that lot any credit, but that is a brilliant effort albeit Goodship had a lot of time to pick his spot.
Yeovil almost hit back immediately when Plant found Nouble who was denied by a good save from visitors’ keeper Josey Casa-Grande, who joined on loan from Bristol City to replace Yeovil player Will Buse, who was unable to face his employers.
The frustration was palpable inside Huish Park and there were shades of last season with the visitors happy to frustrate their hosts. For all the passing, it was a ball over the top from Charlie Cooper after half-an-hour which unlocked the defence as Aaron Jarvis beat the offside trap and was clean through on goal, but Calvin Brooks got enough on it to put it out for a corner.
But, the leveller came after on 35 minutes when a ball was floated in by Brett McGavin and Aaron JARVIS rose with Casa-Grande to head bravely in to the net. However, there was immediate concern for both the scorer and the keeper who collided sickeningly and physios were on for both players. That is the epitome of what Jarvis was all about, willing to put his head in where it hurts for a goal and he certainly did that.
Bartolo forced a comfortable-looking save out of Wright soon after and thankfully Jarvis is back on the pitch. The Yeovil goal seemed to re-spark W*ymouth back in to life and this tie has certainly be an all-action one.
The visitors lost captain Tom Bearwish to an injury in the final minute of the half, replaced by Swansea City loan defender Harry Jones at right back.
Jarvis almost got his second in the third minute of seven minutes added on at the end of the first half when his great running off the ball saw him get on the end of a ball in, but credit to Casa-Grande who got a great hand on the ball to deny the striker.
It has not been a vintage performance (to put it mildly) with some credit having to be given to the W*ymouth midfield (sorry to have to do that twice) who denied Yeovil the time and space to be able to get their usual passing
Half time: Yeovil Town 1 W*ymouth 1
Second half
The opening exchanges of the second half saw ex-Yeovil striker Malachi Linton suffer a sickening fall to the Huish Park pitch in an innocuous-looking challenge in the air with Finn Cousin-Dawson. Fortunately Mal was okay, he was a nice lad.
But, with just five minutes of the second half played, W*ymouth took the lead for a second time. An error from McGavin saw Bartolo break forward and pick out Brandon GOODSHIP at the back post. The visiting players were queuing up at the back post to turn it in. A poor, poor goal to concede.
Morgan Williams headed one over on 53 minutes, before an end-to-end moment as Yeovil had the Terras’ defence rocking with a couple of balls in to the box before one ball out to Bartolo saw him flash an effort wide with Goodship screaming for the pass for his hat-trick. It’s hair ’em, scare ’em to be sure.
On the hour mark, Mark Cooper made two changes with Michael Smith replacing Josh Sims and Kofi Shaw coming on in place for Pedro Borges. That led to a change in formation with Alex Whittle moving to a more familiar left-back position with Smith at right-back, whilst Shaw took a position behind Jarvis. The intent was obvious with both full-backs getting up whenever they could.
There was a flurry of chances for Yeovil on 68 minutes with the best falling to Jarvis who just needed to swing a boot at the ball but instead took a touch and allowed the W*ymouth defenders to get back and block the effort before McGavin flashed an effort wide.
On the 70th minute, Dylan Morgan replaced Whittle with James Plant moving to the left-back position. W*ymouth are working hard to protect their lead, but there’s no intent to Yeovil’s game.
McGavin was replaced by captain Matt Worthington on 76 minutes. Time is running out and it was only thanks to Ollie Wright that we were not further behind on 78 minutes. A good break by W*ymouth and it was good play by Linton to find Bartolo who forced a fine stop out of the keeper.
With eight minutes remaining, Dylan Morgan found himself in a great position, had a great opportunity to shoot first time on his left foot but checked back on to his right and gave the Harry Jones the opportunity to get back and defend.
Wright made another good stop from Genesini on 88 minutes and the Yeovil keeper has been tested more than Casa-Grande in the W*ymouth goal and that says everything about our display. Euan Pollock had the ball in the net as the fourth official put the board up to announce eight minutes of stopping time, thankfully offside.
There was one golden chance to force a penalty shoot-out with just seconds remaining, but Nouble headed it wide.
The final whistle was met by a chorus of boos from the home supporters who had to witness their old rivals inflicting the first competitive defeat at Huish Park. It’s another exit from the FA Trophy at the first time of asking, but we all know this one means much more than that.
Full time: Yeovil Town 1 W*ymouth 2
Match Details
Venue: Huish Park
Date: Tuesday 10th December 2024 – 7.45pm kick-off
Competition: Isuzu FA Trophy Third Round
Scorers: Brandon Goodship 12 (0-1), Aaron Jarvis 35 (1-1) , Brandon Goodship 50 (1-2)
Pitch: In amazing nick given the weather which Somerset has suffered over the past few days
Conditions: Not as cold as Ian thought it was going to be
Attendance: 3,168 (375 away supporters)
Bookings:
Yeovil Town: None
W*ymouth: Leo Hamblin 90+1, Joey Casa-Grande 90+6
Referee: Ruebyn Ricardo
Yeovil Town (3-4-2-1)
Substitutes: Michael Smith (for Josh Sims, 60), Kofi Shaw (for Pedro Borges, 60), Dylan Morgan (for Alex Whittle, 69), Matt Worthington (for Brett McGavin, 76), Ed James (not used), Sonny Blu Lo-Everton (not used), Matt Gould (not used).
W*ymouth: Josey Casa-Grande, Tom Bearwish (for Harry Jones, 44), Calvin Brooks, Jordon Thompson, Leo Hamblin, Josh McQuoid (for Ben Greenwood, 90+5), Andy Robinson, Jaiden Bartolo, Christie Ward, Malachi Linton (for Euan Pollock, 80), Brandon Goodship (for Brooklyn Genesini, 70). Substitutes (not used): Keelan O’Connell, Jacob English.
Man of the Match Voting: W*ymouth (Home)
2024-12-10
Who was your Man of the Match against W*ymouth?
Sorry, there are no polls available at the moment.