Latest Yeovil Town News (Page 157)

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It’s back down to earth with a bump for Yeovil following their defeat against Solihull Moors on Tuesday night. Let’s see how the rest of the division got on…

We start at Rochdale, who are starting to get some momentum going with their fourth straight win in a 3-1 victory over Maidenhead United, Kairo Mitchell getting two of Dale’s three goals. There were goals aplenty for other home sides too, as both Forest Green Rovers and Dagenham & Redbridge registered 3-0 wins over AFC Fylde and Sutton United respectively – a shoutout to former Glover Dion Pereira, who scored two of the Daggers’ goals.

There were three 2-1 wins across the league, and we’ll begin with Barnet‘s win over Saturday’s visitors Altrincham – a 92nd minute winner from another former Glover, Rhys Browne, bagged all three points for the Bees. The other two games saw newly promoted teams take the lead, before falling to defeat, as York City and Hartlepool United overcame deficits against Braintree Town and Boston United.

Southend United condemned early pace setters Eastleigh to a 2-0 defeat, with yet another ex-Glover – Nathan Ralph – on the scoresheet, while FC Halifax Town and Oldham Athletic shared the points in a 1-1 draw containing two yellow cards in as many minutes for, you guessed it, another former Glover – Otis Khan, who will be back in time for Yeovil’s visit to Boundary Park next weekend.

In the final two games, Woking defeated Wealdstone via a Cian Harries penalty, and Ebbsfleet United secured a point in their first game since dismissing head coach Danny Searle, as they held Aldershot Town to a 0-0 draw. Gateshead and Tamworth didn’t play on Tuesday night.

National League results – in full

Barnet 2-1 Altrincham
Boston United 1-2 Hartlepool United
Dagenham & Redbridge 3-0 Sutton United
Ebbsfleet United 0-0 Aldershot Town
FC Halifax Town 1-1 Oldham Athletic
Forest Green Rovers 3-0 AFC Fylde
Rochdale 3-1 Maidenhead United
Southend United 2-0 Eastleigh
Woking 1-0 Wealdstone
Yeovil Town 0-1 Solihull Moors
York City 2-1 Braintree Town

National League table

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Yeovil Town manager Mark Cooper has said that he felt that his side could have taken a point from the game against Solihull Moors on Tuesday night.

The boss said his side’s a lack of quality in forward areas, and a questionable offside call, cost his side from getting anything from the match.

Speaking to BBC Somerset’s Mark Stillman after the game, he was audibly frustrated at how easily the Glovers allowed their visitors to dictate the game.

He said: “We gave a team that wanted to counter attack and sit in, the perfect fillip with the goal, which means they can sit even deeper and catch us on the break and that makes us really tense and erratic.

“We huffed and we puffed, but we never really looked like scoring. We did score a great goal, a free kick that’s not offside, [I’ve] just seen it, it’s miles onside and a draw would have been a fair result.”

Speaking on the Glovers’ form at Huish Park, which has seen three 1-0 losses in their four home games since of the season so far, Cooper suggested there was probably more to it that the final scorelines.

He said: “We played really well against Rochdale for 70 minutes and deservedly lost, didn’t deserve to lose against Hartlepool and I didn’t think we deserved to lose tonight. 

“The second half, all the play was in their half, but we didn’t have any quality, our forward players produced zero quality, we had a really good attacking performance where all our forward player contributed on Saturday and tonight, apart from the free kick where we ‘scored’ the header, I don’t think from open play we’d have scored if we’d have been there until tomorrow night.”

“I don’t think from open play we’d have scored if we’d have been there until tomorrow night.”

The manager confirmed that his half-time substitutions were made with the fitness of both defenders Dom Bernard and Morgan Williams in mind saying that they both needed the minutes as they both work towards full fitness.

He did not want to evaluate the season’s start as a whole just yet, focusing on picking apart Tuesday’s showing instead.

“I’m just evaluating tonight, now we’ve got to look at why were so good on Saturday – really good offensively – and tonight, in the forward areas we were really, really poor.”

As for Saturday, Cooper said that it was full focus on their own actions, particularly in the final third.

“We want to win the game, it doesn’t matter what the opposition do, if we’re that toothless and we don’t ask enough questions in and around the penalty area, it’s not going to work.” 

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Yeovil Town captain Matt Worthington has said there will be no excuses from his side as the Glovers lost 1-0 at home to Solihull Moors on Tuesday.

A single first half goal from Conor Wilkinson was all that separated the sides in a game where the home side did not register a shot on target despite having two efforts off the woodwork. 

Speaking to BBC Somerset’s Mark Stillman after the match, Worthington said:

“It was difficult, I don’t think we really got going, we looked lethargic and quite slow I’d say.

“It’s disappointing, off the back of two wins we were full of confidence and to lose the way we did, at home, it’s disappointing.”

Yeovil did have the ball in the back of the net late on, a Jake Wannell header from a Charlie Cooper free-kick was deemed to have come from an offside position.

The skipper wasn’t convinced that was the right call, he said:  “I thought it was onside, a few times the lino didn’t really put his flag up, so the ref made the decision. It went against us, it was frustrating, we have to move on.”

“No excuses from us, we should have been better and we’ll look to turn it around on Saturday.”

The Glovers have now lost three of the four National League Premier Division games at Huish Park this season and supporters were audibly frustrated throughout.

The captain said: “It’s difficult, a few boos coming in at half-time, as players we need to feed off the fans really, but then again, if we put in a performance where we’re not at it, not creating enough chances, it’s hard for them to really get behind us, it’s a disappointing night all round, but we’ll look to bounce back on the weekend.

“There’s no excuses from us, obviously there’s been a lot of travelling, it was a game on Saturday where we had to chuck everything at it, really, so it took a lot out of the lads, and maybe that’s a factor why we looked leggy and lethargic today, no excuses from us, we should have been better and we’ll look to turn it around on Saturday. “

The Glovers are back in front of the Huish Park faithful on Saturday when Altrincham make the trip to Somerset, a chance to put Tuesday’s performance right, says Worthy.

“Every game is tough, there’s going to be no easy games in this league, we just have to prepare right, rest up and get ready to put a performance on Saturday.”

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Yeovil Town went down to their third home defeat of the season as they failed to break down a well-drilled Solihull Moors side on a miserable night at Huish Park.

The only goal of the game was one of the few moments of quality on offer as Conor Wilkinson lifted a beautiful chip over stranded Glovers’ keeper Ollie Wright with 11 minutes on the clock.

Brett McGavin’s free-kick off the top of the crossbar in the first half and Jake Wannell had a goal ruled out for offside after the break, but Yeovil never got better than an arm’s length from their opponents.

It was a performance as flat as the weather in Somerset and the final whistle was met with some boos among the home supporters.

First half

The Glovers got turned around from the off and were forced to attack the Thatchers’ Stand with a strong wind and plenty of rain behind them.

But, despite being against the elements, the first effort came from Solihull with John Bostock flashing past the post with Ollie Wright at full stretch.

Unfortunately, it was a sign of what was coming as the next attack led to the opening goal for the visitors. With 11 minutes gone, Dom Bernard misread a forward pass from Solihull and slipped and Conor WILKINSON picked it up and lifted an inch perfect chip over Wright.

In any game that finish was something special, but in these awful conditions and over a keeper who stands 5’8″ that is even more special. Huish Park which started in lively mood, fell silent.

Conor Wilkinson opens the scoring at Huish Park,

A loose pass back from Nouble put Cooper in trouble and Jamey Osborne broke away and got the ball in to Wilkinson whose effort came back off the inside of the post. The Yeovil defence was statuesque there and it should have been 2-0.

There seems to be a lot of fingers being pointed at each other in the hosts’ backline and Solihull are taking advantage of it. Matt Warburton warms the palms of Wright. We really need to wake up.

Definitely contrasting styles, Yeovil playing their usual controlled, possession-based style whilst a lively Solihull side want to play it to the big man Wilkinson and then play some short, sharp passes. In the first half-an-hour, it’s working out better for the visitors.

It was going to take something special to get past a wall of yellow shirts that banked behind the ball whenever Yeovil were in possession. Brett McGavin almost found it when his tried an audacious free-kick from fully 30 yards and Moors’ keeper Laurie Walker could only watch it bounce off the top of the bar.

Osborne caused problems for the Yeovil defence on 42 minutes, he scrambled his way through the defence but flashed his shot wide and a minute later he put one wide of the other post. The speed of Solihull’s passing versus their more ponderous hosts is the difference. Pass and move from the visitors, pass and wait from the hosts.

A couple of boos from some inside Huish Park as the half-time whistle sounded.

Half time: Yeovil Town 0 Solihull Moors 1

Second half

Mark Cooper responded with two changes at the start of the second half with Morgan Williams and Jordan Young coming on in place of Dom Bernard and Brett McGavin. That reunited Williams alongside Wannell whilst Young and Pearson took up wide positions with Nouble playing closer to Aaron Jarvis as Yeovil went in search of an equaliser.

The first chance of the second half fell to the hosts on 52 minutes. Good endeavour from Pearson down the left side and the ball was cleared as far as Michael Smith who controlled it on his chest and lashed an effort just over the bar.

 

Michael Smith sends an effort dipping over the bar.

But not long after some more shaky defending at the other end with Wannell allowing Newton to hit a shot in which was saved by the legs of Wright.

Another promising moment for Yeovil on 57 minutes as Cooper picked out Nouble who was in a good position on the corner of the penalty area, but rather than pick out a team-mate, he tried the spectacular and it went (spectacularly) over the bar. That one has gone in to the car park behind the empty away end.

Morgan Williams put a header wide from a Cooper corner, and you just feel that a set-piece is going to be where a chance is going to come from. No luck from breaking down that yellow wall.

Huish Park is dead and I really can’t blame it.

There’s that yellow wall.

Josh Sims replaced Michael Smith with 12 minutes of normal time remaining. But the next chance fell to Solihull, a mistake from Matt Worthington in the middle allowed ex-Glover Matt Warburton to get away down the left and put one in to the box where Newton was barrelling in. The effort went wide, luckily.

Yeovil thought they had equalised on 83 minutes when Charlie Cooper lifted a free-kick towards the back post where Jake Wannell was to meet it with a header. The ball flew in to the net, the offside flag went up. Ugh.

As the game ticked in to six minutes of injury time, Sonny Blu Lo-Everton replaced Pearson, who appeared to be suffering with cramp just before.

There was not to be any more late drama and the final whistle was met by some boos from sections of the Huish Park crowd. In truth, we never really laid a glove on Solihull.

Full time: Yeovil Town 0 Solihull Moors 1

Match Details

Venue: Huish Park
Date: Tuesday 10th September – 7.45pm kick-off

Competition: National League Premier

Pitch:  Held up remarkably well in the conditions
Conditions: Pretty miserable

Attendance: 2,489 (42 away supporters)

Scorers: Conor Wilkinson 11 (0-1)

Bookings:
Yeovil Town: Charlie Cooper 84, Sam Pearson 87
Solihull Moors: Conor Wilkinson 15, Jamey Osborne 55, Laurie Walker 79, Sam Bowen 90+2

Referee: Ruebyn Ricardo

Yeovil Town (4-2-3-1)

 

Substitutes:  Morgan Williams (for Dom Bernard, 46), Jordan Young (for Brett McGavin, 46), Josh Sims (for Michael Smith, 79), Sonny Blu Lo-Everton (for Sam Pearsonl, 90), Finn Cousin-Dawson (not used), Corey Koerner (not used), Matt Gould (not used).

Solihull Moors: Laurie Walker, Joe Newton, Olly Tipton, Alex Whitmore, Jordan Tunnicliffe, John Bostock, Jacob Pinnington (for Joss Labadie, 66), Jamey Osborne, Sam Bowen, Matty Warburton, Conor Wilkinson (for Bradley Stevenson, ).

Substitutes (not used):  Aaron Flahavan, Finn Howell, Kian Ryley, Kyle Moseley.

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Yeovil Town boss Mark Cooper is hoping to get Morgan Williams some minutes as his side take on Solihull Moors at a damp Huish Park this evening.

The centre-half is named among the Glovers’ substitutes having missed the last two matches with a concussion suffered in the last home match, a 1-0 defeat by Rochdale on August Bank Holiday Monday.

He is replaced by new signing, Dom Bernard, the match-winning hero of Saturday’s 4-3 win at AFC Fylde, who lines up alongside Jake Wannell, who returns after a one-match suspension.

Speaking to BBC Somerset’s Mark Stillman ahead of kick-off, the manager said: “We need to be a little bit careful with Morgs, but we are hopeful we can get him 20 minutes or so tonight.”

He also confirmed that on-loan Bristol City defender Raphael Araoye has had another scan on a dead leg he suffered in the 3-1 win at Boston United ten days ago.

Cooper said: “We are still waiting to find out the extent of his injury. He has had another scan today, so we are still waiting to find out what it is.”

Solihull are looking to get back to winning ways having gone down 1-0 at home to Forest Green Rovers and being held 1-1 by Wealdstone in their previous match. Their last win came with a 1-0 victory at FC Halifax Town on Bank Holiday Monday and there has not been more than one goal in it in any of the seven matches so far this season.

The Glovers’ boss added: “They are a really good team, really well coached, they are organised and have threats all over the pitch and they will be tough to break down. So we are expecting a really tough game. Both teams try and play a bit, so it should be a good game.”

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Jake Wannell and Sam Pearson both return to the Yeovil Town starting XI  as the Glovers take on Solihull Moors at Huish Park (7.45pm kick-off).

Wannell missed last weekend’s dramatic 4-3 win at AFC Fylde through suspension whilst Pearson has been rewarded for his impact coming off the bench in the last two matches. They replace Finn Cousin-Dawson and Josh Sims, who are both named amongst the substitutes.

They are joined on the bench by Wannell’s central defensive partner Morgan Williams who has been missing since suffering a concussion in the 1-0 defeat at home to Rochdale on August Bank Holiday Monday. New signing Dom Bernard, whose late goal proved the winner in Lancashire on Saturday, stays in the starting line-up.

Solihull are unchanged from their 1-0 home defeat to Forest Green Rovers at the weekend with former Glover Matt ‘Roller’ Warburton facing his old side.

 

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It’s the return of the monthly YeoGov poll and we want to hear your assessment of the season so far. The 2024/25 National League season kicked off a month ago with the visit of Hartlepool to Huish Park. Here’s how it’s gone so far:

Yeovil Town 0 – 1 Hartlepool
Braintree Town 0 – 1 Yeovil Town
Yeovil Town 3 – 2 Ebbsfleet United
Gateshead 3 – 1 Yeovil Town
Yeovil Town 0 – 1 Rochdale
Boston United 1 – 3 Yeovil Town
AFC Fylde 3 – 4 Yeovil Town

So, let us know your scores on the survey below and any other thoughts you’ve got…well, not any.

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Following two away wins on the bounce, the Glovers are back under the lights at Huish Park.

Yeovil Town welcome Solihull Moors to Somerset.

Form Guide…

Yeovil Town are looking for a third win on the spin after fruitful trips up north.

Wins over Boston United and AFC Fylde have been eventful games to say the least, but six points are six points.

Seven goals scored, four conceded and we go into Tuesday night’s games occupying the final play-off spot in the National League Premier Division table – that we’re definitely not looking at yet.

Our visitors Solihull Moors on the other hand are coming off the back of a 1-0 loss at home to big-spending Forest Green Rovers on Saturday.

A second half Teddy Jenks goal saw the Vegans taking the three points from Saturday’s game.

Prior to that a 1-1 draw vs Wealdstone and a single goal win over Halifax have shown that Solihull have been consistently inconsistent.

Moors have eight points from seven games and are 15th.

Key Players…

Yeovil – Sam Pearson

Two impressive performances from the bench in the last two games have Glovers fans clamouring for the former Bristol City man to be given a go from the start.

His first goal of the season against Fylde on Saturday was complimented an assist for both Aaron Jarvis’ equaliser and a more acrobatic assist for the Dom Bernard winner late on.

His pace, trickery and flash of quality might be the key to unlocking a stingy Moors’ defence.

Solihull Moors – Jamey Osborne

The 32-year-old has been a mainstay of the Solihull side since the summer of 2016 – albeit with stray away to Grimsby Town at the end of the 2016-17 season when he followed his then-boss Marcus Bignot north. He was back at Damson Park on loan by December 2017 and signed permanently the following month.

Fans with slightly longer memories may remember Osborne being a thorn in the side of Darren Way’s Yeovil in two notorious FA Cup matches back in 2016 – the latter ending in a penalty shoot-out defeat. If you’ve blocked it from your memory, we don’t blame you.

He’s known for a combative style (three yellow cards already this season) but with the class to unlock defences with a single pass and keeps his team ticking over.

He provided an assist for Moors’ only goal in their 1-1 draw against Wealdstone and will be a significant challenge for the midfield combo of the Glovers.

Sam Pearson on the attack – Pic – Gary Brown

That’s What He Said…

In his post-match presser following the win at AFC Fylde on Saturday, Mark Cooper didn’t really do much talking about Solihull Moors – but there was a lot to talk about.

Andy Whing, the Moors’ boss, on the other hand was asked about the game against the Glovers after their 1-0 home defeat to Forest Green at the weekend.

He said: “Every game is a tough game, Yeovil, I played against them in the Championship, they’re a big football club, so we know it’s going to be a tough game, but if we keep playing like that [vs FGR] and getting performances like that, when our players come back – no team in our league can deal with the injuries we’ve got – we’ll got onto Tuesday full of confidence in terms of performance and desperate for three points”

 

We’ve met before…

Back in 2022/23 season, Yeovil took four points from the two games against Solihull coming from two goals down away from home, goals from Zanda Siziba (remember him?) and Owen Bevan plucking a point from the grasps of defeat.

Meanwhile, at Huish Park, Chiori Johnson scored the only goal of the game in a 1-0 win, the Glovers squad on that day had just three members of the current group (Worthington, Williams and Pearson).

Other highlight clashes include back in 2021, where a Joe Quigley hat trick landed a 3-0 win for the Glovers, Solihull won the reverse fixture 5-1 that season, Justin “the lad Donawa” Donawa picking up a match ball of his own.

Way back in 2016, we also crossed paths in the FA Cup, a 2-2 draw at Huish Park, a 1-1 draw in the replay before Ryan Dickson and Tom Eaves missed their spot kicks and Solihull progressed.

 

Don’t I know you?

Tahvon Campbell was a Glover for a short while in 2017, on loan from West Brom, he’s now at Solihull, but hasn’t been involved in a match day squad for a little while.

Matt “Rolls Royce” Warburton was a Yeovil player on loan from Northampton, predominantly in the behind-closed-doors season, scoring once in 17 National League appearances.

Josh Staunton and Matt Warburton in action during ‘The Roller’s time at FC Halifax Town. Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

Who’s been a naughty boy, then?

Jake Wannell is available for the Glovers after a one-match ban against Fylde, but Solihull are still without defender James Clarke.

The 24-year old was given a straight red card in the 94th minute in the 1-0 win over Halifax.

It was made all the more impressive is that he was only brought on as a sub on 83 minutes.

He sits out the third of a three-match-ban.

Our referee is Reubyn Ricardo

How can you keep across the game?

In Person

Get to Huish Park! Tickets are available for the game here.

On the Radio

Ian is back on the mic with BBC Somerset and Yeovil Town Radio will have full match coverage too.

On the TV/ stream

National League TV has this game listed as available to watch. Match Passes are £9.99

On the Gloverscast.co.uk

We’ll have team news, match report, Five Conclusions and our usual reaction podcast to follow on Friday.

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Match-winner Dom Bernard‘s heroics for Yeovil Town at AFC Fylde on Saturday have earned him a place in the National League’s Team of the Week.

The 27-year-old, whose arrival at Huish Park was only announced on Friday, scored an 88th-minute winner to grab three points for the Glovers in a see-saw 4-3 victory in Lancashire.

Fylde’s Nick Haughton is also named in the XI for his two first-half strikes which put them 2-0 up at half-time.

Congratulations, Dom!