Latest Yeovil Town News (Page 2)

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Yeovil Town got back to winning ways with a comfortable 2-0 victory against ten man Woking at the Kingfield.

The home side were reduced to ten men after just 17 minutes when Jack Stretton was shown red for an off-the-ball incident which was apparently an elbow on Finn Cousin-Dawson albeit not seen by pretty much everyone inside the ground.

The Glovers took the lead through another spectacular finish from Brett McGavin to volley home a James Plant cross just after the half-hour mark, and the game was wrapped up when Cousin-Dawson arrived at the back post to turn home a Frank Nouble centre with 79 minutes gone.

Not one for the ages, but three points, a clean sheet and two goals. The losing run is over and bring on the W*ymouth next weekend.

First half

With no Michael Smith in the starting XI, it was Pedro Borges and James Plant as wing-backs either side of a back three which included Finn Cousins-Dawson following his return from a one-match suspension.

Frank Nouble had the game’s first opportunity warming the palms of Woking keeper Will Jaaskelinen after just four minutes and then on ten minutes Morgan Williams had an effort blocked from a corner.

But the first meaningful chance of the game came after 12 minutes Aaron Jarvis was slipped in on the left side of the box, but his effort was well blocked by Jaaskelinen. One of those you really have to stick away.
 
Fuce me minutes later came a bizarre moment. The referee showed the hosts’ Jack Stretton a red card seemingly out of nowhere following a long conversation with his fourth official. The consensus is it was for an elbow on Cousin-Dawson, but neither sets of players or supporters saw anything. Tellingly Stretton seemed to accept his fate with little complaint.
 
On 20 minutes, there was a scare when Ollie Wright came to the edge of his box to meet Matt Ward, lost the ball and was lobbed. Fortunately, Williams had spotted the danger and was back on the line to clear.
 
On 25 minutes, a break down the left by Borges’ driving run down the right was making its way towards Nouble, only for Woking’s Dion Kelly-Evans to intervene.
 

But on 31 minutes the deadlock was broken in some style. Plant got a ball in from the right, dropping from the heavens, Brett McGAVIN met it with a sweetly struck thumping volley. 

Despite the one-man advantage, it was far from a one-sided encounter with Woking showing more fight than their league position would suggest their performances up until now have included.

They had the ball in the net three minutes in to first half injury time when former Yeovil loanee Jamie Andrews turned a ball in, but the offside flag had already been raised for some time before it hit the back of the net.

Half time: Woking 0 Yeovil Town 1

Second half

McGavin had the first chance of the second half when his free-kick, awarded for the most common thing at Kingfield on Saturday, a foul on Plant. It went just wide of the left-hand post.
 
The opening 10 minutes were played in almost an eerie silence, so much so that Cousin-Dawson tried to liven things up attempting to lob Jaaskelinen from 20 yards. The keeper got a hand to it to see it out for a corner.
 
 
On 64 minutes, Josh Sims replaced Kofi Shaw with ex-Glovers’ midfielder Dale Gorman coming on for the home side. It took Gorman six minutes to get a booking for mouthing off to the referee.
 
To be honest, that was as exciting as it got for another 15 minutes until the second goal went in. A great ball fantastic ball in from Nouble in from the right and Finn COUSIN-DAWSON arrived at the back post to turn it home.
 
With the points all but secure, Mark Cooper made a couple of substitutions with Dylan Morgan and the returning Matt Worthington coming on. 
Aside from the goal for Cousin-Dawson, the second half was a thoroughly forgettable affair, but who cares, right? Three points and back to winning ways.
 

Full time: Woking 0 Yeovil Town 2

Match Details

Venue: Kingfield
Date: Saturday 30th November 2024 – 3:00pm kick-off

Competition: National League Premier Division

Scorers: Brett McGavin 31 (1-0), Finn Cousin-Dawson 79 (2-0)

Pitch:  Heavy
Conditions: Dry and calm 

Attendance: 2,911 (766 away supporters)

Bookings:
Woking: Cian Harries 43, Dale Gorman 70
Yeovil Town: James Plant 36, Morgan Williams 70

Sendings off:
Woking: Jack Stretton 17

Referee: Aaron Farmer

Yeovil Town (3-4-2-1)

Substitutes: Josh Sims (for Kofi Shaw, 64), Dylan Morgan (for Aaron Jarvis, 83), Matt Worthington (for Brett McGavin, 88), Harvey Greenslade (for Frank Nouble, 90+4), Ed James (not used), Sonny Blu Lo-Everton (not used), Matt Gould (not used).

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Michael Smith is missing from the Yeovil Town line-up for today’s trip to Woking (3pm kick-off)

Finn Cousin-Dawson returns for in a back three alongside Morgan Williams and Alex Whittle.

Captain Matt Worthington returns among the Glovers’ substitutes.

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Yeovil Town youngster Corey Koerner made his debut for the England Colleges team on Friday.

England were well beaten by the Welsh counterparts, 6-1 in the end, but it shouldn’t take away from the achievement of getting to represent the International system within the college set up.

We can tell from the lineup picture that the Koerner started, but what we can’t tell is if he played the full 90, scored, assisted… or did anything else of note as details are thin on the ground.

Welsh attacker Caleb Demery scored five of the hosts’ six goals in the game at Cardiff Met university.

Congratulations to Corey and all associated with Yeovil Town Under 18s. 

 

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Defender Michael Smith has challenged his Yeovil Town team-mates to break their three-match losing run when they travel to struggling Woking this weekend.

The Glovers have conceded seven goals in their last three National League Premier Division fixtures resulting in losses at home to FC Halifax Town and league leaders Barnet and a 4-0 defeat at York City last weekend.

Smith featured in all three matches having returned to full fitness having missed more than a month of action with a hamstring injury and is confident the Glovers are capable of looking upwards again.

Speaking on Friday ahead of the trip to Surrey this weekend, he told BBC Somerset’s Jack Killah the side was disappointed with the 2-1 home defeat to Barnet on Wednesday night, but praised the performance of young defender Ed James, who joined on loan from Exeter City ahead of kick-off.

He said: “We let  them play, we didn’t lay a glove on them, so in that respect we were really disappointed, but we have come out in the second half and shown spirit and fight and got back in to the game. It is just how it is happening for us at the minute, little bits of luck are not going our way, but we are not feeling sorry for ourselves. We are putting the work in on the training ground.

“Defensively we are usually pretty strong, but we have let ourselves down in recent weeks. I thought the big man (Ed James) came in and did really well with only one or two training sessions, he handled himself really well and was really pleased with how he performed. We are disappointed to lose the game, but we move on to Saturday.

“When you are on a good run, the confidence is high, but when you are on a losing streak, it is about breaking that and working as hard as you can. We have all been through that as footballers and we all know how to get through it, it is hard work and concentration.”

The 36-year-old was a pivotal part of last season’s National League South title-winning side and said the team felt they should be further up the Premier Division table than their current position of 13th.

He said: “The club has to look at finishing in the play-off places as a minimum. When we have a fit and available squad, it is as good as most in the league. We maybe do not have the budget of some other sides, but I think we can punch above our weight. As a club and a team we feel we need to be higher than we are at the minute, but there’s still a long way to go and a lot of football to be played. We are just concentrating on ourselves and how we perform.

“It is a good standard which probably does not get the recognition it should, but there are some good players and some good teams in this league. We are under no illusions, but we are hoping we can make a push towards the end of the year.”

On his injury, Smith added: “Last year I had a few injuries which was down to not having a pre-season, this year I had a bad hamstring injury which I played through which was probably my fault. I did not want to let the team down, but at my age it is about managing minutes. The Gaffer (manager Mark Cooper) and the medical team help me out massively, and I am pleased with how it is.”

 

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Yeovil Town manager Mark Cooper has taken aim at the disciplinary system describing it as “not fit for purpose” as suspensions continue to ravage the Glovers’ defence.

The boss will have defender Finn Cousin-Dawson available for Saturday’s trip to Woking after serving a one-man ban for his red card in last weekend’s 4-0 defeat at York City, but will still be without defenders Jake Wannell and Dom Bernard.

Speaking on Friday ahead of the trip to Surrey, Cooper revealed that the Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL), the body representing referees, had told the club Bernard’s red in the York defeat should only have been a yellow card, as an FA disciplinary panel upheld the decision to send the player off.

He told BBC Somerset’s Jack Killah: “Every manager will tell you they raised concerns about the system for a long period of time with the games being front loaded. We saw again (in the 1-0 home defeat to Barnet on) Wednesday night that the amount of times we have had players booked and the opposition haven’t is a lot! We had two players booked against Barnet and I still trying to work out what they were for. I can see that the players are a little bit hesitant to go in for any contact because they think they will get booked.

“Dom Bernard got sent off at York which we appealed, but the FA upheld the red card. That appeal is heard by three ex-players, no referees. On that panel were two centre halves from the 1980s that would have spent the majority of time kicking lumps out of centre forwards, but they chose to uphold the red card. At the end of every game I have to fill in a report on the referee, his performance, key incidents, and we get feedback from the PGMOL.

“The feedback came back from them to say Dom Bernard’s sending off should have been a yellow card, but the FA has upheld the red card! The whole system is not fit for purpose. We can’t change it, referees have a tough job but I just think they are struggling for the quality of referees. I think it is disrespectful that it is a full-time professional league and we have part-time referees, and until that changes I think you will get performances like we have recently. It is something the PGMOL needs to look at, it is not fair to the referees.”

Finn Cousin-Dawson will be available for the trip to Woking on Saturday. Picture courtesy of Gary Brown.

The defeat at home to Barnet on Wednesday saw the Glovers go 1-0 down to a goal from Yeovil-born Ryan Glover after just ten minutes of a first half performance the manager described as “passive.” A much improved second half display saw them pull level through Port Vale loanee James Plant before a Danny Collinge goal with seven minutes remaining saw the visitors take the three points.

Even after falling behind a second time, there was still time for refereeing drama as referee Andrew Humphries denied on loan defender Ed James a penalty after his leg was swept from underneath him inside the box with the final action of the match. That means Yeovil have picked up just two points for their nine games against the National League Premier’s top ten teams, with second-placed Forest Green Rovers the only team in the top ten they are yet to face.

Cooper said: “We have lost three games. If you take the Halifax game, one moment of unprofessionalism costs us the goal, but after that we should murder Halifax with a really good performance. The York game is a bit of an anomaly, we commit hara-kiri in the first ten minutes and we had two players sent off. Then the other night (against Barnet) it is another really tight game against the team which is top of the league, which we should get something out of.

“If we start talking about ripping everything up and doing something different because we have lost a game, the players will ask where the consistency is. The issue we have is the suspensions because on Wednesday night three of our front line defenders are suspended which is going to impact us for another couple of games because our left-sided defender (Jake Wannell) that starts so many attacks is going to miss the next two games.”

Matt Worthington. Picture courtesy of Gary Brown.

However, the manager is hoping to have captain Matt Worthington back to face Woking, having missed the last five matches with an ankle injury sustained in the goalless draw at Tamworth at the end of October.

He said: “We are hopeful Matt could be involved in the squad tomorrow, so that would be a good boost for us. We have to take in to account we played on Wednesday night, so there are one or two who may struggle to play Wednesday-Saturday. We will have a look this (Friday) morning and see who is fresh and see who we can put out there. We have some players who we have to look after if they play twice in that period of time that are injury risks, so we do not want to set them back six weeks or so.“

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It’s that time of the year again, when games come thick and fast, and Saturday sees Yeovil Town go to Woking in the league.

Form Guide…

After a good month or so for the Glovers during October/November, results have taken a turn for the worse.

Over the last five games Mark Cooper’s men have won two and lost threes. Those three losses have been over the last three games however. It must be said all three losses have been against Barnet, York City and Halifax, all very good teams in their own right. Last time out, they were beaten 1-2 at home to Barnet.

It’s been a tough season for Woking, who currently lie 18th in the league. Over their last five league games The Cards have had one win, two draws and two losses. The one victory was against second bottom Boston United. They have also been beaten by two team that the Glovers have been beaten by in Barnet and FC Halifax.

Key Players…

Yeovil – Michael Smith

What’s there to say about the experience full back that hasn’t already been said. The Northern Ireland international has come back from injury at a perfect time for Yeovil, with their defensive suspensions.

Michael Smith will be fit to return for this weekend’s home match with FC Halifax Town. Picture courtesy of Gary Brown.

Having a player with the know how and quality of Smith will prove vital going into the upcoming fixtures.  He will be a player Cooper will be looking to rely on that’s for sure.

Woking – Dale Gorman

A name that is well-known to Glovers’ fans, Gorman joined the Surrey side from Barnet in the summer and has made an impact. The centre midfielder  has picked up five assists so far this season for a struggling team.

The Northern Irishman has already been named captain in his short time at The Cards, which shows his impact as a leader within the squad.

However, he’s become a bit of a pantomime villain (quelle surprise, I know!) of late and had a bit of a bust-up with fans in a 2-0 defeat at Barnet last weekend. He appeared as a second half substitute against Southend United on Tuesday night and it’s fair to say there was a bit of an ‘atmosphere’ when he arrived.

Still loves a booking, he got sent off for two in the opening day and is the proud owner of ten yellows this season. He’s got one goal as well which (even more surprisingly to anyone who saw him in a Yeovil shirt) was a beautiful free-kick to get a consolation goal back in a 3-2 defeat at Tamworth last month.

Dale Gorman.
Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

That’s what he said…

The Cards manager, Michael Doyle spoke to club media about the his teams upcoming home fixture. He said: “Another home game against Yeovil. They come up last year, they’ve had a good start to the season, so it will be a good test for us, but we’re at home so we got to take the game to them.”

Yeovil boss Mark Cooper spoke to the BBC after the midweek game about the quick turnaround. He said: “We’ve only got two days, so the players will be off tomorrow in Friday then play on Saturday…we won’tYeoviuse that as excuse though.

We will have to freshen up, make sure we have a enough good legs in the team to play at Woking on Saturday.”

We’ve met before…

Out of the 11 games these two teams have played against each other Yeovil have six wins to Woking’s three, with just the two draws. However, the last time the two met the Glovers lost 0-1 in March 2023. The last time they played at Kingfield Stadium, in November 2022  the Somerset side lost again 1-0.

Don’t I Know You…

Has there been a pair of clubs which have swapped players as much as Woking and Yeovil Town down the years? Warren Patmore, Jamie Pitman, Steve Thompson, Kevan Brown, Charlie Wakefield, Luke Wilkinson….errr….there’s probably more….

In fact, there definitely are because there’s a few in today’s match, albeit they have come via other clubs

The previously mentioned Dale Gorman being one and his midfield partner Jamie Andrews also had spell in the South West.

Jamie Andrews. Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

The 22-year-old was on loan at Yeovil from West Bromwich Albion for a short period between November 2022 and January 2nd 2023. During that time he played a total of eight games.

Gorman played a total of 42 appearances during his year long spell in Somerset, scoring five goals.

Less likely to be playing is Dan Moss, the all-action full-back who endeared himself to Glovers’ fans during a loan spell from Millwall in the 2021/22 season. He played 23 times in green-and-white before returning to The Den, and was then picked up by his former boss at Yeovil, Darren Sarll, when he quit Huish Park for the Kingfield – yes, it happens with managers as well. Moss was not in the Cards’ squad for their midweek goalless draw (/snooze fest) with Southend United, so may not feature today.

Midfielder Rohan Ince is another player with Somerset connections. He arrived at Huish Park back in 2012 when he was getting his career started in Chelsea’s academy and made two appearances. Since then he’s gone on to represent Brighton & Hove Albion, Cheltenham Town and Maidenhead United with loans at Swindon Town and Fulham. He arrived at the Kingfield in 2021 but fell out of favour in the latter part of Sarll’s time in charge. He is a long-term injury victim this season and therefore will not feature against us.

Who’s been naughty then…

Yeovil will be without defenders Dom Bernard and Jake Wannell.

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Despite late drama at Huish Park again, it was another defeat for Yeovil. Here are my conclusions from a cold night in Somerset.

We took a while to get going again. It’s now two home matches in a row where Mark Cooper has had to make tactical tweaks to enable Yeovil to get a foothold in the game. Up until half an hour – when Yeovil switched to a 4-2-3-1 – it was all Barnet and they could have gone in two or three up. We saw similar when Halifax came to Huish. At times this season when we’ve matched other teams in a 3-4-3 we’ve come unstuck and the same happened last night. Once we changed shape though, I felt we nullified most of Barnet’s threat.

After our equaliser I thought we’d go on to win. We certainly had the momentum in the second half and James Plant’s hard work earned a well deserved equaliser. Instead, we allowed Barnet back into it and they could have gone back in front almost immediately with Stead and Kanu fluffing chances. That gave Barnet a bit of life and Collinge’s header really took the wind out of the green and white sails. Following the strife at York, I felt we gave Barnet a bloody nose and showed that we’re not a million miles away, but I saw the difference between a side that now sits top and a side that’s trying to keep pace with the playoff pack. That said…

I think it was a penalty. There’s been plenty of debate about the penalty decision right at the end of the match and I think the referee got it wrong. You can normally tell from the reaction of the defending team if they feel a player has gone down easily and the Barnet players didn’t react in an angry or aggressive way to debutant Ed James. Looking back at the highlights, replay and super-slowmo video, it looks like the kind of the decision that more often than not goes the way of the home team. Unfortunately we’re Yeovil Town, and it feels like we never really get those 50-50 decisions.

I felt we were missing the nippy fellas. In the first half, we were crying out for some pace and dynamism and only once we shifted shape did we see James Plant get his legs really pumping. I thought we could have introduced Josh Sims or Dylan Morgan earlier to get some runners in behind. We’ve gone from having the little technicians like Pearson, Morgan, Young, even Sonny to the taller lads, Nouble and Borges supporting Jarvis up top but, I thought it slowed us down.

This was the tricky run of fixtures. Some will be surprised that there’s not uproar around last three results, but I think the context of the matches and general expectations has left quite a balanced response. For all the hyperbole and expectation at the start of the season, most realistic supporters will see a mid-table finish as success. Despite the three losses on the bounce, we’re still two points outside the playoffs, and now with Woking and Braintree either side of W*ymouth, there’s a chance for the Glovers get back to winning ways ahead of the Christmas period.