Latest Yeovil Town News (Page 293)

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Play-maker Jordan Maguire-Drew believes he has a lot more to show Yeovil Town supporters despite having impressed since his arrival at the end of last year.

The 25-year-old signed an 18-month contract following an initial loan spell from League Two side Grimsby Town and has proven a fine asset in a side which remain the lowest scorers in the National League.

Speaking ahead of the weekend’s home match with bottom club Maidstone United, he said: “There’s still a lot more to come from me, I am not at my maximum at the moment which is a good thing. Hopefully I can reach the levels I know I can reach and show everyone how good I can be.”

Having scored from the penalty spot at his former club Dagenham & Redbridge last weekend, Maguire-Drew spurned a number of goal-scoring opportunities in the goalless draw with Wealdstone at Huish Park on Tuesday night.

He said: “I was very frustrated at myself because I should be putting those chances away and once I am fully firing those chances will go in.

“I know we can always grind out a clean sheet and on another day when you are fully firing it can work out for you.”

However, he believed the composed performance that Mark Cooper’s side turned in during the weekend was a sign of where the team are heading.

He said: “You can see the way the Gaffer wants to play and the other night was a great example of it until the sending off (of defender Owen Bevan after 54 minutes).

“We used the ball really well and everything we worked on in training came to fruition except that last bit. Hopefully we can have that for the whole 90 minutes against Maidstone on Saturday.”

Jordan Maguire-Drew. Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

Maguire-Drew was part of the Grimsby Town side promoted through the National League play-offs last season and was part of the Leyton Orient side which won the division in 2019.

He was brought to the club by then-Os’ manager Justin Edinburgh midway through that season and helped them return to the Football League.

He admitted he saw some parallels with Yeovil’s current situation, he said: “We had the same situation. Justin had taken when the club was struggling halfway through the season, built the squad in the summer and the following season we went on and won the league.

“I am not saying we are going to do that, but that is how quickly football can change. I believe in this squad and I believe the manager’s way of playing is the right way, that is the way I was brought up playing and the more we can practice it on the training pitch and put it in to games the better.

“I am trying to use my experiences in other games and the other night (against Wealdstone) was a perfect example, we had been playing well but they gained momentum after the sending off and we had to grind a result out.”

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Yeovil Town boss Mark Cooper believes the past two matches has seen his side start to deliver the style of football he is looking for them to play.

The Glovers have picked up four points in their last two National League outings with an impressive 2-0 win at Dagenham & Redbridge last weekend and a goalless draw at home to Wealdstone.

They dominated possession and showed a real control of the game for the opening 45 minutes in midweek, until the dismissal of loan defender Owen Bevan for a wild tackle left them having to dig in for a point.

Speaking ahead of this weekend’s home match with bottom club Maidstone United, the manager said: “That is the way I want us to play, my teams have always played like that. We want to be better, have more goal-scoring action but hopefully we can continue in that vein.

“As a coach you can get the team to that part of the pitch enough times, but we know the hardest thing in football is to score a goal.

“My job is to get the forward players in those position enough times, then it is about decision making, the final bit that leads to the goal is the hardest bit. I’m convinced if we keep getting in those positions, we will score more regularly.”

He added: “As a coach you want to see progression and a clear outline of what you are trying to work towards and we’ve had two games where we have seen that, that now has to be ten, 12 or 15 games before we get excited.

“My feet are on the ground, I am expecting a tough game (against Maidstone) and we are expecting another tough game.”

The boss confirmed that only the suspended Bevan and full-back Jamie Reckord, who sits out the second match of a two-game suspension for picking up ten yellow cards, will miss the game against Maidstone.

However, Chiori Johnson, who was on the bench in midweek but has not played since the Boxing Day draw at Torquay United, and winger Charlie Wakefield, who was introduced after 72 minutes against Wealdstone, are both options.

Cooper said: “It’s disappointing (for players) when you don’t make the team and all these boys are desperate to play, but we can only pick 16 and their attitude on the whole has been really good.

“They understand there’s a reason if they are not in the squad, you don’t get left out if you are playing really well, so if they get their chance they have to take it. You have to train hard, practice and be ready.”

The manager’s son, Charlie Cooper, has impressed at the base of midfield against both Dagenham & Redbridge and Wealdstone, and his arrival has allowed captain Josh Staunton to drop back in to defence.

Asked about the formation, the boss did not want to dwell too much on his son, saying: “Staunts is more comfortable at the back, so that was always the intention but I don’t want to talk too much about Charlie for obvious reasons.

“The players we have brought in have all improved the group, I thought Lawson D’Ath came in and did really well and showed what a good footballer he is.

“We had Jack Clarke who we had to rest the other night, so we have some good competition and technical ability as well as athleticism in the middle of the pitch and that is what I have been waiting for.”

Charlie Cooper in action against Wealdstone. Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

This weekend, Yeovil host a Maidstone United side who are bottom of the National League table having conceded 66 times in 30 matches.

Former Wolves defender George Elokobi is in caretaker charge of the visitors following the dismissal of Hakan Hayrettin last month.

The Stones nicked a late point off Yeovil at the end of October, a match which Cooper watched from the stands in Kent, and the boss said he was pleased with the improvement of his side since that day.

He said: “We have shown some progress, got points and we are in a healthier position than we were. That has to continue and as the club builds we can get better, but I have enjoyed the ride so far.

Mark Cooper watches on from the stand at Maidstone United in October.

“Their form has taken a downturn since we last played and they have lost a really good manager in Hakan, they have a caretaker manager and they are desperate for points.

“The onus is on us to attack the game and try to win and set our stall out as to how we want to play early on. Every point is vital, there is a lot of teams finding some form at the bottom and a lot above us starting to drop, so we just have to keep ticking along and picking up points and we should be okay.

“They were unlucky against Torquay last time out, but we are at home and we have to be on the front foot. There’s no gimmes in this game, you have to earn everything.”

After Saturday’s fixture, the Glovers are out of action for a fortnight until the visit of leaders Notts County to Huish Park on February 18th, and Cooper spoke of his frustration at the congestion fixture list.

His side will play twice a week for the three weeks following after the visit to Barnet was rearranged for Tuesday 14th March.

Cooper said: “It is getting to the stage now where it can become almost impossible to fit the games in where we are given a fair chance to recover our players. After Saturday with the amount of games we have left, it is not pretty.

“We thought we were going to fit a game in on Tuesday but the club we wanted to play can’t play it for some reason. I think our only other free week is when England C play and we have been told no-one is allowed to play on that night, so it will mean that one or two of the weeks towards the end of the season we will be playing on a Tuesday or Thursday night.

“We have moved heaven and Earth to try and fit some games in.”

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141 supporters shared their views on December and gave now Mark Cooper a score of 5.16 out of 7 and scored the players performance at 4.78 out of 7 –  both a slight drop on the November scores.

Off the pitch, with the average score to the question ‘What would score the ownership/board this month?’ fell to 2.10 out of 7. With regards to communication the score dropped by 0.27 to 2.2 out of 7 and supporters scored the matchday experience 3.12.

We also asked supporters if they supported a takeover of the club, this received a score of 6.33 out of 7.

Thank you to the 141 supporters who took part, take part in January’s survey here.

Aug 22Sep 22Oct 22Nov 22Dec 22Jan 23Feb 23Mar 23Apr 23Aug 23Sep 23Oct 23Nov 23
What would you score the ownership/board this month?2.131.881.652.352.11.892.133.252.583.915.56.365.08
How has the manager performed this month?3.372.91.935.545.165.094.292.82.494.325.646.345.16
What would you score the communication from the club this month?2.322.191.942.472.21.842.543.51.365.275.385.885.21
What would you score the match day experience this month?2.762.62.13.243.122.93.163.61.225.225.285.435.2
How have the players performed this month?3.603.472.325.344.784.753.293.252.345.55.315.65.35
Responses2191301401481419437401292071507680

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It’s been a rather disrupted January, let us know how you thought it went in our usual opinion tracker.

Here’s how it went on the pitch…

1st January – Yeovil Town 2 – 0 Torquay United
14th January – Bromley 4 – 1 Yeovil Town
28th January – Dagenham & Redbridge 0 – 2 Yeovil Town
31st January – Yeovil Town 0 – 0 Wealdstone 

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On this episode of the Glovers Past, Dave speaks to former Yeovil Town defender, Craig Alcock.

Enjoy!

Photo courtesy of Mike Kunz

Image courtesy of Mike Kunz

Thank you for your continued support of the Gloverscast. Remember to add Gloverscast.co.uk to your favourites and check the website daily for the latest news and views from Huish Park.

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The Football Association have confirmed the three match ban for Owen Bevan after his red card in the second half of the Glovers 0-0 draw with Wealdstone.

Referee Scott Jackson bradished his red circle of doom after a strong challenge by the Bournemouth loanee.

The suspension falls under the Category of “S1 – Serious Foul Play”, which carries an automatic three game suspension.

The defender will miss the Maidstone game on Saturday, before the home game against Notts County and the away trip to Maidenhead, which means, he won’t be available for another Glovers league game until York away on February the 25th (unless there’s any other rearrangements)

A point of note; he will be available for the Somerset Men’s Premier Cup game against Paulton on Valentine’s Day – the suspension only covers League and relevant National Cup Fixtures.

Owen Bevan sees red from referee Scott Jackson.

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Another draw… that’s 13, another clean sheet… that’s 12… and another 5 conclusions to go alongside.

Gloverscast Ben had his stream beaming into Barrett HQ, here’s how he saw it.

Edwin Agbaje

I was fearful of Jamie Reckord’s absence, but the introduction of Edwin Agbaje might rank very high for debut performances for a young loanee.

Just 18 years of age, I thought the borrowed Ipswich man looked assured beyond his years, trying to get forward at every opportunity, linking well with his team mates and not afraid to stick a boot in where it hurt at a vital time.
I’ve said before I wanted a little more in the full back areas and based on that introductory 90 minutes, I’m hopeful we’ve got a good one.

The Thatchers Gold End – Photo Chris Fox

We need to talk about the pitch.

Just seven days on from the original postponement of this game the pitch was an early focal point.

The troublesome Thatchers End goal mouth was primed for sand castle building competition and the rest of it had its moments.

Lawson D’Ath tripped over nothing when trying to defend a through ball, the edge of the 18 yard box made a wonderful tackle on Andrew Oluwabori and if a Wealdstone attacker hadn’t turned his back on Grant Smith early doors, the keeper’s stumble and slip would have left a gaping goal.

There was plenty of misplaced footsteps and wobbles, the football you play is only as good as the surface its played on. Whatever has happened in the past couple weeks has clearly taken its toll on the surface and we could do with looking after it… not training on it to make a point.

Owen Bevan sees red from referee Scott Jackson.

The red card of course changed the game.

Firstly, I think it was a red card, not malicious or particularly dangerous, but certainly out of control and certainly worthy of the red circle of doom from Scott Jackson’s back pocket.

I think it forced our hands to make changes we didn’t want, or need to make and it means that our most assured defender will miss three games.

Ben Richards-Everton looked fairly comfortable when he came on, but Staunton is clearly hobbling more and is a warrior to the end.

I’m confident in Hunt, Williams or BRE to fill that gap, but I’d much rather have Bevan for the next few games.

Jordan Maguire-Drew. Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

JMD is human after all!!!

Our new star man had his first off day, his Sat Nav hadn’t been configured properly, his radar needs some recalibration.

A couple wayward shots, a few set pieces not quite on their mark and suddenly we’re taking off our new number 10 as the reshuffle followed the red card.

He will turn the machine off and on again and be back again for Saturday.

Finally… time for an unpopular opinion…

Jordan Maguire-Drew, left, talks to Alex Fisher. Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

I cannot celebrate or even enjoy a home performance in its entirety, when we have 0 shots on target.

Off the back of a very good away win, it was important to back that up with another positive result.

The Wealdstone keeper didn’t have to get muddy (or sandy) at any point.

He was never troubled. Not with 11 Glovers on the pitch, not with 10.

I found myself getting increasingly wound up as the game wore on, I found myself begging players to pull the trigger, to get a shot in on goal that at least wakes the keeper up.

Yes, we are OK at the back, but let’s not pretend we didn’t give up chances, Grant Smith cements his title as the best keeper in the league and a better opposition strike force probably score 2 or 3 with minimal fuss.

If we’re happy with that as a 0-0, wrap the season up, call it a day and let’s try again in August.

We enter February sat in no man’s land (on and off the pitch), and I want to be entertained.

I don’t want to try and win 1-0 but settle for a stalemate, I want to try and win 4-0 but settle for a 3-3.

I’d like us to set our standards higher. Our players our better than they were, the manager is better, the whole club is better than enjoying another 0-0 draw.




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Yeovil Town goalkeeper Grant Smith has praised the side’s reaction to being reduced to 10 men as the Glovers picked up a point against Wealdstone.

Speaking to BBC Somerset’s Sheridan Robins after the game, the stopper was happy with yet another clean sheet.

“The lads dug in well and we had chances to nick it at the end, but it was a good clean sheet and a good point.
We work on it daily, whoever it is we look solid, obviously Ben (Richards-Everton) stepped in today and a lot of the clean sheets are down to (the defenders).”

The goalless draw was not just a 13th stalemate of the league season but also represented a 12th clean sheet for Smith and the Glovers side, something which he says comes from hard work under Mark Cooper’s stewardship, with a focus on possession and being more involved in the middle of the pitch.

“He’s (Cooper) changed a few players and we have had a few weeks to work on (our style of play) with no games, we have changed little things slightly and I am enjoying it.
You can see we gain much more possession and momentum, when we are playing it short we have more bodies around so whenever we give it away we can press, whereas when we are going longer there is a lot more spaces between defence and midfield which makes it harder to gain control of the ball.”

Grant Smith gets down to make a save in the goalless draw with Taunton Town. Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

With just 26 goals conceded in the league, the Glovers boast the joint-third best defencive record, but remain the lowest scorers in the division with just 23, Wealdstone has their chances to pick up the win, but Smith and his defence stood firm.

“Today they (Wealdstone) tried to play as well and it was two teams trying to play in the right way, but unfortunately we could not get that goal.
The fans sometimes don’t like the slow play sometimes, but we are doing it for a reason we are doing it.”

The former Chesterfield keeper is approaching the total number of clean sheets he achieved in the whole of last season already and said that his performances have been enjoyable, and consistent throughout the course of the season.

“For me, I am most happy with my consistency, keepers are always going to make saves when they are called upon but for me it is more about consistently playing well rather than being a 9/10 and then 4/10 rather than just a six or seven consistently.” (We need to talk about your rating scale, Grant…)
“Now it’s just about trying to get a clean sheet in the next game and try and get some wins so we are pulling the right way up the table.”

Here’s to “Cleano” number 13 on Saturday!

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Mark Cooper said his Yeovil Town side would settle for a point after playing with ten men for the final 35 minutes of the goalless draw with Wealdstone.

The Glovers’ boss described his team as “immense” after a controlled first half performance saw them boss a visiting side seven points above them in the National League table, before holding out following the dismissal of defender Owen Bevan on 54 minutes.

But, once against they struggled in front of goal and failed to land a shot on target in the 90 minutes with forwards Jordan Maguire-Drew and Andrew Oluwabori both spurning good opportunities.

Speaking to BBC Somerset’s Sheridan Robins after the match, the boss said: “You could clearly see what we were trying to do. We controlled possession, we were patient and created some really good chances. I thought we looked a really good football team even with ten men.

“But, if we are going to play like we did in the first half, we have to make good decisions once we get in the last third and the boys up front have to decide whether they shoot, cross, pull back or whatever it is. That is where they make their money, making those decisions and I thought that was the only thing missing tonight.”

Bevan, who is on loan from Premier League AFC Bournemouth, saw red after lunging in to try and reach an overhit pass, but Cooper was clearly agitated by the decision by referee Scott Jackson.

He said: “I would rather not talk about it. The referee was telling everybody he is not one that gives fouls and stops the game and the first tackle we make it is a red card, but you are never going to get it rescinded.

“I would rather not waste my energy on talking about referees and decisions, I would rather compliment our players tonight because they were outstanding even down to ten men.”

The draw meant Yeovil missed the opportunity to move from 18th place in the National League table with a number of the teams around them not having midweek fixtures.

But, Cooper added that he was starting to see his side deliver what he had been looking for since taking the job.

He added: “I want to play with a bit of control, not defending our box for 90 minutes as we were when I came in. We have brought in some technical players that can help us control games for longer periods and have less defending to do.”

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Midweek Loan Watch fans, rejoice!

It was a fairly quiet Tuesday night for the Glovers out on loan, Sherborne, Leamington and Truro didn’t have games, but some did get some match action.

As the headline suggests we start in Gillingham where both midfielder Sam Hodges and goalkeeper Rob Hollard were praised for their performances in a 1-1 draw with Odd Down AFC.

Hollard in particular pulled off a number of important saves for his side… including this one, handily caught on social media.

Another side who drew 1-1 were Plymouth Parkway who took on Beaconsfield, Toby Stephens started on the bench and was brought on for the final few minutes to help sure things up in midfield.

As for our friends over the border in W*ymouth, they won 2-1 (boooo!), Will Dawes came off the bench with 15 minutes to go to in the fixture against Hampton and Richmond Borough.