Match Report: Yeovil Town 0 Wealdstone 0
2023-01-31
Venue: Huish Park
Tuesday 31st January, 7.45pm kick-off
Conditions: Dry and cold
Pitch: Heavily sanded in front of the Thatcher’s End
Attendance: 1,996 (84 away supporters)
Scorers:
Bookings:
Yeovil Town: Edwin Agbaje 77
Wealdstone: Dom Hutchinson 90+1
Sendings off:
Yeovil Town: Owen Bevan, 54
Referee: Scott Jackson
Substitutes: Alex Fisher (for Jordan Young, 50), Ben Richards-Everton (for Jordan Maguire-Drew, 65), Charlie Wakefield (for Charlie Cooper, 72), Chiori Johnson, Jack Clarke.
Wealdstone: Howes, Cook, Freckleton, Allarakhia, Ferguson, Andrews, Obiero, Dyer, Ilunga, Barker, Habergham. Substitutes (not used): Hutchinson (for Habergham, 39), Kretzschmar (for Obiero, 72), Olomola (for Allarakhia, 82) Charles, Barrett.
Match Report
Yeovil Town recorded their third goalless draw against Wealdstone as on loan defender Owen Bevan was sent off on a cold night at Huish Park.
The on-loan AFC Bournemouth player saw red after 54 minutes having lunged in to try and win an overhit ball which derailed the Glovers’ hopes of going for the win after an impressive first half performance.
Here’s how it happened….
First half
After an end-to-end start, the first real chance fell to the visitors as a fast-flowing move down the right caught Morgan Williams out at left-back as Brooklyn Ilunga found Tarryn Allarkhia breaking in to the box and forced a fine save out of Grant Smith…..thought everyone except for the match officials who did not give Wealdstone the corner they obviously deserved.
Ilunga was involved again on 14 minutes putting a ball in towards striker Corrie Andrews, but Yeovil captain Josh Staunton was just in time to get in ahead of him.
If there was one thing noticeable about the opening attacks for Yeovil it was the state of the Huish Park pitch which was heavily sanded (to put it mildly) in front of the Thatcher’s Stand, and one at least two occasions it led to the home players losing their footing.
Despite the visitors having the better chances, it was the home side who had the lion’s share of possession and pressure and their best chance fell to Andrew Oluwabori. A fantastic ball through from Edwin Agbaje put the Peterborough United loanee in on goal, but he dallied too long allowed the Wealdstone to nick in and clear.
One thing which was evident was the quality in the middle of the park with Jordan Maguire-Drew, Charlie Cooper, Lawson D’Ath and Jordan Young all looking exceptionally comfortable on the ball. What was missing was the finish….perhaps not surprising from the National League’s lowest scorers.
Two chances fell to Maguire-Drew, scuffing one and then putting another high and not so handsome, then with three minutes of the first half remaining Oluwabori cut inside and smashed a shot……..high over the bar.
In terms of possession and intent, that was Yeovil’s half – such a difference to the last match at home to Torquay United on New Year’s Day. But the missing element was a goal – how many times have we said that this season?
Half time: Yeovil Town 0 Wealdstone 0
Second half
Wealdstone started the second half brighter – as they had done in the opening 45 minutes – and with just five minutes played, Mark Cooper introduced Alex Fisher in to the fray in place of Jordan Young.
Young is definitely not an out-and-out centre forward, preferring to drop deeper and link up with his team-mates, notably Maguire-Drew, but in Fisher Cooper introduced more of a focal point.
But on 54 minutes, the game changed when Owen Bevan went bursting forward and appeared to overhit his touch and lunged in to try and win it back. It took a little while but the inevitable red card soon came from referee Scott Jackson.
On the hour mark, a rare Yeovil break saw Fisher and Maguire-Drew bursting forward and the play-maker spotted Howes off his line but lofted his effort over.
Two minutes later, great vision from Matt Worthington saw him pick out Maguire-Drew coming in from the left-hand side but his blazed his effort over.
Then it was Wealdstone’s chance to have a go, midfielder Alex Dyer broke in to the box and his effort looked like it was heading for the bottom corner before an outstretched hand from Grant Smith turned it away.
On 67 minutes, Oluwabori fired a ball across the face of goal with Fisher closing in…..just throw yourself at it, Alex! He didn’t and the game remained goalless.
Grant Smith was called in to action with ten minutes of the match remaining when defender Charlie Barker forced a fine stop out of Yeovil’s number one and then as the game ticked in to 90 minutes substitute Dom Hutchinson pulled one wide.
Full time: Yeovil Town 0 Wealdstone 0
Gloverscast #227 – “Spoken like a true asthmatic”
2023-01-30
AN AWAY WIN! Dave is back with Ian and Ben to tell us all about Dagenham and we look ahead to Tuesday night against Wealdstone.
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Bateson hat-trick earns friendly win
2023-01-29
A hat-trick from prolific striker Charlie Bateson was enough to earn Yeovil Town Under-18s a 3-2 win in a friendly match over Sherborne School Sixth Form on Saturday.
Having gone behind after just seven minutes, Bateson broke through to get his first nine minutes later and added a second ten minutes before half-time. The hosts pulled level a minute after the equaliser before Bateson completed his hat-trick after 76 minutes.
However, the young Glovers also lost top spot in the South West Counties Youth League as Bridgwater United picked up a 3-1 win at Mangotsfield United to return to the top of the table.
There were three wins and two defeats for the club’s other age group teams in the Junior Premier League at the weekend.
The Under-12s won against Paulton Rovers while the Under-15s and Under-16s were winners over Mid-Somerset Regional Talent Centre. The Under-13s and Under-14s teams, who all play as part of the Yeovil Town Community Sports Trust, were defeated by their opponents from Mid-Somerset RTC.
Five Conclusions: Dagenham & Redbridge 0 Yeovil Town 2
2023-01-29
Yeovil Town became the last National League side to pick up a win away from home as they saw off ten-man Dagenham on Saturday.
The win keeps the Glovers five points clear of the relegation zone with many of the division’s struggling sides picking up wins, but also means there are ‘just’ nine points between them and the play-off places.
Here’s what Coatesie thought of his most recent visit to the Chigwell Construction Stadium……
An away win, and what an away win. It would be easy to point to the fact Dagenham played for an hour with ten men, but let’s not forget they were in the play-offs at the start of the game and we had not won an away match all season. Far from the rusty display we saw after a period of not playing last time out against Bromley, we were at it from the off. We stepped off the gas after half-time which allowed Dagenham to create some good chances, but we were more than worth the win – plus two goals and a clean sheet.
The new boys made a difference. In the first half, the combination of Jordan Young’s hard work, the quality of Jack Clarke, Jordan Maguire-Drew and Andrew Oluwabori caused Dagenham all kinds of problems. We pressed them and, for players who are presumably still getting to know each other, there was enough to think we could have a way to improve our goals scored rally. Further back, I did not really notice Charlie Cooper much and that is to his credit. In a defensive midfield position, he was neat and tidy and seemed to do what he needed to do.
We finished enough chances, but still plenty to do. We scored goals – two of them! A coolly taken penalty from Maguire-Drew and then an absolute beauty from outside the box from Matt Worthington. But, if I am being greedy (and I am), it really could and should have been more. As he did at Bromley two weeks prior, Oluwabori had a great chance to add another. His pace causes problems and he gets in a lot of the right positions, if he could add finishing to his game he’d be almost complete. Then, right at the death, Alex Fisher will have been disappointed not to have added another to his tally.
Stay where you are, Josh. Josh Staunton back in defence alongside Owen Bevan brought that solid feel back to us which was sadly lacking at Bromley. It is early days, but if Cooper proves a good anchorman in midfield, I would be quite happy to see Staunton stay back for the foreseeable. Equally, Morgan Williams on the right and Jamie Reckord on the left coped well against a lively Dagenham forward line. I’d be quite happy to keep that defence…….what’s that about Reckord being banned?!
Now we need to follow it up. An away win on the board, three points, two goals – mission accomplished. But we need to follow this up with a win at home to Wealdstone on Tuesday night. Looking at our games throughout February it feels like we should be going in to next weekend’s home game with bottom club Maidstone United and the trips to Maidenhead, York to get three points. If we can do that, the taller tasks of a trip to Wrexham and a visit from Notts County can be free hits.
Loan Watch: Game time for Glovers
2023-01-29
Mother Nature has finally relented in her quest for an unofficial winter break in the British football calendar and that means it’s time for another Loan Watch.
Sadly, results didn’t go quite to plan for the cohort of Yeovil Town players plying their trade elsewhere.
Let’s start with the two that didn’t play:
Ollie Haste was an unused substitute as his Truro City side won 1-0 a huge top-of- the-table clash in the Southern League Premier Division South at leaders Weston-super-Mare, who included a certain Reuben Reid in their line-up. That result moves Paul Wootton’s side to within one point of the table toppers.
In the same division midfielder Toby Stephens also had a watching brief as Plymouth Parkway pulled off a shock with a 4-0 home win over fifth-placed Poole Town. Despite the win, Stephens’ loan club remain in the relegation zone.
On to to those who did get some game time, striker Ollie Hulbert made his long-awaited Leamington debut, having joined the National League North side a fortnight ago – but sadly his side were on the wrong end of the result against second-placed King’s Lynn Town.
Hulbert had chances to find the net, but an inspired goalkeeper in the Linnets net kept him and his side at bay.
Onto our seaside ‘friends’, who also lost, W*ymouth were 2-0 down before they brought on Will Dawes at half-time against second placed Oxford City. The game ended with a 3-1 defeat for the seagull botherers who remain second-from-bottom of the table.
To North Dorset, where there was finally some match action for young goalkeeper Rob Hollard as well as Sam Hodges having arrived at Western League Division One side Gillingham Town. Hollard started in goal, Hodges was used from bench. The Gills went down 3-1 against Bishops Lydeard.
Finally, at Sherborne where the Zebras were on the wrong end of a 90th minute penalty, Barnstaple Town winning 1-0.
Both Benjani Junior and Jake Graziano were in the Sherborne starting line up.
Let’s hope for some better results… as well as more match time for the Glovers’ loanees in midweek.
Cooper: The process is improving us
2023-01-28
Yeovil Town manager Mark Cooper said he believes his side will continue to improve after seeing them pick up their first away win of the season with a 2-0 victory at Dagenham & Redbridge on Saturday.
A first half penalty from Jordan Maguire-Drew and a stunning second from Matt Worthington was enough to earn the Glovers the points against a home side who played more than an hour with ten men after defender Harry Phipps was sent off for giving away the spot kick.
Cooper said he believed his side could have done more to press home their one man advantage, but he was confident that “the process” he has started with the squad would bring that.
He told BBC Somerset’s Sheridan Robins: “I’m pleased the fact we’ve got three points we played some really good football at times. We didn’t control the game as much as I’d like when we had a numerical advantage, but that will come we’ve just started the process.
“We got that little bit of luck (with the penalty and sending off), we scored the penalty, it’s key when you get the penalty and they’re down to ten men that you score it.
“That then makes it a difficult spell for Dagenham and then I thought we controlled the game in the first half, after that we we didn’t let them get near our goal and we probably could have killed the game off.”
Having gone in at the break a goal to the good, the home side, who remain in the National League play-off places even after the loss, came back in to it in the second half with substitute Paul McCallum causing problems for the visitors’ defence.
Cooper added: “I was pleased with a lot of aspects of the game, I think you could see that we worked on the control and trying to pass the ball a lot more and our positional play that was really good.
“In the second half, (it was) a little bit end to end for my liking, we had a great chance to straight after half time, Andrew (Oluwabori) should score really to make it 2-0 but while it’s one nil there’s always a chance for the opposition. But we we’re, quite comfortable.“
The manager handed starts to recent signings striker Jordan Young and midfielder Charlie Cooper along with on loan Chesterfield winger Jack Clarke and all three impressed in a more potent attacking display in the first have.
The manager added: “I though they were all good I thought you could see that they’ve improved us. Jordan Young looked sharp, electric, in the first, Clarkey was silky and Charlie showed he could control large parts of the game with his
with his passing. So I thought they all added to the group.“
Worthy: I want even more goals
2023-01-28
Goalscorer Matt Worthington is aiming to continue his rich vein of scoring form after netting his third in five games to seal a 2-0 win at Dagenham & Redbridge at the weekend.
The Yeovil Town midfielder found the net just once last season and drew a blank in the 2020-21 campaign but has been playing in a more advanced position since the arrival of Mark Cooper as manager.
It was his forward run which won the penalty after half-an-hour which was put away by Jordan Maguire-Drew to give the Glovers the lead in Essex.
Speaking to BBC Somerset’s Sheridan Robins after the match, Worthington said: “(Scoring goals) is something that I wanted to add to my game, especially this season.
“I need to get more goals, especially in the position I’m playing – an advanced role in midfield- the gaffer has given me licence to get forward and long may it continue.”
Worthington was part of a three-man midfield alongside Charlie Cooper and loanee Jack Clarke who were handed their first starts and impressed in the first half, linking up well with the front three of Jordan Young, Andrew Oluwabori and Maguire-Drew.
He added: “I think they’re (the new additions) brilliant, with Coops at the bottom of the three, we were solid in the first half, we felt more secure, it allowed me and Clarkey to push forward. It was a good performance.
“Second half, they were definitely throwing bodies forward and it was just nice to get that second goal and secure the 3 points.
“Paul McCallum (who came on for Dagenham at the start of the second half) is a good player, he’s effective, when we came out I said to the lads that they’d be looking to hit him, he’s effective, he gets the flicks on so we need to track the runners.
“I think the defence were brilliant, they dealt with all the threats all game. Morgs was brilliant, Bevs, Staunts and Recks were brilliant all game.“
The win keeps Yeovil five points off the National League’s relegation places, and nine points adrift of Dagenham who still occupy the final play-off place – and the win must have lifted Worthy who used ‘the p word’ quite explicitly.
He said: “I didn’t realise we had not won away this season until a couple of weeks ago and obviously it’s something we have to change, we have to win away if we want to get up to the play-off spots.
“That pressure now is off us that we’ve won our away game and hopefully we can take it into the next couple of games.“
FA confirm Reckord ban
2023-01-28
The Football Association has confirmed the a two-match ban for Glovers’ defender Jamie Reckord.
Reckord picked up his 10th yellow card of the season in the 79th minute of Yeovil’s 2-0 win against Dagenham on Saturday.
Reckord will miss back to back home games against Wealdstone and Maidstone.