Latest Yeovil Town News (Page 297)

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Yeovil Town have bolstered their midfield ranks with the resigning of Jack Clarke on loan from Chesterfield.

Clarke, who had joined the Glovers for a short stint during the 2020/21 season, returns for the rest of the current campaign.

The midfielder hasn’t played for Spireites since 4th October when he played 75 minutes in 3-2 defeat to Dagenham & Redbridge.

Clarke will wear the number 30 shirt and is available for the Tuesday night game against Barnet.

Welcome Back, Jack!

 

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South Somerset District Council has insisted it has “a number of safeguards” in place to protect Huish Park from development.

The authority has issued its second statement in a week defending its purchase of the land upon which the stadium stands and the land around it in a deal valued at £2.8m back in May.

It is a pretty wordy statement which references “comments on social media” which we assumes refers to ongoing questions posed by Martin Hellier, the local businessman who has made no secret of his desire to buy the club.

The statement gives a lengthy chronology of how it came to buy the land and then refers to Yeovil Town Holdings Limited (YTHL), a company controlled by club chairman Scott Priestnall, which has the buy-back rights to what it calls the “non-core land” at Huish Park – essentially the land around the stadium.

The council said: “YTHL cannot sell the non-core land for development while the freehold is owned by SSDC. Due to commercial confidentiality, we will not be debating hypothetical situations regarding sales or disposal but a number of safeguards are in place to protect the core land, i.e. the stadium.”

Plans produced by SSDC showing the ‘core’ and ‘non-core’ land it owns at Huish Park.
Hellier’s criticism on social media has centered on the fact that he says he is willing to buy the land from the authority, but is yet to make any progress in his efforts.
In its statement the council said it would “carefully consider any proposal to buy the freehold outside of the buyback option” it has with Priestnall, as the majority shareholder of Yeovil Town Holdings Limited.
It adds: “Bearing in mind the Council’s reasons for buying the land in the first place, it is highly unlikely SSDC would sell its freehold of the stadium or remaining land unless it judged that was part of supporting the future of the club. This would therefore probably have to be linked with a transfer of ownership of the football club.
“But a potential buyer would need to agree terms with the current owner and jointly approach SSDC with their proposition.
“The option for the buy-back was to the owner prior to the SSDC purchase and leaseback, but would apply to any successor. SSDC was always clear that it was not going to become involved in the running of the football club via this transaction, and that the owner can manage the club as it considers appropriate.“
The “potential buyer” referred to in the statement could refer to an unnamed “preferred party” with which it has an exclusivity agreement to become a majority shareholder of the club.
The saga continues……

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In news which made set a world record for making the Gloverscast out of date, Jordan Maguire-Drew is a Yeovil Town player.

Within minutes of us posting an article about comments made by Grimsby Town boss Paul Hurst saying he was expecting the playmaker back at Blundell Park, the player’s departure from the League Two side was confirmed.

Then 19 minutes later, he was confirmed as signing an 18-month contract at Huish Park.

In a statement on ytfc.net, the 25-year-old said: “I’m delighted to be here permanently. I really enjoyed my first month and now having the move sorted, I can’t wait to kick on.

“I’d like to thank the fans for their support so far, it was your support that made this an easy decision for me.”

The deal ends a somewhat odd bit of statement tit-for-tat between North East Lincolnshire and South Somerset.

When Maguire-Drew signed back in December, the Glovers said that “personal terms have been agreed for the player to sign on a permanent contract during the January transfer window, subject to the completion of a satisfactory medical” whilst Grimsby referred to it only as a one-month loan.

The Mariners then followed up with a statement reiterating their position “in light of contradictory statements“, before adding: “Although we can confirm that informal discussions regarding a permanent transfer have taken place between the two clubs, it is important to state that nothing has been formally agreed at this stage and Jordan remains under contract with GTFC.”

True at the time, we guess, but then minutes after Yeovil boss Mark Cooper confirmed he expected the player to sign after the 4-1 defeat at Bromley on Saturday, his Grimsby counterpart Paul Hurst said differently.

Either way, on the basis of his performances since arriving in Somerset – welcome to Huish Park permanently, JM-D!

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UPDATE: No sooner than we post this, Grimsby have announced the departure of Jordan Maguire-Drew by mutual consent.

Grimsby Town manager Paul Hurst has said that Jordan Maguire-Drew is expected to return to his parent club this week following the expiry of his initial loan deal.

Speaking to the Grimsby Telegraph, Hurst said: “As it stands Jordan [Maguire-Drew] will return [this week]. To my mind, if a permanent move was going to happen then that would’ve been sorted by now, so I’m expecting him to be back with us. If someone comes back and they conduct themselves in a certain way, and we all know what that means, then they won’t be involved but that also goes for the players that haven’t gone out on loan.”

“Ultimately, he’s our player I said that I reluctantly agreed to let him go out on loan, I wasn’t pushing him out the door so it is very much in Jordan’s court in terms of how he comes back. I’m very open-minded with it all and everything I’ve seen and read suggests he’s done well [at Yeovil] so time my mind, he is contracted with us and will be back, but it is up to him now.”

Jordan Maguire-Drew. Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

Following the defeat to Bromley, Glovers’ gaffer Mark Cooper said he expected a permanent deal to be confirmed in the early part of this week with the suggestion that personal terms had already been agreed when the initial loan deal was agreed.

Cooper said that a permanent deal for the forward was “more or less done.” He added: “Hopefully we can announce that early in the week.“

Clearly there’s some miscommunication somewhere in the matrix, Maguire-Drew has played just three league games in the Green and White of Yeovil including scoring the all important second goal against Torquay on New Years’ Day.

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The Somerset FA have published the full list of Quarter Final ties for the Somerset Men’s Premier Cup.

The Glovers’ away game against Paulton Rovers has been scheduled for Tuesday 14th February with a 19:45 kick off.

Yeovil have a free weekend prior with Gateshead away now postponed due to Heed’s FA Trophy involvement and Mark Cooper’s side will host Notts County on the 18th.

Larkhall’s tie against Bath and Bridgwater’s game against Weston Super Mare will both take place 24 hours later on Wednesday 15th.

The other tie sees Bishop Sutton taking on Frome with that game pencilled in for Tuesday 31st January.

The Glovers beat Taunton Town 2-1 in the last round as they look to defend their 2022 crown.

At time of writing ticket details have not been confirmed, but a Valentines Date Night at Winterfield Road sounds like an opportunity not to be missed!

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Yeovil Town forward Ollie Hulbert has joined National League North side, Leamington FC on a loan deal through until the end of the season.

The striker had been at Plymouth Parkway until last week but now joins the Brakes for the remainder of the campaign – his third loan club of the season having also had a short time at Gloucester City.

Leamington boss Paul Holleran said on Hulbert’s arrival;

‘I’m delighted to get Oliver over the line,’ said the manager on the new arrival. ‘He’s a player that was very impressive in this division last year. It’s an area we have been looking to improve. We’ve been looking for another option for a number of months, but trying to find the right number nine at the moment is something that has proved to be very difficult.

‘Oliver is a player that we know has the potential to add a different dimension to our attack, and throughout his young career he has always scored goals. We are really looking forward to working with him.’

Hulbert has made just three league appearances for the Glovers this season, most recently a cameo from the bench against Maidstone on October 29th.

Loan Watch fans are delighted at this news!

Go well, Ollie.

 

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Dave braved Bromley and is here to tell Ian and Ben the story of his afternoon.

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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If you have an idea for the website, want to contribute or just want to send us a message, feel free to email ian@gloverscast.co.uk.

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Yeovil Town’s defensive copybook got well and truly blotted  at Bromley on Saturday and the goal-scoring issues which have dogged us the past two seasons were still there for all to see.

The result was a 4-1 defeat, the first time we have lost by three goals since last March.

Here’s what Coatesie made of it….

 

We could not cope with the wind.  The 149 supporters who made the trip to the away end will be under no illusion there was a strong wind at Hayes Lane yesterday – it was blowing across the pitch and directly in to our faces. Bromley presumably recognised it and kept the ball down, albeit on a plastic pitch, whereas we seemed to be overhitting passes, trying long balls and I wonder if the lad in the away end whose baseball cap got tossed in the air ever found it! With the likes of D’Ath, Maguire-Drew and Oluwabori in the starting line-up, keeping the ball down should surely have been the tactic.

What happened to our defensive solidity? Bromley fans must have been wondering how this side had the third (now sixth) best defensive record in the National League. The first goal was a complete freak deflection, there’s not much anyone could do about that, but we looked so far removed from what we have been used to after that.
The inability to simply pick up players and show commitment to get to the ball before an opponent was non-existent and Bromley’s second and third goals. Richards-Everton gave me no confidence and Hunt only seems to perform with a calm head alongside him. Can the loss of Owen Bevan who, regardless of his undoubted quality, is a 19-year-old on loan from a Premier League academy really make that much of a difference?

So many attackers, such little end product. By the end of the match we had five recognised forward players on the pitch – Alex Fisher, Andrew Oluwabori, Jordan Maguire-Drew and the substitutes, Jordan Young and Malachi Linton – and yet chance after chance went begging. We’re undoubtedly able to create chances, Maguire-Drew and Oluwabori both proved that on countless occasions, but what are our attacking players working on in training? The miss by Oluwabori just before half-time was almost unforgivable…..and, yes, I know he’s a young lad starting his career, which is why I said ‘almost’.

There has to be changes. It seems unlikely there’s much which can be done on the training pitch in the 48 hours before we travel to another National League play-off contender, Barnet, so personnel changes has to be the only option. I’m hoping that Bromley was a blip based on the rustiness of not playing since New Year’s Day, but up front we have to do something differently. I go back to the impact ‘Fish & Mal’ made when they came on at half-time in the Boxing Day draw at Torquay. Tuck JM-D in behind them and keep Oluwabori on the bench to bring on and run at them towards the end. Whatever the changes, there has to be changes or it could be a long night on Tuesday.

It’s not you, Mark, it’s not. I heard a couple of comments from the terrace directed against Mark Cooper and seen a few post-match comments on social media to the same effect. Pinch of salt added for the social media comments, of course. Be under no illusion – our predicament is nothing to do with Mark Cooper. Before this game we had gone seven games unbeaten, granted with a number of draws, but under Chris Hargreaves we would be deep in the mire. With a hand tied behind his back by the basket case boardroom issues, Cooper has given us mid-table obscurity over a relegation scrap.

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Whilst the Yeovil Town first team might have come unstuck at Bromley their army of loanees were out and about, but only one was getting more game time, let’s round up what happened.

Down in Plymouth we start with Parkway who were on the wrong end of a 1-0 defeat to the Met Police.

Toby Stephens came off the bench in the 65th minute, but couldn’t help his side find an equaliser.

There was only one real winner – the weather – in the games involving Sherborne Town (Benjani and Jake Graziano), Gillingham Town (Rob Hollard and Sam Hodges) and Truro (Ollie Haste), as all were postponed.

We assume Max Evans‘ loan at Bedford Town has been concluded ahead of schedule (he was meant to be with the Eagles until 19th Jan) as he was once again not involved for them.

And then there’s Will Dawes up at Stratford who was also not involved for the Bards, it’s unclear if his ‘short term’ deal has come to an end or not.

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Venue: Hayes Lane
Saturday 14th January, 3pm kick-off

Conditions: Strong wind across the pitch
Pitch: Plastic

Attendance: 2,245 (149 away supporters)

Scorers: LouisDennis 9 (0-1), Besart Topalloj 32 (0-2), Louis Dennis 63 (0-3), Andrew Oluwabori 65 (1-3), Corey Whitely 87 (1-4).

Bookings: 

Yeovil Town: Max Hunt 11, Alex Fisher 51.

Referee: Wayne Cartmel

Yeovil Town   (4-3-3)

Substitutes: Jordan Young (for Lawson D’Ath, 59), Malachi Linton (for Max Hunt, 70), Chiori Johnson (not used), Charlie Cooper (not used), Will Buse (not used).

Bromley: Charles-Cook, Reynolds, Coleman, Whitely, Dennis (for Alexander, 89), Cheek, Webster, Forster (for Krauhaus, 88), Vennings (for Bingham, 73), Topalloj, Fisher. Substitutes (not used): Bingham, Sowunmi, Arthurs.

Match Report

The wheels came off Yeovil Town’s unbeaten run of seven National League games in spectacular style as their defensive solidity abandoned them at Bromley.

Having fallen behind to a bizarre opener from the home side when striker Louis Dennis’ shot cannoned off a visiting defender to complete wrong-foot Grant Smith in the Yeovil goal, they preceded to gift a second to Besart Topalloj. But, there were also gilt-edged opportunities missed first by Jordan Maguire-Drew and then Andrew Oluwabori, the latter being clean through on goal.

A further defensive calamity gifted Dennis his second just after the hour and although Oluwabori pulled one with his first since arriving on loan soon after, Corey Whitely wrapped up a well-deserved win for Bromley – their first over the Glovers at Hayes Lane since September 1987.

Here’s Coatesie’s report from the wind-battered away end in that corner of Kent…..

First half

Within two minutes the start a sickening clash of heads with Yeovil skipper Josh Staunton saw Bromley’s Jamie Vennings go down for a lengthy period of treatment. The midfielder returned to action.

But seven minutes later a bizarre deflection gave Bromley a lead. A shot from the edge of the box from striker Louis DENNIS took a wicked deflection off Max Hunt and completely wrong-footed Grant Smith.

On 13 minutes, on-loan Millwall full-back Besart Topalloj’s header went just over from a corner for the home side who had totally dominated the opening exchanges with Yeovil struggling to cope with a strong wind behind them.

149 travelling supporters were in attendance at Hayes Lane.

Andrew Oluwabori put a shot over the bar from distance, but the best chance of the half came on 27 minutes when Jordan Maguire-Drew’s free-kick in from the left found its way to Ben Richards-Everton. The centre half’s cross forced Bromley keeper Reice Charles-Cook in to action but no-one in Parma Violet could get an effort in on goal.

Oluwabori’s broke forward again on 23 minutes but unfortunately his touch evaded him and the attack broke down, and soon after Maguire-Drew jinked his way in from the right but his effort could not get past Charles-Cook.

Bromley had no such issues from a well-worked corner – ably assisted by some uncharacteristic sloppy defending – saw them a second on 32 minutes. TOPALLOJ slammed home from just inside the box to double the advantage.

If anyone needed any explanation why Yeovil are the lowest scorers in the division, the answer arrived when Oluwabori was clean through on 36 minutes. The Peterborough United loanee put his effort high and wide with only the keeper to beat.

The opportunities to score for the visitors were there. It was the ability to take them that was the problem.

Half time:  Bromley 2 Yeovil Town 0

 

Second half

Yeovil thought they had pulled one back ten minutes after the restart when Matt Worthington headed home a cross from Oluwabori – only for it to be ruled out by an offside flag.

Smith had to be a his best soon after, making a superb finger tip save to turn an effort from Kellen Fisher.

A strong run forward by Harry Forster left the visitors’ defence at sixes and sevens and the ball broke to DENNIS who turned home from close range to make it 3-0. Hint of offside? Perhaps I am clutching at straws here, but given how far behind play the assistant referee was, I suspect my guess is as good as his.

The response was almost immediate. Alex Fisher got away down the right flank and laid across the face of goal to OLUWABORI who side-footed it home. Too little, too late?

Even with Malachi Linton and new signing Jordan Young on to add to the three forwards they started with, there was no shape to the Yeovil attack. The tactic seemed to be lump it forward and hope for the best – but the best never came.

Jordan Young came on as a 59th minute substitute.

Then three minutes from the end another defensive horror show served up Bromley’s fourth. Forster’s effort from right was turned on to the post by Smith, the keeper then made a great reaction save to deny Dennis before Corey WHITELY tucked home.

Full time: Bromley 4 Yeovil Town 1