Latest Yeovil Town News (Page 310)

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Was it pretty? No. Was it effective? Heck, Yes.

The Glovers’ Wall stood firm to hold off wave after wave of Notts County attack and take home a well earned point from Meadow Lane in front of a National League record, 16,500.

Gloverscast Ben joined Gloverscast Dave in the away end for this one, it’s conclusion time….

I think it’s worth putting some stats together to just understand just how good that result was.

Notts County have scored in every game this season, in every competition, regardless of eventual outcome.

49 goals in 19 games prior to the weekend, doesn’t take a genius maths wizz to work out that’s a seriously good XG return.

County had actually scored in every game since drawing a blank against Stockport County at the back end of last season. The last time Meadow Lane didn’t see a goal from their side in a competitive match…. April 17th 2021 when Eastleigh kept them out, 520 days between away clean sheets.

Notts County will be fine, on that evidence, they’ll finish top three, no question.

Their ability to find short passes through lines of players is second to none, every pass is quick, crisp along the ground and presented with pin point accuracy, which for me, only makes the Glovers’ rear guard action even more impressive.

Notts County are probably the best footballing outfit I’ve seen this season, or maybe even for a couple of seasons… and the Parma Violet Party Poopers gave them a good old dollop of ‘thou shall not pass’. 

The difference between this game and the Oldham shambles came down to a very simple gameplan.

Be. Organised.

A very flat back five, a central but very flat four in front of them, and at times a rather defensively minded frontman.

I don’t think Scott Wickens’ running tracker would have had too much of a tough task getting the numbers for this one, it wasn’t expansive.

But that’s okay, sometimes, you have to dig in and get it done, what I want to highlight is the levels of concentration needed. To stay switched on at the back for basically 95 minutes is tough, mentally.

Only for maybe twice could messrs Hunt, Bevan and Williams dare to switch off as the ball made a foray forwards, but they kept their cool. Block, Tackle. Head. Clear. Repeat.

One misplaced foot and a penalty would have gifted their hosts a chance to undo all that hard work, one flung out limb could deflect a ball beyond Smith, one lapse in concentration and your (very good) opponents have a yard of space and a free chance to ruin it all.

It never happened once.

The legs might not have done quite so much of the hard work, but the brains would have done extra.

Owen Bevan in particular for me was outstanding, but I truly believe that was one of the most assured defensive displays I’ve ever seen from Yeovil.

Owen Bevan heads away. Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

Now… there were a couple of moments where the County barrage broke through the wall, that’s to be expected, they’re a wonderful outfit, but what they got when their half chances came around happened to be…

The best ‘keeper in the National League.

It’s not even close, the levels of trouble we’d be in as a team without Grant Smith is astronomical.

He makes the easy ones look easy, because his positioning is always foot perfect, he makes the difficult ones look easy, because he is quick, agile with spring powered boots.

It’s the boring stuff like he always gets the parries AWAY from goal, he never stopped marshaling his back line, and I’ve never seen a man take a slower goal kick in my life!

I joked to Dave that the reason Will Buse was on the bench was in case Grant Smith got booked twice for time-wasting, in the end, he didn’t once, he got warned, but it turns out he can even charm an official to keep his cards in his pocket. IS THERE ANYTHING THAT MAN CAN’T DO!?

Can I ask about the contract situation? Are we able to make that a longer deal? He’s a genuine asset and with January fast approaching and EFL teams looking to shuffle the pack, he’s worth a few quid, I’d quite like that protected.

Grant Smith. Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

Our new additions have really added something – something we were missing.

Andrew “What’s the Story” Oluwabori was the brightest attacking spark in a performance which wasn’t very attacking, but I found myself really appreciating the little nuances of his performance.

More than once, he held a defender off on or around the half way line, kept the ball and won a throw in, free kick or made the simple pass to someone who can get the ball forward.

He’s rapid, and the Notts County left back didn’t stand a chance when they got in a foot race, he’s direct and will cause plenty of decent teams trouble, I’d like him to stay for the season please, thanks.

Jamie “Taller than you think” Andrews is another one who really shone for me. Again, I know I’m talking about a different style of performance, but I saw enough in his resolute sideways defensive formation to know he’s got something.

Towards the back end of the second half, Josh Staunton was really starting to feel the injury that has prevented him from training, he came to a bit of a standstill in the middle, so Andrews did his chasing for him. Harrowing, closing down, side to side like a crab at times, blocking one path, then shuffling to the next and so on.

There were glimpses of his ability to take a ball and go from back to front quite quickly, but this wasn’t the game for that.

And finally, it was mentioned after the game that the team “couldn’t apologise” for their approach to this game.

I don’t want an apology, I don’t need an apology.

I think every one of the 452 fans there appreciated that it might be the toughest point we get all season, the toughest clean sheet (Not a ‘Cleano’) we might have to fight for all campaign.

I said as we left that if this game was a month or two further down the line, then yeah, ok, I dont mind if people get a bit disgruntled, but not now.

You can just start to see the beginnings of a run; that’s unbeaten in three, that’s just one goal conceded in three. That’s a game which can set up potentially massive clashes at home with FC Halifax, Scunthorpe United and Torquay United before the New Year is rung in.

It was a top draw defensive masterclass, but maybe, just maybe, we’ll look back in a couple of months and pinpoint it as so much more.

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Max Hunt isn’t looking back after falling out of favour earlier this season. The towering centre-back, who has started every game under Mark Cooper, told BBC Somerset he is in enjoying life under the new boss.

Speaking after a clean sheet at Notts County, he said: “It’s always difficult [being out of the side]. You’re always going to have these spells as a footballer, it’s a game of opinions and sometimes you’re in favour and sometimes you’re out of it.

“It’s nothing personal you just have to get on with it [and] roll your sleeves up. I trained hard while I wasn’t involved and then since the new gaffer came in he decided to put me in against Maidstone and I’ve sort of made it my choice to not look back since.”

Hunt was at the heart of a Yeovil defence that became the first travelling side to keep Notts County out at Meadow Lane this season. He said knew it was going to be an ugly afternoon.

“We knew it was going to be a tough game coming in, probably the toughest we faced so far. We had a set gameplan all week to come here and be hard to beat and it wasn’t pretty and the fans won’t have had much to cheer about today but you know how they supported us at the end [that] they understand the value of the point.

“We know how good a footballing side they [Notts County] are and it was important that with the occasion, the fans and everything, we’d come here and put a stop to it.”

Hunt also spoke about how the squad managed to stay together during the difficult period earlier in the season.

“It’s important that we made sure we kept that togetherness, because when your struggling and results aren’t going your way, if you get yourself down as well you’ve not really got a good place to go.

“We made sure we kept our foundation strong and the new gaffer has come in and showed a real confidence in us. He’s got a long-term plan of how he wants us playing and were just sort of building towards that.”

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Mark Cooper was ‘very pleased’ with the defensive efforts of his side this afternoon as they kept an impressive Notts County at bay.

Yeovil frustrated Notts County, who fell to 2nd after the draw, and Cooper said his side aren’t ready to compete in a street fight with a side like County just yet.

Speaking to BBC Somerset’s Sheridan Robins, he said: “We chose to sacrifice the ball because we’re on the start of our journey. We’re not ready to compete punch for punch with Notts County yet. They’re a good football team and if we’d have to gone toe to toe we’d have got knocked out.”

Cooper admitted setting up that way wasn’t how he’d like to go, but revealed he’d told his squad to leave their egos behind to get a result on the road.

“I said to the boys at the start of the week, we need to leave our egos at the door. We all want to go and play pretty football, but the result and the team is more important than our egos.

“So I said to them, leave your ego there, we’re going to sacrifice the ball and were going to defend really well and were going to try and play counter attack, which is not really my forte, but we had to try and get something out of the game.”

Cooper switched it tactically in the second half in search of nicking a goal, and did say his side didn’t make the most of the corners they had. But ultimately, he was full of praise for his defence, and unapologetic for setting up the way he did.

“I’ve just said to the players, they’re the best I’ve seen at defending their own penalty area and they had to do that today.

“We cant apologise for setting up like we did, we’re near the bottom and we have to get points.”

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Venue: Meadow Lane
Saturday 19th November, 3pm kick-off

Conditions: Cold but dry
Pitch: Slick

Attendance: 16511 (452 away supporters)

Scorers: 

Bookings:

Yeovil Town: Reckord 70, Linton, 80
Notts County: 

Referee: Gary Parsons

Yeovil Town (4-3-3):

Substitutes: Will Buse, Lawson D’Ath, Malachi Linton (for Oluwabori 75), Anthony Georgiou, Louis Britton (for Fisher 90)

Notts County: Slocombe, Camerson, Baldwin, Brindley, Chicksen, Adebayo-Rowling, Palmer, Austin, Rodrigues, Scott, Langstaff.

Substitutes: Rawlinson, Bajrami, Francis, Castro, Mitchell.

Match Report

A record National League crowd witnessed a resilient Yeovil Town keep the League leaders out this afternoon in a 0-0 draw at Meadow Lane.

Mark Cooper’s Green and Whites held firm against Notts County despite being under pressure for the overwhelming majority of the game to take a point home to Somerset.

Here’s how Coatesie saw it…

First half

It took three minutes for Macauley Langstaff to get a sight of goal, a ball in from the right side landed to the Notts top scorer six yards out but his low effort was smothered by Grant Smith. The keeper will have been grateful the effort had power on it.

All the home sides play came down the right side in the opening stages with Jamie Reckord given a stern test, and it was a free-kick from that side which was volleyed over by hosts’ skipper Kyle Cameron after seven minutes.

The pre-match prediction of a compact formation from Yeovil proved correct, and for the first quarter-of-an-hour the home side prodded and proved without offering too much. At the other end, a run down the right side by Andrew Oluwabori after 14 minutes was about the only attacking effort at the other end.

There was certainly no lack of patience for the league leaders who played enjoyed ridiculous levels of possession and chance began to come. Smith was forced in to action to deny first Sam Austin and then Cedwyn Scott before Langstaff headed over.

It took until the 28th minute for Yeovil to have their first effort on goal, a slip in the middle of the part saw Oluwabori break away to the edge of the box bit his effort went over. Going forward the game plan seemed to be that, hope a mistake dropped to the on loan Peterborough man and he could outpace his marker. Is a 5-5-0 formation at thing?

The time it took Smith to take goal kicks seemed to infuriate those in the home end, who responded by throwing balled up pieces of paper at division’s best keeper (B.Barrett, 2022) leading to the referee to temporarily call a halt to proceedings to inform stewards.

Meanwhile, the rearguard action continue with Yeovil so deep they were almost sat in the Meadow Lane Kop at some points. Fortunately for them Langstaff was having an off day (or least an off 35 minutes) and his effort was blocked by Owen Bevan, and from the resulting corner Adam Chicksen’s long-range effort was turned over by Smith.

Smith was at it again three minutes from half-time when he dropped superbly to deny a low drive from Rodrigues before Morgan Williams hacked the ball away.

It wasn’t pretty but, for 45 minutes at least, it had been effective.

Half time: Notts County 0 Yeovil Town 0

Second half

On 47 minutes, Yeovil’s best piece of attacking play forced a save (yes, an actual save) out of Sam Slocombe in the hosts’ goal. Oluwabori put a ball in from the right and Fisher’s attempted flick at the near post was denied. Moments later, Oluwabori seized on a mistake in midfield and broke forward to play Chiori Johnson but he was denied by a fine tackle.

At the other end, Notts picked up where they left off patiently playing it around, hoping to find a gap in the Parma Violet wall. A ball in from Tobi Adebayo-Rowling was headed away as Williams before it found its way to Scott whose shot was weak and Chicksen’s follow up was over.

Rodrigues fizzed one over and substitute Quevin Castro had an effort deflected wide. If I hadn’t watched the same happen for 45 minutes, I would have been more worried. I was a little worried, but not as much as I would have been.

For every probing Rodrigues ball and long range effort from the home side, there was a block from Williams or a header from Max Hunt.

On 75 minutes, Smith was at it again, diving to his left to deny Cameron’s long ranger, before Worthington was in the right place on the back post to head Cameron’s goal bound header off the line.

Malachi Linton, on for the non-stop Oluwabori, was ruffling feathers at the other end. Picking up a booking for a soft foul, but almost finding himself through on goal.

A National League record crowd of 16,511 – including 452 away supporters – was announced and, even with discounted tickets, that is some achievement.

Probably the most inexplicable chance came with the last opportunity when Chicksen got ahead of Adebayo-Rowling but his header went over.

But, the roar from the away end at the final whistle told you everything about what that point meant.

Full time: Notts County 0 Yeovil Town 0

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Josh Staunton has been named in the Yeovil Town starting XI for today’s trip to league leaders Notts County (3pm kick-off).

The skipper is alongside Jamie Andrews and Matt Worthington in midfield and, as for the rest of the formation, we are guessing – but this is what we reckon.

There is a place for on loan Bristol City goalkeeper Will Buse on the substitutes’ bench.

Yeovil Town (5-4-1):

Substitutes: Will Buse, Lawson D’Ath, Louis Britton, Anthony Georgiou, Malachi Linton.

 

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The Glovers Trust is hosting its AGM on Tuesday 22 November at the Arrow (BA21 3TL) in Yeovil. The meeting starts at 7pm, and will give all supporters (not just Trust members) the opportunity make comments and ask questions of the Trust board and talk about the current issues facing the club.

 

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Yeovil Town Under-18s travel to Mangotsfield United looking to record their fourth consecutive win in the South West Counties Youth League.

The young Glovers have scored ten times without reply in their last three league games, but were held to a 2-2 draw by BRS Youth Coaching in the Gary Else Memorial Cup last weekend.

Last time out an early goal from striker Charlie Bateson was enough to earn three points at Bath City and move them up to third place.

In the Junior Premier League, the club’s other age group sides are also in action as part of the Yeovil Town Community Sports Trust.

The Under-11s face North Somerset Regional Talent Centre, the Under-12s take on Paulton Rovers whilst the Under-13s, Under-14s and Under-15s take on their counterparts from Saints South West.

The Under-16s play Bridgwater United.

 

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Yeovil Town midfielder Matt Worthington is enjoying playing in a more advanced position under new manager Mark Cooper.

The 24-year-old impressed playing a role supporting the attack in last weekend’s 3-1 home win over bottom club Gateshead and is hoping to carry on this form when the Glovers travel to top-of-the-table Notts County on Saturday.

Speaking before the game, he said: “Being higher up the pitch suits my attributes, I can press from the position higher up the pitch, win the ball back and I want to start adding goals and assists to my game, so being in that position will help.”

Cooper was again full of praise for the former AFC Bournemouth youngster and suggested he expects him to continue in the new role in the coming weeks.

The manager said: “Matt has tremendous athletic attributes, so we need him to run through the middle of the pitch and create opportunities which he did on Saturday.

“I don’t want him sitting back and not being able to use his athleticism, so it makes sense for us to let him off the leash and let him run.”

Matt Worthington. Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

Worthington spent half-a-season on loan at Forest Green Rovers working under Cooper in 2018 and said the new manager had given the squad an opportunity to show what they are about since his arrival at Huish Park.

He said: “He’s given everyone a chance to show themselves, it’s a clean slate for everyone. He’s made a big difference in terms of the style he wants to play, eventually he wants to have us playing good, attacking football.

“But, as he has said, that takes time. We need to get back to basics, get points on the board and however we do that, that’s what we need to do.

“From the first day he came in he said the big problem was confidence, he had watched a few games before he took over as manager and he could see that, everyone could see that.

“We needed to strip back to basics and I said before last weekend that the goals would come, and they did.

“When he came in I was excited and over the past couple of games you can see what he has worked with us on – it’s keeping the ball, high intensity and getting after people.”

Worthington spoke about the club’s difficult start to the season which led to the dismissal of Chris Hargreaves, who was only appointed manager in the summer.

He said: “It was hard. For me personally, I struggled with going home and annoying the missus quite a lot by being in a bad mood, Yeovil is a small place and when we are not winning games it seems like the whole town is on a down.

“We have a good group and a good captain in Staunts (Josh Staunton) and we have multiple conversations with just the players to say this is what we need to do.

“We needed to stick together, stick to the game plan and if we kept trying to make chances, things will change and hopefully things have changed now.”

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Captain Josh Staunton and defender Ben Richards-Everton are both doubts for Yeovil Town’s trip to leaders Notts County this weekend.

The pair have both received injections and are yet to train, according to Glovers’ boss Mark Cooper, who did confirm that defender Morgan Williams and play-maker Lawson D’Ath are both back in training.

Richards-Everton sat out last weekend’s 3-1 home win over Gateshead whilst D’Ath’s last appearance was almost a month ago and Williams has been missing since featuring in the first game under Cooper at Maidstone United three weeks ago.

Speaking to BBC Somerset’s Sheridan Robins on Thursday, the manager said: “Ben Richards-Everton and Josh Staunton both had injections this week, so they have no trained yet. Morgan Williams is back training this week, as it Lawson D’Ath.

“Whether (Williams and D’Ath) are ready to feature yet is another matter. They add to the quality of the group and it would be great if we can get everyone fit.”

“We have one or two bumps and bruises and whether they make it (on Saturday) we will have to wait and see, but we want to be competitive and whatever team we put out we will be.”

Charlie Wakefield. Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

The manager also revealed that winger Charlie Wakefield, who last appeared as a 63rd minute substitute in the 1-1 draw at Maidstone, has also picked up a new injury.

He added: “He’s got real attributes that we could really do with, but it’s not to be.”

 

Cooper has also called upon players who are not featuring in the matchday squad to ensure they are ready to be thrown in to the fray if required.

On loan Bristol City goalkeeper Will Buse is still waiting to make his first appearance, striker Jake Scrimshaw is yet to feature under Cooper, and fellow forwards Malachi Linton, Gime Toure and Ollie Hulbert have all had to make do with places on the bench.

Of these players, Cooper added: “One or two will be disappointed because they have not been playing as much as they would want to or think they should and that’s only natural, but it’s important they realise that football changes really quickly.

“One minute they could be out of the team, but the next there’s an injury and they get in the team and they have to be ready.

“But I can only praise the players commitment since I have been here and there’s some quality in there as well.”

Will Buse. Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

He added that the arrival of wingers Andrew Oluwaborie and Anthony Georgiou, on loan from Peterborough United and Leyton Orient respectively, had given the team a lift and their pace and crossing ability pointed towards the way he wants to see his side play.

The manager added: “At any level, pace can hurt teams or put them on the back foot and defenders are frightened of pace. When you come in to a club, you have to assess the players you have and find the best way to play.

“For me, it was to try and get the ball wide and get crosses in to the box especially with Fisher.”

Cooper was also complimentary of midfielder Matt Worthington who starred in last weekend’s 3-1 home win over bottom club Gateshead playing in a more advanced position.

The manager added: “Matt Worthington has tremendous athletic attributes, so we need him to run through the middle of the pitch and create opportunities which he did on Saturday.

“I don’t want him sitting back and not being able to use his athleticism, so it makes sense for us to let him off the leash and let him run.”

A National League record crowd of more than 16,000 is expected to turn out at Meadow Lane at the weekend with Notts County top of the table and the added attraction of heavily discounted tickets.

Cooper, who had a two-month spell in charge at Notts in 2016, said the sight of a packed stadium should act as an inspiration to what the Glovers should be aspiring to.

He said: “We’re all looking forward to the atmosphere and what that brings. It’s a great achievement by Notts County to be able to attract that number of fans and it’s a little nudge to where we should be looking to be. There’s no shame in trying to strive for that.

“There’s not really any pressure on us, we can go there and enjoy ourselves, but you can enjoy yourselves more if you get a result.

“It’s a great stadium and great pitch and we are playing against a really good team, so we are all really looking forward to it.”

He added: “You have to have an intent and a plan of where you want to go and it’s important we start doing that now.

“We don’t want to be ‘little old Yeovil’ any more, we should be one of the big clubs that is being talked about in this league like Chesterfield and Wrexham.

“We should be being talked about in the same breath as those builds because not so long ago this club was in the Championship and not so many of those teams can say that.”