Latest Yeovil Town News (Page 312)

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Well, that was a fun one on Saturday. Ian, Ben and Dave are back to chew the fat of a really dismal result and we take your GCQs. Settle in…

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A new Director of Football will join the Yeovil Town set-up on Monday as the club comes under the ownership of SU Glovers, according to  Matt Uggla.

The owner-in-waiting has also apologised for any offence he caused during Saturday’s 1-0 defeat at home to Bromley which saw manager Mark Cooper and captain Josh Staunton both talk openly about difficulties in the dressing room.

In a series of posts on his Twitter account on Sunday, Uggla said he would learn from mistakes and said he was “fully behind” Cooper as the club battle to avoid relegation from the National League.

He said: “If the supporters think I have anything but love and respect for them then I’m shocked. We have inherited a relegation battle and this is a baptism of fire. At the end of the day the supporters are here for the rest of time and as owners we plan to be here for decades to come.

“Frustrations yesterday were high amongst everyone at the club. But I am fully behind Mark and think he is more than capable of turning results around. But more than anything we have to come together as one. 

“I apologise if I offended anyone but certainly never have and never will aim anything at the fans who I have nothing but love and praise for. I’m young and new to this so will make mistakes which I will learn from and maybe should learn to not speak so much in the heat of the moment and in pure frustration.

“This is a long journey and we need to be on it together. Tomorrow we have our new director of football coming in and I’m excited by working with both him and Mark. Let’s stick together on and off the pitch.”

Following the defeat, pictures posted on social media showed Uggla talking at length with Cooper and his son and midfielder, Charlie, who picked up the sponsors’ man of the match award for his performance in the defeat, on the Huish Park pitch.

During the game, Uggla posted on his Twitter account calling on supporters in the Thatcher’s Stand to get behind the team. The tweets have since been deleted from his timeline.

In his post-match interview, Cooper admitted there had been a difference of opinion in some recent signings with new arrivals winger Callum Harriott going off with an injury at half-time and striker Reo Griffiths and midfielders Zanda Siziba and Scott Pollock, who all appeared in the second half, failing to have much of an impact.

Cooper said: “We are always going to differ on targets and players we are going to bring in, that’s just the way it is, Matt has made it clear he is going to recruit the players he is going to recruit and that’s fair enough – it’s his money and it’s his club.”

Staunton called for unity in the dressing room and admitted the integration of a number of new arrivals during the heat of a relegation battle had not been easy.

He said: “It is important every single player is pulling in the same direction and it is my job to unify the dressing room. People are under pressure and pressure does strange things to people in terms of decision making and characteristics, this would be a much easier integration if we were relaxing in the middle of the table.

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Yeovil fell to a 1-0 defeat against Bromley yesterday in a result that could prove disastrous in the fight for National League survival. Ian was at Huish Park and here are his conclusions.

We were lucky it was 1-0. The scoreline didn’t really tell the story of yesterday. Bromley could have gone home having scored 5 or 6 with the chances they spurned. Grant Smith (as always) made some important saves but the visitors were profligate in front of goal. The Glovers struggled defensively on corners and throw ins and were carved open more than once. The early goal from Toppaloj gave Yeovil plenty of time to claw something back but…

We never looked like we were going to score. Unfortunately it was the usual story going forward. Chances created were few and far between. Alex Fisher had a chance from header which you expect prime Warren Patmore to bury, but not Fisher. The arrival of Griffiths, Pollock and Siziba made little difference. Harriott was bright and looked like he had something about him, but could only last the first half. We’ve added players that our new stewards say are ready to go and our manager says aren’t. On yesterday’s evidence, I’m with the manager on this one.

Alex Fisher heads towards goal. Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

We missed our ball carriers. When you take out Jordan Stevens, Jordan Young, Matt Worthington and Lawson D’Ath, the squad loses so much. The pairing in midfield of Freckleton and Cooper never looked comfortable and it was only when we switched to a back three (argh wingbacks!) that we got good spells of possession. Anything good was going to come from Charlie Cooper but even he couldn’t work miracles with what was in front of him. All he could do was pass to his wingbacks but with Bromley’s organisation it was near impossible to cut through. We missed the pace of Young and Stevens and without Worthington we weren’t able to play out from the back effectively.

Something felt off yesterday. We’ve had some bad games this season, but that was down there with the Aldershot home game. I think for most of the season, the team have played together and worked for each other but yesterday felt so disjointed. It was a performance devoid of team spirit. Mark Cooper and Chris Todd, usually so animated on the touch line were not their usual selves. Cooper’s admission after the match that the new owners sign who they want to doesn’t tally with the approach talked about in the week. To me, the substitutions looked like Cooper was making a point of ‘here are your players, let’s see what they can do’. Despite all the positivity outside, morale at Huish Park appears lower than ever. There is clearly a growing divide between the boardroom and the dressing room and it couldn’t come at a worse time.

If we don’t fix it, we’re down. Results around us couldn’t have gone worse yesterday. Gateshead’s win and there two games in hand see us staring down the barrel. There’s no recruitment left to happen and this is our lot. Worthington will be back from suspension, but if we can’t get Stevens, Young and D’Ath fit enough for the run in then I’m worried. The new lads need to get up to speed and only can in matches, but we’ve got eight cup finals to retain our National League status. Unity comes from within the club and if the manager is being told who to pick and new players aren’t embedding into the group then we may as well call it now. Cooper is far from perfect, the recent form shows that, but with his experience and pedigree as a manager there’s no one more suited to pull us out of this. If a rash decision is made now, we’re in Marmon territory and we may as well look forward to trips to Bath City and Taunton Town next season.

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Debutant Bobby Hilton came off the substitutes’ bench to score for Yeovil Town Under-18s, but he could not prevent them falling to a 2-1 defeat at league leaders Bridgwater United.

The schoolboy, a member of the Yeovil Town Community Trust’s Under-16s set up, appeared on the hour mark in the match at the Bridgwater & Taunton Sports Arena on Saturday. Also coming off the bench was Under-16s player Joey Beckey, who came on in the 65th minute.

The team which included top-scorer Charlie Bateson and goalkeeper Rob Hollard, who had both been on loan at Tiverton Town and Gillingham Town respectively.

Billy Hilton, a member of the Yeovil Town Community Sports Trust Under-16s, chips the keeper for his first Yeovil Town goal. Picture courtesy of Matt Partridge.

Hollard returned from his loan spell last week whilst Bateson was available due to his loan club’s match being postponed on Saturday.

The result saw the Under-18s drop to third in the South West Counties’ Youth League behind Bridgwater and Torquay United.

 

Yeovil Town Under-18s: Rob Hollard, Mikey Archibald (for Bobby Hilton-Jones, 60), Harry Lock (for Corey Koerner, 45), Aidan Skiverton, Harrison Foster, Mason Alden, Jack Bareham, Charlie Bateson, Freddie Beale (for Joseph Beckey, 65), Josh Haskett, Max Dyer.

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Whilst the scenes at Huish Park didn’t give Glovers fans much to get excited about, could any of the on loan cohort make things any better, let’s find out.

In the National League, Woking came from behind to beat bottom side Maidstone United with an injury time winner, Charlie Wakefield came on in the 82nd minute.

Scunthorpe were on the wrong end of a 4-0 thrashing from Notts County, defender Ben Richards-Everton credited with an 11th minute own goal.

All in all, two good results for Yeovil.

In to the lower leagues, Oxford City took a point from their clash with Dulwich Hamlet, Will Dawes was introduced as a 74th minute substitute.

Leamington lost 2-0 in front of a bumper crowd as Boston United were in town, Ollie Hulbert started, but was taken off after 70 minutes.

Jake Graziano made his Dorchester debut from the bench but his side went down 2-0 to Merthyr Town (dual-registration watch doesn’t have quite the same ring to it)

Down at Sherborne, the result might have gone against the Zebras, but Yeovil Under-18s striker Benjani Juniot was back on the scoresheet (are you watching, Mark Cooper?).

He got his side’s first in a 4-2 defeat at Millbrook AFC, taking him to three goals from his loan spell. The Sherborne line-up also included Under-18s’ midfielder Mason Hunter too, who appears to have also joined our friends at Sherborne for a short stint – go well, Mason.

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Gillingham Town, were big winners, Rob Hollard has returned to the Glovers following his loan spell, so he wasn’t involved, and I couldn’t any team news to see if Sam Hodges had been involved.

Truro’s (Ollie Haste) game was postponed, as was the game between Toby Stephens‘ Plymouth Parkway and Charlie Bateson’s Tiverton Town. This allowed Bateson to turn out for the Under-18s in their 2-1 defeat at Bridgwater United.

Plenty more of these sides are playing midweek, more Loan Watch updates to come!

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Now this one could really challenge you and don’t bite our heads off for asking, but which Yeovil Town player impressed you most in today’s 1-0 home defeat to Bromley?

If you need any inspiration, take a look at the picture in the banner (above) to see who we think you might want to consider.

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Yeovil Town captain Josh Staunton had called on his team-mates to unite to pull the club out of the relegation scrap at the bottom of the National League table.

The skipper admitted the recent influx of a number of new players in recent weeks had proved difficult to integrate in to the group which started the season.

Speaking to BBC Somerset’s Sheridan Robins after the 1-0 home defeat to Bromley, he said that he was “taking the pressure” on behalf of his team-mates and urged them to play with a “freedom” which was obviously lacking at Huish Park this afternoon.

He said: “It is important every single player is pulling in the same direction and it is my job to unify the dressing room. People are under pressure and pressure does strange things to people in terms of decision making and characteristics, this would be a much easier integration if we were relaxing in the middle of the table.

“It is clear to see that we look like we have the weight of the world on our shoulders and it is my job to relieve that pressure and keep it on myself and let the boys play with a sense of freedom they should have.

“I would run through a brick wall for this football club and it is important that everyone in that dressing room has the same mentality. You will never find me blaming my body – I hurt, I ache but will go out there and do everything for the football club. The boys do look tired, but when I am looking them in the eye I am asking them to give everything for the club and I wanted every single player to find that extra 10%.

“It’s essential (we have that unity) and if we don’t have it we will be in a very difficult position in a few weeks time. Characters at this stage of the season are worth points, they make a difference, stand up, run through brick walls for each other and get you those few points when you really need them. So it is important we all take the time to realise what we are playing for and it has to be your driving force.”

He gave his backing to manager Mark Cooper who is looking to lift the team which could be in the National League relegation zone before the kick a ball in the televised fixture against Southend United next Saturday afternoon.

Gateshead, who sit one point and one place below them, host Dagenham & Redbridge in midweek and a win for the North East side would see them go above the Glovers.

On his manager, Staunton said: “I support Mark Cooper, he is one of the best managers I have ever worked under. As a person, he is a fantastic person and there’s not a better man to deal with the pressure. I trust the Gaffer and I respect that he takes a lot of the responsibility and I will try and take as much pressure off every single player in the dressing room as I can.”

On the performance against Bromley, he added: “The first five or ten minutes we were in disarray, but we managed to gain some sort of control and finished the first half well. I thought second half they had a lot of territory and really could have hurt us on the break but we had lot of balls in the box and we are clearly trying to do things the right way. But we had no answers to any questions today.“

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Yeovil Town manager Mark Cooper pointed to the absence of a number of energetic midfield players as the reason for his side’s lacklustre performance in today’s 1-0 home defeat to Bromley.

He said that it was unrealistic to expect new signings Callum Harriott, Zanda Siziba and Scott Pollock, who all featured in the loss, to hit the ground running having not played in recent months.

Speaking to BBC Somerset’s Sheridan Robins after the game, the boss said: “We had a lot of the ball today but we had very little to show from it, we have been crying out for that impetus at the top of the pitch and we just haven’t got it.

“If we are expecting the new lads to come in and just be fit enough to cope with it, it’s just not going to happen. Apart from Miguel (Freckleton) the rest are going to play catch up and it is going to take them two or three games to get up to match fitness.

He added: “I can’t question their effort, the boys gave everything that they had and it was not enough. I have to be there for them, put my arm around them and find a way of getting enough points (to keep us in the league).

“If you take Stevens, Young, Worthington out of our team it takes away a lot of impetus. Our team is based on energy and legs, if you take the legs out of the team, you are not going to be the same.”

He confirmed that Harriott, who was replaced by Pollock at half time, suffered a quad injury towards the end of the first half and defender Chiori Johnson also appeared to be struggling with a hamstring injury at the final whistle.

With permanent signings Harriott, Siziba, Pollock all featuring alongside loanees Miguel Freckleton and striker Reo Griffiths, the boss was asked whether the recruitment led by new owners SU Glovers had made a difference.

Speaking the week, owner-in-waiting Matt Uggla had said the new recruits had been selected by group of people involved with the owners rather than “the old school model” of the manager being in sole charge of recruitment.

On this, Cooper said: “We need players that are match fit and they only way we are going to get them match fit is to keep putting them on the pitch, but then we risk them getting injured.

“It is a bit of a puzzle that we have got to find the right answers to. We are always going to differ on targets and players we are going to bring in, that’s just the way it is, Matt has made it clear he is going to recruit the players he is going to recruit and that’s fair enough – it’s his money and it’s his club.”

The manager added that “the last week has really effected” his team, saying: “There was three or four that kept going as they do every week, the new boys have to add to that now and be really effervescent and bubbly, even if it is only for 20 minutes.“

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Venue: Huish Park
Saturday, 25th March, 3pm kick-off

Pitch: Sticky after some heavy rain overnight
Conditions:  On and off rain and a strong wind
Attendance: 3480

Scorers: Besert Topalloj 5 (0-1),

Bookings: 

Yeovil Town: Grant Smith 65
Bromley: Ryan Stirk 56, Arthurs 65

Referee: Richie Watkins

Yeovil Town (4-3-3)


Substitutes: Scott Pollock (for Callum Harriott, 46), Zanda Siziba (for Jordan Maguire-Drew, 54), Reo Griffiths (for Andrew Oluwabori, 54), Max Hunt (not used), Malachi Linton (not used).

Bromley: Charles-Cook, Reynolds, Sowunmi, Whitely, Dennis (for Krauhaus, 86), Cheek, Stirk, Arthurs, Topalloj (for Bingham, 46), Elerewe, Fisher (for Vennings, 66). Substitutes (not used): Kendall, Forster.


Match Report

A dreadful display from Yeovil Town saw them fall to a 1-0 home defeat against Bromley which pushed them within a point of the National League relegation places.

A fourth minute goal from Besert Topalloj was the difference on the scoresheet but the visitors spurned numerous other chances and Glovers’ goalkeeper Grant Smith pulled off a number of fine stops to prevent the scoreline being greater.

Perhaps more worrying was the complete lack of effort from many in green and white who were met by boos at the end of either half from second biggest crowd of the season at Huish Park.

 

First half

It was the worst possible start for Yeovil as they fell behind after just five minutes. Kellen Fisher got away down the right for Bromley, Andrew Oluwabori got to him but the wideman still got the ball in and a complete failure to clear by the Yeovil defence saw it break to Besert TOPALLOJ who slammed it past Grant Smith.

Besert Topalloj celebrates his fourth minute strike.

That was the first attack of the game but it set the tone for a start which saw the visitors completely on top. It was on 10 minutes that a terrible pass by Oluwabori saw the ball break to Michael Cheek who burst in to the box and was denied by a point blank save from Smith. From the resulting corner a header by visiting defender Deje Elerewe, on loan from Charlton Athletic, was turned over by Smith.

Every time Bromley are coming forward they look like they can score. The visitors looked every inch a side pushing at the top end of the table and whilst looking threatening on the attack, they also looked confident in snuffing out anything approaching forward play from Yeovil.

It took until the 24th minute for Yeovil to get their first effort on goal when a long ball forward found Oluwabori who did well to bring it down, cut inside and Harriott took the ball off his team-mate who hammered in a shot which took a deflection and was well turned aside by Reice Charles-Cook in the visitors’ goal.

That sparked a bit of possession for the home side but balls in from Chiori Johnson down the right and then Oluwabori from the left were about as near to a threat on goal as Yeovil got as the game ticked past the 30 minute mark.

On 32 minutes, a beautiful ball over the top found Louis Dennis who had time to take a touch on the edge of the area but lifted his effort over the bar. Bromley will be baffled as to how they are only 1-0 up.

The half-time whistle was met with boos from a bumper home crowd boosted by visitors coming as part of Non-League Day and the #PackThePark ticket offer. A very poor first half from Yeovil.

Half time: Yeovil Town 0 Bromley 1

 

Second half

The interval saw Harriott, who had not played a competitive minute since the start of January, replaced by Pollock. The winger appeared to be playing with a knock at the end of the first half.

Scott Pollock in action for Yeovil Town. Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

On 51 minutes, Yeovil got a huge let off as Bromley waltzed through the hosts’ defence and lifted a ball over the top to Cheek (don’t worry, he’s only one of the best strikers in the division, lads) who put his effort over from a tight angle.

By the 54th minute, manager Mark Cooper had clearly seen all he needed to see as Maguire-Drew and Oluwabori, neither of whom had affected the play in a positive fashion, were replaced by Reo Griffiths and Zanda Siziba. But with a spark desperately needed, Yeovil simply could not get the ball off their comfortable visitors.

From the crowd to the players to the dug out, energy was completely missing – literally no-one was up for this one. Except Bromley, of course, who seemed to be quite happy to let their hosts get frustrated. This could not be more different to the feeling in the previous home game, the 1-0 win over Eastleigh.

 

https://twitter.com/matt_uggla/status/1639664968424456193?s=20

 

With 63 minutes gone, Billy Bingham’s challenge broke to Cheek who slid it in to Dennis, from the resulting scramble Smith was able to grasp it and took a kick in the process. The referee booked Arthurs for Bromley for the kick and Smith for his protests.

Dennis smashed a shot over a minute ago and it was the visitors who were asking all the questions and Corey Whiteley had another effort over the bar.

At the other end, there was a scramble in front of the away end after 68 minutes with Ryan Law and Fisher in close proximity but neither were able to prod the ball home.

Ugh. We simply don’t look like a team at the moment. Cooper was full of running, Johnson got forward well in the second half and (as ever) only captain Staunton seemed interested in driving forward whilst Smith did his part at the back. The rest? The body language spoke volumes, lots of arms waved in the air and very little else.

On 82 minutes, Griffiths won a free-kick just outside the penalty area, Cooper did superbly to pick out Fisher in the middle of the box but his header flashed wide. Four minutes later Dennis bent one round the post. How are they not more than a goal ahead?

From minute one to minute 90+5, Yeovil were second best and the final score flattered them thoroughly.

Full time: Yeovil Town 0 Bromley 1

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New signings winger Callum Harriott and defender Miguel Freckleton are handed debuts as Yeovil Town go in search of victory against Bromley at Huish Park today (3pm kick-off).

Harriott, who joined on a short-term contract in the week following his release by Gillingham last month, is expected to start on the right of a three man attack including top scorer Alex Fisher and Andrew Oluwabori, whilst Freckleton is expected to play in the middle of the park.

Chiori Johnson comes in on the right side of defence in place of the injured Edwin Agbaje, who has returned to Ipswich Town after his loan spell.

There is also a place for midfielders Scott Pollock and Zanda Siziba on the substitutes’ bench which also features defender Max Hunt, on loan striker Reo Griffiths and frontman Malachi Linton, who came off the bench to score a late equaliser in the 1-1 draw at FC Halifax Town last weekend.