Match Report: Wealdstone 0 Yeovil Town 0
2022-08-29
Venue: Grosvenor Vale
Monday August 29th, 3pm kick-off
Conditions: Dry and warm
Pitch: Green all over
Attendance: 1,714 (251 away supporters)
Scorers: None
Bookings:
Yeovil Town: Reckord 53, Wakefield 55, Pond 85, Scrimshaw 90+5
Wealdstone: Allarakhia 75
Sendings off
Wealdstone: Kinsella 9
Referee: Sam Mulhall
Yeovil Town : (3-5-2)
Grant Smith
Alfie Pond Josh Staunton Ben Richards-Everton
Morgan Williams Matt Worthington Sam Perry (for Charlie Wakefield, 46) Jamie Reckord
Gime Toure
Alex Fisher (for Jake Scrimshaw, 72) Malachi Linton (for Callum Rowe, 84)
Substitutes (not used): Max Hunt, Chiori Johnson.
Wealdstone: Howes, Cook, Habergham, Kinsella, Charles, Allarakhia (Hutchinson 75), Ferguson, Sesay, Napa, Kretzschmar (Dyer 66), Browne (Mongoy 83). Substitutes not used: Young and Mundle-Smith.
Match Report
If we’d stayed out there all day, we still would not have scored. That sentiment summed up a day where “disappointing” just does not cut it.
Having seen their hosts Wealdstone (league leaders, yes, but a part-time side nevertheless) reduced to ten men after Lewis Kinsella kicked out at Malachi Linton after just nine minutes, the game should have been there for the taking.
But, though the opposition was organised and had a plan of what to do as they faced up to 81 minutes with a man down, Yeovil did their level best to make it easy for him.
There was even a ‘Get Out Of Jail – Free’ card printed and handed to the visitors in the form of a 69th minute penalty kick which Malachi Linton put out of the ground. That one moment summed up Yeovil’s day.
Here’s how Dave saw it from the away end in the London Borough of Hillingdon…..
First half
The only change from the first win of the season 48 hours early saw Sam Perry replace the injured Lawson D’Ath in midfield, whilst Charlie Wakefield returned on the bench.
After a bright start with Matt Worthington warming the palms of hosts’ keeper Sam Howes with an early sighter, the first incident saw Wealdstone reduced to ten men after just nine minutes.
Lewis Kinsella tussled for a ball with Malachi Linton and appeared to kick out at his opponent. When referee Sam Mulhall went for his pocket, a yellow card looked most the likely course of action – but it was red.
But, as we have seen on many occasions, a man advantage and Yeovil Town do not always mix well. Possession, we saw plenty of it but the 15 minutes after the dismissal only saw us probe at the home defence without much cut through.
The next meaningful chance actually fell to the home side when Napa was found by a ball in from the left and stabbed it wide. Moments later, Gime Toure weaved in from the left and flashed one across the face of goal.
Two minutes later, saw a golden opportunity arrive a both ends. First a quick break away saw ex-Glover Rhys Browne inside the box but his effort was well blocked by Alfie Pond and scrambled away. The play swung to the other end where Ben Richards-Everton’s header was cleared off the line.
The opening 38 minutes had not seen a great deal of Jamie Reckord, still our top scorer let’s not forget, but it was his ball in front the left that picked out Alex Fisher whose effort went over.
A minute later, Morgan Williams’ cross from the opposite side needed to be turned over by Howes, but the resulting corner saw the other side of Williams’ attacking play, smashing a shot high, wide and not so handsome from the edge of the box.
Half time: Wealdstone 0 Yeovil Town 0
Second half
Almost as if Chris Hargreaves had heard the half-time thoughts of the away end, Charlie Wakefield replaced Sam Perry at the start of the second half.
But if you’re going to play Wakefield down the wing , he needs the opportunities to get forward and for the first 15 minutes he didn’t get many. When he did, he won a corner and from Worthington’s ball in, Fisher’s effort was goalbound but without the venom required and it was easily cleared.
For all the plaudits Worthington has had in recent games, he went missing on too many occasions. Far from the all-action midfielder we have enjoyed so early this season, his only meaningful contribution was from corners.
On 68 minutes, a golden opportunity as Linton made a nuisance of himself to squeeze in between Howes and his defence and was pulled down. The young striker, who had not had his most effective game, grabbed the ball – but skied his effort out of Grosvenor Vale.
It certainly wasn’t Mal’s day and having headed a cross further away from goal that towards it, he was mercifully substituted Hargreaves after 84 minutes. Definitely not his day.
By that Jake Scrimshaw had come on and, for all his running and effort, did little to effect the game. In reality, we could have stayed out there until the next bank holiday and still not scored.
Full time: Wealdstone 0 Yeovil Town 0
Team News: Wealdstone (away)
2022-08-29
Chris Hargreaves makes just one change from the side that beat Dagenham as they take on National League leaders Wealdstone.
As expected, Lawson D’ath makes way after coming off with a knee injury on Saturday with Sam Perry taking his place in the starting line up.
Taking his place on the bench, is a slightly surprising return to the squad for Charlie Wakefield, he was expected to miss this game, but has clearly recovered ahead of schedule, which is lovely.
There’s no goalkeeper on the bench with loanees, Matty Grivosti and Finley Craske both still missing from the squad as well as Bristol City stopper Will Buse, the squad is as follows…
Yeovil Town: Grant Smith, Morgan Williams, Alfie Pond, Ben Richards-Everton, Josh Staunton, Jamie Reckord, Matt Worthington, Sam Perry, Gime Toure,Alex Fisher, Malachi Linton. Substitutes: Callum Rowe, Max Hunt, Chiori Johnson, Charlie Wakefield, Jake Scrimshaw.
As for the hosts, former Glover – and in form striker Rhys Browne leads their line with enforced changes in their back-line.
There’s no place for Fela Olomola, who is out injured.
Wealdstone: Howes, Cook, Kinsella, Charles, Allarakhia, Ferguson, Browne, Sesay, Napa, Kretzschmar, Habergham
Substitutes: Young, Hutchinson, Dyer, Mongoy, Mundle-Smith
Gloverscast #189 – “Fish ‘n’ Mal or Scrimmy ‘n’ Gime?”
2022-08-29
Chris Hargreaves is up and running!
After three points at home against Dagenham and Redbridge, Ben, Dave and Ian talk about Yeovil’s first victory of the season, build up to Wealdstone today and we take listener questions.
Five Conclusions: Yeovil Town 1 Dagenham & Redbridge 0
2022-08-28
The first win is on the board for Chris Hargreaves. It wasn’t pretty, it wasn’t convincing, but who cares?! They all count. Here are Ian’s conclusions from yesterday’s 1-0 win.
We showed that we’ve got defensive resilience. Chris Hargreaves made some changes bringing in Alfie Pond and Ben Richards-Everton and it worked. The second half was an exercise in attack versus defence and marshalled by the impressive Josh Staunton, the Glovers kept free-flowing Dagenham at bay. They defended resolutely against a barrage of of corners. It was talked about in the build up to the game about the importance of seeing matches out and the players delivered for the manager, keeping a clean sheet and getting that all important first three points!
It was a captain’s performance from Josh Staunton. With Alfie Pond making his debut, and Ben Richards-Everton returning from injury after three matches out, all eyes were on Josh Staunton to be the rock at the back. His performance was probably the best of the season so far. He saw the danger that Josh Walker was causing in the first half and took it upon himself to make sure Walker wasn’t allowed to do it in the second half. When the Glovers had to defend successive corners, Staunton was in the thick of things, putting his body on the line ensuring that Dagenham didn’t get an equaliser.
We’ve got a player in Alfie Pond. There’s a long way to go in Alfie Pond’s career, and as an 18-year-old he will have bad games at some point, but yesterday he looked the part. He had an early duel against one of the League’s best strikers in Paul McCallum which set the tone for his day. He was calm in possession of the ball, won his battles in the air and looked more than ready for the rigours of the National League. Having kept a clean sheet with Max Hunt dropped and Morgan Williams at wingback, there is plenty of competition for places at Huish Park at the moment.
We seemed to show a lack of urgency at times. I’m not sure if it was our defensive focus, but we certainly sacrificed some of the Harg-Ball in favour of being secure. Before we took the lead through Jamie Reckord, there were groans at the lack of urgency and unwillingness to play forward, but our patience paid off and we got what turned out to be the winner. But in the second half, when we were really under pressure, I felt like we never got going and when we did have the ball we took our time to move it forward. It paid off in the end and we got the win but it would have been a little more comfortable…wouldn’t it?
It’s time to push on. We’ve got the first win in the bank now, on Friday we secured two new signings and we’re at a stage where we’ve got genuine depth and competition in each position. We travel to Wealdstone tomorrow and welcome York to Huish Park this coming Saturday and if we’re going to be a side that flirts with the playoffs, we should be getting six-points from those two games. We’ll have to deal with the absences of Charlie Wakefield, Sam Pearson and possibly Lawson D’Ath, but as we showed today we’ve got options. Hopefully we can get on a bit of run, build some confidence and some convincing victories on the way.
“No excuses” from Hargreaves and Reckord ahead of Wealdstone clash
2022-08-28
Manager Chris Hargreaves and goal-scoring wing-back Jamie Reckord have both said Yeovil Town are looking to put a run together as they travel to in-form Wealdstone on Bank Holiday Monday.
Speaking to BBC Somerset’s Sheridan Robins following victory over Dagenham & Redbridge on Saturday the pair were unanimous their opponent’s form didn’t matter, it was about how Yeovil could impact the game.
Hargreaves said: “They’ve recruited players of a good standard they’ve obviously pushed the boat out to do that.
“They’re a good team, they’re an attacking threat, they’ve got some pace and we’ve got focus on that and how we can affect them with our football, but our resilience has got to carry on into that next game.
“The lads have just said it in the changing room, that’s their focus now, they know they can defend, they know they can listen to information and play different shapes”
With just under 48 hours between matches, Hargreaves said that recovery was key and that might have to affect their roast dinner on Sunday.
He added: “The boys have got to enjoy winning today, cos that’s what this game is about, recover quickly, not have too many pigs in blankets tomorrow and chocolate pudding and relax.
“I can’t quite believe this fixture pile up already, it’s ridiculous, it’s got to stop, it’s dangerous, that’s annoyed me, but we’ve got to deal with, get on with it.”
Similar thoughts were shared by Reckord whose third goal in five games gave Hargreaves his first win as Glovers boss.
The former Wrexham man said: “Everyone is in the same boat, they’ve (Wealdstone) have played today like us, I just think if everyone recovers well and does the right thing, there’s no excuse on Monday, we just keep going.
“They’ve started well, but it’s not about them it’s about us, we won today, and I’m confident about getting three points on Monday.”
Wealdstone go in to the game full of confidence having hit the top of the National League table with a 1-0 win at Gateshead courtesy of a goal from former Glover Rhys Browne.
Pond splashes into NLP team of the day
2022-08-28
Yes, we’re going to be making Pond/Fish/ based puns whenever we can, we’re not going to apologise for it either.
Yeovil Town’s on loan defender Alfie Pond has been named in the Non-League Paper’s team of the day after his impressive debut performance helped secure a 1-0 win over Dagenham & Redbridge.
Pond joins Wealdstone’s Jack Cook – who he’ll likely face on Monday – and Callum Howe of Solihull in the mythical back line.
The gaffer, Chris Hargreaves also makes the ‘Top Boss’ spot his own after picking up his first competitive victory as Glovers’ boss.
Well done to Alfie and Chris!
Reckord hails ‘massive’ win
2022-08-27
Yeovil Town s̶t̶r̶i̶k̶e̶r̶ defender Jamie Reckord has praised the Glovers’ ability to grind out their first win of the season over Dagenham & Redbridge on Saturday.
Speaking to BBC Somerset’s Sheridan Robins after the game, in which he scored his third goal of the season, he said how happy everyone was to get that first win in the books.
The 30-year-old said: “Both teams started kind of slow, there wasn’t much really in the game, I just felt like there were always going to be opportunities come our way
“Their back three was gifting us a few chances, Mal [of Fish ‘n’ Mal fame] was running off the back of them and giving them havoc and Gime and I thought Fish [also from Fish ‘n’ Mal] played well and I got my goal. I’m just happy we got the three points.
“Everyone knows it was important for us to get the win today, you could feel it, we could feel it, the last ten minutes felt like it was half an hour but we hung on.
“Everyone needed that, because if you look at the last few games in the season I think we’ve been the better team, and the club looks back and says we could have and should have, but we were the better team in most of the three games and yeah, I’m just glad we got the three points.”
Reckord – who had, before this game NEVER scored more than twice in a single season – was chuffed to get his third in the opening five games…
“I’m delighted to get the goal, of course, three goals in whatever games it is, its the best of my professional career, but most importantly we got the win and the first win on the board and we can look forward to playing Wealdstone on Monday”
Best check that contract for a goal bonus clause, Jamie!
There was praise for his 18 year old defensive partner Alfie Pond who made his Glovers debut and put in a rock solid display impressing Reckord, and fans with his performance.
“Pondy is really good, you can tell, he’s good in the air, good on the ball, he’s calm and collected and when you play in a three you need that calmness, he can play the ball out from the back and start moves off, yeah, everyone was impressed.”
Loan Watch: Haste injured as Truro march on
2022-08-27
Yeovil Town’s on loan duo Ollie Haste and Toby Stephens had very different days as their host side Truro City picked up a 4-1 win over Hendon.
Haste started the match but was replaced with just 24 minutes on the clock due to an injury.
After the game White Tigers’ gaffer – and former Glover – Paul Wotton said: “He (Haste) took a knee to the thigh, so he’s got a bit of a dead leg.”
They, like us, have a game on Monday and Wotton said he had a few nursing knocks so players will be assessed over the next 24 hours, but thankfully it doesn’t seem too serious for Haste.
Stephens was named on the bench for the second game in succession and came on for just over 30 minutes with the game finely poised.
He too, has had a slight injury concern during his temporary spell at Truro but is making a steady return to action.
Keep up the good work, lads !
Hargreaves pleased to win “war of attrition”
2022-08-27
Yeovil Town manager Chris Hargreaves was pleased to see his side regain the “clean sheet mentality” his coaching staff have been drilling in to the Glovers’ players all week.
Having taken the lead through a Jamie Reckord goal after 34 minutes, the home side were forced to defend against an onslaught from visitors Dagenham & Redbridge and held on to earn their first win of the season.
Speaking to BBC Somerset’s Sheridan Robins after the game, Hargreaves said: “The first half was good, we did what we said we were going to do, we were calm when we had the ball and we organised when we were out of possession.
“Because we are so desperate to win games, the second half became a war of attrition but the clean sheet mentality we have been drumming in to the boys all week, they did it.
“The corners were raining in at the end there and there’s so many good teams and players in this league, it is a very underrated standard.”
The boss made three changes from last weekend’s 2-2 draw at Altrincham with Ben Richards-Everton returning in defence alongside teenage debutant Alfie Pond, on loan from League One side Exeter City, and captain Josh Staunton in a three-man defence.
He added: “We were organised even with the lads coming in, I think the captain (Josh Staunton) stood up tremendously at the end, Alfie Pond showed an enormous amount of maturity and I could go through the entire squad, including those not getting a look in at the moment.
“There’s young players in there and for some of them it is a reintroduction to men’s football and they have to adjust quickly.”
After a fragmented first 30 minutes to the match, it was a moment of quality when striker Alex Fisher broke the Dagenham offside trap and fired the ball across for wing back Reckord to fire home at proved the difference.
Hargreaves said: “We’ve been working on our wing back gambling to go high when the ball’s switched and it worked.
“It was a great ball and a great finish, Jamie’s been getting a nose bleed when he’s got in to the box in recent years and now he’s turned in to a goal-scoring wing back.
“We worked on that, talked about running blind side, and they carried it out and they were fantastic.
“Towards the end it was an uncomfortable watch but with the will of the fans and the backing we’ve had, pulled us through today.”
Forward Gime Toure, who had opened his goal-scoring account seven days earlier, was the other change from the disappointing draw at Altrincham. He replaced Charlie Wakefield who was missing with a thigh injury picked up in training.
Speaking before the game, Hargreaves said Wakefield was unlikely to make the visit to league leaders Wealdstone on Bank Holiday Monday.