Latest Yeovil Town News (Page 346)

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What do you do when none of the Gloverscast trio are at a game? You put out a call to arms.

Thankfully, Elliot from our friends at WeLoveYouYTFC was there at the Avenue Stadium and he had five thoughts he’d like to share with you on the 0-0 draw.

Charlie Wakefield. Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

Signings are needed. It’s no secret we have a small squad, however we need more bodies, otherwise we may have a real issue with squad depth this season. Last night, for instance, we had a couple of injuries and all of a sudden players were having to play out of position, Charlie Wakefield a prime example of this. Which brings me to my next point..

Charlie Wakefield is wasted at right wing back. Charlie was at his best last season when given license to run at defenders, and in a way, neglecting any sort of defensive role. Which makes you question where he fits into a formation with 5 at the back? You’d imagine Hargreaves and co. have a plan for him, and hopefully that isn’t back up right wing back.

Josh Staunton modelling the 2022-23 kit. Picture courtesy of YTFC.net.

We look solid defensively. We may have a new manager this season, but the personnel defensively remains largely the same as last season, and it shows. We look very good defensively, it is clear to see the centre back trio of Morgan Williams, Josh Staunton & Max Hunt have played with each other for a while now.

Sam Perry is a very good signing. In previous friendlies against Exeter and Plymouth respectively, Sam Perry, alongside the majority of our team, hasn’t seen as much as the ball as he’d perhaps like, but tonight he excelled with the ball at his feet. Walsall fans evidently see something in him, and rightly so.

Sign up number 24 + 25 (Trialist b + c). Out of all the trialists we have seen in action over pre-season, these two, for me, have shown the most talent, and are the most deserving of a contract. Trailist b played at left wing back on Tuesday night, and showed pace and skill, as did trailist C. As previously referenced, we need more bodies, and I’d like to see these two signed up.

We’re you at the game? What did you think?

Thanks to Elliot for helping us out on these five conclusions.

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With one pre-season fixture left to play before we travel to Scunthorpe next Saturday, Chris Hargreaves’ Yeovil side have had goalless draws with Taunton and Dorchester, a 1-1 draw with Exeter and lost 2-0 to Plymouth.

After last night’s draw, there was concern from some on social media about the lack of goals, confidence that we’re strong at the back and general dismissal that nothing matters until the real season kicks off next weekend.

But, what do you think? As the new season draws closer, are you optimistic about the Glovers’ chances? Let us know if you agree with the statement on the poll below and leave your comments below.

Sorry, there are no polls available at the moment.

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Glovers’ boss Chris Hargreaves

Yeovil Town manager Chris Hargreaves has called for more belief in front of goal as the Glovers played out a 0-0 draw with Dorchester Town.

Speaking after the final whistle, he told YTFC.NET he saw plenty of positives, but wanted to see more from his attackers.

“You’ve got to score when you’re on top, in any game, whether it’s National League, Football League or against Dorchester tonight. We didn’t quite have that killer instinct.”

“First half was positive, second half we made lots of changes, rested people and it become scrappy.”

“I’m not concerned about the second half as much, but if we take our chances in the first half it becomes a different game.”

Hargreaves said he was happy with the fitness levels and the return of Lawson D’Ath in the side returning under ‘managed minutes’ with the first game against Scunthorpe in mind.

However, he wanted to see more ‘belief’ going forward.

“Negatives are, just a bit more belief for our attacking players in that final third to be a bit more selfish, the boys are working their socks off”

The gaffer confirmed that he made changes to ‘protect’ a few of his smaller squad and that Tom Knowles and Chiori Johnson were missing with slight ‘tweaks’.

The gaffer said they’d be working on ‘polishing off in the final third’ with the final friendly at Weston-super-Mare on Saturday working towards players keeping their place for the first League game.

“You’ve got to believe it when you’re running near post, you’ve gotta believe it when you’ve left a man and strike across the keeper and if we had of done that it might have been a very different game”.

He also confirmed, with a wry smile, that he was trying to add to the group before the start of the season too.

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None of the Gloverscast trio were at the Avenue Stadium, Dorchester for the penultimate pre season friendly, but here’s a brief wrap up of the friendly  which ended 0-0, despite good chances falling the way of Max Hunt, Josh Staunton and Alex Fisher.

Magpies goalkeeper Harry Dillon was called into action on a couple further occasions but no one in pink and purple could find the back of the net in the absence of Tom Knowles, who was rested.

Matt Buse continued as a trialist starting the game but Chiori Johnson stepped out of the side with a ‘slight knock’. Lawson D’Ath made his first appearance of pre-season and Charlie Wakefield started his first game.

We will have further reaction on the game with Five Conclusions, but Chris Hargreaves will hope that the goals will start to flow sooner rather than later with just one pre season game between now and the start of the National League season.

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Yeovil Town have announced that Phil Osborn has joined Chris Hargreaves’ back room team as Goalkeeper coach.

As revealed by the Gloverscast, Osborn has been at the pre-season games working with Max Evans and Grant Smith.

But now that deal becomes official.

Speaking to YTFC.net he said “I’m over the moon and very excited to join the club.

“After talking to the management and already knowing the rich history of the club, it was an absolute no brainer to take the opportunity and be involved in the new chapter.”

Welcome to Huish Park, Phil!

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Charlie Wakefield holds off his marker

After a couple of draws in their opening two pre-season friendlies, Yeovil Town suffered their first defeat of the campaign at home to League One side Plymouth Argyle on Saturday.

Having held their opponents at bay in the first half, Chris Hargreaves’ men were undone by two goals from the visitors’ Ryan Hardie and Finn Azaz in the opening 15 minutes after the restart, before Matt Worthington and Plymouth wing-back Bali Mumba saw red for a scuffle.

Here are Marcus Duncomb‘s conclusions on a difficult afternoon at Huish Park…..

 Max Hunt. Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

Our trio of centre-backs are very solid. It seems as though Chris Hargreaves is set on lining up with a back three/five, depending on which way you look at it. The three centre-backs of Josh Staunton, Morgan Williams and Max Hunt were all key players last season and know each other well. This showed against a very strong Plymouth side who struggled to break us down in the first half after putting six past Torquay United in midweek. I think these three will be important.

Don’t expect the cards to disappear. Under Darren Sarll, Yeovil were no strangers to cards – in fact we consistently had the most cards in the leagues. It seems like that might not change immediately. When Matt Worthington and Bali Mumba got into a scuffle the whole Yeovil team and dugout instantly went into defend their teammate – this was only a friendly! We also saw Chiori Johnson, who had a tough afternoon, foul tricky wing-back Mumba time after time and he almost certainly would have been booked if it weren’t pre-season.

Chris Hargreaves wants runners in his side. The midfield trio was made up of Worthington, Sam Perry and Tom Knowles slightly more advanced. Yeovil fans already know all about the work rate of Worthington and Knowles – they are probably the two Yeovil players who have clocked up the most distance over the past two seasons and Perry is no different. Up front, Alex Fisher never gives up and his work rate in that position has been much missed over the past few years while Malachi Linton’s quick pace and eagerness to press gave Plymouth defenders little time on the ball. Let’s see if they’re still doing this come Boreham Wood away in April..

Charlie Wakefield. Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

We don’t really know where Charlie Wakefield fits in yet. Wakefield hasn’t been fully fit to start a friendly and the only position we’ve seen him play is right wing-back. Yeovil fans know that Wakefield can offer so much more than a wing-back. Last season while we mainly saw him operate on the wing, he did also feature up front and very occasionally at wing-back towards the end of games. There are no out-and-out wingers in Hargreaves’ current system and Knowles has been placed in the no.10 role while we are waiting to find out where Wakefield’s long-term future is. Surely he wouldn’t have signed the contract extension if he was told he’s going to be a backup wing-back?

It will be interesting to see how we play against weaker opposition. Our final two friendlies against Dorchester and Weston-Super-Mare are more likely to give us an idea of how we are going to play. Against Plymouth we probably had about 20% possession and so it was really an exercise of defensive structure. We barely saw Yeovil with the ball, but when we did it looked promising. One particular move in the first half started with Grant Smith and ended with a Knowles long shot going narrowly wide. But the ball never went in the air once and it was all played along the ground nicely through most of the team, beating the Pilgrims’ press.

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Tickets have gone on sale for Yeovil Town’s away trips to Altrincham and Wealdstone before the end of August.

Having opened the season with a trip to Scunthorpe United (for ticket details for that game click – here), the Glovers travel to Greater Manchester on Saturday 20th August and then Wealdstone on Bank Holiday Monday on 29th August, both games are 3pm kick-offs.

Details are as follows:

Altrincham – Saturday 20th August (3pm kick-off)

Prices have risen at the J.Davidson Stadium from last season with prices up £2 for adults and £1 across the concession categories, except for Under 12s which sees no increase.

 

Away fans get the Chequers End (a.k.a. Hale End) terrace and a small section of undercover seating is usually allocated for those that need to sit.

 

Prices:
Adult: £19.00
Concession (Over-65, Students, NHS Workers): £15.00
Junior (12-18): £7.00
Child (under-12): £2.00Tickets are available on the Altrincham website – click here to buy.

 

Wealdstone – Bank Holiday Monday 29th August (3pm kick-off)
There have been some changes at Grosvenor Vale Stadium for away fans from last season. Most importantly to note is that we are NOT in the same area of the ground as last season. This will be a segregated match.

Tickets can be bought via the Wealdstone website – here  – registration is necessary.Prices are up a couple of pounds across all categories from our visit last season and under 14s are no longer free.

Away standing in now in Couch Corner. Another change is that, although there’s no price differential, away seating needs to be specifically selected in the portal options, and the seating is in the Tecknuovo Stand.

Walk-up sales are available on the night and there’s still no indication of a match-day purchase surcharge being in place:

Adult: £17.00
Concessions (65+, mature student* [presumably over 23 or one might as well buy the Next Generation ticket], serving member of the Armed Forces*, STH of another football club* except matchday opponents): £12.00
Next Generation 18-23*: £10.00
Under 18*: £7.00 

[* Documentary ID to prove eligibility may be requested at the turnstiles.]

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Yeovil Town’s pre-season campaign takes us on the road (albeit not that far) for the first time with a trip down the A37/A35 to Southern League Premier side Dorchester Town on Tuesday night (7pm kick-off).

It is also the Magpies’ penultimate friendly before they get in to league action with a derby trip to W*ymouth on Saturday.

Boss Glenn Howes, who took up the hot seat last October, has had a busy summer with plenty of transfer activity and arranged a busy pre-season schedule in an effort to gel his new charges.

The Southern League Premier South side went down to lower league AFC Portchester and Sholing in their opening two matches before showing signs of improvement with victories at Portland United and Bridgwater United.

At the weekend, they recorded a 3-1 home win over Wessex League Premier side Hamworthy United, who are two levels below the Magpies in the football pyramid.

 

Team News

It’s been a summer of change at The Avenue with seven departures, including ex-Glovers’ striker Yemi Odubade, and ten new arrivals.

The new boys include centre half Louie Slough, who played under Yeovil assistant Chris Todd in the Torquay youth set-up, experienced defender Keith Emmerson, who has arrived from Hungerford Town, and striker Olly Balmer, who netted 26 times for Winchester City last season.

They join already contracted left-back Tiago Sa, who began his career in the academy at Yeovil, defenders Harvey-Joe Bertrand and Callum Buckley and striker Alfie Stanley.

It’s been a good start to the season for former Portsmouth youngster Stanley who has five goals in the club’s opening six pre-season friendlies.

From the (assistant) manager

Speaking after the win over Hamworthy United at the weekend, Dorchester assistant James Wood described the visit from Yeovil Town as the biggest test his side had faced so far.

He said: “It’s going to be intense, they are a high quality outfit and we realise we are going to have long periods without the ball.

“Our organisation, shape, work-rate and desire is something we are going to need against Yeovil on Tuesday, but we have good players out there so we still want to be a threat when we get the ball.

“That is the way we want it, pre-season shouldn’t be easy, we have to be asking these questions of ourselves because that will stand us in good stead when the season begins.”

Tickets

Tickets are available to purchase in advance on the Dorchester website with a £1 surcharge if you want to buy them on the gate.

Prices

Adults: £6.00
Concessions: £4.00
16-18 years: £2.00
Under-16s: £1.00

You can purchase tickets in advance – here

Directions

The Avenue Stadium
W*ymouth Avenue
Dorchester
Dorset
DT1 2RY

 

By Car:
The Avenue Stadium is conveniently located at the southern most point of the town, adjacent to the A35. If you are approaching Dorchester from Yeovil (A37) or Wimborne (A35), follow the by-pass around the town centre, following signs to Weymouth. At the Stadium Roundabout, take the Weymouth Avenue (B3147) road towards Dorchester, turning left towards the town centre if you are coming from Yeovil.

You’ll see the ground on your right-hand side and then turn right towards the Tesco supermarket and then right again to reach the stadium – if you can’t see it by then, a branch of Specsavers is available in the town centre.

On in season matchdays, The Avenue Stadium operates a £2 charge for the car park on a first come, first served basis.

Limited disabled car parking is available alongside the main stand. We are unable to take bookings in advance.

By Train:
Dorchester is served by two train stations: Dorchester South (from London, Southampton and Bournemouth) and Dorchester West (from Bristol, Bath and Yeovil). Both stations are in the town centre, a 15 minute walk north of the Avenue Stadium.

From Dorchester South: Exit the station on the Brewery Square (west) side of the station. Take the road alongside the new development and at the traffic lights next to the Brewhouse Pub, turn left up the hill. Follow Weymouth Avenue over the traffic lights and continue south past the cricket ground and retail park.

From Dorchester West: Exit the station and turn right at the traffic junction. Follow the road alonside the market square up to the traffic lights at Maumbury Rings. Turn right, over the railway bridge and follow Weymouth Avenue south past the cricket ground and retail park.

By Bus:
The Stadium is served by two bus routes from the town centre: The 10 (Mansell Square- Weymouth service) and the X12 (Blandford – Weymouth service). Both Northbound and Southbound bus stops are a two minute walk north of the stadium, adjacent to the retail park.

 

We will do our best to bring you team news, goal updates and any post-match analysis here at the Gloverscast – if you’re going to the game and have any thoughts, opinions or whatnot, reach out to us on Twitter @gloverscast or via email gloverscast@gmail.com

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Josh Staunton believes Yeovil Town’s defensive solidity will provide a platform they can build on as they move closer to the start of the National League season.

The captain was once again in the heart of three central defenders alongside Max Hunt and Morgan Williams for the 2-0 home defeat to League One Plymouth Argyle at Huish Park in today’s final home pre-season friendly.

He admitted the team were disappointed to concede goals to strikers Ryan Hardie and Finn Azaz which saw the game ended as a contest by the hour mark with the visitors dominating possession for much of the game.

Speaking after the game, Staunton said: “The boys defensively looked good, we just need to get more comfortable taking the ball and keep building.

“There are times when we are showing some good patterns and playing some nice stuff, the longer we go, that will hopefully become more and more.

“Any good team tries to build from the back, we have tried to change shape and we are trying to be as solid as we can without suffocating ourselves going forwards, so it’s all about finding a balance.

“Defensively we are trying to build a platform from where we can start progressing up the pitch and playing some nicer football.”

Staunton said he believed his team-mates can learn a lot from watching the Pilgrims, who get their League One season underway next weekend, dominate possession.

The Glovers travel to lower league Dorchester Town and Weston-super-Mare in their final two games of pre-season.

Asked about the challenge of three matches in seven days, Staunton said: “It’s a different kind of experience, today was about being resolute and you will have periods in games where, especially away from home, you have to defend like that and accept that the other team will have a lot more possession.

“The next two games will be different and you would like to think we will be sharper, fitter and ready to have more possession. It is a different test and gives us a chance to build on that platform and work hard with the ball.

“We will learn a lot from today, you only had to look at them, they made loads of simple passes, working hard off the ball to make options for each other and hopefully we can learn from that and take it in to the games we are going to play.”

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Chris Hargreaves admitted his Yeovil Town were “not quite enough” as they went down 2-0 to League One side Plymouth Argyle in the final home friendly of their pre-season campaign.

The home side were forced on the defensive for the majority of the game as the Pilgrims enjoyed the bulk of possession limiting the Glovers to a handful of opportunities the best of which fell to substitue Ollie Hulbert in the second half.

Speaking to the club’s YouTube channel after the game, the manager said: “We looked good defensively with a good structure, I was disappointed in the goals but it was a big lesson in keeping the ball today.

“It’s something we have been working on because when you are playing against better sides, you need that.

“But the final third wasn’t quite enough and we are also working on our creativity, trying to get our wing backs higher, trying to be more of a threat.”

Starting with what appears to be his favoured 5-2-3 formation, Hargreaves stuck with the same XI which earned a 1-1 draw with Exeter City last weekend with striker Malachi Linton and Alex Fisher supported by Tom Knowles.

In the second half, he threw on Hulbert and trialist Stanley Anaebonam, who made his second appearance having featured seven days earlier, but none of his forwards really troubled the Pilgrims’ goal.

The boss added: “It can be frustrating when the opposition have that much possession but today was a lesson in discipline and when you get the ball in the final third, taking an extra breathe to make sure you have your composure to hurt the opposition.

“We had chances at the end, a few crosses flashed across and we had a chance with Ollie Hulbert which maybe on another day goes in the net and it becomes closed.

“But, in the main, I am delighted with the application of the boys.”

The game was marred by a double dismissal for Glovers’ midfielder Matt Worthington and Plymouth wing-back Bali Mumba after 69th minute.

Hargreaves admitted his player needed to learn from the red card: “Both players have to learn from that, it is a local rivalry and tensions are high but you just have to keep your composure.

“From our side we have to keep our composure because we won’t want to lose players early in the season.

“Matty has been excellent, he is up for the fight, but it’s just a case of reining it in when you need to.”

He added that playmaker Lawson D’Ath, who is yet to featured in any of the four pre-season fixtures so far, was “maybe a week” from being ready to play again.

That would put him in the frame for next weekend’s trip to Weston-super-Mare AFC next Saturday.

Hargreaves said: “He will think he is closer, but I just don’t want him to break down again because it is so important to get fitness in before the (league) games start.”

The next friendly fixture see Yeovil make the short journey south to Dorchester Town on Tuesday night.

The Magpies ran out 3-1 winners in a home fixture against Wessex League Premier side Hamworthy United today.

The Glovers’ boss said: “It is going to be a test (against Dorchester) because they have used a lot of energy up today, but that is what happens in the normal season.

“They would often have to come back from a long game and then having to prepare for another game on the Tuesday.

“It is a different focus for us on Tuesday, a different surface and we have to make sure the players recover properly because they have put an absolute shift in today.”