Latest Yeovil Town News (Page 379)

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In-form striker Alfie Lloyd did not feature for Yeovil Town’s under-18s side in a 1-1 draw at home to Cheltenham Town last weekend.

The frontman turned out for QPR Under-23s last month having been reportedly taken on trial by the West London club.

Midfielder Toby Stephens, who was an unused substitute for the Glovers’ first-team in the 3-0 home defeat to FC Halifax Town on Bank Holiday Monday, played the full 90 minutes at Alvington last Saturday.

Skipper Jiah Medrano got the hosts’ goal in the Merit League 1, where they sit in fifth place in the seven-team league with one game remaining.

They travel to bottom-of-the-table Newport County for their final fixture at the weekend.

Read the full match report on the club’s official website – here.

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Former Yeovil Town defender Luke Ayling has reiterated his love for his former club saying it was “the best decision I ever made”.

Speaking to Laura Woods and Adebayo Akinfenwa on the Sky Sports Super Six Podcast, Ayling spoke of how he felt like moving to Somerset made a huge difference in his career

“It certainly toughed me up, it was the best decision I ever made in football.”

“I was playing men’s football at 18 or 19… I was a little skinny lad, a centre half playing centre mid, who wasn’t very good at centre mid then dropped back to right back and found my spot.”

Ayling was brought in alongside fellow Arsenal academy graduate Luke Freeman by Terry Skiverton and would go on to become a fan favourite.

However, his time in Yeovil nearly ended much more quickly than he’d expected after recalling a training ground incident with defender Paul Huntington.

“There was one incident in training, we were playing a game and one of my mates scored, Hunts [Paul Huntington] started shouting and I went back at him. There was a bit of a thing and he said, ‘you’re gunna have to get back in the team you big time Charlie’.”

That wasn’t the end of the situation though.

“So, I was playing centre mid and the ball has rolled to him [Huntington] and I’ve ran 20 yards and clattered him, and said ‘how’s that for big time Charlie’? We’ve got up, had a little scuffle at the time and the gaffer at the time sent me in saying ‘you’ll never play for this club again’ I told him ‘I don’t want to play for this club, I’m done’.”

Thankfully for Glovers fans, a swift chat with his agent and an apology was all that was needed to right the wrong and Skivo soon had Luke in his plans once more.

On his relationship with Terry Skiverton, Ayling said:“I still speak to him now, he gave me my chance, we’re good.”

Akinfenwa asked about the League One Play Off success.

“I knew what us boys actually did, we started well and hit a run and got into the play offs… there was 40,000 at Wembley, it was so good to see all that green and white. There was 22,000 [Yeovil] fans there, there’s only 40,000 in the town of Yeovil. We won it, jumped in the off licence right outside Wembley, went to McDonald’s and got loads of stuff, went back to Yeovil and went to the pub for three days”

Ayling went on to play for Bristol City following Yeovil’s relegation from the Championship and then made a move to Leeds where he is playing his way into the conversations for international recognition under Gareth Southgate and England.

Ayling will always be part of the heroic 2013 Play-Off side who gave so many Glovers fans so many special memories, he scored three times in 185 appearances at Yeovil.

You can listen to the Super 6 Podcast wherever you get your audio on demand and don’t forget to subscribe to the Gloverscast whilst you’re there.

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Yeovil Town defeated Gillingham 2-0 in preparation for the 2007 League One Play-Off campaign.

Manager Russell Slade took the opportunity to rest a few key players with the likes of Arron Davies, Chris Cohen, Nathan Jones and Marcus Stewart all missing from the match day squad.

The visitors still proved too strong though, goals from Jean Paul Kalala – his first for the Glovers – and Wayne Gray enough to separate the sides.

Among the changes made by Slade, a young Craig Alcock made his debut from the bench, whilst names like Daniel Webb and Tom Clarke were also given game time.

Yeovil finished the season in 5th place with 79 points and would eventually fall just short in their quest for promotion with a loss to Blackpool at Wembley.

Yeovil XI – Mildenhall, Lynch, Forbes, Guyett, Lindegaard, Brittain, Kalala, Barry, Welsh (Alcock, 74), Clarke (Webb,57), Gray (McCallum, 88)

Unused Subs – Behcet, Smeeton.

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Wrexham boss Dean Keates has said he was on the verge of quitting after online trolls threatened to burn down his house.

The Dragons’ manager, whose side host Yeovil Town at the weekend, was speaking after the social media blackout over the Bank Holiday weekend in protest against online hate.

He told BBC Wales: “When it goes to the point people are happy to abuse you… I have had people threatening to burn my house down, stuff against my kids, personal insults… I just don’t understand it.

“And when it gets personal, when it was aimed at my family, my kids and people are taking it upon themselves to wish that you catch Covid-19 and that gets you out of a football club, it is hard to take.

“I am not going to lie, when it gets to that level when people are saying things about your kids or whatever, there are points where I have thought ‘is it worth it?’. But I have never shied away from things.”

Wrexham are in sixth place heading in to the weekend after a coming from two goals down to earn a 2-2 draw at Maidenhead United on Bank Holiday Monday.

Speaking to the Wrexham Leader, Keates said: “It was great character from the boys. It is difficult being 2-0 down but we have been in that situation before.

“We know if you can get one goal, you get momentum and second half we had the wind behind us.”

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Over the last few days, there have been several hints about the future of Reuben Reid. Last week during the press conference ahead of the trip to Wealdstone, Darren Sarll said: “Reuben is a fantastic player for us now, for next season and for plenty of time to come.”  BBC Radio Somerset  alluded to the striker signing a new contract during commentary of the win last weekend. The noise is all very positive coming out of Huish Park regarding Reid, and the indications are that we are extending Reid’s stay at Huish Park.

Reid’s signing on the 5th of January caught many off guard. The experienced forward returned for his second spell ahead of our fixture against W*ymouth and was cited as ‘our top target this season’ by Scott Priestnall as we announced the departure of Courtney Duffus.

Since arriving, Reid has made 21 appearances for Yeovil, scoring three times, twice from the penalty spot. His influence, on the pitch, has been mixed. With Reid’s experience at higher levels, many expected more goals. While Reid was prolific at Plymouth Argyle and Exeter, those spells were a peak in his return in front of goal. On the Gloverscast, Ben regularly makes the point that he “won’t judge Reuben Reid on the number of goals he scores”, and this is fair. Reid’s strength is in bringing other forward players into the game. Rhys Murphy’s hottest period this season came when he was paired up with Reid. Those two seemed to strike up a good relationship together, but he seems to have gelled less well with other strikers.

Reid’s post-match interviews have also drawn attention. Some supporters are appreciative of his honesty. Following defeat at $tockport, he bemoaned the quality of the performance and described some of the play as “nearly football.”

He was also critical of his teammates after Yeovil let a 2-0 lead slip against Notts County. Although his performance on that evening was hardly a four out of seven. This mentality, and character, is a key part of a Darren Sarll dressing room.

Reid is, undoubtedly, a big influence in this dressing room. If he can bring young players along with him and help them grow develop – as Sarll has suggested he has with Quigley lately – then that’s ideal. However, I don’t think it’s unfair to to expect more from him on the pitch, if he’s going to publicly call out his teammates.

We received official confirmation of Joe Quigley’s new contract after his hat-trick against Solihull a week ago. We know Darren Sarll likes having a few strikers and based on Monday’s performance in the 3-0 home defeat to FC Halifax Town, Reid and Quigley have a long way to go to be an effective partnership.

The biggest question come out of the latest updates from Huish Park is, what of the future of Rhys Murphy?

Despite two unsettled seasons which have seen him spend long spells on the sidelines, Murphy’s been the striker we were crying out for during our descent down the Football League, and our most natural finisher since Paddy Madden.

His return of 30 goals in 60 appearances in green and white has been superb and will be very difficult to replace, should he leave. At 30-years-old, and with a couple of disrupted seasons, it would be hard to begrudge Murphy a move to a League club. If he gets a payday from another club in the National League, though, that would be a big disappointment.

It’s promising that we’re hearing noises about contract renewals, you can read the current status of the squad here. As you’ll see, we’ve got a long way to go yet.

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Torquay remain top of the National League following their 2-0 win away at Furlough FC Chesterfield. The victory leaves Gary Johnson’s side 4 points clear of Sutton United, who conceded a penalty at the death to lose 3-2 at Notts County.

Ex-Glover (sort of) Kabongo Tshimanga scored three in Boreham Wood’s 5-1 at Kings Lynn.

Playoff hopefuls Bromley picked up a crucial 1-0 win at Hartlepool.  Dagenham & Redbridge beat Woking 3-1 with Angelo Balanta scoring their third goal.

Wrexham came from behind to get a 2-2 draw away Maidenhead. Solihull Moors returned to winning ways with a 4-0 victory at home to Altrincham. $tockport also won 4-0 against Wealdstone.

Rather hilariously, National League also-rans Barnet have done the double over W*ymouth. The Bees won 2-0 at the seaside.
Read the match report of our home loss to Halifax here, if you’re that way inclined.

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Yeovil Town bowed out of the Football League on this day in 2019.

Relegation has already been confirmed after a 2-2 draw against Northampton Town the week prior but the Glovers played out a 0-0 draw with Carlisle to officially bring down the curtain on a Football League journey that had begun in 2003.

3418 people were in Huish Park to watch the somewhat drab affair.

Of the YTFC squad on that day, only Matt Worthington and Gabby Rogers remain with the Glovers.

It would also spell the end of Neale Marmon’s temporary stint in charge at Yeovil having taken over from Darren Way once the former midfield stalwart had been relieved of his duties prior to the run in.

As is customary, the end of season awards were also handed out with on loan ‘Keeper Nathan Baxter swooping all five Player of the Season trophies.

Alex Fisher ended the season as the Glovers top scorer with eight goals.

Yeovil XI – Nelson, Worthington, Mugabi, Worthington, James, Santos (Arquin, 70), Gray, Pattinson, Abrahams (Seager, 76), Dobre, Duffus (Fisher, 80)

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Yeovil Town’s Jimmy Smith spoke to BBC Somerset following the Glovers’ 3-0 loss to Halifax saying the team felt frustrated at the outcome of the match,

“[It’s] very frustrating, the conditions didn’t help either, but that was for both teams, but when you’re not getting decisions from the referee, for the majority of the whole game it doesn’t help either”

Smith, who was booked during the game by the official Elliot Swallow, claimed he was headbutted in the build up to that yellow card whilst also bemoaning the refusal of not one but two penalty decisions which could have swayed the game in the Glovers’ favour.

“… I don’t think it’s a pen for them, we should have had a pen… [Tom] Knowlesy gets put in a headlock and the decision goes against him…”

Smith, like Manager Darren Sarll did admit that despite the officiating, the Glovers did make chances, but failed to capitalise on any.

“We had chances to get back into the game, we had free kick situations, we felt we could have scored from them. The score line, I don’t think it is what it shows, but we’re disappointed not to get something out of this game… we had a few chances, in the second half we had five or six and we need to put them away, no excuses.”

 

Read the match report here

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Yeovil Town Manager Darren Sarll spoke to the media following the Glovers’ 3-0 loss to Halifax and bemoaned both the home side’s inability to take the chances the created as well as the officials.

“… we have made more chances today against Halifax than their last four games put together… and the subsequent missing of those chances; you look at Billy’s (Sass-Davies) header, the two free kicks from 18 yards out, the penalty decision, (Chris) Dagnall didnt force that one in on the line…”

Yeovil can rue not only their lack of clinical finishing in front of goal, but also another fine performance from the visitors ‘keeper, Sam Johnson who tipped a Reuben Reid effort onto the post early in the 2nd half as well as making plenty of other fine saves during the game.

Sarll also broke Rule 1 of the Gloverscast by complaining about the referee saying that Elliot Swallow’s performance was… “absolutely disgusting”.

Both Joe Quigley and Reuben Reid has penalty claims turned down, whilst there were also plenty of questionable decisions including when a Halifax defender made an excellent interception from a dangerous Tom Knowles cross, only for the referee to give a goal kick.

Sarll took time to praise both Knowles and Josh Neufville after what he called a “slapped wrist” at half time saying “I thought they stood up as men, which is a great quality in a young man.”

Huish Park was at mercy to the elements for much of the game, with wind being described as ‘ferocious’ by Sarll post-match, he would go on to admit that his side didn’t use the conditions to their advantage enough in the first half.

Rhys Murphy and Matt Worthington were both omitted from the squad recovering from slight injuries whilst Charlie Lee was suspended following his booking in the win over Solihull.

 

 

Read the match report here