Latest Yeovil Town News (Page 403)

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Dion Pereira in action against Notts County.
Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

Luton Town midfielder and former Yeovil loanee Dion Pereira has joined League Two side Bradford City on loan.

The ex-Watford man was at Huish Park towards the start of this season, playing 90 minutes in a 2-0 loss to Notts County in October.

Following that single performance he was not seen in a match day squad again, with Luton boss Nathan Jones citing a slight injury the cause for his return whilst Glovers’ manager Darren Sarll said the player was “massively fatigued” following his appearance.

On October 22, Sarll confirmed the player would not be returning to Yeovil.

 

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It wasn’t the best afternoon at Huish Park yesterday, but there were positives sprinkled amongst the defeat. Here’s Ian’s Five Conclusions…

Darren Sarll has some decisions to make up front. Adi Yussuf started yesterday, and it was one of those games where nothing lands right for him. He never really got hold of the ball, didn’t win many headers and was out muscled on most occasions. Joe Quigley returned from the bench after his injury and caused issues for Torquay and was an instant upgrade. The arrival of Reuben Reid was also promising, he got the ball under control and held off Torquay defenders well too. For the first time this season, Sarll has three out-and-out striking options and decisions to make.

Morgan Williams is becoming Mr Dependable. When we signed Williams in the summer after two decent loan spells, I though we were getting a good centre back option. A young player who would improve with us and either progress with us or move on for a nice fee. Not only is he all of those things, but he’s also becoming a trusted, versatile member of the squad who’s filling in at both left and right back. I think there is a question to ask about Alex Bradley’s absence, and what he gives us going forward compared to Williams. But, defensively Williams is proving that he’s dependable across the back four.

I think that’s enough of Dale Gorman’s speculative shots from distance. When Gorman lined up a freekick from forty yards yesterday, I thought he it was just a decoy run up. I anticipated a delicate lob or a disguised pass to a sneaky full back on the run. Instead, Gorman opted to attempt the unlikely spectacular and belted the ball into a two man wall allowed Torquay to break and force the corner from which they equalised. Now, we should have dealt with the corner, but we shouldn’t have gone from that position with an attacking free kick, to an exposed defensive situation in under a minute. He had another attempt later in the match, where he was tackled cleanly and tried to claim a foul as Torquay broke and but for a shirt pull, could have scored again on the counter. Gorman is great at breaking up play and keeping our possession ticking over, but the frequent attempts at worldies are letting him down.

I felt we lost our width. It may have been (and probably was) a tactical plan to get narrow, but as we chased the game we didn’t seem to get players in the wide areas to make a difference. We didn’t see Charlie Wakefield didn’t get to areas where we’ve seen him cause teams problems, Knowles didn’t get wide to cut back inside. With Quigley and Reid on the pitch, we could have got more crosses in the box and caused Torquay more problems.

We don’t need to panic. Two losses on the bounce isn’t great, but it’s not the end of the world. The late withdrawal of Luke Wilkinson meant we had to shuffle the pack even more than we thought we’d have to with Dan Moss and Grant Smith suspended. A back five that might have just had a couple of changes had four. This group has plenty of credit in the bank and this is part of the journey.

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We’ve broken rule 2 to bring you a Monday pod!

Ian, Dave and Ben (it’s his birthday today, make sure you wish him a happy birthday!) talk about the loss against Torquay and all the various machinations coming out of it.

Thanks for listening!

Remember to add Gloverscast.co.uk to your favourites and check the website daily for the latest news from Huish Park.

Follow us on Twitter and Facebook, enjoy some retro content on Instagram. Leave us a review and share the pod with a pal.

WANT TO ADVERTISE ON THE GLOVERSCAST? Send us an email for our rate card.

If you want to take part in the quiz, have an idea for the website or just want to send us a message, email ian@gloverscast.co.uk

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Joe Quigley has said he is hoping to be able to fight his way back in to the Yeovil Town starting line-up after making his return from more than a month out with injury.

Joe Quigley celebrates his last goal against Altrincham in October.
Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

The striker, who has six goals already this season, came on as a 57th minute replacement for Adi Yussuf in the 2-1 defeat at home to Torquay United, his first appearance since the end of November.

Speaking to BBC Somerset’s Sheridan Robins, Quigley said: “We had a good full week of training, the game being cancelled (against W*ymouth on Wednesday) gave me a chance to train the full week with the team.

“I felt sharp and I just have to keep building with that. It’s time to kick on both individually and as a team, we have got to improve.”

Manager Darren Sarll praised the impact the frontman had when he came on against Torquay, but said they did not use him well enough.

He said: “(Joe) looked very determined, we didn’t use him well enough. We are still trying to come to terms with Dillon (Barnes, the on-loan goalkeeper) distribution, so we didn’t use Joe as well as we could have done.

“Joe stood up the whole first half and I hate it when subs stand up in the dug-out, and you could tell he was desperate to get on the pitch.“

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Darren Sarll said Yeovil Town may have to change their system to accommodate a players who are feeling the strain of playing so many matches.

The Glovers’ boss said he would assess the situation following the 2-1 defeat at the hands of Gary Johnson’s Torquay United at Huish Park on Sunday.

Yeovil Town manager Darren Sarll.
Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

He told BBC Somerset’s Sheridan Robins: “We are maybe going in to another period where we have to change. We definitely have a group of players that are putting so much effort in and maybe they are at their ceiling, they might need a bit of a break.

“We might need to change that system to get that freshness with the players that can come in, but we have to make sure we are hard to beat.”

The boss said the loss was a poor last 15 minutes when goals from Connor Lemonheigh-Evans direct from a corner and a late winner from substitute Dan Holman saw the visitors complete the double over Yeovil.

Sarll described defending for the second goal as “absolute crap” and pointed to errors from midfielder Dale Gorman and debutant on-loan goalkeeper Dillon Barnes for the first goal.

He pointed to having to shuffle his defensive unit to accommodate for suspended goalkeeper Grant Smith and right-back Dan Moss and the late loss of captain Luke Wilkinson, who was missing having a COVID-19 test.

Morgan Williams moved from left-back to right back and on-loan Middlesbrough defender Jack Robinson returned for his first game in two months on the left side with Josh Staunton dropping in to the centre of defence alongside Max Hunt, the only constant from the 3-0 defeat at Torquay on Boxing Day.

The manager said: “We go back to where we were last season, making four changes in the five defensive positions, even if it is Williams to right back and Robinson at left back.

“There are players out there who looked tired because they are having to play a lot of games for the first time in their careers for some of them – (Charlie) Wakefield, (Tom) Knowles, players like that.

“Then there were a little band of players who, having come back from injury, they suffered with fatigue.

“But the last 15 minutes was poor and we are going to have to address that, the last half-an-hour last Sunday and we blamed poor old Sonny (Blu Lo-Everton, who was sent off on Boxing Day), but today all we can do is blame ourselves.”

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Luke Wilkinson.

Yeovil Town captain Luke Wilkinson missed the 2-1 defeat against Torquay United to get a COVID-19 test, manager Darren Sarll has confirmed.

The defender was the surprise omission from the loss with Josh Staunton slotting in alongside Max Hunt in the back line and taking the armband for the local derby.

Speaking to BBC Somerset’s Sheridan Robins after the game, Sarll said: “We missed Wilkinson. Josh is a huge influence wherever he plays. Wilkinson had a sore throat, Lateral Flow Test later, he got to the ground, did his test in the car and then had to shoot off for a PCR test.

“So we change things very late but we did that (in the 2-0 win away) at Wrexham and we defended (there) a lot better than we did today.”

If Wilkinson’s PCR test does come back positive for COVID-19, he may have to self-isolate for 10 days from the days he first exhibited symptoms.

However (are you sitting comfortably?!), if his PCR test were to come back positive, he would need to do a Lateral Flow Test on Day 6 and Day 7 of his isolation period (next weekend) and, if both results came back negative, he would be clear to return to society next Sunday.

Assuming the symptoms began today (January 2), that means a positive PCR test will definitely rule him out of next weekend’s FA Cup third round tie with AFC Bournemouth and, if Day 6 and Day 7’s tests don’t go well, also the visit to Southend United in the National League the following Tuesday, January 11.

However, if the PCR comes back negative, then he’s available to face the Cherries – and these past four paragraphs have been a waste of everyone’s time! Simple, right?!

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Venue: Huish Park
Sunday January 2nd, 3pm kick-off

Conditions: Not a day you want to be on an uncovered away end.
Pitch: Despite a lot of rain before kick-off, looking good.

Attendance: 3,866 (1,034 away fans)

Scorers: Jordan Barnett 66 (1-0), Connor Lemonheigh-Evans 76 (1-1), Holman 89 (1-2)

Referee: Jacob Miles

Bookings:
Yeovil Town: None
Torquay United: None

Sending off:
Yeovil Town: None
Torquay United: None

 


Yeovil Town : (4-3-3)

Dillon Barnes
Morgan Williams, Max Hunt, Josh Staunton, Jack Robinson
Dale Gorman, Matt Worthington, Jordan Barnett
Tom Knowles, Adi Yussuf, Charlie Wakefield

Substitutes: Joe Quigley (for Adi Yussuf, 57), Sonny Blu Lo-Everton (for Matt Worthington, 58), Reuben Reid (for Morgan Williams, 82), Alex Bradley, Max Evans.

Torquay United: MacDonald, Wynter, Martin, Lemonheigh-Evans, Hall, Wright, Johnson, Lolos (for Armstrong, 60), Moxey (for Holman, 70), Felix (for O’Connell, 67), Lewis.
Substitutes: Halstead, Omar.

 

Match Report

A late winner from substitute Dan Holman saw Torquay United complete the double over Yeovil Town in the first match of 2022 at a rain-soaked Huish Park.

The game had been lit up by a stunning strike from Jordan Barnett from fully 35 yards to put the Glovers in front on 66 minutes, but a goal direct from a corner by Connor Lemonheigh-Evans and then an impressive strike from Holman sealed the win for Gary Johnson’s side.

The result sees us remain in 11th place in the National League table, six points off the play-off places and 16 points off the relegation zone.

Here’s how Ian saw the match…..

First half

The surprise absence of Luke Wilkinson coupled with Dan Moss‘s suspension forced Darren Sarll to change up his side. Morgan Williams moved over to right back, Jack Robinson returned at left back and Josh Staunton took the captain’s armband and Wilkinson’s spot at centre back. Jordan Barnett came into the midfield three and Adi Yussuf spearheaded the front line with Tom Knowles and Charlie Wakefield either side of him.

As you would expect with an away following of more than 1,000, there was quite the atmosphere at Huish Park with the green and white faithful supportive of Torquay battering.

The opening exchanges were even if not a little in the Glovers’ favour and a short corner routine might have produced something had Knowles tried a shot after taking on a Torquay defender rather than taking the ball further.

On the 20-minute mark, Knowles didn’t dwell on the ball and struck a snap shot with left foot that took a deflection on its way towards McDonald’s goal. The falling keeper managed to stretch out his leg far enough to keep the ball out of the net.

The first half was largely one of ‘nearly’ moments for Yeovil. Passes were nearly on the right path, crosses nearly found their man, but Torquay were kept at arm’s length.

The ball did get bundled into the net past the half hour mark, but the official fairly adjudged there to be some robust manhandling of the keeper.

The Gulls had their nearly moment in the 38th minute with a flying left footed volley from the pony-haired Asa Hall fizzing wide of the right-hand post of Dillon Barnes, making his debut in goal having joined on loan from QPR.

Yeovil had another half chance prior to the break, with Knowles selling a slick dummy before shooting high and wide.

 Half time: Yeovil Town 0 Torquay United 0

Second half

Torquay came out of the break in the mood for it and took control of proceedings, focusing on Yeovil’s right side. The cumbersome Danny Wright came very close to opening the scoring with a header in the 50th minute but it glanced narrowly wide of the post.

Sarll made changes before the hour mark, introducing Joe Quigley and Sonny Blu Lo-Everton for Yussuf and Matt Worthington which reinvigorated things on the pitch.

Quigley’s physical presence immediately caused problems for Torquay. He laid off for Knowles who struck over the bar.

Jordan Barnett
Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

In the 65th minute, the roof came off Huish Park. Jordan BARNETT with no right to shoot, let fly from distance with a picture perfect shot which flew into the top right corner. Scenes, limbs and a flare and a Barnett knee slide followed. 1-0.

Torquay struck back 10 minutes later. Although it all stemmed from a Dale Gorman free-kick. He placed the ball for a free-kick from some distance which didn’t beat the two man wall. Torquay broke and a great save from Barnes denied them an equaliser but did earn them a corner.

From the resulting corner, Connor LEMONHEIGH-EVANS delivery from the resulting corner was inch perfect and it swirled through the rain over everyone into the far corner. 1-1

As the rain poured, Torquay took hold of the game and almost grabbed a second through Holman who drove a low shot wide of the far post.

Gorman was almost at fault again moments later, losing the ball on the edge of the box allowing Torquay to break. This time a shirt pull on a Yeovil defender spared his blushes.

A minute from time, Lemonheigh-Evans played HOLMAN through and the substitute picked his spot perfectly to fire past Barnes.

Five minutes of added time wasn’t enough for Yeovil. Torquay used all the tricks in the book to see out the game as their soaked supporters sang about a battered Yeovil.

Full time: Yeovil Town 1 Torquay United 2

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Captain Luke Wilkinson is missing from the Yeovil Town side for the return fixture with Gary Johnson’s Torquay United at Huish Park today (3pm kick-off).

On-loan goalkeeper Dillon Barnes makes his debut in place of the suspended Grant Smith and defender Jack Robinson returns to the side after injury along with Tom Knowles and Jordan Barnett, who both started on the bench on Boxing Day.

We are assuming that Morgan Williams will fill in at right back with Robinson and Max Hunt in the centre of defender and then Barnett on the left – but we’ll see how it looks in 40 minutes or so!

There is also a place for top-scorer Joe Quigley on the bench having been missing for more than a month through injury.

For the visitors, top-scorer Armani Little is missing through suspension, full-back Joe Sparkes is missing with COVID-19, and their is no place for Tom Lapslie, who was involved in the incident which saw Sonny Blu Lo-Everton red carded at Plainmoor in a decision, which was overturned on appeal.

Captain Asa Hall returns to the starting line-up along with defender Joe Felix who joined from National League South side Billericay Town last month.

Yeovil Town (4-3-3): Dillon Barnes, Jack Robinson, Max Hunt, Morgan Williams, Jordan Barnett, Dale Gorman, Josh Staunton, Matt Worthington, Tom Knowles, Adi Yussuf, Charlie Wakefield. Substitutes:  Max Evans, Alex Bradley, Sonny Blu Lo-Everton, Joe Quigley, Reuben Reid. 

Torquay United: MacDonald, Wynter, Martin, Lemonheigh-Evans, Hall, Wright, Johnson, Lolos, Moxey, Felix, Lewis. Substitutes: Halstead, Omar, O’Connell, Armstrong, Holman.

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Friends of former Yeovil Town captain Lee Collins will run around the Huish Park pitch in his memory later this season to raise money for charity and Lee’s family.

At the start of the season, the group of set a target of raising £10,000 by running around the grounds of each of the centre-half’s clubs.

Lee Collins 
Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

They began with AFC Telford United in September and will do their latest run on January 2 at Shrewsbury Town.

Ahead of Yeovil’s final home game of the season against Boreham Wood on May 7, they will conclude the challenge.

By that point they are hoping to have completed 100 kilometres and raised money for Lee’s family and Movember, the men’s mental health charity.

To donate to the fund-raising effort, visit the JustGiving page – here.

 

 

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Torquay United manager Gary Johnson is reading too much in to his side’s midweek defeat at Eastleigh as he goes in search of a quickfire double over his old employers.

Just 48 hours after a blood-and-thunder win over Yeovil on Boxing Day, the Gulls went down to a 2-1 defeat in Hampshire with former Glovers’ midfielder Tom Whelan among the scorers for Eastleigh.

Their opponents that day did not play on Boxing Day due to the same COVID-19 issues in the W*ymouth camp which meant the derby planned for Yeovil on Wednesday also didn’t go ahead.

Speaking ahead of the trip to Huish Park, Johnson said: “We had quite a few chances against Eastleigh in the first half. The boys looked strong and sharp still, leading on from the Yeovil game that was only two days earlier.

“But, it has to be said that we faded towards the end, and Eastleigh still had their legs towards the end, and unfortunately we couldn’t hold out, due to a couple of mistakes.”

One of the ‘mistakes’ he was referring to came from goalkeeper Shaun MacDonald (no, not that one) who was at fault for the winner scored by Eastleigh’s Tyrone Barnett, with the other levelled at the referee for awarding a penalty which Whelan slotted away.

The other big blow inflicted five days ago was a yellow card for top-scorer Armani Little which takes him up to five for the season, meaning he will sit out the match at Huish Park.

As we are aware, the same totting up exercise denies Yeovil of full-back Dan Moss while goalkeeper Grant Smith misses out for the next two for a more immediate issues.

Boxing Day followed a similar pattern to 2020 when Torquay handed out a drubbing in Devon – that time it was a 6-1 victory for the home side – and Darren Sarll will be hoping history can repeat itself on Sunday.

Obviously, the first fixture of 2021 saw late goals from Josh Neufville and Luke Wilkinson earn the Glovers a 2-1 win in the reverse fixture in Somerset.

FROM THE MANAGER

Speaking to the Torquay official website before the match, Gulls’ boss Gary Johnson warned his side against complacency after last season, he said:

“It’s not anything we don’t know, and even last year we were ready for it, but didn’t cope with it. We’ll see whether we’ve learned from it, and see whether we can go from a win to a loss.

“At least we’ve more time to recover than we had at Eastleigh, with Eastleigh having a week off, and not playing before we played them.

“Now we go to Yeovil, and Yeovil haven’t had a game when we play them, but we definitely are more ready for this one to last for 90 minutes, because we’ve had longer to recover.”

 

TEAM NEWS

As mentioned earlier, the biggest loss for the visitors is top-scorer Armani Little who misses the trip to Somerset having picked up his fifth yellow card of the season.

Defender Joe Lewis, whose late headed goal sealed a miserable Boxing Day for the Glovers at Plainmoor, is the other visiting player who is walking a disciplinary tight-rope with four bookings.

On-loan Sinclair Armstrong missed the last two games having tested positive for COVID-19 and seems likely to return, as does defender Joe Felix, who joined on loan from National League South bottom club Billericay Town before the festive period, only to be forced in to self-isolation by his own diagnosis.

Shaun MacDonald (again, not that one!) seems likely to remain in goal for Johnson’s mean despite an error costing his side a goal against Eastleigh, and 37-year-old centre forward Danny Wright seems likely to continue in the attack having started the last three matches.

 

FOOT IN BOTH CAMPS

The obvious connection between the two sides is Torquay boss Gary Johnson, but he needs no introduction to Yeovil fans.

Glovers’ top-scorer Joe Quigley, who will not feature on Boxing Day having only just returned to training, spent a two-month loan spell at Torquay whilst an AFC Bournemouth player.

But more likely to feature is another visiting forward Reuben Reid who spent seven games on loan at Plainmoor in 2007 on loan from Plymouth, scoring twice.

There are also two members of the Torquay squad with a foot in both camps. One is goalkeeper Marcin Brzozowsi, out at National League South side Gloucester City presently, who played twice in a half-a-season loan at Huish Park in 2019, whilst naming the other would be a violation of Gloverscast Rule 5 – but he’s out on loan at Truro City. See Team News for a clue on that one.

Striker Martin Gritton is a legend in yellow having scored 22 times in 88 appearances between 2002 and 2004 but is less so at Huish Park where he failed to find the mark in two loan spells in 2001 and another a decade later.

He’s actually a commentator on BBC Radio Devon these days, so you can listen to him if you want to tune in to them – we’d recommend BBC Somerset though.

Others with a foot in both camps (and there’s undoubtedly more) include:

  • Rhys Murphy – Torquay 2017, Yeovil 2019-2021
  • Ben Whitfield – Yeovil 2016-17, Torquay 2019-2021.
  • Jakub Sokolik – Yeovil 2014-2016, Torquay 2018.
  • Ryan Dickson – Torquay – 2007, 2018-2020, Yeovil 2012, 2015-2018.
  • Alex Lawless – Torquay 2005-2006, Yeovil 2016-2017.
  • Jamie Gosling – Yeovil 2003-04, Torquay 2004-05.
  • Jimmy Aggrey – Torquay 1998-2001, Yeovil 2002-2003.
  • Ryan Northmore – Torquay – 1998-2002, Yeovil 2004.
  • Steve Winter – Torquay 1995-1997, Yeovil 1997.

 

There are no tickets on sale on the day, BBC Somerset and Three Valley Radio both have coverage… and we’ll do everything we can to give you a post match breakdown here as well later on January 2 too.