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