A 1-1 draw against the stingiest defence the league doesn’t tell the full story of another rollercoaster evening for the Glovers, Andy Craig was in the away end, here are his Five Conclusions.
We gave it one hell of a go with 10 men. You wouldn’t have seen us deliver that kind of performance from the past couple of seasons.
We probably wouldn’t have even tried to win the game either when Aldershot drew level. But this is a new Yeovil Town side now. We win that game 11 v 11 and were electric until the red card. Then, with one less player, there were periods during the second half you didn’t know which side was playing with 10. We asked for a reaction after last weekend and without a shadow of a doubt got one.
Apparently James Daly is still running.
I don’t know what the guy eats for breakfast, but as we saw so often last season, what a serious motor JD11 has on him. He completely embodied the fight in this team to ensure we came away with something on Tuesday evening. As well as putting in a superb performance as a makeshift left back, he crucially got us up the pitch on so many occasions too – where he was also robbed of an assist when setting up Super Luke McCormick. Cheers, ref.
Big moments have killed us recently.
For the third consecutive game we’ve failed to score from a big chance and then our opponents have made us pay by going up the other end and scoring. Ste at Southend to make it 3-1, Archie Davies in front of the Thatchers to make it 1-1 against Fylde and now Brett McGavin, perhaps a tad unfortunate, to make it 2-0 at Aldershot. If we converted these key chances into goals we’d be looking at more than 1 point out of a possible 9. On a more positive note, the buildup for all three chances were delightful passages of play. Liquid Football.
It’s important to remember this is very much a Two Year Project.
You don’t see many National League sides finish 16th one season and get promoted the next. Billy Rowley, Darren Simpson and the vast majority of their new signings are all under contract until summer 2028. Whilst we can all get carried away this season, I’m confident even if we don’t reach the Top 7 come May, we’ll be in a very good position to go for it in 2027/28. However, after an encouraging start to the season it can be difficult to stop us from dreaming… (yes, I have visualised Macca scoring the winner under the Arch).
Long live the cowshed away ends.
Over recent years English football has lost too many of its traditional ‘proper’ grounds, but in our last two away fixtures at Southend and Aldershot we’ve visited the Old School Colosseums. Our travelling support has been excellent at these games – helped by the big barrel roofs to create a rocking atmosphere at both Roots Hall and the EBB Stadium. As the best away ends in a many a league, it’s something The Shrimpers and The Shots need to desperately hold onto for as long as possible.
When it clicks, it clicks. I’m almost enjoying the unknown as to which Yeovil will turn up having been used to the monotony of our performances under Cooper. Granted that may grow tiresome, but I’m hopeful that as time goes on, it clicks far more often than it doesn’t. Then we can start securing the points we deserve on a more consistent basis. Really looking forward to Solihull, cannot predict how it will go!