Yeovil Town sit proudly (and deservedly) eight points clear at the National League South table this Christmas thanks to a 1-0 win at Eastbourne Borough yesterday.
A first half goal from Frank Nouble put the Glovers’ ahead before an excellent rearguard action ensure they ground out the three points.
Here are Dave’s conclusions from his vantage point in the away end of the East Sussex coast….
Not pretty but that’s the stuff: As halves of football go, there are not many duller ones I have seen than the second half of this one. But that was absolutely lovely. The first half saw us dominate the game, create the better chances and, see Conclusion #3, score a completely legitimate goal and after that we just had to make sure we did nothing silly. Eastbourne did not look the side which caused us issues at Huish Park and, even though they probed in the second half, I don’t recall Joe Day having a meaningful save to make. Meanwhile, we were able to rest players (notably Rhys Murphy) and conserve our energy for a busy next week. Lovely stuff.
The surface was a shocker: With the Gloverscast gagging order on 3G pitches removed, I can say that surface was everything Josh Staunton spoke about bad surfaces in the summer. It was rock hard, did not look like it had been touched in months, and totally unpredictable as to where the ball was going to go. We’ve played on half of the eight 3G surfaces in this division with Aveley, Maidstone, Slough Town and Tonbridge Angels still to come. But that’s two wins in our last two matches on 3G, so we’ll consider the hoodoo passed.
There was absolutely nothing wrong with our goal: Eastbourne coach Niall Clark saw red for his protests about the manner of our goal, but there was nothing wrong with it. Referee Jack Bloxham gave the drop ball to the home side’s Freddie Carter and he did absolutely nothing to play it, so Rhys Murphy nicked in, fed Nouble and goal. For my money it was naivety from Carter and nous from Murphy.
Courtney Senior looked lively: In the first half, we saw plenty of what Courtney Senior, the winger signed on loan from Barnet the day before, could bring to this team. There’s pace there, there’s trickery there, and enough to make you think that one the right surface he could cause issues. There were a couple of occasions where he lost it, or misjudged something but that is just the life of a winger, isn’t it?
Picture courtesy of LR Photography.
Enjoy your Christmas Glovers: Eight points clear at the top of the table this Christmas, 50 points in the bag and having shown an ability to win convincingly and when we’re not playing well. I’ll take that and so will 99% of other Glovers’ fans. There’s been a few things said about us being a difficult fanbase to please, but let’s not obsess with a vocal minority. Social media is not the consensus. Given where we’ve come from to get here, this first half of the season has been outstanding. Yes, there’s half-a-season to go and nothing is won in December, but this team and this manager has us believing again. Let’s keep doing what we’re doing. Enjoy your Christmas Day one and all – and let’s have Taunton for dessert! Okay, second dessert!
