It’s wasn’t to be on the sandy beaches of West Yorkshire for the Glovers, a 1-0 defeat to FC Halifax Town, here are Gloverscast Ben‘s big five takeaways from the game from the BBC Radio Somerset vantage point at The Shay.
It wasn’t as bad as Tuesday. I appreciate we’re starting with a fairly low bar here, but you’re only as good as your last game, and our last game was blummin’ rubbish! There’s no doubt that going 1-0 down gave all in green-and-white a dread of ‘here we go again’, but actually, there was a decent response to going a goal down. Plenty of players showed considerably more effort, gusto and fight than they did on Tuesday night and that was more than needed after a poor showing at Barnet. It wasn’t enough to secure even so much as a point – even if you could argue we may have deserved one – but it was far more pleasing on the eye.
We didn’t take our chances. Playing away at any top six side, pretty much regardless of form or fortune, is tough. That’s to be expected, but when opportunities to get that first goal, or equaliser come your way, you simply have to take them. Ryan McLean blazed a shot over when it looks easier to find the target, Brett McGavin hit the bar, Twamley, McGuckin, McGurk and even Lavinier all had shots that were either blocked or never really troubled Sam Johnson in the Halifax goal because of how wayward they were. I was delighted that we got into those positions, but without Aaron Jarvis in the side, we do look a little toothless in attack. As the season peters out I hope we do still have that desire to find a bit of cutting edge and really put a team to the sword sooner rather than later.
The newbies did alright. It’s easy to forget that Ryan McLean, Frankie Terry and Marcel Lavinier have all played approximately four and half seconds of football between them in the last couple of months and for them all to slot into a starting line up with minimal fuss says a lot about them as players and also one or two of the other lads on the team. Finn Cousun-Dawson spent noticeable amounts of time with Terry pre-match, warming up away from the group and really talking his new central partner through the ideas and plans. For the most part, I thought they worked well together. Lavinier was with the Forest Green Rovers’ side preparing for their game with York City 48 hours before he made his debut for the Glovers, but he made a few nice runs, wasn’t afraid to fling an early cross in and McLean did his best to stretch the pitch and get into good areas. Small steps, but positive ones for all three.
The subs didn’t really affect the game. Maybe that’s a touch harsh on McGuckin who did get into some good areas down the right hand side, but he’s not a winger really, I want him on the end of those moments, not trying to create them, but it was good to see him back. But Sean McGurk’s cameo was all too fleeting and I wonder if it would’ve been better to leave Sonny on, he was making some lovely moves and really getting into good areas. I can’t make my mind up on Sims, I just don’t know what I’m seeing there, Bernard wasn’t able to connect the dots on the (ever changing) right hand side like Lavinier did and Twamley did a couple of nice bits of skill, one Marseille Turn in particular had me purring, but it was tough for him to get into good areas and be a real menace, he had one shot of note, which flew high over the bar.
On a pitch that sapped every ounce of energy from those who started, it was vital that players came on the make a difference. I felt that Owen Bray, Josh Emmanuel and Jamie Cooke in particular did just that for the home side, particularly on the break, ours just couldn’t replicate that.
Sort that pitch out. Seriously, it’s got worse since I last went there. It is, without question the worst pitch in the league – including the fake ones. I know it’s the same for both sides, blah blah blah, but it’s popped another hamstring, it’s not conducive to playing any kind of proper football, it’s honestly spoiled the spectacle. With a better pitch, that game would have had three goals more, certainly for both sides, so it’s not an excuse as to why Yeovil lost. But if the home side can’t trust a bobble or a back pass, it just becomes a rugby match. It’s practically unplayable, it’s almost certainly unsafe and every time I go there it makes me that little bit more wound up. If they get into the EFL through the play-offs, they’ll have to do something about it, but because it’s “just” the National League, it doesn’t matter. It’s a disgrace.
Well put Ben. Enjoyed the commentary with?. Felt it could have even made watching paint dry interesting.