Yeovil Town completed an unbeaten November with a fantastic 2-0 win away at Wrexham, two thirds of the Gloverscast were there, with Ben Barrett keeping up his record this season of not seeing the Glovers even concede, let alone lose!
He was alongside Sheridan Robins in the commentary box and here are his five conclusions from a brilliant night in North Wales!
Five Conclusions: Wrexham 0 – 2 Yeovil
I think I’ve just about made it back down to earth following Yeovil’s 2-0 win over Wrexham, a night that I think will go down as a special night for the 103 Yeovil fans who made the journey.
When we first got the team sheet, there was a look of realisation that hadn’t maybe sunk in properly before, but we are down to the barest bones, and it’s not going to get any easier.
Sorry to start with a negative, I’ll get to the good stuff in a bit, but our bench had a Goalkeeper with nothing more than a couple Somerset Premier Cup games to his name, a 17-year old college student, an experienced pro who was touch and go for a game a couple days ago, was ill overnight and probably shouldn’t have been there and Mr Versatile – Alex Bradley.
Bradley, who has done nothing wrong in his minutes so far, was probably the ONLY option for Darren Sarll. He came on for Adi Yussuf which meant a reshuffle tactically, but we need some bodies in the squad… and quickly.
Right, OK, onto the good stuff.
Morgan Williams, a bit like Alex Bradley has had to wait for his chance, but he got it last night… albeit out of position at left back… and grabbed it with both hands.
Nothing phased him, with Reece Hall-Johnson a constant threat, the ever dangerous Paul Mullin drifting onto his side to avoid Josh Staunton’s back pocket he dealt with everything brilliantly.
Not just defensively either, he took chances to move forward, to play brave passes, to try and start attacks and get involved with Barnett and Wakefield further forward.
This was the best I’ve seen from him, and to have him pushing Wilko, Hunt and co for positions can only be a good thing.
I think it’s time to add Paul Mullin to the long list of highly influential players Yeovil have kept quiet.
Let’s get this right, he’s a League One striker, he’s better than this division by at least 24 places, but arguably so is Paddy Madden, so is Jordan Slew, so is Matt Warbuton, so is Tavhon Campbell, so is Michael Cheek, so is Joe Sbarra, so is Paul McCallum, you get the picture.
What is it about the league’s best that just cannot get the job done against Yeovil?
The only common denominators are Messrs Wilkinson, Hunt, Staunton, Worthington and Gorman.
At this level, maybe teams have a few stars with everyone else at a similar level, maybe Darren Sarll has cottoned on to that it can be just as simple as keeping those players quiet.
Wrexham fans sung Paul Mullins’ name time and time again almost as if to ask when he was going to do what he ALWAYS does.
But that didn’t happen, and opposition players will know that.
It’s Elliot List of Stevenage on Saturday, Adam Marriott at Barnet followed by… someone… maybe… at W*ymouth. Bring ’em on.
Pic: Mike Kunz.
A special word for Dan Moss.
With an elbow to his head, followed a target on his back, the 21-year old Millwall loanee had to play like a 31-year old YTFC veteran for 60 something minutes.
Not only was he in something of a makeshift defence, but he was an attacking outlet with Tom Knowles missing from that right hand side.
He was kicked, pushed, tackled late, shoved over and each and every time, he just got up and kept his cool.
That might have been a new experience for the young lad to be booed by nearly 8000 people and we’ve seen plenty crumble under that pressure.
On a yellow card himself, Darren Sarll could have pulled the trigger and taken him off, but he trusted his man to see the game out.
Dan Moss will have learned more in one night than maybe the rest of his short career combined, he passed every test with flying colours and is quickly rising up the loan-hero ranking at YTFC, he’s got Connor Roberts and Remeo Hutton ahead of him in that right back spot… but he’s closing fast.
Good luck to Mark Little who has to try and get him out the team.
Finally, a look at the table and maybe the future.
Darren Sarll said that as long as his Yeovil side were within touching distance of the play-offs come the turn of the year, we maybe have a chance.
Injuries permitting, we could give it a go in the second half of the season.
At the time of writing, we’re 10th on 28 points. Wrexham occupy the final play off spot in 7th on 30 points having played a game more.
We’ve played EVERY ONE of the top 14 sides so far this season, with Barnet (15th), Torquay twice (17th), Weymouth (19th) and Wealdstone (16th) coming up between now and the turn of the year…
This is an opportunity, none of those games are a guaranteed three points, but…
I’d say with a fair chunk of those next 15 points comes a great chance to be more than just within ‘touching distance’.
I enjoyed that one, I hope you did too.