Five Conclusions: Yeovil Town 2 St Albans City 1

Three points on the board, two of our strikers on the scoresheet, and the biggest attendance in the sixth tier this weekend, it was a fruitful weekend for Yeovil Town. Here are Dave’s conclusions from his vantage point in the middle of the Thatcher’s Stand…..

WE GOT A WIN! I said in my pre-season hopes/predictions that the thing I was most looking forward to about this season was seeing some wins. It seems such a long time ago since seeing us win 2-0 at Dagenham & Redbridge – 196 days, to be precise, so this one was much needed. I’ll get on to how we got there and how it could have been better, but make no mistake – we needed a win, we got a win. That in itself was job done.

Huish Park was looking fabulous. It was my first look at the new look Huish Park and I was thoroughly impressed. Whilst my journey (a five-hour drive down from the North West) meant that I missed the opening act on the main stage in the new Fan Zone, to see it filled with so many people was fantastic. One small point would be that there maybe needs to be a few more staff on at Badger’s Bar (lovely touch that, by the way, major kudos!) as the poor folks in there were overrun, but that is a fantastic addition. And if anyone ever had any doubt that ‘if you build it they will come’ – 3,326 home fans is your answer – plus 86 away ones. The highest is the sixth tier – 3,380 watched Scunthorpe draw 1-1 with Peterborough Sports in National League North whilst in our division 2,733 watched Torquay lose 3-0 at home to Worthing.

What a start. Having been at Hemel Hempstead seven days earlier, this start to the game was everything that game was not. Having selected a thoroughly attacking line-up – Hyde, Murphy, Nouble, can you imagine what would have been possible if we’d had just one of those last season? That opening showed exactly what we can be when we are in the mood and that has to become the norm if we are going to achieve something this season.

We saw the best and the worst of Will Buse. Oh Will. I genuinely cheered like it was a goal when Will Buse pulled off a stunning save after just five minutes to deny Jack Jones and keep that impressive start going. After his clanger (sorry Ben, but it was a clanger) at Hemel the previous weekend, that seemed to give him confidence and there is no doubt he’s an excellent shot stopper. However, the mistake which gifted St Albans their equaliser was a worry and is a worry. It’s a goalkeeper’s life, I know (I hear you, Ben) and you’re right that no other player’s mistake is as costly, I just hope he/we can cut out those errors.

The second half was nervy, but it will get better. At this point I have to give credit to St Albans, who I thought did not look out of the game at any point and the second half was quite uncomfortable at times. Our midfield – or Matt Worthington and Charlie Cooper, as they are known – seemed to get pulled out of position repeatedly and it was not until Josh Owers came on with six minutes (if you excuse the ten minutes added on at the end) from time that we looked anything like in control. It was nervy, very nervy. But we have to remember there a lot of players who are still getting to know each other, it’s going to take time but if we can win whilst they are doing it all the better.