A great performance from the Glovers saw them coast past Tamworth last night. Here are Ian’s Five Conclusions from Huish Park.
How comfortable was that? From the first ball being kicked, Yeovil felt in total control across the pitch last night. How Tamworth are 10th in the division I have no idea. They kept things condensed centrally, but as soon as we were able to get the ball into wide areas they didn’t really know how to contend with us. We should probably have created more in the first half for our dominance but in a team that’s rebuilding confidence and trying to find a rhythm after a dismal Cup exit, it’s understandable.
We were defensively sound. You can only contend with what you’re up against, and Tamworth had nothing other than route one for the majority of the match, but the back three of Jake Wannell, Declan Skura and Joy Mukena dealt with everything they had to with relative ease. They handled the Tamworth big lads well and in the latter stages when the visitors started working crosses into the box, they dealt with that too.
Ryan Jones is coming good. He’s been in and out because of being cup-tied and postponements but after last week’s decent performance, Jones stepped it up again. He was a constant threat on the left hand side and really thrives when he’s carrying the ball. I don’t want to be hyperbolic, and I’m not going to be, but the way he moves with the ball and runs reminds me of Michael McIndoe. Clearly it’s too early to say he’s the second coming, but clearly there’s magic in those boots. His wonderful first touch, his fleet footed dribble through defenders and drilled shot into the bottom corner was superb.
It was the reaction we needed. After a terrible weekend everyone had to follow up. Did the Sutton win paper over the cracks? What’s going to happen to the teams around us? Well, pleasingly we really built on last Wednesday – albeit against very different opposition – and managed to get ourselves up to 14th and eight points clear of the bottom four. The nervousness of last week has dissipated and we can go into another home match on Saturday with confidence.
We need to build on it again. The lack of consistency has been the story of our season. The elation of Sutton to the despair of Southport and then the uncomfortably comfortable win last night is our season in a microcosm. We’ve got an opportunity to step up against Scunthorpe – who are without a win in six matches – and show that we really are coming good. It’s not going to be perfect, but back to back wins at home gives us enough reason to be positive.
Agree with all the conclusions, Ian. We had proper width all game. That almost constant threat reaped rewards. Sims and Jones played in their proper positions (same for Dak) and it got Tamworth on the back foot nice ‘n early. Quality goals as well. McGavin back to his mercurial best and Dak playing like a quality midfielder in his prime, not 19 y/o! Back three solid and comfortable. Jed barely anything to do all night. Did Daly actually stop hustling and harrying their defence? Perret is learning with every game. Starting to look good after the Rowley coaster had a massive dip on Saturday!!
Having two up front in the first half, Jarvis and Daly (strikers should be in pairs) gave the defence something to think about and left the wings to be exploited