It’s the final away game of the season as Yeovil Town travel to York City for an evening kick off.
FORM…
YEOVIL TOWN
The Glovers have been very up and down all season and with the campaign drawing to a close it is no different. However, over the last five fixtures it has been more down than up, as they have lost three, won one and lost one.
It was in the last game that Yeovil provide that single draw, as they took on FC Halifax Town at Huish Park. The game was far from a fun watch, with it finishing 0-0. Neither side really threatened to break the deadlock with Halifax’s goalscorer-in-chief Will Harris being kept quiet by a none other than Jed Ward. Now, that is an achievement in itself to be fair to Billy Rowley‘s men, but as the story has been all season with Yeovil, finding the back of the net was a struggle.
Pic C/O Gary Brown
YORK CITY
It’s been a story of success for the Minstermen this season, as they top the league with just the four defeats in 44 games. If that record wasn’t enough for the Yorkshire side, they have scored 110 goals to date, yes you read that right. Both those impressive records have led to 104 points for City, two points ahead of second place Rochdale.
Last time out for York, it was a more quiet affair for them on the goal front with just a 0-1 win over a strong Tamworth side. The Minstermen only goal of the game came through Ollie Pearce, more on him later.
KEY PLAYERS…
YEOVIL TOWN – JED WARD
Once again, I’m picking the brick wall that is Ward. As with every other week, he is key to whether Yeovil get a good result or not. Unfortunately for him, he can’t really rely on the defenders in front of him to keep Ollie Pearce at bay, due to more rotation of the backline and the quality of Yorks attack. The way the Glovers will ruin the party is if the young shot stopper plays one of his best games of the season.
From selfish point of view, Ward will be wanting to put in a top performance to prove to his parent club, Bristol Rovers, he is worth the chance or potentially a move elsewhere. Ward vs Pearce will hopefully be a very good matchup for both sets of fans.
YORK CITY – OLLIE PEARCE
Picking just a single player in a side that could go onto break many of the National League’s records is hard. But it was impossible to overlook Pearce when it comes to the most influential player. The striker has been in no uncertain terms out of this world this season, bagging himself just the 33 goals to date.
Pic – Gary Brown
The 30-year-old has been on a bit of a baron spell, if you can call it that, with just three goals in his last five games. Last time out he even broke a drought of two games without a goal. The Glovers defence will have their backs against the wall this Saturday facing one of the most feared strikers outside the football league.
THE GAFFER…
Stuart Maynard is the man in charge at the York Community Stadium. The 45-year-old is no stranger to putting up title challenges after guiding Notts County to the League Two playoffs last season. Maynard could be considered unlucky in his dismissal at County after losing in the semi-finals to AFC Wimbledon.
Before joining The Magpies, the former midfielder spent three years as manager at Wealdstone United, in what was his first step into first team management.
LAST TIME WE MET…
York have had the run of the results when the two sides have met in recent seasons. In the most recent fixture between the two teams, York won convincingly 1-3 at Huish Park. Ollie Pearce opened the scoring that day with a penalty in the 25th minute, Ollie Banks then doubled the lead nine minutes later. The Glovers looked to get back into the game on 77 minutes when Luke McCormick pulled one back, before Jake Wannell scored an own goal to seal the game for York.
Pic – Gary Brown
When the previously faced off at the York Community Stadium, the game finished 4-0 to the Minstermen. An Ollie Pearce hat-trick and a Tyrese Sinclair goal that day saw off a depleted Yeovil side.
DON’T I KNOW YOU…
Williams was a stalwart for the Glovers amassing 172 appearances across a seven year spell. Those seven years started with two loans in the 19/20 and 20/21 seasons, before joining on a free in from Coventry in the summer of 2021.
I think I can speak for all fans in giving a warm welcome to Williams when he faces off against us on Saturday.
THE MAN IN THE MIDDLE…
Darren Drysdale will be the man with the whistle on Saturday, for more on him and his team read Ben’s article here.
It’s time for us to eat humble pie and then regroup and build.
We sent York City down a league c.2004/8 on Gary’s march to high glory on a Tuesday evening at Huish Park.
I was there.