A goal in each half saw Yeovil Town go down to an Easter Monday defeat at Eastleigh on the same day their safety in the National League Premier Division was confirmed.
Spitfires’ striker Aaron Blair opened the scoring on the half-hour mark with a poacher’s finish before adding the second on 57 minutes when he chipped visiting keeper Jed Ward before Glovers’ defender Dan Ellison, making his first start, added a late consolation goal.
But results elsewhere mean Brackley Town, who occupy the top of the division’s relegation places, now cannot match Yeovil’s 50 points in their remaining three matches.
First half
Unsurprisingly goalkeeper Jed Ward was in the thick of the action inside the first 30 seconds. Firstly the on loan Bristol Rovers man air kicked an attempted clearance and almost let Eastleigh striker Aaron Blair in, before diving at his feet to turn the ball out for a corner. From the resulting flag kick, the ball was worked back to defender Jayden Moore whose header was acrobatically tipped over the by Ward. The warning signs are there early.
Seven minutes in Blair was brought down by Kyle Ferguson right on the edge of the area and received a yellow card. Ward was the hero again saving the first effort from Jake Vokins and then got up in time to deny Temi Eweka from the rebound. “Jed Ward, in the middle of our goal…” sings a busy-looking away end.
The next moment in Ward’s one-man crusade to save Yeovil in this match (season?) came on 22 minutes. Blair burst through and was one-on-one with the keeper who stayed upright and made himself big to block the shot. Yet another glorious opportunity for Eastleigh and another glorious save for Ward.
On 32 minutes, the Ward wall could not hold any longer. A lovely through from Eweka found Harvey Saunders who bombed in to the box and laid it across for Aaron BLAIR to poke home. It was nothing less than the hosts deserved, we look every inch the patched up side we are. Blair is everything we have missed in a striker for so long – relentless in his pressing and give him a chance and he’ll take it……except if Jed Ward is in his way, see above for explanation.
Blair and Saunders, who is on loan from League Two Tranmere Rovers, are causing us all kinds of trouble with their running in behind our back line. A shot from Delano McCoy-Splatt after about 20 minutes which I didn’t mention before because it didn’t really seem worth mentioning, is as near as we have come to troubling the Eastleigh keeper. Will Merry looks like one of the few players with the desire to go forward on the rare occasion he receives possession, but the rest look either knackered or uninterested – or both.
Half time: Eastleigh 1 Yeovil Town 0
Second half
Billy Rowley made three changes at the interval – perhaps agreeing with much of the paragraph above – with defender Joy Mukena, winger James Daly and young midfielder Ollie Hughes coming on. Off when McCoy-Splatt, Millar Matthews-Lewis and Alex Whittle. In his pre-match comments, the Glovers’ boss described Hughes and his Under-19s’ team-mates Jaydon Biss and Liam Nardiello, who are also on the bench, as “not quite ready” for the cut and thrust of the National League. It says something about the first half display that he has felt compelled to bring on an untested youngster.
One thing you cannot question is the commitment of the travelling supporters. For a game which means little, they have made the trip to Eastleigh in numbers and they have not stopped making a racket all half.
Full time: Eastleigh 2 Yeovil Town 1
Match Details
Venue: Silverlake Stadium
Date: Monday 6th April, 3pm kick-off
Competition: National League Premier Division
Scorers: Aaron Blair 31 (0-1), Aaron Blair 57 (0-2), Dan Ellison 90+2 (1-2)
Pitch: Bare in places
Conditions: Beautiful Spring day
Attendance: 2,682 (582 away supporters)
Bookings:
Yeovil Town: Kyle Ferguson 7, Harvey Greenslade 79
Eastleigh: None
Referee: Ross Martin
Yeovil Town
Substitutes: Joy Mukena (for Alex Whittle, 46), James Daly (for Delano McCoy-Splatt, 46), Ollie Hughes (for Millar Matthews-Lewis, 46), Jaydon Biss (for Joy Mukena, 77), Liam Nardiello (for Brett McGavin, 85), Jonathon Page (not used), Matt Gould (not used)
Eastleigh: Josh McNamara, Josh Lundstram, Temi Eweka, Jack Baldwin, Jayden Moore, Archie Harris, Ricky Aguiar, Jordan Cousins (for Richard Brindley, 84), Jake Vokins (for Kieron Evans, 20), Harvey Saunders, Aaron Blair.
Great report. Love the match details too. A good job well done. From a Spits supporter in Malta!
That Truro win is looking rather needed, given the threadbare squad. No matter – job done and with three games to go. Would not be disappointed if we signed Merry in the summer!
Yeah the Truro and the Sutton wins both massive. I also think we owe a lot of gratitude to Dryrden. Those 3 wins on the bounce back in Sept/Oct have played a HUGE part in keeping our heads just above the water..
‘Spitfires’ striker Aaron Blair opened the scoring on the half-hour mark with a poacher’s finish before adding the second on 57 minutes when he chipped visiting keeper Aaron Blair’
A man of many talents!
If there was one thing Richard Dryden got right it was dropping Kyle Ferguson. What the hell is he doing being chosen in front of Ellison. Ellison can head the ball (forwards) & can actually tackle, the only one in the squad who can.
Know we are patched up, but it doesn’t sit well listening to Billy post match that we are making Joy play over and over again when he is injured. That’s a very poor decision from the club
True enough! The squad has been too thin as we all know, despite the (apparent) funds being there since Billy’s arrival. Other than perhaps not utilising four at the back and saving the third CB from time to time, plus sending Ellison back out on loan (again) soon after the Trophy exit – and with a backlog of matches to wade through, maybe that was bad planning? But Wannell’s penchant for arguing and getting unnecessary yellows hasn’t helped, nor was FCDs reckless and needless red. Signing a seemingly already injury prone Mukena has been problematic as you noted Bob. Losing Skura back to Wycombe is another of those “if only” moments.
Awful display despite the excuses (injuries, seem to have had a lot of those in recent seasons, suspensions, terrible disciplinary record in recent seasons, and fatigue, they are professional athletes and no doubt feel the objective has been achieved). We don’t know what’s going on but there shouldn’t be many of these around next season if the Club is serious about moving forward. Yes, well done on missing out on relegation but really.