Life without Frank Nouble began in impressive style as Yeovil Town cruised to a 3-0 win over a Solihull Moors side they leap-frogged in the National League Premier table.

A bizarre first half own goal from the home side’s Alex Whitmore following a great run and cross from Josh Sims gave them the lead before the break, and a quick fire double from Ciaran McGuckin and Alex Whittle sealed the three points.

The result ended a run of five defeats for Mark Cooper’s men and put a ten point gap between them and the division’s drop zone with teams below them picking up valuable points in the battle at the bottom.

First half

The surprise news pre-match was the departure of experienced striker Frank Nouble whose departure to Gateshead was announced ahead of kick-off and made his debut for the North East side the same day.

His exit and the absence of midfielder Brett McGavin in the squad adding to an extensive injury list at Huish Park, left the Yeovil side with a youthful looking starting XI against a Solihull side equally in need of points to pull away from the scrap at the foot of the division.

In the 26th minute, we took the lead but no-one in the away end can honestly say they thought we did. Josh Sims made a jinking run in to the box and fired a ball across the face of goal where it took a deflection off Alex Whitmore and past Ollie Wright. OWN GOAL but in the away end we were politely applauding a corner. 

Yeovil Town defending a first half corner.
 
A Finn Cousin-Dawson off target shot with three minutes of normal time remaining, before a good interception in midfield by Charlie Cooper saw him present Ciaran McGuckin with an opportunity to run through on goal but the young striker’s effort was pulled wide of the post.
 
In between it had been a battle between two poor sides neither of which wanted to make a mistake – well, no more than the mistake which led to the opening goal. But, 1-0 up in a game which both sides need the points to take them away from the bottom end of the table, we will take it.

Half time: Solihull Moors 0 Yeovil Town 1

Second half

The second half started with Yeovil seemingly sensing blood from their hosts and on the attack. First Lo-Everton almost picked out McGuckin inside the box, but the ball was just over his head and then great play between Sims and Lo-Everton (a regular theme of this game) saw the latter play a low ball in to the box. Cooper threw himself at it and the ball flew wide with McGuckin in a better position to take the opportunity.
 
But the second goal came five minutes of the second half played and it was Lo-Everton and Sims again. Sonny’s super pass picked out Sims (what has he had in his half-time water bottle?) and the former Southampton man dribbled forward and fizzed a great ball in to McGUCKIN who doubled the visitors’ advantage with a superb finish from inside the area.
 
Yeovil Town celebrate Ciaran McGuckin’s goal.
 
Great forward play involving Sims and Lo-Everton and a chipped ball to the back post almost found McGuckin before being seen out for a corner. From the resulting corner, the ball looked to have been cleared by Solihull, Cooper’s follow up shot was blocked and it  landed to Alex WHITTLE on the edge of the box. The full-back spotted his old team-mate, Ollie Wright, off his line and tried a chip from the edge of the box which beautifully floated in. What a goal.
 
Suddenly the game was dead and buried and a poor Solihull team looked unlikely to trouble Yeovil, who threatened more going forward with Lo-Everton and Sims at the heart of everything.
 
There was a nice moment for young defender Corey Koerner who made his professional debut replacing Lo-Everton with three minutes of second half injury time played. The teenager is a product of the Yeovil Town Community Sports Trust system who is now captain of the club’s Under-18s. Great evidence of what an effective youth system can deliver. Well done, Corey.
 
There was one opportunity for the home side to add a consolation goal. A long ball forward was flicked on by Manny Duku, Holmes got the better of Whittle, ran it around Aidan Stone in goal and got a shot on target and Finn Cousin-Dawson was there to clear on the line. Clean sheet maintained.

Full time: Solihull Moors 0 Yeovil Town 3

Match Details

Venue: Damson Park
Date: Saturday 22nd March, 3:00pm kick-off

Competition: National League Premier Division

Scorers: Alex Whitmore o.g. 28, Ciaran McGuckin 50, Alex Whittle 56

Pitch: Surprisingly green for this stage of the season 
Conditions: Gloomy but dry

Attendance: 1495 (244 away supporters)

Bookings: 
Solihull Moors: Jamey Osborne 19, Reece Hall-Johnson 45+1
Yeovil Town:  Alex Whittle 12, Kyle Ferguson 81

Referee:Sebastian Stockbridge

Yeovil Town (4-3-3)

Substitutes:  Harvey Greenslade (for Ciaran McGuckin, 59), Ryan McLean (for Josh Sims, 75), Lewys Talley (for Otis Khan, 90), Corey Koerner (for Sonny Blu Lo-Everton, 90+3), Marcel Lavinier (not used), Matt Gould (not used).

Solihull Moors: Ollie Wright, James Clarke (for Jon Bostock, 46), Robbie Cundy, Manny Duku,  Reece Hall-Johnson, Frankie Holman (for Brad Stevenson, 55), Joe Newton (for Finley Holmes, 80), Marcel Oakley, Jamey Osborne (for Szhem Hall-Whyte, 71), Oliver Tipton (for Joss Labadie, 87), Alex Whitmore.

Substitutes (not used): Aaron Flahavan, Jack Wells-Morrison.

Subscribe
Notify of

4 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
YTFC Bob
30 days ago

Big win today. Should be enough now to stay up.

0
Reply
Eddie
30 days ago

Cracking Win, lads!

0
Reply
GLOW
30 days ago

Good all-around performance, outstanding from Ferguson at the back, fantastic effort from all the players, and what support we had.
Hope we play like that every week.
Nice to see goals and a victory 👍

0
Reply
Phil Allen
30 days ago

Sounded like a much improved performance. Very glad to see nil on the opposition side of the result and a very timely trio of goals! That ticked a lot of boxes that haven’t been in the last few weeks. Genuinely happy for the team as it’s not been a good few weeks. Back this up next week and that’ll be enough to see another season in the NL.

I’ll have a slice of humble pie, please, as I thought the wheels were at risk of coming off!

0
Reply