Match Report: Yeovil Town 0 Altrincham 0

Yeovil Town put in an improved performance to record their first draw of the new season at home to Altrincham on Saturday.

The Glovers came closest to breaking the deadlock in the second half when Michael Smith’s chip came back off the crossbar although in truth it was the visitors who looked in control after the break.

It was an improvement on the midweek defeat to Solihull Moors and another point on the board for the home side who now head back on the road with visits to Oldham Athletic and Sutton United in their next two matches.

First half

Manager Mark Cooper made three changes to the starting XI from the midweek 1-0 home defeat to Solihull Moors with Morgan Williams, Sonny Blu Lo-Everton and Josh Sims coming in for Dom Bernard, Brett McGavin and Frank Nouble. The dropped trio only fell as far as the substitutes’ bench.

Lo-Everton showed his intent within six minutes of the match getting underway. A nice bit of passing and moving from Yeovil picked out the midfielder who dropped his shoulder, beat his man and fired in a venomous right-footed shot which Ethan Ross beat away.

At the other end Regan Linney fired one over before a Matt Worthington cross was towards Aaron Jarvis who got a glancing header on it, but the last touch appeared to come from Altrincham captain James Jones. Inexplicably it was given as a goal kick.

There was a good battle forming between visiting winger Justin Amaluzor and Glovers’ full-back Alex Whittle in the opening 20 minutes. Whittle was definitely enjoying the better of it to start with, but the wideman forced a foul out of Charlie Cooper in a dangerous position and Alex Newby fired the resulting free-kick wide of goal.

Linney tried his luck from the halfway line having spotted Wright off his line on 26 minutes, but the keeper looked fairly comfortable have back-peddled a bit.

Referee Lee Swabey is definitely one we are going to have to invoke Rule #1 for. Sam Pearson’s cross is clearly put out of play by an Alty player and the man in black gives it as a goal kick for the second time. If you’re wondering, Rule #1 of the Gloverscast – don’t moan about National League referees, they’re all useless. Fair to say the Thatcher’s Stand did not stick to that rule.

The biggest cheer of the afternoon came on the 33 minute mark when the referee finally awarded a corner to the home side. Jarvis rose highest to meet Cooper’s ball in at the far post, but he could not get enough contact on it.

There’s definitely a more solid look to the Yeovil defence today. The return of Morgan Williams, who did play the second half of the defeat to Solihull on Tuesday night, has reunited the back four of Whittle, Williams, Wannell and Smith which was the mainstay of last season’s success in National League South.

In midfield, both Sonny and Matt Worthington are playing almost in the ‘number ten’ position with Cooper the deeper lying midfielder. That led to quicker movement in attacking positions than we saw four days earlier and Sonny was definitely showing his quality with Yeovil ending the first half better.

Jarvis was utterly convinced there was a handball inside the Altrincham box as the game entered first half injury time before Whittle’s left-footed shot was blocked by a defender before Jarvis headed comfortably in to the hands of Ethan Ross before the half-time whistle sounded.

A huge improvement on the Solihull game on Tuesday night. There was a spell where Altrincham showed some good stuff, but it’s been Yeovil who have had the better chances in that first half.

Half time: Yeovil Town 0 Altrincham 0

Second half

The visitors made their intentions known from the off as they made the brighter start with Amalazour having an effort blocked by Michael Smith with the before Wright had to get down quickly to keep out Tom Crawford’s effort. The first save of note for Wright so far this afternoon within a minute of the restart.

Linney flashed another one past the post seconds later and Altrincham are definitely showing their intent in the opening exchanges of the second half.

On 55 minutes, the visitors had the ball in the back of the net. Linney broke away after the visitors found themselves in a three on three position following a forward foray from Jarvis, he forced Wright in to a save and Alex Newby was on hand to tap in the rebound. Luckily the linesman’s flag was up.

Just after the hour mark, Linney forced another stop out of Wright following a blistering break forward by Alamazour who evaded tackles from Whittle and Williams, the ball broke to Linney whose shot was superbly saved by the ‘keeper. Oddly, referee Swabey appeared to book Charlie Cooper – who had already been booked in the first half.

A bit of post-match detective work from Gloverscast Ben suggests the first booking after 20 minutes was actually for Altrincham’s Justin Amalazour. For what, we do not know.

Take him off before he gets his third yellow 😭 #ytfc pic.twitter.com/KyeqBUo5gg

— Nathan Pinkawa (@Nathpinkawa) September 14, 2024

With 65 minutes gone, Mark Cooper made his first change with Frank Nouble replacing Josh Sims.

Three minutes later, Worthington cut inside and shot just over the bar, but the energy levels were dropping for both sides on a warm afternoon. 

A moment of magic from Michael Smith almost gave Yeovil the lead with 76 minutes gone. Having won the ball in midfield, he drove forward with Jarvis alongside him, spotted Ross fractionally off the line and attempted the chip which came back off the crossbar and hit Ross. So unlucky and the closest either side has come to breaking the deadlock.

That signalled two changes in the Yeovil forward line as Brett McGavin and Jordan Young replaced Lo-Everton and Sam Pearson. That meant Young down the right, Nouble down the left with Jarvis through the middle.

Cooper hit one over the bar with nine minutes of normal time remaining before McGavin hit a low one which Ross collected comfortably. 

There was a worrying moment with a minute left when Michael Smith came off to be replaced by Dom Bernard, but the reaction of the veteran full-back was the biggest concern. He did not look happy. 

With three minutes of injury time played, Nouble showed great strength to get away but he dragged his shot wide with Jarvis and Young both in arguably better positions.

Full time: Yeovil Town 0 Altrincham 0

Match Details

Venue: Huish Park
Date: Saturday 14th September – 15:00

Competition: National League Premier

Pitch:  Still looking good
Conditions: A glorious autumn day

Attendance: 2,838 (91 away supporters)

Scorers: None.

Bookings:
Yeovil Town: Charlie Cooper 61, Michael Smith 82
Altrincham: Justin Amalazour 20.

Referee: Lee Swabey

Yeovil Town (4-2-3-1)

Substitutes:  Frank Nouble (for Josh Sims, 65), Brett McGavin (for Sonny Blu Lo-Everton, 76), Jordan Young (for Sam Pearson, 78), Dom Bernard (for Michael Smith, 89) Finn Cousin-Dawson (not used), Matt Gould (not used).

Altrincham: Ethan Ross, Lewis Banks, Jake Cooper, Elliott Osborne, Regan Linney (for Kahrel Reddin, 87), Alex Newby (for Matty Kosylo, 87), Justin Amaluzor, Liam Humbles (for Joe Nuttall, 77), James Jones, Tom Crawford, Tylor Golden.

Substitutes (not used):  Remi Thompson, Eddie Jones, Jake Bickerstaff, Harvey Randle.