Yeovil Town played out a draw at home to Eastleigh in their final fixture of 2025 on a cold night at Huish Park.
The Glovers took advantage of a slip by visiting defender Temi Eweka to open the scoring when Luke McCormick fired in his seventh goal of the season just before the half-hour mark, but it was sloppy defending which gifted Eastleigh an equaliser.
Having failed to clear the danger, Morgan Williams, returning to the side after three matches out through suspension, tripped a visiting player inside the area and Aaron Blair stepped up to fire home the resulting penalty.
First half
The first opportunity fell to the visitors after 15 minutes when Sam Pearson, who was weirdly booed by some in the home support, was released by Waite down the right side and found Aaron Blair at the near post, who put his effort in to the Thatcher’s Stand. The striker will be disappointed with the finish and Yeovil manager Billy Rowley will be as upset with the defending.
Jarvis collapsed in the centre circle four minutes later following an off-the-ball clash with visiting defender Aaron Pierre. The pair continued their contest with some verbals after the incident and got a booking each from their troubles.
But with eight minutes of first half injury time put up due to the earlier stoppage time, Yeovil conceded a penalty. A lack of ownership from anyone in the Glovers’ defence saw Jed Ward sprawl underneath Blair to clear the ball as far as Saunders who went down under a clumsy tackle from Williams. Aaron BLAIR stepped up and fired it home.
You can’t say Eastleigh do not deserve it, they have not had too many opportunities but they have certainly been in the ascendency since they went behind. There were two or three opportunities to clear the ball before it got in to the danger area. That’s another sloppy goal we have conceded. Ugh.
Hopefully attacking the Thatcher’s Stand can bring some of the energy going forward which Billy Rowley spoke about ahead of the game.
Half time: Yeovil Town 1 Eastleigh 1
Second half
The visitors started the second half as they finished the first in the ascendency. On 51 minutes, a corner was not dealt with by the Yeovil defence and Lloyd Humphries was given time to do keepy uppies inside the area before hooking a shot which fortunately went in to the hands of Jed Ward. We were so passive inside the box again which is what cost us at Truro on Boxing Day.
Shortly after Luke McCormick flashed an effort just past the post after good play by Jarvis and then Plant played a great pass to set McCormick free to fire a ball in to the box but Eastleigh were there to defend. That’s more like it, moving the ball quickly and the Thatcher’s is responding. Not rocket science, is it?
On 56 minutes, Michee Efete replaced Max Jolliffe and the defender, who played as part of a back three in the defeat at Truro, took a position on the right.
There was a heart in mouth moment when a terrible pass from Josh Sims went straight to Blair who thundered forward and Yeovil were grateful to some cool defending from Efete, who did not jump in with a tackle when he could have. Sims owes Efete a spud if he’s got any left!
Just after the hour there was another great opportunity when Pierre won a header at the back post from a corner, before Yeovil had two on one as McCormick thundered away down the left side, he squared it to James Daly whose shot was turned aside by Nick Townsend in the visitors’ goal.
With 73 minutes played, Yeovil made two changes with Josh Tobin and Andrew Oluwabori replacing Josh Sims and James Daly, and six minutes later Tahvon Campbell replaced Jarvis whilst Finn Cousin-Dawson coming on for Kyle Ferguson.
There was a minute of normal time remaining when an opportunity came Yeovil’s way with when Wannell’s ball in from the left went in to a crowded area when Tobin could only prod it wide.
We huffed and puffed in the second half but the quality in the final ball in the final third was still missing against an Eastleigh side which defended well. All in all, a draw was a fair result, but we are finishing 2025 the same way we started it – struggling to score.
Full time: Yeovil Town 1 Eastleigh 1
Match Details
Venue: Huish Park
Date: Tuesday 30th December, 7.45pm kick-off
Competition: Enterprise National League Premier League
Scorers: Luke McCormick 28 (1-0), Aaron Blair pen 45+2 (1-1)
Pitch: Looking okay, a few slippy spots.
Conditions: Cold. Very cold.
Attendance: 3,102 (238 away supporters)
Bookings:
Yeovil Town: Aaron Jarvis 19, James Plant 45+6, Morgan Williams 56, Jake Wannell 62
Eastleigh: Aaron Pierre 19, Aaron Blair 62, Josh Lundstram 83, Kieron Evans 90+5
Referee: Harrison Blair
Yeovil Town (3-4-3)
Substitutes: Michee Efete (for Max Jollifee, 57), Josh Tobin (for Josh Sims, 73), Andrew Oluwabori (for James Daly, 73), Finn Cousin-Dawson (for Kyle Ferguson, 79), Tahvon Campbell (for Aaron Jarvis, 79), Harvey Greenslade (not used), Matt Gould (not used).
Eastleigh: Nick Townsend, Richard Brindley (for James Waite, 10, for Angel Wariuh, 88)), Lloyds Humphries, Temi Eweka, Kieron Evans, Aaron Blair (for Paul McCallum, 88), Harvey Saunders (for Tommy Whitehead, 90+2), Aaron Pierre, Josh Lundstram, Sam Pearson (for Luis Fernandez, 88), Archie Harris.