Former Yeovil Town striker Brandon Goodship came back to haunt his old employers as he scored twice to earn the old enemy W*ymouth a place in the fourth round of the FA Trophy at Huish Park.

The frontman opened the scoring after 12 minutes when he curled in a brilliant effort before Aaron Jarvis’ brave header saw him draw the visitors level with ten minutes of the first half remaining.

But, with just five minutes of the second half played, Goodship was picked out at the back to post to net what turned out to the winner. There were changes from manager Mark Cooper, but they failed to make any difference.

The final whistle was met by a chorus of boos from the home supporters with those travelling over the hill from Dorset cheered and the most sickening thing is you cannot argue they deserved it.

First half

 
The 257th meeting between these two old rivals saw Josh Sims replace on loan Bristol Rovers’ youngster Kofi Shaw in the starting XI, the only change from the 2-0 win at Woking ten days before this rearranged tie. The original tie was scheduled for the previous weekend but fell foul to the bad weather brought by Storm Darragh.
 
There were a couple of opportunities for Yeovil in the opening quarter-of-an-hour. Firstly, a great incisive pass by Nouble and Plant looked like he was through on goal, but the Port Vale loanee could not under control as the ball hit the back of the winger’s leg, and then Plant poked one wide at the near post after good effort by Pedro Borges,
 
But with 12 minutes gone, it was a moment of magic which broke the deadlock. Fabien Bartolo burst down the right and picked out former Glovers’ striker Brandon GOODSHIP who curled a beautiful effort in from 20 yards out past a helpless Ollie Wright. I hate to give that lot any credit, but that is a brilliant effort albeit Goodship had a lot of time to pick his spot.
 
Yeovil almost hit back immediately when Plant found Nouble who was denied by a good save from visitors’ keeper Josey Casa-Grande, who joined on loan from Bristol City to replace Yeovil player Will Buse, who was unable to face his employers. 
 
The frustration was palpable inside Huish Park and there were shades of last season with the visitors happy to frustrate their hosts. For all the passing, it was a ball over the top from Charlie Cooper after half-an-hour which unlocked the defence as Aaron Jarvis beat the offside trap and was clean through on goal, but Calvin Brooks got enough on it to put it out for a corner.
 
But, the leveller came after on 35 minutes when a ball was floated in by Brett McGavin and Aaron JARVIS rose with Casa-Grande to head bravely in to the net. However, there was immediate concern for both the scorer and the keeper who collided sickeningly and physios were on for both players. That is the epitome of what Jarvis was all about, willing to put his head in where it hurts for a goal and he certainly did that. 
 
Bartolo forced a comfortable-looking save out of Wright soon after and thankfully Jarvis is back on the pitch. The Yeovil goal seemed to re-spark W*ymouth back in to life and this tie has certainly be an all-action one.

The visitors lost captain Tom Bearwish to an injury in the final minute of the half, replaced by Swansea City loan defender Harry Jones at right back.

Jarvis almost got his second in the third minute of seven minutes added on at the end of the first half when his great running off the ball saw him get on the end of a ball in, but credit to Casa-Grande who got a great hand on the ball to deny the striker.

It has not been a vintage performance (to put it mildly) with some credit having to be given to the W*ymouth midfield (sorry to have to do that twice) who denied Yeovil the time and space to be able to get their usual passing 

Half time: Yeovil Town 1 W*ymouth 1

 

Second half

The opening exchanges of the second half saw ex-Yeovil striker Malachi Linton suffer a sickening fall to the Huish Park pitch in an innocuous-looking challenge in the air with Finn Cousin-Dawson. Fortunately Mal was okay, he was a nice lad.
 
But, with just five minutes of the second half played, W*ymouth took the lead for a second time. An error from McGavin saw Bartolo break forward and pick out Brandon GOODSHIP at the back post. The visiting players were queuing up at the back post to turn it in. A poor, poor goal to concede.
 
Morgan Williams headed one over on 53 minutes, before an end-to-end moment as Yeovil had the Terras’ defence rocking with a couple of balls in to the box before one ball out to Bartolo saw him flash an effort wide with Goodship screaming for the pass for his hat-trick. It’s hair ’em, scare ’em to be sure.
 
On the hour mark, Mark Cooper made two changes with Michael Smith replacing Josh Sims and Kofi Shaw coming on in place for Pedro Borges. That led to a change in formation with Alex Whittle moving to a more familiar left-back position with Smith at right-back, whilst Shaw took a position behind Jarvis. The intent was obvious with both full-backs getting up whenever they could.
 
There was a flurry of chances for Yeovil on 68 minutes with the best falling to Jarvis who just needed to swing a boot at the ball but instead took a touch and allowed the W*ymouth defenders to get back and block the effort before McGavin flashed an effort wide.
 
Picture courtesy of Tom Balch.
 
On the 70th minute, Dylan Morgan replaced Whittle with James Plant moving to the left-back position. W*ymouth are working hard to protect their lead, but there’s no intent to Yeovil’s game.
 
McGavin was replaced by captain Matt Worthington on 76 minutes. Time is running out and it was only thanks to Ollie Wright that we were not further behind on 78 minutes. A good break by W*ymouth and it was good play by Linton to find Bartolo who forced a fine stop out of the keeper.
 
With eight minutes remaining, Dylan Morgan found himself in a great position, had a great opportunity to shoot first time on his left foot but checked back on to his right and gave the Harry Jones the opportunity to get back and defend. 
 
Wright made another good stop from Genesini on 88 minutes and the Yeovil keeper has been tested more than Casa-Grande in the W*ymouth goal and that says everything about our display. Euan Pollock had the ball in the net as the fourth official put the board up to announce eight minutes of stopping time, thankfully offside.
 
There was one golden chance to force a penalty shoot-out with just seconds remaining, but Nouble headed it wide. 
 
The final whistle was met by a chorus of boos from the home supporters who had to witness their old rivals inflicting the first competitive defeat at Huish Park. It’s another exit from the FA Trophy at the first time of asking, but we all know this one means much more than that.
 

Full time: Yeovil Town 1 W*ymouth 2

Match Details

Venue: Huish Park
Date: Tuesday 10th December 2024 – 7.45pm kick-off

Competition: Isuzu FA Trophy Third Round

Scorers: Brandon Goodship 12 (0-1), Aaron Jarvis 35 (1-1) , Brandon Goodship 50 (1-2)

Pitch: In amazing nick given the weather which Somerset has suffered over the past few days
Conditions: Not as cold as Ian thought it was going to be

Attendance: 3,168 (375 away supporters) 

Bookings:

Yeovil Town: None
W*ymouth: Leo Hamblin 90+1, Joey Casa-Grande 90+6

Referee: Ruebyn Ricardo

Yeovil Town (3-4-2-1)

Substitutes: Michael Smith (for Josh Sims, 60), Kofi Shaw (for Pedro Borges, 60), Dylan Morgan (for Alex Whittle, 69), Matt Worthington (for Brett McGavin, 76), Ed James (not used), Sonny Blu Lo-Everton (not used), Matt Gould (not used).

W*ymouth: Josey Casa-Grande, Tom Bearwish (for Harry Jones, 44), Calvin Brooks, Jordon Thompson, Leo Hamblin, Josh McQuoid (for Ben Greenwood, 90+5), Andy Robinson, Jaiden Bartolo, Christie Ward, Malachi Linton (for Euan Pollock, 80),  Brandon Goodship (for Brooklyn Genesini, 70). Substitutes (not used): Keelan O’Connell, Jacob English.

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exetergreen
1 month ago

Bugger.

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