Sam Pearson made a dream start to his return as a Yeovil Town player with a hand in two goals as Yeovil Town maintained their 13-point advantage at the top of National League South.
The 22-year-old, who went straight in to the starting line-up having joined on a permanent deal in the week, opened the scoring against Hemel Hempstead Town when the acrobatically turned in a Charlie Cooper ball on 28 minutes.
Then, just seconds before he was replaced by Jake Hyde on 69 minutes, the youngster had a shot which was deflected in by a Hemel defender to make it 2-0.
First half
With a strong wind in their favour attacking the away end at Huish Park, Yeovil Town started brightly. An early move saw a good ball from Sonny Blu Lo-Everton find Michael Smith inside the plenty area, the full-back tried to play it across to new signing Sam Pearson, but could not quite find him.
Smith and Pearson got a lot of joy down the right-hand side but despite a flurry of corners there were no efforts to force Hemel keeper Craig King in to real action. The first save from the visiting stopper came in the 18th minute when Pearson combined with Jordan Young and the new signing’s effort was held.
On 27 minutes, a long ball over the top from Joe Day caught the Hemel defence napping and Frank Nouble found himself clear through but the defenders got back to clear it. From the resulting corner the ball was cleared as far as the original taker Young, he laid it off to Charlie Cooper who played an exquisite ball in to the box where PEARSON acrobatically fired past King. It took 28 minutes for the breakthrough to come, but the pressure had been relentless.
Picture courtesy of Gary Brown.
But, despite the home side’s dominance, there was always the risk of the visitors causing a threat at the other end. With five minutes of the half remaining, Chris Smith had an effort well saved by Day and the ball squirmed under the keeper’s glove, but Tre Mitford failed to bundle the ball home allowing Yeovil to clear their lines.
The Glovers immediately broke with Young and Pearson two-on-two with the Hemel defence and it just needed a pass from Young, who ended up getting brought down by Josh Williams. The defender picked up a booking for his troubles.
There were few hairy moments in the Yeovil penalty area in those last five minutes, but for the majority of that half it was all the hosts.
Half time: Yeovil Town 1 Hemel Hempstead Town 0
Second half
It was Hemel who started the brighter with the wind behind them in this half and presumably a half-time rocket from their management team inside them. On 51 minutes, Day was called in to action to deny Mitford and the visitors enjoyed the majority of possession in the opening ten minutes.
There was a great chance for Yeovil to double their lead soon after following good movement through the middle from Cooper and Matt Worthington. That move found Nouble who fed Young and the forward made ground, but was denied the chance to shoot by fine defending from Kyle Ajayi.
On the hour mark, Sonny Blu Lo-Everton twice found himself in space on the edge of the box and was twice denied by great stops from King, before Michael Smith fired one over the bar three minutes later.
Picture courtesy of Gary Brown.
A terrible tackle saw Kombe Kawimbe lunge in with a high challenge on Cooper after 65 minutes. The Hemel man got the ball, but it was a dangerous tackle. You’ve seen red cards given for less – but he only got a yellow.
On 68 minutes, it was 2-0 to Yeovil. A throw from Alex Whittle found Pearson who made his way inside the box and his shot was on target but the last touch came off visiting defender Ajayi. The goal was given to Pearson, but that one is an OWN GOAL.
What a way for Pearson to finish his second debut. Having finished his goal celebrations, he was replaced by Jake Hyde.
With ten minutes remaining, Hyde was in the action threading a ball through to Young, but again the forward showed a bit too much of the ball to Josh Hill who back to deny him.
Hyde then came about as close as you can to adding a third when he made a brilliant header from a Cooper free-kick, but was denied by another superb save from King with five minutes of normal time remaining.
With two minutes remaining, George Williams had an effort well saved by Joe Day and a minute later the stopper was back in action as he made a flying save to deny Josh Williams.
Hemel showed more in the second half, but the Yeovil Town juggernaut rolls on. A comfortable victory and on to Truro (well, Plymouth) on Tuesday night.
Full time: Yeovil Town 2 Hemel Hempstead Town 0
Match Details
Venue: Huish Park
Date: Saturday 20th January – 3pm
Competition: National League South
Pitch: Green
Conditions: Cold, overcast and a bit blowy
Attendance: 3,591 (60 away supporters)
Scorers: Sam Pearson 28 (1-0),Kyle Ajayi o.g. 68 (2-0)
Bookings:
Yeovil Town: None
Hemel Hempstead Town: Tre Mitford 19, Josh Williams 40, Kombe Kawimbe 65
Referee: Craig Scriven
Yeovil Town (4-5-1)
Substitutes: Jake Hyde (for Sam Pearson, 69), Jay Foulston (for Jordan Young, 79), Dylan Morgan (for Charlie Cooper, 87) Josh Owers (not used), Will Dawes (not used).
Hemel Hempstead Town: Craig King, Josh Williams, Kyle Ajayi, Josh Hill, George Williams, Tre Mitford, Joe Re (for Bayley Brown, 71), Chris Smith, Michael Folivi (for Kaylen Hinds, 61), Kombe Kawimbe, Myles Judd (for Vladimir Paternoster, 71).
Substitutes (not used): Tarrelle Whittaker, James Taylor.
What a good signing. Coopers done it again.