Yeovil fell to a 4-0 defeat at high-flying York City, in an afternoon where everything that could go wrong, did.
An early red card for Finn Cousin-Dawson saw the Glovers reduced to ten men and facing an uphill struggle and the hosts made the most of the advantage with Ollie Pearce grabbing a hat trick.
A late red for Dom Bernard topped the afternoon off leaving Yeovil without FCD, Bernard and Wannell for the next three matches.
Dave was there…
First half
The first chance fell to the returning Morgan Williams who headed over the bar from a recycled corner, but his defensive team-mate Finn Cousin-Dawson had a more meaningful impact soon after when he pulled down Tyrese Sinclair on the edge of the box. Straight red for FC-D and a free-kick on the edge of the box.
Up stepped Ollie PEARCE to rival a low shot under the wall and in to the net. Yes, from outside the box. You get the feeling this could be a long day.
With a gap in defence being exposed by the home side, Dom Bernard replaced Pedro Borges with 17 minutes gone.
The gaps were still apparent with York finding both time and space all over the pitch with the only opportunities going forward likely to come from a mistake. That nearly happened on 25 minutes when James Plant got away and was clipped by onrushing keeper Harrison Male. No foul given by the referee, who did give Aaron Jarvis a yellow card for his protests.
Pearce came close to adding his second on 32 minutes when he beat the offside trap, chested it down and his shot beat Ollie Wright, but not Williams on the line.
From that moment Yeovil began showed some spirit and, whilst not doing too much to threaten the York goal, they certainly held them at bay. That was until a minute before half-time when what could only be described as a howler from Ollie Wright gifted the hosts a second.
It looked as if the keeper had control of the ball only to spill it to the feet of Tyrese SINCLAIR who stabbed it home.
Half time: York City 2 Yeovil Town 0
Second half
The start of the second half saw Josh Sims replace Jarvis with Kofi Shaw given the job of running around up front. With Jarvis on a booking already, it was probably a sensible move.
But, on 63 minutes, Pearce made it 3-0. A long ball forward Fagan-Walcott found PEARCE running with Williams who seemed to misjudged the flight of the ball and the striker ran through to hit an angled shot past Wright, in off the post.
Wright made a smart stop to deny Pearce his hat-trick as he turned the ball out of a corner, but PEARCE got a flicked header on the resulting flag kick to get his third and Yeovil’s fourth with 71 minutes gone.
There was a worrying moment on 78 minutes after Wright went down with what looked like a concussion after making a brilliant save from York substitute Luca Thomas with what appeared to be his face. Thankfully the Gods of fate decided that playing 80 minutes with ten men and being 4-0 down was enough suffering.
Just when you thought it could not get any worse, Dom Bernard put in a full-blooded tackle on Nathaniel George in the middle of the pitch. Red card.
If you are going to the Barnet home match on Wednesday night and can play centre half, bring your boots!
Full time: York City 4 Yeovil Town 0
Match Details
Venue: LNER Community Stadium
Date: Saturday 23rd November 2024 – 3pm kick-off
Competition: National League Premier Division
Scorers: Ollie Pearce 11 (0-1), Tyrese Sinclair 44 (0-2), Ollie Pearce 63 (0-3),
Pitch: Held up remarkably well considering the amount of rain.
Conditions: Constant rain
Attendance: 5,642 (348 away supporters)
Bookings:
York City: Sinclair 49,
Yeovil Town: James Plant 25, Michael Smith 35, Charlie Cooper 54
Red Cards:
York City:
Yeovil Town: Finn Cousin-Dawson 10, Dom Bernard 89
Referee: Oliver Mackey
Yeovil Town (3-4-2-1)
Substitutes: Dom Bernard (for Pedro Borges, 17), Josh Sims (for Aaron Jarvis, 46), Harvey Greenslade (for Michael Smith, 58), Sonny Blu Lo-Everton (for Charlie Cooper, 66), Frank Nouble (for Kofi Shaw, 72),
York City: Male, Felix, Walcott (for Fallowfield, 75), Howe, Crookes, Hunt, Aguiar (for Thomas 68), Ajiboye, Pearce (for Battym 75) , Armstrong (for George 68), Sinclair (for Akinyemi 53)
Substitutes (not used): Watson, King