Gloverscast #480 – “I doubt the COD points are written into the contract”
Three vital points were acquired at Altrincham on Saturday thanks to Terrell Works late goal. Ed Turnbull was in amongst the away fans on Saturday and he caught Ian up on the match and we answer your GCQs.
Thanks to Tim Hubble for the voice note.
Five Conclusions – Altrincham 0 Yeovil Town 1
Gloverscast Ben was on co-ommentary duty for BBC Somerset this weekend. He was at the J Davidson Stadium to witness the last minute winner for the Glovers. Here are his five conclusions.
Jed Ward saves Penalties.
When they document this season in a Hollywood movie or a Netflix documentary, there will be plenty of storyline that flow throughout, but one of them will undoubtedly be that Jed Ward has picked some brilliant moments to save spot kicks.
The context of the game, the fact that we’ve recovered 0 points from losing positions this season and that it was a decently hit penalty all add to that being a massive, massive moment. Breathe it in, the smell of freshly cleaned sheets
A win for intent?
It wasn’t a great game, the greasy surface, the wet weather, the two mid table sides who have been through some stuff this season kind of set that up, but I think Yeovil won the game, because we wanted to win it. Altrincham wanted to slow the game down, Yeovil wanted the ball to move forward.
It isnt that simple, it never is, but I felt like Rowley’s attacking additions have one mindset that is to get the ball to the opposition penalty area, the substitutions – again, possibly because thats all we had – were replacing energy with energy in the attacking third.
The Cardiff lads are a bit good.
Dakarai Mafico won the Gloverscast Player of the Month for January and deservedly so, im really looking forward to seeing what Perrett can bring to this side.
I loved everything he did in the final third. He’s young and raw and not everything came off, but his brain is certainly there for a high level of football.
He’s only ever thinking forward. He ran with the ball, stuck to him like glue, he’s got a nice touch in tight spots to keep the possession. My MOTM. We’ve got a couple of good ones.
We are still missing that number 9.
Tahvon Campbell got booted about before being taken off, and did a lot of real battling and would have felt every single minute of it, but without having Jarvis to call upon from the bench, we did feel light.
We’ve got a very simple tactic when the ball goes direct; the ball goes into the feet of TC, or for him to nod on and then there’s runners beyond the front man to create chances. That’s a physical job, often a thankless one, but one that looks increasingly pivotal in a Billy Rowley set up. A summer priority to make sure we have the best back to goal striker in non league at our disposal… (no, not that one Dave)
Momentum feels good.
I know there’s been a slightly broken up schedule with postponements and the focus switching between league and cup, but the numbers, right now, don’t lie. Four wins from the last five (well, three and a penalties victory), three clean sheets and the early signs of what a Billy Rowley Yeovil might look like over the next few months and seasons.
Those 201 fans int he away end headed home with a last gasp winner in their back pockets, and dare I say, are heading to promotion chasing Boreham Wood, (who have lost four of their last five) in a great mood and hoping we can cause an upset.
Match-winner Works followed Rowley’s advice
Yeovil Town goal-scorer Terrell Works revealed how he followed the advice of his manager Billy Rowley as he grabbed a late winner to seal a 1-0 win at Altrincham today.
The 21-year-old came on as a 69th minute substitute after his boss had told him to go on and be a match-winner and just 18 minutes later he turned home the winner to grab the three points.
Speaking to BBC Somerset’s Josh Perkins after the match, the Fulham loanee said: “It was tough when I came on, I’ll be honest. They had us under pressure, but we got out of it in the last couple minutes and got the goal to win us the game.
“(The manager) literally told me ‘go on and get your goal and win us the game’ and that’s what I did.“
It was the youngster’s second appearance in green-and-white having appeared as a substitute in the second half of the 2-1 defeat at Brackley Town last month.
He was cup-tied for last weekend’s FA Trophy victory at AFC Telford United and admitted it was not easy to come off the bench and make an impact in a tightly-contested affair.
He said: “It was difficult coming on because I haven’t played in a while. So it was tough, but you just have to push through.“
Rowley praises Glovers’ spirit
Yeovil Town boss Billy Rowley paid tribute to his players after a smash-and-grab win at Altrincham this afternoon.
The Glovers survived a first penalty awarded to the hosts which was saved by goalkeeper Jed Ward before grabbing the three points courtesy of a late winner from Fulham loanee Terrell Works.
Speaking to BBC Somerset’s Josh Perkins after the match, Rowley said: “Credit to Altrincham, they made the game very difficult for us. We planned for them to be slightly different to what they were today, and credit to our lads for obviously thinking on their feet. We tried to fix a couple of things at half-time, but sometimes football isn’t played on a white board, it is played on the pitch with people rolling up their sleeves and playing for the badge and playing for their mate, and the lads did that today.
”It wasn’t beautiful, but I think tactically the game wasn’t really made for beautiful football today. They were obviously man-for-man all over the pitch; the only free player was (goalkeeper) Jed (Ward) in the build-up. So, we decided to obviously play a bit longer today and play into the space, and we had to be good at running onto that, we had to be good at fighting for second balls. On another day you lose that and obviously people will say ‘Oh, all we’re doing is going long’ but we win today and you look good. I don’t think we were amazing today, I don’t think we were our best, but I think it’s a really positive thing when you can not play your best and you can come to a place like this and win.“
Yeovil were once again indebted to the brilliance of on loan Bristol Rovers keeper Ward who saved Alty striker Jimmy Knowles’ penalty just before the half-hour mark. The spot kick was given after a foul from Glovers’ defender Joy Mukena on Alty’s Kahrel Reddin.
Rowley said: “It is a brilliant save from Jed to save another penalty. He’s been incredible for us this season—not only penalties, obviously everything he does as a goalkeeper. He’s the ultimate professional as well, so massive credit to Jed. It starts with that really; if we go 1-0 down, this was, like I said, a very tough game. I thought their fans were great, I thought ours were brilliant travelling support, but I think going 1-0 down to that penalty would have given us a mountain to climb and I’m not sure we would have climbed it all the way to the top.“
The Glovers’ boss made a double substitution at half-time bringing on midfielders Luke McCormick and Ryan Jones in place of Josh Tobin and Harvey Greenslade at the break. It was McCormnick who broke away late to have the effort which was pushed out to Works who fired the winner.
The boss revealed McCormick, who has been missing through injury in recent weeks, was not pleased at not being in the starting line-up.
He added: “I said to the boys pre-game that it is the hardest thing to do when every player in the squad wants to start and play 90 minutes. It’s the hardest thing to leave people out. But obviously, he’s been nursing a groin problem for the last few weeks; we’re trying to look after him.
“We’ve obviously got a very busy run-in and I said to the lads pre-game when we’re bringing on players like Jonesy, like Macca, like Terrell, like—it’s going to become a very hard afternoon for Altrincham as well, and it proved to be.“
It was a first goal in green-and-white for Works since joining on loan from Fulham last month, albeit it was his fifth National League goal of the season having scored four times in a previous loan spell at Braintree Town.
Rowley said: “The coaches at Fulham who I know well can not speak highly enough about his ability as a footballer and I’m just so happy for him to score today. He hasn’t played loads of football since he’s been here because he’s been cup-tied for the FA Trophy (win at AFC Telford United last week) and we’ve had a few games off (due to postponements), so he’s not played loads of minutes.
“He’s an unbelievable footballer in tight spaces. I think we’re going to see some really good bits from him, but that goal was just about timing and sniffing it out in the box, which he did really well. And he’s probably the quietest lad in the dressing room, so I’m really happy for him and I promised him I’m going to get him some Call of Duty points, which he seems to be world-class at.“
The win puts six points between Yeovil and the National League Premier Division relegation zone with games in hands over eight of the ten teams below them.
Rowley added: “I’m really mindful to not try and beat the drum of ‘every game’s a cup final’ and ‘we’re down the bottom of the league and we need to do that.’ It’s obvious that we are and we need to get some good results on the table, but I’m also really passionate about us being better with the ball and playing with more courage and personality. I think if you keep banging that drum too hard, players will seize up and you won’t perform your best, so I think it’s a balancing act.
“We’ve still got, like I said, 18 games; we still want to play some good football and get some good results. Hopefully we don’t need to necessarily be talking about that as much as we have done recently. I know we’ve got a few games in hand on other teams in the league, so I’ve not seen the results today—hopefully it’s worked in our favour and we can keep pushing on.”
Next up, Yeovil travel to face sixth-placed Boreham Wood on Wednesday night. They were without a match at the weekend after their visit to Woking was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch.
After that, league leaders Rochdale, who picked up a 1-0 home win courtesy of a goal from ex-Glovers’ loanee Dan Moss against fellow promotion hopefuls Carlisle United, visit Huish Park next Saturday.
Rowley said: “From what I hear from the lads last time they played against them, they found Boreham Wood to be one of the better teams in the league. I know Luke (Garrard, the Boreham Wood manager) has done an amazing job there. We will be excited to play against them away from home. It’ll be equally as tough as this, but we’ll be going there to win the game.“
The boss also confirmed that midfielder Jonathon Page missed the match at Altrincham with an ankle injury picked up in the 2-1 defeat at Brackley Town last month. He said: “It is not that serious; he’s been running in training this week. He will probably be back on the balls maybe late this week or early next.“
He also revealed full-back Alex Whittle missed out after picking up an ankle injury in training on Friday and said striker Aaron Jarvis was also still suffering with concussion.
Foot In The Opposition Camp – Altrincham (A)
We’re on our way to Altrincham!
Ben’s caught up with Erin from Golf Road Goals about the host’s season.
Match Preview: Altrincham FC vs Yeovil Town
Yeovil Town are back in league action this weekend with a trip to Greater Manchester, as they face Altrincham on Saturday afternoon.
FORM…
YEOVIL TOWN
The Glovers will be hoping for a win off the back of their FA Trophy progression last weekend when they faced AFC Telford United. The match against The Robins will be Billy Rowley’s men first of nine over the next month. With the amount of games to play in a short period of time a good performance and three points would see Yeovil off to a good start.
As mentioned, in the Glovers last game they faced AFC Telford United in the FA Trophy, which they won 0-2. The game was notable for two of Yeovil’s out form strikers bagging the goals. The first goal will be debated as to whether it was an own goal by Ammar Dyer or not. If you ask Harvey Greenslade though, he will claim it as to give the Glovers a 0-1 lead. The winner came in the 63rd minute when Tahvon Campbell picked up the ball and confidently paced his finish past Telford’s Josh Gracey.
ALTRINCHAM FC
The Robins have played twice in the league since the Glovers last had a league fixture. The first was a 3-1 defeat away to Carlisle. Altrincham capitulated within an eight minute period when they conceded all three goals between the 25th and 34th minute. Jimmy Knowles then got one back but proved a little to late with 20 minutes to go.
The Greater Manchester side then met a struggling Morecambe on Tuesday night at the J.Davidson Stadium. The Robins didn’t look great in the 1-1 as they again conceded first. It was then an Ollie Crankshaw goal that rescued a point.
Altincham currently sit one place below the Glovers in 16th with one win, two draws and two losses over their last five games.
KEY PLAYERS…
YEOVIL TOWN – JED WARD
The keeper has been the Glovers standout performer this season, keeping his side in games and making a silly amount of saves (103 to be precise). The Somerset side haven’t really had a this good a player in goal since maybe Arturo Krysiak and if not him your looking at Wayne Hennessy or Marek Stech.
Any pundit or manager will say a good side begins with its spine and a goalkeeper is the base that keeps it together, and although Yeovil may be missing the other three players in that spine, Ward is definitely a good start. And with his Bristol Rovers boss, Steve Evans, not paying attention to his scintillating form, he may be looking to catch the eye of his parent club’s gaffer.
ALTINCHAM – JIMMY KNOWLES
The forward has been The Robins’ biggest attacking threat this season, with six goals and five assists to his name. His form, if anything does not mirror that of his clubs. Whilst The Robins’ form over the last four games has seen only one win, Knowles’ performance have been his best over the season. During that time, he has a goal and two assists, and has been his sides best player in those games as well.
Although throughout his career he has probably been considered a striker, this season he has been deployed on the left wing. This change in position has led to a good season for the forward, which he will hope to take into the games against the Glovers.
THE GAFFER…
Neil Gibson is the man in the home dugout this weekend. The 46-year-old took over in November after a brief spell as caretaker manager. Gibson, has previously managed Prestatyn Town on three operate occasions, between 2007 and 2020. He then had two year spells at Flint Town United and Connah’s Quay Nomads before a very short spell at Wealdstone United.
In Gibson’s one game against the Glovers during his managerial career, he won.
LAST TIME WE MET…
The two sides last met in September last year when Yeovil took all three points in 1-0 victory at Huish Park. The Glovers goal that day came through now former player, Morgan Williams (it still hurts we know).
However, when the two sides last met in Greater Manchester, The Robins’ ran out 2-1 winners. That fixture was played April last year, with the home side taking the lead in the 30th minute through Tyler Golden. The Glovers then equalised two minutes later through centre back Frankie Terry. However, Altrincham took all there points late on, as Lewis Baines bagged the winner in the 88th minute.
DON’T I KNOW YOU…
Three names that will be recognisable to Glovers fans to look out for. The first is defender Billy Sass-Davies, who made 22 appearances whilst on loan from Crewe Alexandra back in 2022. The former Welsh youth player scored one goal in that time.
The second player to look out for is Otis Khan. The winger has had two spells at Huish Park, first of all between 2016-2018. The 30-year-old then rejoined Yeovil on loan at the back end of last season. Across his spells Khan has made 92 appearances.
The last of the trio is Josh Grant, who played for the Glovers at the. back end of the 18/19 season from Chelsea, he would play eight games.
THE MAN IN THE MIDDLE…
Gareth Thomas is the man in charge for this fixture. For more information on him and his team for Saturday night check out Ben’s article – here.
Gloverscast #479 – “The Ellison in the room”
Dave, Ian and Ben are back to chat through the week and preview tomorrow’s trip to Altrincham.
Back2Market Removals and Clearances have donated their Box at YTFC as part of a hospitality package for the Halifax Game being offered as the prize in a competition in aid of Andys Man Club. Enter here.