Highlights of last night’s derby draw with W*ymouth are now available on the club’s YouTube channel.
They confirm the Yeovil goal as an own goal to visiting defender Tyler Cordner and, if you skip forward to 3 minutes 55 seconds, can anyone tell us how Adi Yussuf has missed that?!
We drew with Weymouth, yet again, and we probably shouldn’t have. Here are Ian’s Five Conclusions from a game of two halves at Huish Park last night.
The first half performance was bad. We were disjointed and looked like a group who hasn’t played together before. Our dynamism up front against Wrexham and Woking just wasn’t there. We knew we’d feel the absence of Tom Knowles, but maybe not THAT much. W*ymouth controlled possession nicely and seemed to have an answer for whatever we threw at them. The first half was littered with misplaced passes, one of which put us on the backfoot in the fourth minute, loose touches and Darren Sarll reacted at half time.
Our second half performance suggests we may actually have a Plan B. The half time introduction of Reuben Reid and a switch to 4-4-2 changed our fortunes, and allowed us to unlock our wide areas a bit. I thought Reid improved us and the switch allowed us to see more of Charlie Wakefield and Jordan Barnett. It took Weymouth a bit of time to adapt and we managed to grab a fortuitous equaliser before they did. With Knowles back, I think we’d all prefer to see the exciting front three including him Wakefield and Sonny, but if we need to change it up, we do have an option of a 4-4-2.
It was great to see Lawson D’Ath back. I don’t think we can overstate the quality of Lawson D’Ath. But for his injuries, he’d be an EFL player for sure. His composure, his technique and his vision are supreme at this level. His cameo in midfield didn’t help us to victory, but he managed to remind us of what he’s capable of and with some more games under his belt, he has the opportunity to make an impact in our midfield.
Adi Yussuf should have scored that chance at the death. He could have scored just after W*ymouth’s opener. I think we did enough in the second half to deserve the win but as has been the case on sixteen times this season, we could only score one goal when he needed more. Is Adi Yussuf the man to do it? It feels increasingly likely that he is not. Yussuf is a marmite player. Wealey was very complimentary of him during commentary, and he’s far more qualified to pass judgement than I am, but I thought he was poor. He didn’t hold the ball up, I felt he struggled to influence when he had the ball. Even his shot for the goal was diverted in. He does run around though, and cause defenders problems by being a nuisance. I suppose it depends if we want a striker who impacts games in that way, rather then putting the ball in the net.
Give Charlie Wakefield a new contract, please! The highlight of the night was the ‘Star Man’ on the right. (I can’t think of a player ever having two great chants). His running, his desire and effort for the cause is unparalled in this team. The hope and expectation when he picks up the ball vibrates around Huish Park and more often then not he beats more than one player to find a cross, get a shot away or do something impressive. In my view, he’s been our signing of the season. For a player who had a patchy injury record and struggled to cement a place at Wealdstone and Bromley, truthfully I didn’t expect a great deal from him. He’s f*cking dynamite, though.
Yeovil Town promotion-winning captain Jamie McAllister has told the Gloverscast that he wanted to stay at Huish Park when he was released in 2014.
The Scotsman had made 40 appearances as the Glovers were relegated from the Championship after just one season and said he expected to be offered a new contract.
Speaking on the latest interview in our GloversPast series, he said: “The big low was getting let go. I’d played 40-odd games in the Championship, I was expecting to sign a new deal, but it never came.
“I wanted to stay and play another year or two, but for whatever reason, it didn’t happen.
“It wasn’t down to finances or anything, I just never got offered anything which was disappointing.”
In the interview, he talks to us about how Gary Johnson’s vision of what he could achieve at Yeovil led him to turn down a move north of the border, his memories of that magical day at Wembley in 2013, and playing in front of crowds of more than 80,000 having moved to the Indian Super League having left Yeovil.
Yeovil Town captain Luke Wilkinson said the team “let themselves down” with a poor first half performance in a 1-1 derby draw with W*ymouth at Huish Park.
The centre half said the team “had words” at the interval having been booed off at 1-0 down courtesy of a fourth minute goal from Sean Shields for the bitter local rivals.
Speaking to BBC Somerset’s Sheridan Robins after the game, he said: “The first half was not good enough from us and we had words at half-time, but the second half we came out and I think we had a much better performance.
“But, like we said after the game, we have to be doing that for 90 minutes and the gaffer has told us we cannot turn up for one half and play alright and think we’ll get away with it.”
The visitors, who are eight points adrift of safety in the National League relegation zone, played with much more freedom in the first half.
Wilkinson added: “They are fighting for their lives and it’s a local derby which levels things out, but the performance from us was just not good enough.
“We let ourselves down a little bit first half, but credit to the lads because we turned it around second half and got the goal, we just couldn’t get that second one to win it.”
It was good to see Wilko already looking forward to our Easter Monday trip down to the seaside.
He added: “I have been here three years so I know what it means to the fans. Let’s hope we can win the reverse fixture down there.”
Yeovil Town manager Darren Sarll said his side deserved to win the game against W*ymouth after coming from a goal down to secure a point.
Speaking to BBC Somerset’s Sheridan Robins, Sarll admitted the first half needed improving on, but that his side probably deserved to take all three points.
He said: “After that second half there’s only one team who deserved to win the game, in terms of goal mouth entries – they had one good chance in the second half – but apart from that they’ve had the mistake that we’ve made (for the goal) and one very good chance [in the] second half.
We’ve had multiple entries and I said to them, you need to take heart from the second half, but understand we have got to make it like that for 90 minutes.”
Adi Yussuf forced the ball goalwards for the Glovers’ equaliser, and could have won the game with the final kick of the game, but couldn’t quite send the manager “flying down the touchline” in celebration.
“I thought we deserved to win the game”, continued Sarll, “just for oohs and aaahs, I thought we deserved to win the game because our intent early on was to win the game and we have to be a lot more composed and try and bring out – and try and bring out – those creative instincts in the players.”
There was praise for the constant threat offered by Charlie Wakefield who was described as the “find of the F-ing century” as well as the introduction of Reuben Reid who both posed a threat for the hosts, as well as the returning Lawson D’ath.
“His footballing intelligence is excellent, really excellent, I loved having him back out there, he does give us that genuine opportunity to play with two midfielders like when [Josh] Staunton is available, and he gives us a way, a vision – he can pick a pass and pick someone out.
When you’ve got receivers like Wakefield, Adi and Reuben and Tom Knowles you need someone who is going to be able to distribute the ball.”
Yeovil are back in action hosting Solihull Moors on Saturday kicking off at 3pm
Venue: Huish Park
Tuesday, February 1st, 7.45pm kick-off
Conditions: Clear but blowy
Pitch: Held up nicely
Attendance: 3,936 (461 away supporters)
Scorers: Shields 4 (0-1), Cordner o.g. 52 (1-1)
Referee: Scott Jackson
Bookings:
Yeovil Town: Robinson 38, Worthington 63, Wilkinson 88
W*ymouth: Murray 51, Mussa 53, Fitzsimons 63,
Sending off: Mussa 90 (second bookable offence)
Yeovil Town : (4-3-1-2)
Grant Smith
Morgan Williams Luke Wilkinson Ben Barclay Jack Robinson
Matt Worthington (for D’Ath, 67) Dale Gorman Jordan Barnett (for Alex Bradley, 84)
Sonny Blu Lo-Everton (for Reid, 46)
Charlie Wakefield Adi Yussuf
Substitutes: Alex Bradley, Toby Stephens Lawson D’Ath, Max Evans
W*ymouth: Fitzsimons, Cordner, Mnoga, Mussa, Harfield, Drewe, Murray, McQuoid (for Rose, 75), Bearwish, Mampala, Shields (for Blair, 86). Substitutes: Morgan, Goodship, Blair, Greenidge.
The W*ymouth wait for a win at Huish Park stretched out to 33 years, but that mob down the road managed to hold Yeovil Town to a draw.
The Terras took the lead after just four minutes when midfielder Sean Shields gave the visitors a fourth minute lead in front of the Thatcher’s Gold Stand.
That set the tone for a woeful first half with the visitors controlling much of the play and leading to boos from the home fans at the interval.
The reception seemed to spark Yeovil who came out brighter after the restart and drew level when Adi Yussuf’s shot was turned in to his own net by Tyler Cordner on 52 minutes.
Midfielder Omar Mussa saw red for a second booking in the 90th minute just moments before Yussuf missed a golden opportunity to win it in injury time.
Here’s how Ian saw it…………
The changes from the win at Woking the previous weekend were enforced with defender Mark Little and forward Tom Knowles out through suspension. Their replacements were on-loan full-back Jack Robinson and striker Adi Yussuf respectively.
The Glovers got off to the worst possible start conceding a 4th minute opener with stunned the crowd into silence. Josh McQuoid picked up Sonny Blu Lo-Everton‘s loose header on the edge of the Yeovil box and his cross to the back post found the unmarked Sean SHIELDS who blasted a left-footed shot into the roof of Grant Smith‘s net. 1-0.
Shortly after a goal scramble nearly fell kindly to Adi Yussuf, but the Tanzanian couldn’t connect cleanly and scooped his effort into the travelling support.
Rattled by that early opener, Yeovil couldn’t impose themselves on the game, while W*ymouth played with an unburdened freedom finding space on the wings and looked assured in possession.
In the 20th minute, Charlie Wakefield stung the gloves of Ross Fitzsimons in the W*ymouth goal. The ‘star man’ found space in the right and Lo-Everton’s through ball teed him nicely for a good effort that wasn’t quite dynamite.
On the 27th minute, a minor injury to Lo-Everton allowed Glovers’ boss Darren Sarll to gather his players together and presumably tell them to sort it out, perhaps in stronger words than that.
The Glovers looked disjointed, and a polar opposite from their last performance at Huish Park against Wrexham. The front three lacked cohesion with Wakefield the bright spark with a couple of promising runs and an inviting cross which no one latched on to.
A lax pass from Dale Gorman allowed W*ymouth a good chance to counter inside his side’s own half but a combination of Jordan Barnett and Luke Wilkinson held things up conceding a free kick in a dangerous position. It was dispatched tamely wide by Tyler Cordner.
The first half faded away with neither side willing to take any risks and the half-time whistle was met with boos from Thatcher’s terrace.
Sarll withdrew Lo-Everton for Reuben Reid at half time, switching to a 4-4-2. Reid partnered Yussuf up front and Wakefield and Barnett moved to the flanks.
The switch worked and Yeovil took control of the game and grabbed an equaliser in the 52nd minute through Yussuf. The ball broke loose just inside the box and his low not-so-cleanly struck shot ricocheted off W*ymouth defender Tyler Cordner and trickled into the corner of the net for an OWN GOAL. 1-1
Roared on by the Thatcher#s, the energy and urgency couldn’t have been further from that in the first half. But there was sharp intake of breath on the hour when Tom Bearwish met a cross in the six yard box only to direct it straight at Smith.
Smith was called into action minutes later as McQuoid fired in a low effort that was heading for the bottom corner.
With Reid growing in confidence and fitness and the returning Lawson D’Ath entering the fray, the Glovers added experience and nous when they needed it most. They did have to contend with time wasting from the bar stewards in terracotta and blue, and the odd counter.
As ever, it was the marauding Wakefield causing problems on the right trying to recreate the golden years with some Nick Crittenden-esque runs. His well flighted cross flew past the back post and could have had Glovers dancing in the street had a teammate connected.
That energy which came at the start of the second half dissipated as fatigue began to take hold and Sarll introduced some freshness with Alex Bradley replacing Barnett with seven minutes remaining.
As the game entered stoppage time, Mussa received a second booking for bringing down Wilkinson as he looked to haul Yeovil to victory.
Yussuf had a golden opportunity to clinch it at the death but somehow couldn’t connect to send the fans home happy.
However, it remains Boxing Day 1988 since our the slime from the seaside managed a win in Somerset.
Former Yeovil Town midfielder Nick Crittenden is “assisting” manager Darren Sarll ahead of tonight’s derby with W*ymouth, the club has confirmed.
The former Glovers’ player and club accountant was spotted by BBC Radio Somerset commentator Sheridan Robins helping warm-up the players ahead of the match at Huish Park.
Shortly after, the club confirmed he was “assisting Darren Sarll tonight“, now whether assisting is the same as being an assistant may be a matter requiring clarification.
Critts did have a spell as assistant at Dorchester Town where he supported Mark Jermyn which ended in 2016.
In more recent times, he was accountant at Huish Park, a role he held until the end of last year when he left to joint Ilminster-based insurance brokers, HDW Insurance.
Sarll has been without a number two since the departure of Terry Skiverton to take up a coaching role at League One side Charlton Athletic last month.
Speaking last week about a possible replacement for Skivo, Sarll said he had been speaking with a number of people about the position.
He said: “We are talking a three months job in the South West of the country and they are not going to get rich from it.
“When I got here I brought in Andrew Crofts as a player-coach (who promptly left to take up a role at Brighton), I was not going to have an assistant because of the budget at the time.
“But even that (senior player) market is not great, there’s not a raft of Carl Dickinson’s and alike out there.”
Adi Yussuf returns to the Yeovil Town starting line-up for tonight’s derby with W*ymouth at Huish Park (7.45pm kick-off).
The striker replaces the suspended Tom Knowles with on-loan full-back Jack Robinson coming in for Mark Little, banned after his red card in last weekend’s win at Woking.
On the bench, stand-in goalkeeper Max Evans and young midfielder Toby Stephens return.
Yeovil Town (4-3-3): Grant Smith, Jack Robinson, Ben Barclay, Luke Wilkinson, Morgan Williams, Dale Gorman, Matt Worthington, Jordan Barnett, Sonny Blu Lo-Everton, Adi Yussuf, Charlie Wakefield.
Substitutes: Max Evans, Alex Bradley, Toby Stephens, Lawson D’Ath, Reuben Reid.
W*ymouth: Fitzsimons, Cordner, Mnoga, Mussa, Harfield, Drewe, Murray, McQuoid, Bearwish, Mampala, Shields. Substitutes: Morgan, Goodship, Blair, Rose, Greenidge.
As far as form goes, our ‘friends’ from down the road in W*ymouth arrive at Huish Park for the Somerset-Dorset derby without any.
Without a victory in their last six matches and without three points in the National League since the end of October, the Terras have changed managers since our FA Cup encounters from earlier in the season.
David Oldfield, who made nearly 700 League appearances as a player with Leicester City among others, replaced the luckless Brian Stock – who presumably now knows this match is a derby – in mid-January.
Oldfield had been at National League South side Oxford City who he left in fourth position to move seven players up the football pyramid.
However, it appears he does know it’s a derby, speaking to the Dorset Echo, the Terras’ manager said: “It’s a very important game for us on many levels.
“From our point of view it’s a very big game, we know that within the club. We need to make sure we’re as ready as possible.
“But also, it’s our next game. We need to grab any opportunity we can to play, try and improve and move forward.”
Transfer deadline day did see Oldfield add a player to his ranks in the form of striker Manasse Mampala.
The 21-year-old joined on loan from League Two Carlisle United late on Monday night having not made a league appearance for the Cumbrians since the end of November.
Speaking about the former Everton academy prospect’s departure on loan, Carlisle boss Keith Millen said: “He hasn’t played enough first-team games, and has to go and learn how to play week-in, week-out and show people what he can do.
“It’s not so much the level, it’s more about him playing consistently and showing people what he can do, getting some confidence and belief, and scoring some goals.”
Having suffered late heartbreak in their last two matches, not least on Saturday when an injury time own goal from former Glovers’ striker Brandon Goodship saw them go down 1-0 at home to Aldershot Town, managed by former boss Mark Molesley.
Speaking about the derby, Terras’ boss David Oldfield told the Dorset Echo:
“It would mean a lot of the club. We know how important it is to the supporters, we want to reflect that.
“But also make sure we’re working as hard as we can collectively.
“It’s a big challenge, Yeovil are a good team and had a great result at the weekend – but we’ll be ready.”
Striker Ben Thomson could be available for selection having been missing since the middle of November.
The 33-year-old has been suffering problems with his Achilles and calf since pre-season which has limited him to just six appearances, albeit he has scored twice in those outings.
He has been involved in training and led the pre-match warm-ups in recent weeks, so it is a question of whether manager David Oldfield picks him.
Defender Josh Leslie-Smith (head), and striker Martell Taylor-Croasdale both seem unlikely to feature, whilst midfielder Andy Robinson (hip) and striker Brad Ash (ankle) have all been missing through injury in recent weeks and will be late calls for the boss.
Omar Mussa returned for the defeat to Aldershot having suffered a shoulder injury in the draw at Boreham Wood.
The Belgian, who Glovers fans will recall shushing the Thatcher’s End after the Terras’ late equaliser in the first FA Cup game, went off in that match complaining of breathing issues.
With the geographical location of both teams, there are a lot of players who have seen service with both these clubs.
However, the only one who is likely to feature in the latest meeting of Somerset-verus-Dorset is Brandon Goodship
The striker played eight times for Darren Way’s Yeovil in 2017, scoring a crucial goal in a 1-0 win at Dagenham & Redbridge which helped keep us in the League.
He was released at the end of that campaign and dropped down to the Wessex Stadium where he scored 38 goals in his first season and 39 in his second campaign in the Southern League Premier earning him a move in to the Football League at Southend United.
Despite making more than 50 appearances for the Shrimpers, he was released following their relegation to non-League and returned to Weymouth in the summer.
Yeovil Town left/right/centre back Morgan Williams has been named in the official Vanarama Team Of the Week
Williams was part of the Glovers defence which held out for three vital points against Woking.
Williams joins the likes of Andrew Dallas from Stockport and Halifax’s Billy Waters in the team.
Congratulations Morgan!
