Dale Gorman

Former Yeovil Town midfielder Dale Gorman has joined National League rivals Barnet following his departure from Huish Park.

The Northern Irishman, who made more than 40 appearances for the Glovers last season, seems to have been in conversation with Bees’ boss Dean Brennan for some time.

Perhaps the biggest surprise of the move is that it does not see him link up with former Yeovil boss, Darren Sarll, at Woking.

Dale Gorman. Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

Speaking upon his arrival at The Hive, he said: “I will always give my all for the shirt and I like to get on the ball and make things happen.

I cannot wait to get going now and look forward to being involved in some of the pre-season friendlies coming up soon.

The former Stevenage and Leyton Orient player was one of five to depart at the start of last month having turned down an offer of a new contract.

Goalscorer Dale Gorman said the 2-0 win over relegated Dover Athletic was “massive” for his Yeovil Town team-mates.

The victory was only the Glovers’ second National League victory of 2022 and it was the first time since the end of November that they have scored twice in league action.

The Northern Irishman said it is now up to the side to back up the victory against Bromley, who are still in the hunt for a play-off place, at Huish Park on Tuesday night.

Dale Gorman. Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

Gorman said: “We have been working really hard this week, it hasn’t been enjoyable, the atmosphere has been tense but when you put in that graft and you have that three points to show for it, we should be proud of ourselves.

“In football, you go through good periods and bad spells and that result is massive for us as a group and a club and hopefully now we can kick on Tuesday and put in another performance and get something.

“To back it up at home and give us two wins on the bounce and a good strong end to the season.

“It doesn’t matter what you have to play for, every game in this league is tough and we know what to expect from Bromley, so we have to be ready.

The ex-Leyton Orient and Stevenage player put Yeovil 2-0 ahead with a well-struck free-kick 11 minutes in to the second half after on loan defender Ben Barclay had opened the scoring in the first half.

He said he was pleased to see the strike go in having had quite a number of failed free-kicks this season – honestly, we’d not noticed, Dale…..!

Gorman told BBC Somerset’s Sheridan Robins: “I am happy it went in because I have probably had 20 free-kicks this year and they’ve been nowhere near, so thankfully one of them has gone in!

“Their manager was getting in to them at half-time and that often gets a reaction, so for the first five or ten minutes it is about riding that storm.

“We defended our box brilliantly today, we put our bodies on the line, but we needed that (second) goal to settle ourselves and thankfully it came at a good time for us.”

Dale Gorman believes his Yeovil Town team-mates can still give the National League’s top sides a fright if they can get a run of results together.

The Northern Irishman returns from a two-match suspension for tomorrow’s visit to Notts County and admits he has been frustrated to see the Glovers pick up just one point from trips to Maidenhead United and Chesterfield.

Tomorrow, they face a Notts County side who sit in the table’s final play-off position with 14 points more on the board than their visitors.

Speaking ahead of the match, Gorman said: “They are in the play-off places which is where we want to be and if need to go there and get on a run now and, if we can start doing that, teams above us will see us coming and start feeling the pressure.”

He added that he felt the team was not getting the rub of the green having created at least three clear cut opportunities and seen Tom Knowles’ effort come back off the woodwork just moments before Chesterfield scored a winner last weekend.

Dale Gorman.
Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

The midfielder added: “The little bit of luck you need sometimes, we are not getting it. You take the situation at Chesterfield, there are things we have looked at which we know we can do to prevent that, but we have to set standards for ourselves now.

There’s 15 games to go now, so we have to just try and win as many of those as we can and you never know where it could take us.

The form we are in does not do us justice, I don’t think. We have been playing well and the work rate we put in is there for all to see and we are being hard done by at the moment.

We are one or two goals away from some really good results and hopefully on Saturday the tide turns for us.”

The 25-year-old was brought to Huish Park from Northern Irish side Glentoran in the summer and, if he is selected to face Notts tomorrow, it will be his 30th appearance of the game.

He said: “This is probably the most consistent I have been in my career, the manager (Darren Sarll) has a big part of in that and this is the most I have enjoyed my football in the past few years.

“It’s an enjoyable environment and high standards here which have to be met, so the work we put in day in and out which is incredible.”

Dale Gorman.
Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

The FA has confirmed Dale Gorman’s two-match ban following his tenth yellow card of the season in the goalless draw at Eastleigh at the weekend.

The FA Website has updated to show his 83rd minute booking has been listed as a ‘foul tackle’ and as such, he will be sat in the stands for a couple of games.

The Northern Irishman will miss the Glovers’ upcoming games against Dagenham and Redbridge on Saturday and Maidenhead United three days later.

He will be back for the trip to Chesterfield on Saturday, February 26.

As a note, he is available to Darren Sarll for the Somerset Premier Cup tie against Cheddar, which is not considered a first-team fixture for disciplinary issues.

 

Dale Gorman.
Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

Yeovil Town midfielder Dale Gorman says the 0-0 result against Solihull Moors was a fair result after two solid defensive sides kept each other at arms length.

Speaking to BBC Somerset’s Ian Randall he said that the Glovers knew what was coming and dealt with it well.

He said: “It was a tough battle out there, to be fair, we knew what they would bring today and we matched it throughout”

“I thought we were very accountable today, each and every one of us.”

“These games are going to be tight games and one goal could win them, Charlie (Wakefield) has had that chance in the first half, we’ve had a few sniffs and on the other side we’ve made some terrific blocks and I think a 0-0 is a fair outcome of the game”

The Northern Irishman was asked about the performance of the returning Lawson D’Ath who played over an hour replacing the injured Jordan Barnett and was confident that with a little extra quality that draws will turn into wins soon.

He said: “I thought we did well, that’s three game where we are unbeaten and that’s a clean sheet against a side that’s up there and that’s something you can’t throw away easy”

“At this stage of the season, when you’re playing teams above you, you can’t lose to them or the gap gets too big, we took a point, we move on to Tuesday.”

“Them 0-0’s will hopefully turn into 1-0’s, 2-0’s hopefully, it’s important we didn’t lose today… we’ve got our game in hand on Tuesday, away at Wealdstone, we need to back up today with a win there to put some pressure on the teams above us.”

The Glovers travel to Wealdstone this Tuesday, with the hosts 20th in the table having not played since the 29th January and with only two wins over bottom side Dover in the last 10 league games.

Dale Gorman scores his penalty vs Weymouth
Credit: Weymouth Flickr

Yeovil Town midfielder Dale Gorman has been speaking ahead of the Glovers’ FA Cup tie vs Bournemouth and says that a quick start could be a good way to get at their Championship opponents.

We look to start every game fast, and that’s been key to our success recently.”

Yeovil have scored a divisional best six goals in the National League this season, conceding just one in the league during the opening 15 minutes of games so far, whilst the Cherries are yet to find the net away from home in the first quarter of an hour on in the 2nd tier.

“It might be a bit different (vs Bournemouth) with the way they set up, we don’t know that until we encounter it tomorrow, but look, it’s something that we’ve talked about and something we’ve got into a routine of doing over the past two or three months”

“So, we will be looking to start fast tomorrow and be focused and be ready to do our jobs”

Yeovil have scored a divisional best six goals in the National League this season, conceding just one in the league during the opening 15 minutes of game, 

Gorman said that returning to working under Darren Sarll means he’s now enjoying his football again and is proud to play for a ‘great club‘ like Yeovil.

Dale Gorman said his Yeovil Town team-mates were “really disappointed” with their first half performance in the 1-1 draw at home to bottom side Dover Athletic on Saturday.

Dale Gorman.
Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

But, the Northern Irishman was quick to point out that seven points from the past three fixtures, including wins at high-flying Dagenham & Redbridge and Bromley, meant they were happy with their week’s work and ready for the trip to big-spending Wrexham on Tuesday night.

Gorman refused to blame the blustery conditions at Huish Park for the slow start which saw Yeovil go 1-0 down to a second minute goal from TJ Bramble.

Speaking to BBC Radio Somerset’s Sheridan Robins after the match, he said: “We as a group have expectations and as a group we were really disappointed with ourselves in the first half, but we came out of it with a point.

“That takes us a step closer to where we want to be and I think we actually moved up two places today, so you have to take some positives from it.

“We have to dust ourselves down and go again (at Wrexham) on Tuesday.

He added: “It has been a good month for us, we stay unbeaten and we are positive and we will do all the right things to get a result at Wrexham.

We will go there as underdogs, but we have gone to Stockport, Dagenham and Bromley (and got) big results, so why can’t it happen again on Tuesday night?

Dale Gorman scores his penalty vs Weymouth
Credit: Weymouth Flickr

Yeovil Town midfielder Dale Gorman will be absent from the Glovers’ midfield on Tuesday night after he picked up his 5th booking of the league campaign.

The Northern Irishman has seen yellow against, Halifax, Stockport, Grimsby, Woking and against Dagenham & Redbridge on Saturday.

He has also been booked in the FA Cup against Weymouth, but suspensions for the accumulation of bookings is competition specific.

Gorman, has started all 14 league games for the Glovers since joining from Glentoran in the summer, scoring twice, once against Boreham Wood and once in the FA Cup against Yate Town.

Gorman will be back for the weekend when Huish Park welcomes Dover for a 3pm kick off on Saturday.

Dale Gorman has promised Yeovil Town supporters that the club’s players understand the significance of the FA Cup derby with local rivals W*ymouth on Saturday.

The fourth qualifying round tie at Huish Park is the first time the two sides have faced each other in front of fans since 1999.

Dale Gorman.
Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

Speaking ahead of the tie, the Northern Irishman said: “As a player, it does not matter who you are and what you know about the derby, it is important you present yourself well.

“Weymouth are going to come here and we will be at it and they will be at it. There is no-one in the dressing room not looking forward to it.

“The fans are important on Saturday, we will be looking for them to get right behind us and we will be looking to get one over on Weymouth.

Neither side are going in to the tie in great form with the Glovers without a win in their last five matches whilst the Terras have lost their last four games.

But, Gorman said: “It doesn’t matter if we were top of the league and they were bottom, it’s a local derby and form goes out the window.

“It’s all about who turns up on the day and who wants it more and we’ll be making sure it’s us.”

The midfielder said he felt the performance in a 1-1 draw at home to Altrincham on Tuesday night was an improvement when they lost 2-0 at home to Notts County the previous Saturday without making a shot on target until the 85th minute.

He said: “Saturday (against Notts County) was not good enough and we know that as a team and Tuesday (against Altrincham) was a good chance for us to respond and it was important that we did because of the importance of the game coming up against W*ymouth.

“There was no-one out there who did not give 100% on Tuesday night, there’s a lot of positives to draw from it.

“There was a lot more creativity and it is definitely something we as a team are looking to improve and we showed glimpses of that trying to do that.

 

Dale Gorman.
Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

Midfielder Dale Gorman says the performance in a 3-0 win away at Stockport County was down to the structure which has been drilled in to the team by its coaching staff.

The Northern Irishman, who joined from Glentoran in the summer, was at the heart of the performance against an expensively-assembled opposition, but insisted that he believes his team-mates can put in performances against any side.

Speaking to BBC Somerset reporter Sheridan Robins after the game, he said: “I don’t think it matters who we were playing today, I think we won today because we were well-structured and everything we learnt (in training) in the week manifested itself well.

“My form comes from the staff, it is drilled in to us every day and when you win like we have today it makes it that bit sweeter.

“The staff have been drilling us since Day One, we look organised, we look fit and it is starting to show now game by game.

“We know the calibre of player that Stockport has, but it is about players like me and a few of the other players using our experience. I don’t think that fazed any of us and today we were bang on it.

“We showed today how good we are and how together we are and it is good to get another win.”

Gorman has struck up an impressive relationship with Josh Staunton in the middle of the park and said that his team-mates had made his integration in to the squad an easy one.

He said: “The changing room is one of the easiest I have walked in to, sometimes that can be quite tough for a player.

“But we have some good players and some experienced players and when you join all that together, you have seen what we can do as a team today.”