FC Halifax Town

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In what might have been one of the worst footballing spectacles the National League has ever seen, FC Halifax Town and Yeovil Town played out a 1-1 draw at The Shay on Saturday.

Gloverscast Ben was on co-commentary duty for BBC Somerset in the press box and explores the reasons for this, of which plenty were out of Yeovil’s (or anyone’s) control for that matter.

A point on the road should be taken as a good thing on the whole.

I’ll get to the game itself in a moment, but I think it’s worth noting that we are at the stage of the season where we can’t really worry too much about style of play, or level of performance, but it’s now about getting as close to 50 points as possible.

As mentioned on previous podcasts, ten 1-1 draws between now and the end of the season might be enough. Although you’d rather get it wrapped up far sooner.

After the game Yeovil manager Mark Cooper told of his pride in the squad for coming back from 1-0 down and for putting their bodies on the line.

I’ve slept on it (Rule 2) and with some of the teams below us in the table dropping points – Torquay and Gateshead drawing and Dorking losing – it goes down as a ‘good away point’.

Now to the match… well, actually no, to the pitch now.

Manager Mark Cooper leads the applause for the away supporters at the end of the game.

The Shay stadium pitch was an utter disgrace.

Yes, I know it was the same for both teams, but I have to include something on the sandy surface.

I got the chance to stand on a little bit after the game, it was exactly like running across the beach when the tide had just gone out.

It was tough to get any grip if moving at speed, but in tight areas it was sticky and sludgy enough to get your foot stuck in it.

It was basically like playing on a non-Newtonian liquid. (Ask your science teachers, kids).

There’s no doubt in my mind it prevented any kind of a football match from breaking out and could well have contributed to one – or maybe both – of the serious injuries suffered by Lawson D’Ath and Edwin Agbaje.

Lawson D’Ath is lifted to his feet after suffering a hamstring strain.

Speaking of which, I’ve heard rumours that if you win the Golden Gamble next week, the prize has been changed from cash to a place on the bench for the second half. Bring your boots if you’re coming to the game on Saturday.

Edwin Agbaje looks set to be out for a considerable amount of time, Lawson D’Ath broke our hearts again by pulling up chasing to correct an error by Ryan Law, and Matt Worthington is out for two games after a tenth yellow card of the season after ‘taking one for the team’.

Goal-scorer Malachi Linton looked more like Malachi LIMPton as he came out of the tunnel to chat after and Charlie Cooper and Josh Staunton are bandaged up enough to represent an ancient Egyptian artefact.

Alex Fisher and Jordan Maguire-Dre both looked to be nursing something or other as well.

It’s a big week in the physio room as we patch a few bodies up and get them ready.

If Agbaje is out for a while, it would make sense to try and replace that loan spot, but my word do we need some bodies.

I still haven’t mentioned the football have I?

Let’s talk playing out from the back.

Grant Smith. Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

I love the commitment to the cause, it’s clearly something Mark Cooper wants to see and maybe the personnel we have doesn’t suit long goal kicks, but oooof does it make me nervous.

The best keeper in the league, two centre backs in Josh Staunton and Owen Bevan you’d hang your hat on more often than not, but with the margins so fine and meaning so much, the risk-reward balance is right on the line and at times it was inviting more pressure than it drew on us.

Finally then. What happens now? A week off, but only for the players. 

Well, the assumption is that we need to bolster the ranks (see Matt Uggla’s tweets from Saturday night – here), which is far easier said than done, we’re already oversubscribed on loans but may need to roll that particular dice again.

We appear to have already earmarked targets for the summer (what is this forward thinking… and why do I like it?) but the suggestion is we might be in a position to move a bit earlier for those, which would be helpful.

Do we need to think about recalling some loans? We have two players in Will Dawes and Ollie Hulbert playing reasonably well in the division below, we have Ollie Haste, who is incredibly highly thought of, who can play as a back up to the left side.

But more than that, we have two home games in a row, the first of which falling on Non League Day. Is there time to try and do something to entice Bristol City fans, Southampton fans… any fans of Premier League/Championship clubs to spend their international break at Huish Park?

I’ve seen some clubs offer any season ticket holder of a Premier League or EFL side a £10 ticket, or similar, but having a bouncing Huish Park will only help the lads get through 90 more minutes against a very good team.

Nine more cup finals to go…

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Yeovil Town’s goalscorer at Halifax, Malachi Linton, thought the point was a ‘good’ one after late drama at the Shay.

Speaking to BBC Somerset’s Sheridan Robins, the striker said: “Little points like this against a sort of relegation rival, I think its fair to say, can go a long long way. I definitely think in the manner of how we came back, late drama, it’s always a good point.”

His late equaliser, in a game where manager Mark Cooper said they were against the world, was a testament to the squad’s togetherness according to Linton.

“I think that performance shows our togetherness as team. We dug deep until the end, got a late equaliser and you know we’re around each other. People fill in holes and everyone applies themselves and we go out each game no matter what it is.”

“I don’t think the game should have gone the way it went. I think a dominant performance in the first half, the way the gaffer likes to play, I think we should bury it then and there, but we didn’t. And you always leave yourself vulnerable when you don’t take you chances and dominate a game and you’re susceptible to a counter attack goal like that.”

The striker did say he felt belief was coming back into the team though: “I think the past few games we’ve have had more of the belief that we’ve needed to have and I think if you go into a game not believing you’re not going to come out on the right side of it.”

More goals please Mal!

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Manager Mark Cooper said his side were ‘against the world’ during Yeovil Town’s 1-1 draw with FC Halifax Town.

A late goal from substitute Malachi Linton cancelled out Matty Warburton’s opener in a match that saw three players leave the pitch injured, Matt Worthington booked and facing a two-match suspension and the denial of a “blatant penalty”.

Speaking to BBC Somerset’s Sheridan Robins the manager praised the entire club: “I thought the effort today, with people absolutely out on their feet at the end, it’s criminal that we’re asking them to keep playing, but they were fantastic – the whole club today: players, staff, supporters. You saw what it meant at the end and we deserved that so much as a club. We were against the world today, I have to be careful what I say, but we were against the world.

“I don’t want to mention the referee, or speak about him, it doesn’t warrant me wasting any breath. It was a blatant penalty. I’d like to watch [the game] back, I thought we got an awful lot of decisions against us today and an horrendous tackle on Edwin Agbaje.”

Lawson D’Ath is lifted to his feet after suffering a hamstring strain.

Agbaje was stretchered off after a tackle in 71st minute and looks set for a long spell on the sidelines. As does Lawson D’Ath who left the pitch in the first half with a hamstring injury. Cooper said D’Ath could be out for three weeks at a minimum. He also said Alex Fisher had hurt his hamstring too. To compound it all, Matt Worthington picked up his tenth booking of the season which will see him miss the next two matches at home against Bromley next weekend and Southend United seven days later.

The boss praised his side’s first half performance though: “Our first performance was brilliant. I thought we totally controlled the game. We need to be in front. My only gripe with the players is that the first half performance needs to be that were winning the game by one or two goals. Because you know that Halifax are going to react. The situation we find ourselves in is a lack of confidence in and around the opposition penalty area. And, I said to the players ‘what’s the worst thing that can happen? You can miss a chance, so what?’ But we need to sort that bit out. If we play like we did today for 70 minutes and the last five minutes when we worked so hard, we’ll be fine.”

With injuries piling up and just four players on the bench – on loan Doncaster Rovers striker Reo Griffiths missed training yesterday and wasn’t named on the bench, although there is no suggestion of an injury – Cooper was hopeful of bringing in the right players before the deadline for registering players on Thursday.

“We need to think about what we’re going to do, because what we don’t want to do is sign loads of players and burden ourselves with loads of debt. We need to make sure that if we bring anyone in they’re going to improve us and they’re ready to go. Hopefully we can come up with a name or two and try and get them into help the boys.”

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Venue: The Shay
Saturday, 18th March, 3pm kick-off

Pitch: Fantastic if you are after a beach holiday
Conditions: On and off drizzle 
Attendance: 1623 (103 away supporters)

Scorers: Matt Warburton 60 (0-1), Malachi Linton 88 (1-1)

Bookings: 

Yeovil Town: Owen Bevan 25, Charlie Cooper 51, Malachi Linton 57, Matt Worthington
FC Halifax Town: Jamie Stott 40

Referee: Jamie O’Connor

Yeovil Town (4-3-3)


Substitutes: Malachi Linton (for Lawson D’Ath, 25), Chiori Johnson (for Edwin Agbaje, 71), Jamie Reckord (for Alex Fisher, 90+4), Will Buse (not used).


Match Report

A Malachi Linton goal two minutes from the end earned Yeovil Town a smash-and-grab point at FC Halifax Town on Saturday.

After a game which was typically lacking in attacking intent from the visitors, the substitute bundled home an effort from Andrew Oluwabori to cancel out an opener from ex-Glovers’ loanee Matt Warburton.

However, there were serious looking injuries to midfielder Lawson D’Ath and on loan Ipswich Town defender Edwin Agbaje, who was stretchered off in the second half, and Matt Worthington picked up a yellow card which will see him get another suspension.

Here was Dave’s view from the away end at The Shay….

 

First half

It took five minutes for ex-Yeovil Town man Matt Warburton to have his first opportunity. It was one gift wrapped for him by Grant Smith whose desire to play it out from the back gifted an opportunity to Milli Alli to play a ball in and Warburton inexplicably put it wide with the goal at his mercy.

The opening ten minutes was a contest of which side lacked quality the most, but one moment for the visitors came on 12 minutes. A good run forward by Andrew Oluwabori fed Jordan Maguire-Drew whose ball went towards Worthington who appeared to be being impeded.

Two minutes later, Maguire-Drew was involved again as his ball in almost found Fisher in the box. Moments later, the ball broke Ryan Law who was pulled down inside the box. Probably not a penalty.

On 21 minutes, a corner was played out to Law who attempted to harness his inner Johan Cruyff (without success) and gifted possession to Halifax. Lawson D’Ath sprinted to the halfway line and pulled up holding his hamstring. He was replaced by Malachi Linton with Worthington dropping deeper.

Lawson D’Ath is lifted to his feet after suffering a hamstring strain.

A mistake by Owen Bevan, now on a booking after a foul on Warburton, allowed Diuserwuve down the right, he fed Alli who in turn found Warburton. Luckily Grant Smith was able to fall on the ball.

The tactic of playing out from the back caused Yeovil all kind of self-inflicted wounds during the first half. For a goalkeeper so adept with his hands, Smith appeared determined to show his quality with his feet – more of a shot-stopper than a footballer.

With five minutes of the half remaining, a ball in from Maguire-Drew went towards Linton who looked to be fouled. More of a shout than the Law’s, but still not more than ‘you’ve seen them given’ territory.

As the game ticked in to injury time, Warburton fizzed one just over the bar just before a forward surge by Oluwabori was flicked towards goal by Fisher. Not enough to force a meaningful stop out of the keeper.

Half time: FC Halifax Town 0 Yeovil Town 0

 

Second half

Five minutes in to the second half Charlie Cooper’s run forward forced a simple save from the keeper.

On 53 minutes, Warburton’s ball found Alli at the back stick, but his header flew over Smith’s goal. Three minutes later, a ball in from Fisher was

But, on the hour mark, the home side found a breakthrough. A good break forward saw Alli find WARBURTON who put a composed finish past Smith.

To add injury to insult, a collision between Edwin Agbaje and had to be stretchered off after 68 minutes. He was replaced by Chiori Johnson, but it did not look good for the on loan Ipswich Town man.

With their goal advantage and their opponents down to the barest of bare bones, Halifax looked to press their advantage. At the other end, there was a distinct lack of quality/confidence/energy (any of the three would be a correct answer). The cries of “ATTACK, ATTACK, ATTACK!” from the away support were met with little at the other end.

Five minutes to go, the thing Ben warned about on last week’s podcast happened – a stupid foul from Worthington. Another yellow card and a suspension to help our personnel issues.

Then, from absolute nothing, we were level with two minutes remaining. Yet again it was Oluwabori whose run and hopeful shot was bundled home at the back post by….well, the club’s Twitter account gave it to LINTON but honestly I have no idea.

The assistant raised his flag as if to claim a foul/offside/handball (who honestly knows) and then quickly lowered it and ran to thr halfway line. Halifax keeper Sam Johnstone was shown a yellow card for his protests, but the goal stood.

How’s your heart doing? How about six minutes of stoppage time at the end of the game to really test it? Two minutes in to them,  Josh Staunton personified putting his body on the line with an outstanding block to deny Alli and the visitors hung on for a point.

Manager Mark Cooper leads the applause for the away supporters at the end of the game.

Full time: FC Halifax Town 1 Yeovil Town 1

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Top scorer Alex Fisher returns to the starting XI for today’s visit to FC Halifax Town (3pm kick-off).

The frontman, who has five goals this season, starts as a loan striker with Jordan Maguire-Drew, Andrew Oluwabori and Matt Worthington behind him in midfield.

There is no place for Jordan Young, who has a hamstring injury, and on loan Doncaster Rovers striker Reo Griffiths is the sixth loanee who misses out of the squad.

 

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Yeovil Town picked up a huge three points yesterday against FC Halifax Town in dire conditions. Ian was at Huish Park and here are his Five Conclusions…

This was a massive result. Off the back of last week’s defensive shut out against Notts County, it was important to show the progress with three points at Huish Park and the Glovers delivered. FC Halifax have had their own problems this season but have turned a corner and were unbeaten in four league games before yesterday. Now it’s Mark Cooper’s Yeovil who are unbeaten in four and showing the ability to put in different performances to grind out points. With Maidstone, Aldershot and Altrincham picking up wins, the three points yesterday look even more valuable.

The conditions played their part. It was a pretty dour game of football in truth, largely down to the horrendous weather. In the first half, Yeovil tried the patient game to keep the ball, much to the frustration of supporters at times, but when that final ball came the Glovers couldn’t get it right. The ball either skidded off the surface or the wind carried it out of play. Halifax had the same problem in the second half when they had the wind (and rain) behind them. We’ve seen plenty of teams struggle to play at Huish Park in those conditions and yesterday was no different. When you look at what Yeovil had to defend in, with ten-men for the last quarter of an hour, the result is even more impressive.

Matt Worthington. Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

Matt Worthington had a busy afternoon. It looks like we’ve finally found our penalty taker. After Malachi Linton’s and Alex Fisher’s misses earlier this season, when Aaron Jackson penalised a Halifax defender for holding in the box (after warning him 20 second earlier) I was wondering who’d be stepping up. Worthy grabbed the ball pretty quickly and put himself front and centre. When you’ve missed two in a season, with different players, it builds up to what was quite a high pressure moment in a season and Worthy made no mistake. A well struck penalty, which the keeper could do no more to stop put Yeovil ahead and proved to be the deciding goal.

Mr Jackson in the middle seemed to enjoy getting his cards out. In the 75th minute when Worthington went down under a challenge from Luke Summerfield outside the Halifax box it looked like Yeovil had an opportunity in a decent position. What followed was a second yellow for Worthington and a red card for a dive. From my view, it looked like there was a kick on the ankle, and without getting too ‘he’s not that type of player’ if Yeovil had one player who doesn’t go down easily, or look for fouls it would probably be Worthy. His suspension leaves a big hole in midfield ahead of another crucial match next weekend against our pals Bromley.

Last week set us up perfectly for the last 15 minutes. As soon as Worthington was sent off, the game really fired up. Yeovil got themselves into a solid defensive structure and looked well prepared to see off Halifax’s threat with ten men. The Shaymen grew frustrated when passes went awry, got in the referees ear when Grant Smith was taking a little long on goal kicks and every time they conceded a freekick or throw to Yeovil, you could see there frustration build as time ticked away. The concentration levels never dipped as the back line were bombarded by wind, rain and the Halifax attack and the Glovers held on resolutely.

Never in doubt…

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Venue: Huish Park
Saturday 26th November, 3pm kick-off

Conditions: Wet and blustery and got even wetter and windier as the game went on
Pitch: Slippy and slidey

Attendance: 2,123 (53 away supporters)

Scorers: Matt Worthington pen 43 (1-0)

Bookings:

Yeovil Town: Jamie Reckord 29, Matt Worthington 46, Grant Smith 89
FC Halifax Town: 

Sending off:

Yeovil Town: Matt Worthington 75 (two bookable offences)

Referee: Aaron Jackson

Yeovil Town (5-3-2):


Substitutes: Will Buse, Lawson D’Ath, Anthony Georgiou, Louis Britton, Malachi Linton (for Oluwabori 68).

FC Halifax Town: Johnson, Arthur, Stott, Senior, Golden, Cappello (for Dieseruvwe, 66), Summerfield, Gilmour, Cooke (for Warburton, 54), Spence, Harker.

Substitues: Minihan, Scott, Keane.

Match Report

A first half penalty from Matt Worthington secured a vital 1-0 win for Yeovil Town in horrendous conditions at Huish Park.

But the midfielder was at the centre of the action when he was red carded for a second bookable offence having been adjudged to have dived in the second half.

To say referee Aaron Jackson was not popular with the Huish Park crowd would be an understatement and, judging from the booking he received in injury time, Yeovil manager Mark Cooper was not too keen on him either.

The Glovers held on for the win with ten men for the final 15 minutes to pull five points clear of the National League drop zone.

 

First half

Mark Cooper named an unchanged line-up from the previous weekend’s 0-0 draw at Notts County albeit with on loan Peterborough United man Andrew Oluwabori and Matt Worthington playing further forward in support of striker Alex Fisher.

Neither side managed to get control of the ball in miserable conditions, and the game had a similar feel to the previous home game against Gateshead with Yeovil allowing the visitors to dominate possession.

The first chance fell to the visitors when towering striker Rob Harker on six minutes was found from a ball from the right-hand side, but he could not connect with the chance. If he had, Grant Smith in the Yeovil goal would have had his work cut out to keep him out.

On 13 minutes, there was a carbon copy with another move down the right seeing the ball break to striker Jamie Cooke who, like his team-mate Harker, should have done better with the chance. Having kept an impressive Notts County team quiet a week earlier, there was some uncharacteristically loose defending from Yeovil.

Quality was at a premium in the opening 20 minutes but where it existed for the home side unsurprisingly Oluwabori was involved, linking up well with Chiori Johnson down the right side. But, there was some early disgruntlement (is that a word?) from the home crowd with Yeovil struggling to get forward, who were regularly forced backwards by a Halifax side quick to apply pressure.

Perhaps unsurprisingly for a game between the division’s two lowest scoring sides – 17 goals for the visitors and one fewer for their hosts – there was little in the way of chances as the game progressed towards half-time.

If there was going to be a goal, the chances were it was going to come from a mistake – and that’s exactly what happened two minutes before half-time. Owen Bevan was wrestled to the ground by Jamie Scott from a corner in a moment described as “absolutely idiocy” by our own Ian Perkins on BBC Somerset and referee Aaron Jackson pointed to the penalty spot.

With Alex Fisher having put a spot kick over the bar in the last match at Huish Park, midfielder Matt WORTHINGTON took the responsibility and hammered a well-struck penalty past Halifax keeper Sam Johnstone, who got a hand to it but could only push it in to the roof of the net.

Against the run of play, but difficult to feel too much sympathy when the visitors’ defenders had been warned for grappling inside the box seconds before……grappling inside the box.

Half time: Yeovil Town 1 FC Halifax Town 0

Second half

There were no immediate changes for either side as the second half got underway, but Mark Cooper will undoubtedly be looking for his side to show more going forward.

Playing with the wind in their favour after the break, the first chance of the second half fell to Halifax as midfielder Kian Spence was given space to unleash a well-struck shot which Grant Smith had to be called in to action to deny.

The visitors introduced former Glovers’ loanee Matt Warburton with nine minutes of the second half played, and it was his mistake which gave Oluwabori a chance to show his pace and get forward. Unfortunately, his ball in almost found Fisher who was put off by Chiori Johnson who ran across him when the top-scorer looked the more likely target.

Uncharacteristically sloppy play from Yeovil skipper Josh Staunton gifted the visitors possession on 65 minutes and Tyler Golden got away down the right to fire a decent effort in which Smith was equal to, and moments later Harker broke away to force another stop out of the Glovers’ number one.

Malachi Linton was introduced in to the fray on 68 minutes at the expense of Oluwabori, who had played in a deeper role than he had in the previous home game. The striker, who came off the bench with good effect in the previous two matches,

With 15 minutes to go, referee Jackson inexplicably showed a second yellow card (and a subsequent red) to Worthington who he adjudged to have dived in a tackle with Luke Summerfield. The response of the home crowd chanting “you don’t know what you’re doing” at the official goes entirely against Rule 1 of the Gloverscast. Appeal incoming?

The conditions which were not that pleasant to start with got steadily worse as the game progressed and you would not want to have been one of the 21 players on the pitch as Bevan underwent some lengthy treatment.

If you wanted something else to break Rule 1, Harvey Gilmour went down in the box with three minutes of the game remaining but referee Jackson gave nothing. If that’s not a foul and a penalty, it’s a booking, isn’t it? The Yeovil bench certainly asked that same question of the fourth official.

The questions of the officials from Cooper led to him going in to the book with two of six minutes of injury time played. Jackson waited until Fisher was fouled to blow up for a head injury from a Halifax player – which the official hadn’t bothered about until then.

Smith, who had got a booking for time-wasting, was the hero in the dying seconds making a great save to deny Gilmour with just seconds of the game remaining, but pushed it as far as Festus Arthurs who blazed his chance over.

But, Yeovil Town held on to secure another valuable three points.

Full time:  Yeovil Town 1 FC Halifax Town 0

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Yeovil Town name an unchanged line-up from last weekend’s goalless draw at Notts County as they take on FC Halifax Town at Huish Park today.

However, we expect the Glovers to play a more offensive formation after a defensive masterclass saw them grind out a point seven days ago with on loan Peterborough United man Andrew Oluwabori expected to play in a more advanced position.

Even the substitutes’ bench is the same with goalkeeper Will Buse and strikers Louis Britton and Malachi Linton looking for an opportunity to impress.

Former Glovers’ loanee midfielder Matt Warburton is named on the bench for the visitors who are looking to make it five National League games unbeaten.

Yeovil Town (5-3-2):

Substitutes: Will Buse, Lawson D’Ath, Louis Britton, Anthony Georgiou, Malachi Linton.

FC Halifax Town: Johnson, Arthur, Stott, Senior, Golden, Cappello, Summerfield, Gilmour, Cooke, Spence, Harker. Substitues: Warburton, Minihan, Scott, Dieseruvwe, Keane.

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Mark Cooper has stamped out any talk of Yeovil Town pushing for a place in the National League play-offs after they went three games unbeaten.

A hard-fought point at leaders Notts County at the weekend meant the Glovers have picked up five points from their last three matches ahead of the visit from FC Halifax Town to Somerset this weekend.

The visitors are in decent form having won three of their last five matches and reports in West Yorkshire suggest they are looking towards challenging for the promotion places again. After a poor start, they sit 14th in the table with Yeovil five places and six points behind them having played a game more.

Asked by Three Valleys Radio reporter Adi Hopper if he believed his side’s form could have them looking in a similar direction, Cooper said: “No. The next game (is what we’re focused on). I won’t entertain any talk (about play-offs) we are miles away from it, you have to win four or five games on the trot (to be considered in contention).

“We just have to win the next game on Saturday and concentrate fully on Halifax.”

He added: “In the position we’re in it’s about making sure we come out of the game with something. I don’t want us to play really well and pretty and not get anything.

“Whatever we do, we have to make sure we get something out of the game. We have a duty to entertain our fans, but it’s important we get a result.

“We have to perform really well to get anything off Halifax because they are really durable. Chris Millington has stepped up to manager (from assistant manager to Pete Wild last season) and taken to it like a duck to water and done a great job on limited resources.

“I have watched their last three or four games and they are a tough team to beat.”

Defender Ben Richards-Everton will be available for selection against the Shaymen having missed the last three games through injury.

Cooper also confirmed skipper Josh Staunton, who was a doubt ahead of last weekend’s stalemate at Notts County, had also trained on Thursday despite having a tough 90 minutes against the league leaders.

Ben Richards-Everton. Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

The manager said: “There’s no secret that at the top level, you have to run, the top teams run more than most. We had to run (a lot at Notts County) to hold on for a valuable point.

“All of the boys were out on their feet at the end, which is how it should be, but they’ve all had time to recover. Josh has trained today and he’s in good nick.”

He confirmed that winger Charlie Wakefield was still out through injury.

Asked about new signing Louis Britton, who appeared as an 89th-minute substitute last weekend, the boss said: “He’s settled in fine. the issue he has is he’s a number nine like (Alex) Fisher, who has been outstanding.

“He has to train so well and when he gets his minutes, play so well that he has a chance to try and take Fisher’s place.

“You have to have competition, if you have no competition you become lazy and complacent and you can’t have that.”

The manager was asked about the form of centre-half Max Hunt who was part of a defensive masterclass seven days ago having been out of favour under previous manager Chris Hargreaves.

Central defender Max Hunt. Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

Speaking after the draw at Notts County, Hunt said he was not looking back on a fr*st*ating period at the start of the season when he found himself out of the side.

Asked about the player’s renaissance, Cooper said: “He’s 6’4″, he’s decent on the ball, he’s great in the air and whilst I have been here he’s been a good defender.

“I can only take as I find and along with some others they have defended really well. Defenders defend as a unit and they have done really well.

“It’s a lesson for younger players, I have had a discussion with one or two of them, if they are not in the team, they have to be ready because you have to train and prepare that you are going to play.

“Chiori Johnson was out of the team, then we get an illness or injury (in Ben Richards-Everton) and he plays and stays in the team because he’s done well.

“Hunty has been out of the team, a new manager has come in and put him in the team and he’s done well.”

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Venue: Huish Park
Monday, 2nd April, 3pm kick-off

Conditions: Overcast 

Pitch: Held up nicely

Attendance: 2210 (153 away)

Scorers: None

Bookings:

Yeovil: D’Ath 27, Worthington 45,
Wealdstone: Cooper 78,

Sending Off:
Wealdstone: Dyer 37.

Referee: Savvas Yianni

 

Yeovil Town : (4-4-2)

Grant Smith

Jack Robinson, Luke Wilkinson, Ben Barclay, Morgan Williams

Tom Knowles, Matt Worthington (Gorman 65), Lawson D’Ath, Sonny Blu-Lo Everton (Bradley 79)

Reuben Reid (Yussuf 55), Josh Neufville

Substitutes:  Alex Bradley, Jack Robinson, Dale Gorman, Reuben Reid, Max Hunt

Wealdstone: Howes, Cook, Okimo, Umerah (Charles 63), Sesay, Tavares, Dyer, Clayden (Browne 70), Henry, Mundle-Smith, Cooper

Substitutes: Charles, Browne, Hearin, Mascoll, Shrowder

Match Report

Grant Smith. Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

Yeovil Town played out a 0-0 draw with Wealdstone in the penultimate home game of the 2021/22 season, despite plenty of attacking intent against a Stones’ side who played nearly an hour with ten men, the Glovers could’t get through a staunch back line. Here’s how it went at Huish Park.

First half

In a half lacking goals, there wasn’t much lacking in terms of talking points.

The drama kicked off early with a concerning injury to Wealdstone’s Charlie Cooper, he looked to take a nasty bump and concern was high, but after a number of minutes of treatment, he returned with tissue stuffed up his nose and a new bloodless shirt.

He would actually be one of the livelier players for the visitors with a couple of early pot shots, but he was a key player in the Stones’ best chances when the clock hit 30 minutes.

However, the Glovers did have the ball in the back of the net shortly before, Adi Yussuf and Lawson D’ath combined to cause chaos in the Wealdstone’s defence, the ball hit the net, the music started blaring but there was a foul given on the travelling goalkeeper.

Back to that big chance, on 29 minutes a flurry of near misses, half chances and shots on goal resulted in not one, not two but three goal line clearances. Luke WIlkinson and Morgan Williams both throwing their body on the line in the name of a clean sheet.

The game would take on two more defining moments, Jack Cook hit the crossbar from a header, before Alex Dyer, the Monserrat midfielder was shown a straight red for a challenge on the Glovers’ Sonny Blu Lo Everton.

This changed the Glovers’ intensity; Lo-Everton drove forward for force shots in on goal, whilst the full backs began to venture forward more often.

Ben Barclay, who was returning to the starting line up, had a half chance from a Tom Knowles throw in, but despite six additional minutes being added on, the half-time whistle came in time for the visitors.

Half time: Yeovil Town 0 Wealdstone 0

Second Half

The second half began with plenty of attacking intent from the Glovers, but the number of clear cut chances didn’t match the amount of possession.
 
Charlie Lee made his first change with Reuben Reid replacing Adi Yussuf, with an desire to bring more control to the front line, but it was the visitors who actually went close shortly before the hour, David Sesay giving Grant Smith a chance to earn his corn.
 
Lawson D’Ath and Tom Knowles saw shots cleared, parried or sail high into the stand behind the goal as the hosts continue to huff and puff.
 
Dale Gorman was brought on to replace the booked Matty Worthington, and the Northern Irishman was straight into the action but his free kick was well saved.
 
The next chance to break the deadlock fell the way of Middlesbrough loanee Jack Robinson; with the ball pinging about in the box, the stand-in right back saw his shot squirm just wide.
 
The stats were all in favour of the Glovers, with plenty of shots flying in, Josh Neufville continued his exciting form with an effort which was blocked. Shots became corners, but rarely became clear chances.
 
Sam Howes in the visitor’s goal continued to keep the Glovers out, as the game became a glorified attack vs defence session.
 
As with all matches like this, there was always going to be an inevitable chance for the ten-man visitors and it came from Cooper, who had an eventful game with the injury and booking, he forced Smith in the Yeovil goal into a fantastic save with less than ten minutes on the clock.
 
With the clock winding down, Yeovil found frustration kicking in but there was still more opportunities coming the way of the home side.
 
Josh Neufville had a penalty shout turned down, Gorman saw another effort fly wide as the clock ticked beyond the 90 minute mark, Reid couldn’t convert late on either as the game ended up finishing a disappointing stale mate for the Glovers

Full time: Yeovil Town 0 Wealdstone 0