Five Conclusions (Page 2)

Yeovil Town’s unbeaten run in National League South came to an end in spectacular style with a 4-1 defeat at a Welling United side who still sit third from bottom of the table on Saturday.

The result means we have not won in our last three matches in all competitions, but, courtesy of other results in the division, that we are also still eight points clear at the top.

Once his fingers had thawed out after a chilly afternoon in South London, Dave gave us his thoughts about what he made of it all…..

We played their game, not ours: First things first, Welling absolutely deserved their three points. They took their chances better than us, they defended better than us and they wanted it more than us.
But, after Jordan Young missed an opportunity to put us 2-0 up after 20 minutes, we stopped playing our game and started playing Welling’s. Once they got their equaliser, they set out to pull our defence all over the place with pace and tenacity which we simply never matched.

The view from the first half position at Park View Road.

It was a midfield crying out for Charlie Cooper: The chasm between our defence and midfield was a playground for Welling and neither Matt Worthington nor Sonny Blu Lo-Everton ever got to grips with it.
It was crying out for someone who could get the ball, do something simple with it and drive us forward and that player was Charlie Cooper.
He’s not every fan’s cup of tea, I get it, but when he came on for Worthington for the final 15 minutes, we looked much improved.

Charlie Cooper, appeared as a 75th minute substitute at Welling.
Picture courtesy of Iain Morland.


Our attack looked as much of a worry as our defence:
Against Chippenham four days earlier, we could at least point to plenty of attacking play and a good performance from the opposition keeper, but I don’t recall Reice Charles-Cook in the Welling goal to have a huge amount to do.
Frank Nouble looked out of sorts, Sonny Cox struggled to get much of a foothold on the game and when Rhys Murphy came off the bench he looked typically lively, but missed a chance you’d have put your house on him to score.
In fact, the only major save I remember Charles-Cook having was from Alex Fisher, who put himself about well when he came on. It was good to see him back after such a long time and hopefully he can push those ahead of him in the pecking order to spark them back in to action.

No-one else wants to punish us: The positive was that, for all the chuckling there will be for our misfortune among other National League South sides, no team managed to take advantage of it.
Third-placed Hampton & Richmond, who are in the most in-form side in the division, were the only one of the top seven to win yesterday and both second-placed Aveley and Bath City in fourth fluffed their lines by dropping two points each on the road.
It will probably stick in the craw of our seagull bothering ‘friends’ in W*ymouth that they did us a favour with a late equaliser against Aveley.

The National League South table following Saturday’s 4-1 defeat at Welling United.

There’s something special about this squad: These players have shown us time and again that there’s something special about them and that has not changed in three matches.
Yesterday at Welling was a bad (very bad) day at the office, but there’s characters and quality in this squad which we have not seen much of in the past decade. That did not change at Torquay (in the Trophy), last Tuesday night at Chippenham or this weekend.
Alex Fisher spoke post-match about there being some “home truths” in the Yeovil dressing room and this is when the experienced heads need to lift the troops.
Wrexham in the FA Cup (don’t look at their result from the weekend, by the way) is a ‘free hit’ which no-one outside of South Somerset expects us to do anything with and then we have two more away dates – at Bath City and Dartford – before we can taste the comforts of home again.

A frustrating evening in front of goal and a crazy own goal saw Yeovil Town’s winning run in National League South ended with a 1-1 draw at a Hardened Huish (Hardenhuish) Park, Chippenham last night. 

A crowd of 1,326 swelled by another fantastic turn out from Somerset was there to see it all, including one who travelled from somewhere outside Blackpool – and here are Dave’s thoughts from his spot frozen to the away terrace……

How have we only scored one? When you’ve scored more goals in three months than you did in the whole of last season, we can’t complain about going forwards too much – but it was our finishing which let us down. Chippenham keeper Will Henry must feel robbed not to get the sponsors’ Man of the Match after making two or three great saves, perhaps the sponsors agreed that we made it too easy for him by hitting so many shots straight at him. Matt Worthington has probably never had a better chance to score in his 201 matches, it was an off night for Rhys Murphy (see below), and Sonny Cox could not really get in to the game. Thank goodness for the predatory instincts of Jake Hyde. He’ll hate being called ‘super sub’, perhaps we can bring him off the bench after a minute and then unleash him. The stats don’t lie, 11 shots on targets to Chippenham’s six should have been enough to comfortably put that to bed.

Jake Hyde celebrates his goal at Chippenham Town.

The most ridiculous own goal you’ll ever see. This was the view of the lads watching on National League TV and I’m glad that it wasn’t the player heading firmly in to his own net that it looked from the away end. Duncan Idehen, who I thought looked composed alongside Morgan Williams, found himself in an awkward position so you can’t blame either of them particularly. Losing the ball in midfield like we did is the worst part of the whole affair. Joe Day made one outstanding save in the second half but otherwise I don’t remember him having to be ‘super Joe Day (is) in goal’ too much and, when you don’t finish your chances, that kind of a freak own goal is always going to cost you.

Duncan Idehen

A night to forget for Rhys Murphy. On another night, there would be a picture of Rhys Murphy holding a match ball and at least three fingers up. Will Henry did well to deny him once, he had what looked a clear penalty turned down by the referee, but there were a couple of occasions where he looked like he wanted to walk the ball in. I found echoes of last season shouting ‘put your laces through it, Rhys.’ The man knows goal-scoring better than I do, but he will be frustrated. Not used that word as much this season, have we?! Then, to add insult to frustration, he goes and picks up a fifth booking for what looked like dissent and now misses an important league game at Bath City in a couple of weeks time. Silly, silly boy, Rhys.

We missed Jordan Young – but not just him. There was a big Jordan Young shaped hole in a team which particularly in the first half was crying out for a bit of creativity. The optimist (aka Ben) in me told me at half-time that we had to be patient, the pessimist in me told me the first half was very heavy going. All a bit flat and nothing to really get behind, you just wanted a magician like Young or a speedster like Jordan Stevens to excite and create something from nothing. But, whilst Duncan Idehen looked competent alongside Morgan Williams, the lack of Jake Wannell stood out for me.
A lot of what has been good about our play in our winning run has been built from his composure playing the ball out from defence and that stood out.

Jake Wannell.
Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

We’re nine points clear at the top. Let’s not get carried away. It was a disappointing night by the standards we have set this season. But, we actually extended our lead at the top of National League South to nine points with both Aveley and Bath City also being held to draws. Third-placed Maidstone United briefly cut it to eight points with a win on Monday night, so – despite the fact it feels like a defeat (Michael Smith, 2023) – we were actually better off come 10pm than we were at 7.45pm on Tuesday night. We always knew there was going to be a bit of adversity, especially with important players missing, but this is far from anything to lose heads over. Bring on the Welling!

Well, the run was fun while it lasted, but all good things must come to an end. Three Valleys Radio were there, and so was our very own Tom Bailey was there to give us his Five Conclusions on Yeovil’s exit from the FA Trophy.

Changes were a win-win. Not sure if this was just me, but I was still impressed with the majority of the changes made today by Mark Cooper. It was great to see Josh Staunton back in the side, and the same can be said for Jordan Maguire-Drew, who was my personal Man of the Match (for Yeovil at least). While it’s disappointing for the run to end, I can’t imagine this competition was high on the priority list of Mark Cooper, so resting key players like Michael Smith, Morgan Williams and Rhys Murphy was the right call.

Torquay were much improved. We can say all we want about Yeovil’s performance (which I didn’t think was that bad considering the amount of changes made), but we have to give Torquay credit where it’s due, they did a much better job than last time out at nullifying any attacking threat that came their way. Considering the only goal we scored was an own goal from a Torquay defender, they can go home with their heads held high, even with the wholescale changes for Yeovil.

 

 

Duncan Idehen had a decent debut. A baptism of fire for the 21 year old loanee, and a big gap in the defence to fill. It didn’t matter for Duncan Idehen though, who looked shaky in the opening stages of the game before growing into a dominant performance, commanding his area and putting in vital tackles to cut out attacks from the hosts. We’ve got him until the end of January, and I’m personally looking forward to seeing how he grows with us!

The pitch was… certainly something. We had concerns over the state of Yeovil’s pitch following the run of home games recently, and I think Torquay have reason to be concerned over their own. Players were slipping and sliding, and nobody really looked comfortable on a surface that was coming up from the first whistle.

 

Tricky conditions left quality football few and far between.

 

Back on track for Tuesday, then. There are positives to take from today, less games for us to think about, allowing us to focus on the league, as well as run outs and rests for a lot of players in the squad. The bus ride home was quiet but not a bad atmosphere, it was an “ah well, maybe next year” feeling, as we clearly have bigger fish to fry. Shout out to the 300+ fans that made the journey today too, plenty of noise from them!

Tom was in the Thatchers Stand for tonight’s derby against, err… the opposition. Here’s his five conclusions from tonight’s match!

SIX THOUSAND, TWO HUNDRED AND EIGHTY NINE. Well, Yeovil fans showed up in their droves, and from my spot in the Thatchers, I could tell something special was happening tonight. A sellout in the Thatchers, the Bamfords Stand looked positively packed, and the Screwfix stand looked pretty full too, what a turnout in a record-breaking evening! Even without any of the opposition’s fans, we would’ve broken the record regardless, which goes to show how impressive tonight’s turnout is.

Not our finest performance, but it got the job done. We certainly began the first half as you’d hope, plenty of confidence, and had plenty of possession. We successfully pinned the opposition into their own half at times, and looked good for two or three goals going into half time. As the second half began, W*ymouth did look a little better, but both sides huffed and puffed, with both sides struggling in the never-ending rain. But as they say, performances like that are what champions produce…

Substitutions proving important once again. I’ve said it before when I’ve given conclusions, and I’ll say it again – Mark Cooper nailed his subs. The double substitution to bring on Jake Hyde and debutant Sonny Cox was inspired, with their fresh legs causing trouble for a tired W*ymouth defence. It proved a masterstroke when Sonny Cox dinked the ball into the middle for Jake Hyde to bury his second goal in a Yeovil shirt. Will Dawes proved a valuable introduction too, his energy assisting Alex Whittle in defence, and bombing forward in his 20 minute cameo.

Jake Hyde, appeared after 70 minutes on Tuesday night.
Picture courtesy of Iain Morland.

Momentum is massive now. 9 wins in a row in all competitions, now that’s not something I expected to be able to say when we started the season off! The momentum we’ve built in this time, with wins over playoff contenders in Worthing and Aveley, as well as the continued unbeaten run at home, is proving huge for not only the squad, but the fans (as we saw with tonight’s attendance). There’s a real sense of optimism and excitement around the ground now, let’s keep it going!

Michael Smith is still the real deal. As a self-admitted member of the Michael Smith fan club (applicants are more than welcome!), I continue to be blown away at the fact we even have this man at our club. The experience he brings is unmatched at this level, and he showed it tonight, having a tricky time in the conditions and with the attacks he faced. He linked up brilliantly with Jordan Stevens, and later Jordan Young, causing chaos all down the right hand side. Keep it up Michael!

Michael Smith. Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

Yeovil’ve won eight in a rooooooow! Yes, another three points on the board and the Glovers are now three points clear at the top of the National League South table.

They left it late to clinch them with defender Morgan Williams rising highest to head home a Jordan Maguire-Drew free-kick with seven of 12 minutes of second half injury time played at Worthing to earn a 2-1 win.

Here’s now Dave saw it from his vantage point in the away end at Woodside Road….

 

The hoodoo is over. Our ability to stick by the latest podcast rule of not speaking about <REDACTED> pitches is going to get a whole lot easier after this performance. Having been at Hemel and Havant & Waterloovile where we suffered our only defeats of the season (I don’t need to tell you what is similar about those two stadiums, do I?), this performance felt like a statement. There were bobbles, overhit passes and the odd error, but overall we looked as different as night and day to our previous two outings on……well, you know.

It may look like grass…..

Mark Cooper got his tactics spot on. This was not a rampant Yeovil Town performance as we have seen in recent weeks, this was the controlled, patient, we know what we’re doing, just trust us Yeovil Town. For a huge amount of the game, not an awful lot happened and the home side enjoyed an awful lot of possession, but Mark Cooper got his tactics absolutely spot on. In the first half, Worthing did very little to threaten Joe Day’s goal and, whilst we had only a handful of efforts on goal, we always looked the more likely to score – and did, of course. The second half saw both sides have more opportunities, but I never felt like we were not in control. It might not always be swashbuckling and entertaining, but the Mark Cooper way feels like the way we’re going to get out of this division.

It looked like we’d be punished for our wastefulness. When Ollie Pearce’s 86th-minute penalty hit the net, it was difficult not to feel like we had shot ourselves in the foot. If there was a negative about this performance it was that we had the chances to have made it a lot more comfortable. Jordan Young had a few opportunities, Jordan Stevens was denied by legs of the hosts’ keeper and don’t even get me started on the referee and his inability to see Rhys Muprhy getting wrestled to the ground inside the box. If this had ended as a draw, we’d be talking a lot more about that, I suspect.

Rhys Murphy’s shot come cross heads towards the incoming Matt Worthington.

If there was one player who didn’t deserve to be a villain, it was Jake Wannell. Just a few minutes before he was the victim of what appeared a soft penalty (even through my green-tinted glasses) was given against Jake Wannell, I had messaged my fellow Gloverscasters to say he was “absolute class.” Forgive me a little bit of a love in, but this lad is powerful, so assured on the ball and his partnership alongside Morgan Williams is becoming as important to us as any other part of this team so far. If his collision had led to us losing two points, it would have been a real injustice to him.

Jake Wannell.
Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

It’s only three points, but… It’s also eight wins (nine including the Somerset Men’s Premier Cup) wins in a row, it puts us three points at the top of the table and it’s a win over a side who you’d fancy to be in the play-off discussion come May. It is only the end of October and no-one ever won anything at this stage of the season, but these type of performances and results are the ones which we’ll look back on come the end of the season……if we end up doing something good, thank is. Now where did we put those seagull botherers?

Another round of FA Cup Qualifying done and dusted then, and Yeovil got the job done against lower league opposition once again, this time in the form of Didcot Town.

Tom was perched in the Screwfix stand watching over proceedings, this is what he thought of yesterday’s match…

Menacing Murphy! This man doesn’t know how to stop scoring does he? A tidy penalty from the 32 year old took his tally to 8 for the season, and 5 in his last 3. Murphy’s on a roll, and he’s hitting the levels he showed from his first spell in green and white, reminding us of just what a talented striker we have on our hands. Wonderful movement, as well as keeping the Didcot keeper busy with plenty of shots made him my personal man of the match, among plenty of candidates.

Rhys Murphy slots home his penalty.
Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

Will Dawes is here! A topic of conversation among Yeovil fans (or at least the fans I’ve been around) has been the absence of Will Dawes. After coming down with glandular fever, following a good pre-season, the winger’s introduction to the first team picture has been delayed longer than most fans would’ve wanted (myself included). But in the 64th minute, we finally got our first competitive glimpse of Will Dawes, and he was… good! Sharp in possession, and busy off the ball, he slotted in seamlessly on the left hand side with Josh Owers for support. Perhaps we’ll be seeing more of him in the coming weeks, with some potential fixture congestion coming our way.

Jake Wannell’s getting better and better. Today I saw a defender who was confident in every decision he made, excelled in a good defensive line-up, contributed to our first clean sheet in a month and also made some good passes. That defender was Jake Wannell, and at risk of forgetting/missing a fixture or two, I don’t think I’ve personally seen a bad game from him in a Yeovil shirt. A ball over the top in the first half for Rhys Murphy was almost perfectly weighted, and absolutely would’ve been a goal if Leigh Bedwell hadn’t come to collect in the Didcot goal. Great defensive work as always from the number 6, and long may it continue!

 

Jake Wannell.
Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

Individual excellence got us over the line. There were some bright spots yesterday for Yeovil, with the aforementioned Jake Wannell and Rhys Murphy being two of them, but that seemed to be the tale of the tie, as I can’t say I was particularly inspired by the overall performance. Nothing really stood out to me (except for the individuals) as far as a team performance goes, it was professional, it did the job and that’s as much as I can say. Perhaps my expectations were too high following the Stoneham fixture, but at no point did it feel like ever reaching those levels, even if Yeovil did dominate the first half in its entirety.

Didcot are no pushoversAs much as I’ve gone on above about Yeovil not being great, we must also give credit to the visiting Didcot Town, who did well to hold off the possession-hungry hosts until a somewhat unfortunate penalty handed Yeovil the lead. They demonstrated courage, and tenacity to keep the score at 2-0, and in the second half, they really began to take the game to Yeovil, forcing Joe Day into action on multiple occasions. Didcot can go home with their heads held high, and credit to the 75 travelling supporters who made their way down from Oxfordshire to watch today. Good luck for the rest of the season to Didcot Town!

We’re now in to double figures for the National League South season and it was a third (fourth in all competitions) win in a row for Yeovil Town.

Dave was on the terraces of The Beveree Stadium yesterday and here are his conclusions on what he saw…..


All we want is a decent referee:
I have praised referees on the podcast (well, one referee!) and therefore make no apologies for starting with the conclusion that referee Eugene Robinson did everything he could to ruin yesterday’s game.
His decisions to stick to the letter of the law and book players for what he interpreted to be time-wasting and not book others (on both sides, I hasten to add) for blatant fouls is beyond me. Jordan Young was dumped on the ground and left to lie there whilst Mr Robinson played on, Morgan Williams got a two-handed shove in the back and nothing, yet Jake Hyde contests an offside which, as someone who was in line with that play, I can confirm he was completely right to contest, and he’s booked. 
Mr Robinson made yesterday all about him and when both sets of supporters are complaining about an official – you know it’s a stinker.

Jordan Stevens is the difference: From the off it was clear that Jordan Stevens was an outlet and what an outlet he was.It was my first sighting of him (not via a stream) this season and he’s got the pace and the trickery to beat anyone at this level and add to that he’s not afraid to do the dirty work as well. For those crying out for wide players, he almost literally hugged the touchline all match and, when we went down to ten, he chased everything down until the very end. Take a bow!

Michael Smith. Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

Strength in depth is a dream: Last season, Josh Staunton played on literally held together with sticky tape, but yesterday we were able to rest him – until six minutes from the end. The reason? Michael Smith. Quality, leadership and experience, he brought it all yesterday. Then to be able to introduce Josh Owers and Jake Hyde (albeit briefly!) off the bench again shows the quality is there. Jordan Maguire-Drew must be wondering what he has to do to get a game, albeit I don’t think the second half was one for him.

We have to be more clinical: The two goals were everything you want to see from your team – a stunning first and an ice cold second – but we had so many chances to make it more. Jordan Young needs to strike from open play the way he does from free kicks (admittedly not yesterday’s free-kicks), Frank Nouble needs to give one a proper welly-ing and set pieces didn’t do anything for us at Hampton. When you have a liability in charge of the game (yes, you Mr Robinson!), you can’t leave anything to chance and, if the ref had given another penalty with the final kick, this would have been the story of the match.

Rhys Murphy made it seven goals (in all competitions) this season.
Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

Ten (league) games gone and September’s ending: So, whether you used to ten game rule or the Green Day Clause, we can comfortably make an assessment on Yeovil Town’s season so far.
In all competitions the results are, P11, W7, D2, L2, second in the National League South table and progressed in the only cup competition we’ve played in. It is difficult to find too much to dislike about it. 
The patient/slow/controlled/dull (pick you description) way that Mark Cooper has us playing is not to everyone’s taste, but we are improving every time I see us play.
This isn’t Jose Mourinho-esque dull but winning football, there’s more than enough there to enjoy and it’s hard (impossible?) to argue with those results.

 

An away win, the first in 220 days. Three away goals in a winning league match away from Huish Park, for the first time in nearly two years. It was a thriller alright, Ben had the stream on, here’s what he took away from the game.

Five conclusions were tough… it could have easily been ten! But we’ve whittled it down. 


Firstly, let’s talk about Jordan Young.

According to Mark Cooper post match, we parted with somewhere in the region of £5,000 to secure his services last season. 

At the back end of the 2022/23 season, we had a kid with bags of potential, down on his luck, getting to grips with the full time game. He looked raw but like he had something about him, what I saw last night was probably the best 60 minutes I’ve seen of him in Green and White (well, Yellow and Black).

He’s got a set piece delivery to match plenty of those who have smashed a dead ball for the Glovers, but I saw more than that, a fight to get the ball off his team mates, to be direct, to give defenders a nightmare, but also a desire to do his defensive work too.

He’ll probably admit he got bullied off the ball at times last season, but he’s clearly gaining strength, he’s clearly a confidence player and his confidence must be sky high right now. He’s fast approaching ‘first name on the team sheet’ status.

Let’s watch that free kick again shall we? – You don’t save those.

I watched on the stream and whilst initially had radio coverage on as well, I quickly realised that the camera and microphone positioning allowed for a real insight into Mark Cooper’s touchline style. So I listened, and learned two things.

Firstly, the Weston super-Mare fans situated near the dugout need to wash their mouth out with soap… some very fruity language on show, at times it bordered on abusive actually – Nouble, Worthington and Cooper all coming under regular fire far beyond what I would call ‘normal’ football style ‘banter’ (I hate that word).

But seriously, someone at WSM should remind their fans, that camera and microphone picks it all up… 

Anyway, I digress, Mark Cooper still kicks every ball, still makes every header and really offered a hands on approach to his coaching.

He, at times, literally helped Jamie Sendles-White through the first half, screaming where to be, where to move. Being out of position at right back would have been new to him and he got all the help he needed and put in a very solid display during the first 45.

Cooper claims the assist to Young’s free kick (above) shouting at JS-W to make sure Young took the spot kick and not allow Murphy to pull rank, he kept the team motivated and kept reminding them of the basics; “Face Up”, “Shape”, “Sprint back in”, “Less turnovers lads”… stuff that might seem fairly trivial, but for me shows he’d be out there himself if he could.

Mark Cooper in discussion with captain Josh Staunton during the 2-1 home win over St Albans. Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

Frank Nouble – the Green and White Berbatov?

We’ve maybe been slightly critical of Nouble on the podcast over the last couple of games, but I really tried to watch him closely in this line up. There were times he frustrated, there were times he seemed to go quiet and times he could arguably have done a bit better with what was given to him in the way of service, but then… Bang. Goal.

One he had to be strong for, one he had to get spot on under the pressure he was facing, and finished it off well from close range.

I think, there’s no doubt in my mind he’s got all the qualities to be a real force at this level, I’m not sure he’s a back-to-goal striker, I think we want to see him ball at feet, running at players and making it really difficult to win the ball from. 

But, much like Berbatov, quiet spells, drifting in and out of games all look strange, but if he takes the chances that come his way, he could easily find himself up towards double figures in no time at all. Almost without anyone noticing.

Let’s have his goal too shall we?

Squad depth, rotation and doing the dirty work in places you wouldn’t normally.

Last night we started with a central defender at right back, a right back at the heart of the midfield three and ended with Matt Worthington in an attacking left position and all whilst managing several players on Yellow cards.

It hadn’t really hit me until last night, just how stretched this season will become. Games aren’t 90 minutes, last night went well over 100, seven Glovers players were booked, taking a couple of them to within touching distance of a ban. 

Minutes in the legs will need to be managed, both Jordan Young and Rhys Murphy were probably brought off with their fitness just been looked after and most, if not all of the team were really flagging towards the end.

If Jake Hyde has a sore calf and JS-W has an achilles concern then that’s two more people to think about. It was great that Josh Owers came in and played so well, but we will certainly need our full squad. We may need to ask about Will Dawes, the only one of those with a squad number not to make a first team squad so far, we may even need to ask about Scott Pollock – spotted back training at Alvington yesterday – every squad member is going to do a lot of pitching in, playing out of position and being asked a lot of. 

That’s fine, but it’s going to take some man management, we don’t want benches going unfilled, we need our full range of options if we are to achieve our goals this season.

Jordan Young celebrates his first goal for the club.
Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

Finally, 850 fans and everyone of them deserved that moment.

I’ve made no secret of the fact that I’m gutted to be so far away this season, but watching (and listening) to the game last night, the fans were exceptional. It was noted post match by all three of Cooper, Staunton and Young how important you are. 

We’ve continued to sell away tickets in our numbers this season, I’m sure that’ll continue and so long as you keep doing yourselves and the club proud, you’re helping. You’re 100% helping.

Is it a cheesy, cliche to say you got the team over the line… maybe, but there’s no doubt in my mind, that big crowds, crowds within touching distance of the pitch can make a difference, can get their support into the minds of both sets of players.

Oh how I wanted to be in the away end on Tuesday, to watch our team play good football at times, to keep a decent enough side at arms length for periods and to be honest, pick up about as comfortable a 3-2 win as is possible, on another day that game ends 6-1 and no one bats an eyelid.

On to Eastbourne!

A Bank Holiday Monday in Hampshire, sounds lovely doesn’t it? Trains strikes might take the edge off the trip from Lancashire to the deep, dark south… losing 4-3 (despite fighting back from 2-0 and 3-2 down) definitely will make for a long, lonely journey back.

That’s what Gloverscast Dave did, he’s got five conclusions on what he saw (he probably has more, but we’re a stickler for the rules around here…) here they are.

Well that was dreadful. Let’s start with the obvious, shall we? That was an absolute defensive horror show from Yeovil. For the first half, we looked all at sea lacking any kind of defensive shape or discipline. Was it the absence of Josh Staunton? That was certainly a part of it, I think. Morgan Williams looked to be something we were missing in the first half as well. It got a bit better when he came on, but that probably just underlines what a farce the first half was.

Can it just have been the surface? I would definitely say the entire performance cannot be put down to the pitch alone. Playing on plastic does not stop players doing the simple things which we simply did not do. But it did appear to make them harder. We seemed to be incapable of controlling or passing a ball, let alone both. This was worse than the opening day defeat at Hemel Hempstead – our last outing on an artificial pitch – and with more matches coming up on these surfaces still to come, we need to sort this out quickly. Training at Dorchester, perhaps? 
 
Morgan Williams battles for the ball away at Havant
 
Too many changes cost us. You don’t need to be an experienced football manager to know that keeping a consistent line-up is the secret to success. With Jake Hyde fit enough to make the bench, it would seem that Josh Staunton was the only player unable to play on the artificial surface. Mark Cooper said last week that starting Olly Thomas would be very different to the player we have seen come off the bench to good effect recently and that prediction proved correct. The young Bristol City forward struggled to get in to the game, but he was far from the only one who struggled. If this was us offering players who have not been starting an opportunity to impress, they did not take it.
 
Will Buse in full flight at Havant
 
Being full-time means little if you have the wrong attitude. Last week, Cooper also spoke about there not being much difference between full-time and part-time players. For a team supposedly low of confidence having not won at home since February or won at all this season, Havant went some way to proving that point. But far from just fitness (although they looked every bit as fit as their full-time opponents) there was a great discipline and organisation about Havant. In Faal up front, they have a player who has the attributes to be a handful of defenders across the division and, if we can do it consistently, at a higher level. He bullied our defence from the opening minute and we could not handle him.
 
 
It’s hard not to, but we can’t lose our heads. There is no doubt this performance was a concern and the fact that it is now two poor performances in our first two away games is also a concern. But (big but), 10 points from the opening six games is still not a terrible return. We have put pressure on ourselves with a home game against an unbeaten Chelmsford this week and then our first derby of the season against Weston-super-Mare to follow. The job is now to embrace that pressure and step up. No excuses.
 

Three points, a clean sheet, third win in four at home… go on then!

Commentating for Three Valleys Radio was Dave Prior he’s taken time to put together Five Conclusions as the Glovers started off the Bank Holiday weekend with a bang.

Dave Prior (left) and Paul Thorpe of 3VR

A performance to silence the doubters? Maybe. After a bright start from the visitors, it took Rhys Murphy to win a foul just shy of the 2-minute mark to give the Yeovil defence a breather. I worried at that point it could become a tricky afternoon, considering we had not kept a clean sheet in the previous four matches. Truth is, I didn’t really have much to worry about. Jordan Young coolly slotted home to give Yeovil the lead after 14 minutes. Young was a constant threat throughout and certainly staked a claim to be starting every week. People may point to the fact Yeovil made it difficult for themselves by not sealing the win until the 95th minute. Whilst that may be true, I don’t remember Will Buse having a shot to save. Cooper and Worthington had control of the midfield and having Sonny as the link man to play between the lines helped to cement that control. The back 4 kept the Angels front two quiet for most of the afternoon. There were cries to quicken the play from the stands, particularly in the second half. The conditions were torrential which I think must be considered but for me, it was clearly Yeovil’s most complete performance of the season. Oh, the ref didn’t help either (Editor: RULE ONE, PRIOR!) did he but ill stick to the rule and just leave it at that……..

Jordan Young. Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

Jordan Young. Was our spark here all along? A season in which a plethora of new attacking talent has joined over the summer, yet it could be an existing player who could really make the difference. Young, showed glimpses of what he could do in a struggling side last season and if today is anything to go by, he is heading for an exciting season. Exquisite close control and comfortable in possession. The goal showcased his skillset by driving towards the goal, sending the defender for a hot dog before cutting in on his weaker foot and bending it into the near post. How many times did we complain of players not having a shot from good positions last year? A player certainly not lacking confidence and could be a key asset, particularly when games are tight. Recent experience at this level too may result in Yeovil seeing the best version of Jordan Young this season.

Staunton, Wannell and Williams warm up

Flat back four – It’s a yes from me. Its no secret that the back 3 (or back 5 depending on your preference) has been a talking point amongst fans for a while now. For me I think we have looked more assured as a back 4 and that showed again today. As mentioned above, Buse keeping a cleano (or a cleanie if you ask me) and not having a shot to save also tells its own story. Whittle and Williams showed how good they are going forward whilst not being exposed in behind them. Staunton and Wannell also look like a dream partnership. Wannell’s composure on the ball, allows him to drift into midfield to start attacks (John Stones style) with the confidence Staunton is there to support, with Charlie Cooper tracking back to vacate the space. This was a common theme in the second half. It will be interesting how the formation will look on Monday with inevitable changes to come. If it’s not broke don’t fix it comes to mind.

Rhys Murphy tussles with a Tonbridge Angels defender.
Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

Tough day at the office for Murphy. I have heard a lot of supporters talking about Murphy hitting between 20-25 league goals this season. Whilst I think his purchase is of significance, I have not really agreed with that stance. A horrendous injury record, more artificial pitches to overcome this season, I think that is a huge ask. There is no doubt he is a brilliant finisher, particularly at this level, but today wasn’t his day. Throughout the first half he was reluctant to come towards the ball, waiting for it to come to feet, and was often dispossessed. Then there was the penalty. He showed his confidence to step up and take it but in truth, from where I was sitting, it looked a comfortable save. To add insult to the miss, Mark Cooper took him off after directly afterwards which concluded a tough afternoon for him.

Mark Cooper in discussion with captain Josh Staunton during the 2-1 home win over St Albans. Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

The right changes at the right time. Whilst Rhys Murphy will disagree, I think Mark Cooper made the right calls. There has been talk this week of Thomas getting a start after recent positive performances, but I think there is a case for him being a fantastic impact sub. His sheer presence and size is a nightmare for any defender, and seeing him come on when you are starting to tire will strike fear into opposition defenders. The same goes for Nouble. The perfect cameo today. His unpredictability was causing all sorts of problems and he went on a brilliant solo run which unfortunately did not result into anything. He got his goal though and topped off a brilliant day with a driving run on the break from inside his own half before receiving the ball in front of goal and smashing it home. Whilst both will have ambitions to start regularly for Yeovil Town, there is certainly an argument for ‘super sub’ labels. Sorry lads…..

It was Robbie Williams who said “I’m loving angels instead.” Based on the Tonbridge performance today, not for me. (….and through it aaaaaaaaalllllllllllll….)