Matchday Preview

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For Altrincham supporters this weekend’s final National League game of the season is a historic one for many reasons.

Firstly, it will be the last the club plays as a part-time team with the club confirming it will be full-time next season, but – even in defeat – they have already achieved their 55 points is the highest they have managed since 1996.

And, victory could see them claim as high as 12th place in the table – leap-frogging Yeovil in the process – which would be the highest they have managed in more than two decades.

However, as Yeovil fans with long enough memories to recall the club’s own transition from part-time to full-time football will recall, the change comes at a price with seven players confirming that this weekend will be their final one as Altrincham players.

Goalkeeper Tony Thompson, captain Shaun Densmore, full-back Connor Hampson, defender Andy White and midfielders Jake Moult, Josh Hancock and Tom Hannigan will all leave to remain part-time.

The transition to professional football began last summer when manager Phil Parkinson was installed in a full-time capacity and now the club has decided the time is right to bring the playing squad alongside.

It is the Robins’ performances at Moss Lane which has been their strength this season and they haven’t lost on home soil since the defeat to Torquay United at the end of January.

Over the past six matches, their home form – won four, drawn two, lost zero – puts them sixth in the National League form table, behind only Wrexham, Solihull Moors, Notts County, Stockport County and Torquay.

You can hear our chat with Erin, a.k.a @GolfRoadGoals on Twitter and Instagram, talk to us about the weekend’s game on our latest podcast – here.

FROM THE MANAGER

Altrincham manager Phil Parkinson admitted he had an eye on Sunday’s final day game when picking his starting XI for Tuesday night’s draw at Bromley.

He brought a number of the players who will be leaving the club as it transitions to full-time football back in to the line-up.

He said: “This game was to be them ready for Sunday and there’s other boys who could not make it due to injury.

”The biggest thing I want to do is give them that send off, they have dedicated a big chunk of their footballing careers to this club and they deserve that opportunity to say goodbye to the fans.

”One thing is for sure, they will not let themselves down knowing we’ve got a landmark moment because we have not finished higher than 14th in this division for 20 years and I’m sure they want to finish on a high.”

But for Parkinson, who has been a full-time employee all season, next season is about the start of a new era for the club – and he is setting the bar high.

He added: “I don’t think I will have ever truly left my mark on this club unless we get promoted out of this league.

”This is the toughest it has been with ex-League clubs in the division, but when this club has been at its best we have pushed for League football and that is certainly something we want to do.

”But, that is a long way off, but we are making giant strides to get us where we want to be to be that club again.”

TEAM NEWS

Altrincham boss Phil Parkinson fielded “a makeshift team” in the midweek draw at Bromley.

Goalkeeper Matthew Gould came in between the posts in place of Tony Thompson, the first choice stopper who will be one of seven players leaving the club to remain part-time next season.

Defender Toby Mullarkey, a regular feature in the side this season, also missed out and has been linked with a move to EFL side Portsmouth this week.

Up front, top scorer, Ryan Colclough, who has 11 goals to his name this season, has been missing since Easter Monday.

There were returns for captain Shaun Densmore, Tom Hannigan and Jake Moult, three of the seven departing this summer, against Bromley.

Academy graduate Ryan Morton came off the bench in midweek.

A FOOT IN BOTH CAMPS

AJ Leitch-Smith was the inevitable scorer of Altrincham’s goal when they drew 1-1 at Huish Park back in October.

The 32-year-old forward spent the 2014-15 season at Huish Park before departing back to his native Cheshire to join Port Vale, and arrived at Moss Road from Morecambe in the summer.

He has only made 19 appearances this season, scoring four times, and has not featured since the end of March.

Last season, central defender and now Wales under-21 international Billy Sass-Davies turned out for both sides whilst on loan from Crewe Alexandra and was in the patched-up Glovers’ side which went down 4-3 at Alty at the end of last season.

Full-back Mark Lynch, who played 31 times in green-and-white between 2006 and 2008, finished his career at Alty in 2012, but other than that we’re struggling a bit.

How about inside forward Albert Foulds, who started his career in the youth team at Alty before playing a season at Yeovil in the 1949-50 season?

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In a similar fashion to Yeovil Town, it has been a season of underachievement for Bath City this season.

The Romans finished their National League South season with a 3-3 draw at Twerton Park last weekend and ended the campaign fourth from bottom – which is even more disappointing than the (anticipated by most people – see last week’s poll) mid-table finish the Glovers are heading for.

The Somerset Premier Cup therefore offers them something to finish the campaign with a flourish having beaten Clevedon Town (definitely nowhere near Bristol!), Portishead, Welton Rovers and Frome Town on their way to the final.

It has been more than 20 years since the sides last met when a double from Demba and a goal from Michael McIndoe earned Gary Johnson’s Yeovil a 3-1 FA Cup replay win having drawn 1-1 in the first game.

You have to go back to January 1996 to find the last time Bath were victorious in a competitive fixture, a 3-2 win in the FA Trophy, but in SPC finals they have won the last four encounters between these two sides – the last being in March 1994. If you’re interested, you can see the full history of results between the sides – here.

But, if you thought W*ymouth was the only historic rivalry we had, think again. Bath have visited Yeovil more than any other town in their history with more than 130 visits albeit only four in the past 26 years.

The two sides also share the record for the most successful SPC campaigns with 24 wins each. Bath’s last coming in 2008 with Yeovil’s three years earlier.

Are we making this sound more like there’s something to play for?

 

FROM THE MANAGER

Bath manager Jerry Gill is a man with a foot in both camps having made the move from Twerton to Huish Park back in 1996, spending a successful season in Somerset before getting his big move to Birmingham City.

His post-match comments after the weekend’s final league fixture suggest Romans’ fans have not let him forget it, he said: “Back in the day, this was a huge rivalry when I was playing here and I know I got my move from here to Yeovil and a lot of people don’t thank me for that.

“It’s a wonderful club down there as well, so I am going to enjoy it first and foremost, but we are going down there to win.

“I have spoken to a lot of fans here and a lot of people are going down to watch the game, and we’ll be competitive, it’s no good going to a cup final if you don’t go and win it.

“So we’ll give it everything we have got to go and win that game and hopefully get some good backing.”

 

A FOOT IN BOTH CAMPS

As you’d imagine given the proximity, there’s been quite a few down the years. The most obvious one is Bath City manager Jerry Gill.

Gill was a star player at full-back for City in the mid-1990s when he made the switch along with midfielder Rob Cousins joining Graham Roberts’ Yeovil in the summer of 1996.

Both players went on to be the a major part of the side which romped to the ICIS League Premier Division (now National League South) title and returned to the Conference in 1997.

His form that campaign caught the eye of Birmingham City, then a First Division (now Championship) side, and made the move for £30,000 with a further £10,000 payable after he played ten first-team games.

Both he and Howard Forinton, the star striker whose goals first Roberts’ side to the title that year, moved to St Andrews but it was Gill who was more successful, playing 60 times for the Blues.

He returned to Twerton Park as manager in 2017 after a spell in charge at W*ymouth (oh Jerry, how could you?) and coaching roles at Kidderminster Harriers and Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Cousins stayed at Huish Park upon promotion back to the Conference and remained until the summer of 2001 when he moved to Forest Green Rovers.

Dean Birkby. Picture courtesy of Tim Lancaster.

Another player from that era who made the move south was striker Dean Birkby who joined Roberts’ revolution earlier than Gill and Cousins, joining midway through the 1995-96 campaign.

Having signed for £10,000 he went on to score 31 goals in 90 appearances alongside the likes of Warren Patmore and Forinton before leaving to join Forest Green in the summer of 2000.

More recently, Exeter City defender Jordan Dyer has had spells with both clubs. His time with Yeovil consisted of the final minute of the 2-0 home win over Woking in October, but he did have two spells with Bath making 21 appearances.

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Mathematically this weekend’s visitors to Huish Park, Boreham Wood, still have a chance of making the National League’s top seven.

The Wood have seen their season fall off a cliff since the start of March when they went out of the FA Cup after an amazing run which saw them knock out AFC Bournemouth, who put Yeovil out in the previous round and will be a Premier League side next season.

Since the 2-0 loss at Everton, they have won just twice and lost eight times in the National League – but their last two results have been a 2-0 win at table-topping Stockport County last weekend and a 1-1 draw at home to title-chasing Wrexham on Bank Holiday Monday.

Boss Luke Garrard has been rewarded with a new three-year contract this week which (if he sees it out) would take him to a decade in the dug-out with the club he served as a player for five seasons.

He said: “I was fortunate enough that seven seasons ago the (chairman Danny Hunter) gave me the opportunity to take the reins and I know at any other National League club I would not get that chance.

“So I want to repay the (chairman) and I hope we can create even more memories and history in the next three years.

“I am disappointed with the way this season panned out, but we are in the history books again and every year we make history. That is something I am very proud of.”

After the trip to Somerset, Boreham Wood face two other play-off chasing sides in their final two fixtures with a long trip to Grimsby Town on Tuesday night followed by a final day fixture at home to Solihull Moors.

Garrard’s target?: “Our job now is to ensure we have the best defence in the division, we go and get eighth or ninth and certainly don’t drop out of the top ten.”

 

FROM THE MANAGER

Wood manager Luke Garrard recognises the similarities between his own rise to management with that of of his opposite number Yeovil caretaker boss, Charlie Lee.

In 2015, Garrard stepped up after five years as a player at Meadow Park and was the division’s youngest manager at the time.

Speaking of the Glovers, he said: “When I was given the job here seven years ago, I knew it could have been my first and my last job.

“I think (Charlie) has done really well, you can see his structure and the way he wants to play and there is real good personnel in the (Yeovil) team.

“(Josh) Neufville has come back from a really bad injury and done well and is finding his form, (Tom) Knowles who I have always liked, Dale Gorman who I think is one of the best midfield players in this decision and Luke Wilkinson who I played with myself.

“It’s going to be tough, they have fallen away a bit but they will still have ambitions to finish as high as possible but I know Charlie is going to go out and fight for everything.”

 

TEAM NEWS

The imposing figure of central defender Jamal Fyfield will definitely be missing at Huish Park following his red card in the 1-1 draw with Wrexham on Bank Holiday Monday.

He seems likely to be replaced by James Comley on the left side of a three-man defence with Boreham Wood likely to stick with their familiar 3-5-2 formation.

In goal, Nathan Ashmore, who impressed in the reverse fixture at the end of September, seems likely to remain between the posts.

He returned in at the end of last month having been replaced between the posts by Fulham loanee Taye Ashby-Hammond in October and was even loaned out to National League rivals Maidenhead United. His return in goal has coincided with a return to form.

A FOOT IN BOTH CAMPS

Grant Smith has happy memories of his time as a Boreham Wood player. The Yeovil Town goalkeeper was part of the side which reached the National League play-off final in 2018, eventually losing to Tranmere Rovers at Wembley.

Grant Smith didn’t have a lot to do, but he did pull off an important stop at the end. Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

Smith spent two seasons at Meadow Park before signing for Lincoln City. He returned to Hertfordshire in the 2019-20 campaign and played in Wood’s play-off eliminator against FC Halifax Town due to a suspension to first-choice keeper Nathan Ashmore.

Adi Yussuf is another player who has stepped out at Wembley as a Boreham Wood player. He was a 79th-minute substitute in the club’s play-off final defeat to Harrogate Town whilst on loan from Blackpool.

Glovers’ defender Luke Wilkinson also had two loan spells at Boreham Wood in the Conference South side. He turned out 26 times in the 2010-11 season and 23 times after returning the following campaign whilst on loan from Dagenham & Redbridge.

In the home side’s squad, Connor Smith spent the 2017-18 season at Huish Park, having his contract cancelled at the end of the first campaign. He signed for Wood from Wealdstone in the summer.

Other players with a foot in both camps include Kabongo Tshimanga, who played zero minutes whilst on loan at Huish Park before going on to be prolific with Wood, whilst Joe Quigley also had a nine-game spell with Wood on loan from AFC Bournemouth in 2018.

Graham Roberts, who managed Yeovil to the Isthmian League Premier Division title and promotion back to the Conference in 1997, managed Boreham Wood to the Isthmian League Division one title in 1999-2000 before his departure saw two of his players, Mickey Engwell and Lee Harvey, take charge.

Engwell was Roberts’ captain at Huish Park and Harvey was a towering centre half in that title-winning side of 1997.

Engwell was replaced as Wood manager by Steve Browne, who was part of that title-winning side under Graham Roberts, and probably better known to younger Yeovil fans as the father of Rhys.

Billy Clifford, who played once in green-and-white in a League Cup win at Southend United in 2013 whilst on loan from Chelsea, spent the 2015-16 season at Meadow Park, whilst Angelo Balanta was part of the side which reached the Championship under Gary Johnson before spending two years at Boreham Wood.

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In what is in all reality the deadest of dead rubbers, the chance to complete a double over their old Southern League rivals from the 1980s.

The Stones’ 2-1 win over Yeovil back in February was described by then-Glovers’ boss Darren Sarll as “unforgiveable” and then-midfielder (now injured midfielder) Josh Staunton as one where the team “let everyone down.”

A win for the visitors would be their third double of the season – with whipping boys Dover and local rivals Barnet their other victims – and they will be looking to sign off their second season back in style.

On the road they have won two and lost four of their last six, including an impressive 1-0 win at Southend United on Good Friday, but they did lose at the weekend when play-off hunting Dagenham & Redbridge ran out 2-1 winners at Grosvenor Vale.

For a side with probably one of the smallest budgets in the division, a 17th placed finish (the position they find themselves in going in to this match) is more than creditable.

Speaking after the Dagenham defeat, Wealdstone boss Stuart Maynard said: “The top end of the pitch was the difference for us. They can bring Josh Walker off the bench and he probably walks in to most National League squads.

“They had a similar philosophy to us and like to pass the ball, I thought we controlled possession but just were not clinical enough in the final third.”

FROM THE MANAGER

Speaking of his side’s opponents this Bank Holiday Monday, Wealdstone manager Stuart Maynard said: “They’re a side with lots of pace all over the pitch, myself and Matty (Saunders, the Stones’ assistant manager) will start looking at them over the weekend and come up with a game plan for Monday and plan for the game.

“Charlie Lee has come in and took temporary charge for them and picked up some really positive results, so we need to assess and see if they’re playing in the same shape they were playing in, with the same personnel or whether he’s tweaked them or not.”

TEAM NEWS

Wealdstone seem likely to go with the same team which finished Saturday’s 2-1 home defeat at the hands of in-form Dagenham & Redbridge.

That included Sam Howes, signed on loan from Isthmian Premier side Horsham late last week, who replaced on loan Fulham stopper George Wickens after he was concussed during a collision in training at the end of lat week.

Midfielder Ashley Charles, who has been missing for the past couple of weeks, returned on the bench on Saturday and could be an option, but long-term injury victim Andrew Eleftheriou is expected to be missing.


FOOT IN BOTH CAMPS

There will be two very familiar faces in the Yeovil Town squad which arrives at Wealdstone in the form of forwards Charlie Wakefield and Sonny Blu Lo-Everton.

The pair were both on the books at Grosvenor Vale last season with Wakefield starting the season with the Stones with Wakefield playing – and getting booked – in the 2-2 draw at Huish Park at the start of last season.

He departed for full-time football with Bromley last January before being released at the end of the campaign.

Sonny Blu Lo-Everton in action for Wealdstone against Yeovil Town last season.

Sonny played ten times for Wealdstone on loan from his parent club Watford including as an 18th-minute substitute following an injury in Yeovil’s 2-0 win in London last May.

For the hosts, winger Rhys Browne could make it back after two months out with an ankle injury tonight. He played more than 60 times in two years at Huish Park before joining Port Vale in the summer of 2019.

His father, Steve Browne, is another connection having had two spells at both clubs. In green and white he was part of the side which won promotion back to the then-GM Vauxhall Conference under Graham Roberts in 1996-97. In 2017, Steve sadly died after a battle with bowel cancer. He was just 52.

However, the strongest links to these two clubs date back to the late 1980s and early 1990s when Brian Hall was manager at both clubs, bringing a number of players with him.

Hall had led the Stones to the Conference and FA Trophy double in 1985 before taking the move to Huish in January 1987 where he picked up a Yeovil side in the game’s sixth tier.

A team photograph from 1988 showing Brian Hall’s Yeovil Town with a plethora of former Wealdstone players features in the programme for the reverse fixture in February.

The Glovers were beaten to promotion back to the Conference by Wycombe Wanderers in 1987, but won promotion back in Hall’s first full season, switching places with Wealdstone who came down that year.

The success of Yeovil and the demise of Wealdstone was down in no small part to Hall attracting a number of players to join him in Somerset.

Neil Cordice and Steve Rutter, the latter who would go on to manage the Glovers, made the move along with full-back Tiv Lowe, Steve Tapley, goalkeeper Bob Iles, and midfielders Gary Donnellan and Andy Wallace.

Hall was sacked after four years and replaced with Clive Whitehead who had an unsuccessful six-month spell before being replaced by Rutter, who was one of a number of ex-Stones who remained in Somerset.

When Rutter left in 1993 his eventual replacement was Hall who brought a number of his old Wealdstone players with him, unfortunately, he could not match the success of his previous spell and lasted just under a year.

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FC Halifax Town boss Pete Wild insists his side is not feeling the pressure as they bid to secure a play-off place when Yeovil Town come to The Shay this weekend.

The manager, who saw red (and went a bit red) when his side lost the reverse fixture in September, saw the gap from fourth-placed Solihull Moors cut to just two points last weekend.

The Shaymen went down 1-0 at Southend United whilst Solihull picked up a win with third place offering home advantage in a one-off play-off semi-final.

A win for Wild’s team on Saturday would guarantee a play-off place, a win or a draw would set a new record for the highest points total the club has recorded in the fifth tier since reforming, while a win would equal their best points tally in the previous ten seasons.

Speaking to the Halifax Courier, the boss said: “I honestly don’t feel that there’s any pressure on us, I feel that we’ve just got to keep going,” Wild said.

“The only pressure is what people try to create outside to try and put us under pressure, I don’t feel a pressure and the players hopefully don’t feel a pressure.

“All they need to do is play the game and not the result, just worry about Yeovil on Saturday, don’t worry about what happens on Monday, don’t worry about what happens next Saturday, just play the game.”

Having lost at home to Maidenhead United on the opening day of the season, only promotion-chasing Wrexham and Boreham Wood (before their FA Cup run scuppered them) have won at The Shay in National League action this season.

Last time out in front of their own fans they picked up a 2-0 win over fellow promotion chasers Chesterfield with one Matt Warburton on target.

 

FROM THE MANAGER

Shaymen boss Pete Wild is expecting more of what he and his side experienced when Yeovil came out on top at Huish Park back in September, despite the change of manager from Darren Sarll to Charlie Lee.

He told the Halifax Courier: “Yeovil are off the back of an excellent win on Saturday, I know Charlie tried to keep a lot of the same traits Darren  had and keep a lot of things going.

“I’d expect a team that’s like Charlie as a player, full of tenacity, full of energy, full of drive, wants to get in your faces and make it difficult for us, exactly what they did to Stockport last Saturday.

“I’d expect a lot of that on Saturday because that’s a reflection of Charlie as a person and a footballer, so I’d expect more of what Southend gave us last Saturday.”

TEAM NEWS

Former Glovers’ defender Tom Bradbury will be missing this weekend after picking up a knee injury on Easter Monday.

The centre half, who moved to West Yorkshire following his release from Huish Park in the summer of 2020, had been expected to be out for six weeks but may be back in time for the club’s play-off campaign.

Fellow defender Niall Maher, whose foul on Tom Knowles gave the Glovers a penalty in the reverse fixture, is also a doubt after suffering a hip injury in the loss at Southend.

On loan Pierce Bird, who joined from National League strugglers King’s Lynn last month, could be an option at the back.

Winger Jamie Allen is expected to be missing with a hamstring strain, but midfielder Martin Woods, who had a three game loan spell at Yeovil in 2008, returns after suspension.

 

A FOOT IN BOTH CAMPS

Matt Warburton is the obvious link between these two sides and is showing the class which Yeovil Town supporters saw far too little of during his time at Huish Park.

Ex-Glovers’ midfielder Matt Warburton jumps for a ball with former Halifax favourite Josh Staunton in the reverse fixture at Huish Park in September.

The midfielder has formed an impressive partnership alongside Jordan Slew and Billy Waters in the Halifax front line and will be looking to show his old employers what they missed this weekend.

The 29-year-old joined on loan from Northampton Town in October 2020 and was with Yeovil until the end of last season, but only made 19 appearances. Following his return to Northampton he was released and returned to the North joining Halifax in the summer.

Tom Bradbury is another familiar face having spent the 2019-20 season at Yeovil but he seems likely to miss out with a knee injury this weekend, but Shaymen midfielder Martin Woods, who had a spell on loan at Yeovil in 2008, could feature having returned from suspension.

In the Glovers’ squad, injured midfielder Josh Staunton was a popular figure in West Yorkshire before moving to South Somerset last season. He will be missing having just undergone surgery on a groin hernia.

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Over the Easter period, Yeovil Town struggled against two sides – Aldershot Town and W*ymouth – who were in in poor runs of form.

They will have no such problems against a Stockport County side who have lost just twice since the middle of December and in the process picked up 22 victories.

In an epic exercise of clutching at straws, you could look at it that the Hatters have lost their last two matches away from Edgeley Park, a 2-0 defeat in the FA Trophy at fellow big spenders Wrexham and then a Good Friday loss at Grimsby Town where they played the final 55 minutes with ten men.

Myles Hippolyte in action for Yeovil Town. Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

Make no mistake, this is a very different team to the one which Yeovil turned over 3-0 at Edgeley Park. That performance was played under former boss Simon Rusk and since he was replaced by Dave Challinor in November, Stockport have looked unstoppable.

Their expensively assembled squad boast a frightening array of talent with no less than ex-Glovers’ hero Paddy Madden and Scott Quigley, top scorer for Barrow when they won this division two seasons ago, up front and another former Huish Park favourite Courtney Duffus unable to even make the bench.

They have added to an already strong squad with the signings of players including winger Myles Hippolyte, who played for Yeovil in the 2019-20 season.

Defensively they look strong as well having kept clean sheets in five of their last six games with captain Liam Hogan and Ash Palmer, who saw red in the reverse fixture in September, looking solid.

So, yeah, nothing to worry about.

 

FROM THE MANAGER

Boss Dave Challinor has targeted winning four wins out of their remaining six National League game to clinch the title and is aiming for one of them at the weekend.

Speaking after last weekend’s 1-0 win over Solihull Moors, he said: “Four wins is unassailable out of six. I’ll not say I will take three because that would not be enough – although I would take three if one of them with Wrexham because then they can’t catch us.

“We’ve just got to focus on Yeovil which is a tough place to go against a team which still has pride to play for in front of their own fans.

“They won’t want to lose the game so we have to make sure we are right and we do what we can to win the match.”

TEAM NEWS

Winger Antoni Sarcevic will be the biggest absentee for Stockport County this weekend.

The Manchester-born player joined on a free transfer in October after falling out with Bolton Wanderers manager Ian Evatt and has been a regular starter since arriving.

He is serving the second game of a three-match suspension for a red card picked up in the Good Friday defeat at Grimsby Town.

Defender Liam Hogan went off injured with a “contact injury” against Solihull Moors last weekend, but boss Dave Challinor expected his skipper to be available.

 

A FOOT IN BOTH CAMPS

If you don’t know the answer to this one – where have you been?! Mr Patrick Madden is a centre forward presently earning his trade at Stockport, having written his name in to footballing folklore in South Somerset.

24 goals in 42 games for the Glovers on the way to promotion to the Championship in the 2012-13 season – including a decent hit in the play-off final at Wembley that year – guarantee the Irishman a good reception from the home faithful. Just please don’t score, Paddy.

Another recent addition to the ranks at Edgeley Park is Myles Hippolyte. The winger joined from League Two (soon to be National League) outfit Scunthorpe United at the end of January and has made 13 appearances, scoring three goals including two in his last four. He was part of Darren Sarll’s first squad in 2019-20, making 34 appearances before moving to Scunthorpe.

Another member of the 19-20 squad, Courtney Duffus is another ex-Glover in the visitors’ squad having joined on loan from Morecambe, but such is the strength of the Hatters’ frontline that he is yet to make an appearance.

Winger Ben Whitfield, who joined from Torquay United in the summer, is missing through injury. He played more than 40 times in the 2016-17.

Then, in no particular order, other players who have a foot in both camps include:

  • Matt Warburton
  • Phil Jevons
  • David Poole
  • Andy Welsh
  • Joe Edwards

There’s probably more, but that’s enough to be getting on with.

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The statistics make grim reading for W*ymouth going in to the Easter Monday visit from their old rivals across the border.

The Good Friday defeat at Maidenhead United stretched the Terras’ winless run to eight games and means boss David Oldfield has just one win from 16 games.

They have also not scored in seven of their last eight matches with their only goals coming in 3-2 defeat at Wealdstone.

Only already relegated Dover Athletic have scored fewer fewer goals (32 to their 31) while their have conceded the fourth most goals with the two they let in against Maidenhead taking them to 71 conceded. Only Dover (85), Barnet (76) and King’s Lynn (72) have let in more.

Oldfield said “In my mind, it’s the next game so it looms right into focus in terms of the importance.

“Obviously, for everybody involved it’s a derby game which is fantastic and we need to make sure we’re looking forward to that.

“But in terms of the reality of the situation it is our next game. We need to get ourselves ready to fight as much as we can.

“We’re aware how big the game is and we need to make sure we look after our supporters as much as we can with a performance that does ourselves justice.”

 

FROM THE MANAGER

Following the defeat at Maidenhead United on Good Friday, Terras’ boss David Oldfield admitted his side were now facing an uphill battle to survive, he told the Dorset Echo: “We knew how difficult the task was when I first came in to the group. I haven’t managed to affect the results enough, that’s absolutely plain and clear.

“Whatever happens now is a moot point, we can’t control anything but ourselves. For us to perform as we did is another missed opportunity and a reality check about exactly where we are.

“I can’t comment on other teams, we have to take responsibility, keep working and fighting until the very last kick of the season.”

 

TEAM NEWS

W*ymouth captain and striker Josh McQuoid is back after serving a two-match suspension.

But winger Tom Blair, who had a trial with Yeovil in the summer of 2021, will miss out serving the final match of a four-game suspension.

Midfielders Ollie Harfield and Omar Mussa are both doubts through injury.

Both Andreas Robinson returned after a foot injury on Good Friday and Xander McBurnie played the full 90 minutes against Maidenhead.

Josh Leslie-Smith (head) and striker Martell Taylor-Crossdale (knee) continue to be assessed.

FOOT IN BOTH CAMPS

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 W*ymouth last summer.

Goodship has been a regular starter for the Terras in recent weeks and would be expected to feature against one of his former clubs.

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Barnet boss Dean Brennan is expecting to be without a number of players when they welcome Yeovil Town to The Hive tomorrow.

The manager was not giving away an names when he spoke ahead of the National League fixture, but he did speak (repeatedly) about his frustration at the capacity of the club’s treatment room.

He said described his players resilience to injury as “rubbish” which is something the Yeovil Town squad can relate too from last season.

Brennan said: “I can’t have this amount of players in the treatment room, it just can’t go on and we need to find a solution quickly.

“The recovery and where we are getting injuries is something we have to look at.

“In 11 years in management I have never known anything like this and, as a club, we need to change this.”

Despite this apparent issue, the Bees go in to the weekend off the back of decent run of three wins in their last five National League fixtures.

Their 2-1 win at Maidenhead United last weekend puts them eighth in the form table over the last six matches, with Yeovil in 11th having picked up nine points from a possible nine.

The wins including a 6-0 spanking of bottom club Dover and an impressive home win over high-flying Boreham Wood albeit they lost last time out on home soil going down 2-0 against Woking.

Prior to that run, the Bees had picked up just one win since the start of December with a run of eight defeats and four draws which began when Adi Yussuf’s early goal saw them go down 1-0 at Huish Park on December 11.

Barnet’s Ephron Mason-Clark is shown a red card at Huish Park in December.
Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

Ephron Mason-Clark, who was red carded for a headbutt in the closing stages of that match, is a man in form.

He scored the winner in the 1-0 win over Boreham Wood and was outstanding against Maidenhead last weekend.

Adam Marriott, who missed the defeat at Huish Park to attend the birth of his child, was on the scoresheet last weekend and has six goals in his last ten outings.

He scored a late equaliser for King’s Lynn Town as they nicked a point off Yeovil on the opening day of the 2020-21 season.

FROM THE MANAGER

Bees’ boss Dean Brennan is still expecting a tough game from Yeovil Town even after the departure of his “good friend” Darren Sarll from the Huish Park hot-seat.

Speaking ahead of the game, he said: “They like to play a diamond and 4-4-2 in recent weeks.

“They have loads of pace and creativity in midfield, experience with (Luke) Wilkinson at the back who is a good organiser and Charlie Lee who has stepped in knows this level inside out.


“So we are still expecting a very tough game, they have good players and have done very well with everything that is going on in the background of their club this year.”

TEAM NEWS

Despite the best efforts of the interviewer for the Barnet YouTube channel, boss Dean Brennan was not giving away any details about which members of his squad he is expecting to be without.

But, as you can read above, the fact he will not be able to field the same time he did seven days ago is a cause of great annoyance.

Winger Ephron Mason-Clark and midfielder Sam Beard both appeared as substitutes for England C in their 4-0 defeat to their Wales counterparts in midweek.

A FOOT IN BOTH CAMPS

The last connection between these two clubs that we can think of, former Glovers’ youth team product Mitch Brundle left the Bees by mutual consent in January.

The midfielder has linked up with Southern League side Farnborough so, as far as we can tell, there’s no-one in the either squad with a foot in both camps.

If we’re not allowed to have Jordan Barnett as a connection, then a few other players  who have a foot in both camps include:

  • Mitch Brundle – Yeovil Town (2012-13), Barnet (2021-22)
  • Scott Loach – Yeovil Town (2015), Barnet (2019-2021)
  • Ben Nugent – Yeovil Town (2014-15), Barnet (2020-21)
  • Sam Hoskins – Yeovil Town (2013-2015), Barnet – loan (2014)
  • Keanu Marsh-Brown – Yeovil Town (2012-13), Barnet (2013-15)
  • Iffy Allen – Barnet (2012-15), Yeovil Town (2015-16)
  • Dean Parrett – Yeovil Town (2012), Barnet (2020-21)
  • Bondz N’Gala – Yeovil Town (2011-12), Barnet(2014-16)
  • Izale McLeod – Barnet (2010-2012), Yeovil Town (2016)
  • Sam Cowler – Yeovil Town – loan (2012), Barnet (2012-13, 2014-15)
  • Giuliano Grazioli – Yeovil Town (1995), Barnet (2003-2008)

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It was a 2-1 win over Yeovil Town in Essex back in January which kick-started an amazing run of form for Southend United.

Relegated out of the Football League last May, the Shrimpers had been expected to compete having brought in some experienced professionals in the summer.

Unfortunately, they were being managed by Phil Brown, a man with a far from impressive managerial record, and during the first half of the season they managed just four National League wins with 11 defeats.

The dismissal of Brown at the start of October saw former player Kevin Maher brought in as part of a management team which includes former Barnet manager Darren Currie and despite not making an immediate impact, they built up a head of steam by the time Yeovil came to town.

Since that night they have won seven, drawn four and lost three in the league and rocketed from the relegation zone to a comfortable 12th, one place ahead of Yeovil going in to the weekend.

Maher was busy on the final day of National League clubs being able to register players on Thursday.

He brought in centre half Joe Gubbins on loan from Championship QPR and Dagenham & Redbridge defender Kenny Clark, both of whom will spend the rest of the season on loan in Esssex.

The pair could be in line for a start at Huish Park with ex-Glover Nathan Ralph, who has been playing in the middle of defence, out for six weeks with a thigh injury and Polish defende Kacper Łopata having been recalled by Sheffield United.

Maher said: “With the players we’ve lost it meant we wanted to add a couple in that area. We want to keep pushing and finish the season strongly by winning as many games as we can so I’m pleased we’ve been able to sign two and I’m grateful to the club for allowing us to do that.”

If there’s a positive to be had from Southend’s form it is that they have lost twice in their last three with a 3-0 home defeat to Dagenham and a 2-1 loss at Maidenehead on Tuesday night sandwiching a 2-0 win over Altrincham.

FROM THE GOALKEEPER

Southend goalkeeper Steve Arnold believes his team-mates should not be too downhearted by the midweek defeat at Maidenhead United.

Speaking to the Southend Echo, he said: “If you had offered us where we are now when the manager came in we would’ve done anything for that.

“We do need a sense of perspective but at the same time we don’t want to take our foot off the gas so to speak.

“We’ll take it one game at a time but we’ve got to keep positive.”

Of the trip to Somerset this weekend, the former Forest Green Rovers shot-stopper said: “It’s a game we’re looking to go and win like we do every week. They’re another team in the way of what we want to do as well so we’ll go there looking for three points.”

 

TEAM NEWS

The transfer deadline day arrivals of QPR youngster Joe Gubbins and experienced Dagenham centre half Kenny Clark give Southend options at the back.

They recently lost Kacper Lopata who was recalled by Sheffield United and ex-Glovers’ defender Nathan Ralph through injury, the Shrimpers moved to bolster their back line.

Both will be in with a chance of starting at Huish Park, however, there will be no place for experienced midfielder James Dunne, sent off in the 2-1 defeat at Maidenehead United on Tuesday night.

Also missing will be former Yeovil striker Rhys Murphy and fellow frontman Simeon Akinola who both have knee injuries and midfielder Abu Ogogo who has a heart issue.

Striker Harry Cardwell returned to training this week having been missing for the past month with a hamstring problem, and could be in contention.

FOOT IN BOTH CAMPS

The obvious link between these two sides is Rhys Murphy, who topped the scoring charts in the green-and-white of Yeovil Town for the past two seasons and is doing the same at Southend United.

Sadly, as mentioned above, there’s no change of the bagsman coming back to haunt his old employers having suffered yet another major injury, ironically in the Glovers’ 2-1 defeat at Roots’ Hall earlier this year.

You do have to wonder what kind of a career he could have had if it weren’t for such a bad injury record.

Another familiar face out of the reckoning is defender Nathan Ralph, who was part of the Yeovil side which was promoted to the Championship in 2013.

He has been impressing as a left-sided central defender – he’s not that tall, but he can’t half jump – for the Shrimpers this season but, see Team News, he’s out for the next six weeks with a thigh injury.

Other players with a foot in both camps include:

  • Jordan Green – Yeovil Town (2017-19), Southend United (2020 – loan)
  • Brandon Goodship – Yeovil Town (2016 – loan, 2016), Southend United (2019-21)
  • Jakub Sokolik – Southend United (2014 – loan, 2016), Yeovil Town (2014-16)
  • Craig Calver – Southend United (2009-10), Yeovil Town (2010-11)
  • Scott Spencer – Yeovil Town (2008 – loan), Southend United (2010-11)
  • Wayne Gray – Southend United (2004-06), Yeovil Town (2006-07)
  • Matt Harrold – Southend United (2001-02, 2006-08), Yeovil Town (2005-06)
  • Barrington Belgrave – Yeovil Town (2000-01), Southend United (2001-2003)
  • Gareth Risbridger – Yeovil Town (1998-2001), Southend United (2001-02)
  • Ben Smith – Yeovil Town (1998-2001), Southend United (2001-02)
  • David Webb – Southend United – manager (1986-87, 1988-82, 2000-01, 2010), Yeovil Town (2000)

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Yeovil Town return to Huish Park following their first league win in ten on Saturday and welcome play-off chasing Bromley to town on Tuesday night.

The Glovers overcame Dover Athletic 2-0 at the weekend with goals from Ben Barclay and Dale Gorman whilst Bromley were holding the Hollywood boys of Wrexham to a goalless draw.

In terms of stats, Bromley’s form isn’t actually that good, draws against ten-man Torquay and Weymouth were sandwiched inbetween defeats at the hands of Stockport and Halifax.

They are still in the FA Trophy with their semi-final against York City scheduled for early April and currently sit 9th in the table, four points behind Notts County in 7th and 11 points ahead of the Glovers.

Yeovil won the reverse fixture 2-1 back in late November as part of that incredible run which had us all dreaming of our own crack at the top seven for a while; goals from Tom Knowles and Charlie Wakefield either side of a Michael Cheek penalty bringing all three points back to Somerset.

On that day, the Glovers could only name four subs including goalie Max Evans and youth prospect Ollie Haste.

Dan Moss (loan ended), Grant Smith and Luke Wilkinson (both injured) were all part of that impressive back line on the day and will all be missing this time around.

Since that game in November, the Ravens have added James Vennings, a young midfielder on loan from Charlton and Ali Al-Hamadi on a temporary deal from Wycombe, he will be expecting to start a third successive game alongside Michael Cheek in attack.

They could also have a new goalkeeper with on loan Brentford stopper Ellery Balcombe between the sticks, regular ‘keeper Mark Cousins hasn’t featured since the draw with Weymouth back in February.

FROM THE MANAGER

Bromley manager Andy Woodman is not expecting an easy game against Yeovil Town

Asked about the trip to the Glovers after Saturday’s 0-0 draw with Wrexham, he said:

“We have got to build on this (result v Wrexham) now, that’s the real important thing, a clean sheet against Wrexham, a good performance against Halifax although we didn’t get the result, we have got to keep plugging away at this stage of the season”

“It wont be easy, I don’t think any game is easy, we are all seeing that, we will prepare for that one and hopefully we can come back with the points”

TEAM NEWS

Michael Cheek will almost certainly lead the line for the Ravens, with three goals in his last three games against the Glovers he’ll be hoping for more of the same.

Former Glovers captain Omar Sowunmi hasn’t featured in either of the last two Bromley games.

 

A FOOT IN BOTH CAMPS

Two former Glovers defenders are currently in the Bromley squad, Wembley hero Byron Webster and Omar Sowunmi

Defender Omar Sowumni.
Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

The giant 26-year-old defender spent four years at Huish Park having been signed from from Lowestoft Town by Paul Sturrock who infamously said he believed he could make the ex-Ipswich Town striker “the next Kenwyne Jones”.

Suffice to say, despite some impressive performances, Omar’s time at Huish Park will be remembered for captaining the side which whimpered out of the Football League in 2018-19.

In the Yeovil Town camp, Charlie Wakefield will be looking to show his old employers what they have missed out on.

The former Chelsea youngster was released by Bromley in the summer having made just four starts after joining in January last season.

Other players with a foot in both camps include Courtney Duffus, who it appears did not appeal to Woodman having been ignored for much of last season and then shipped out to Morecambe.

Winger Iffy Allen is another, having had a pretty iffy 12 match spell at Huish Park in 2015-16, before spending the 2017-18 campaign at Bromley.