Rhys Murphy

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Yeovil Town front man Rhys Murphy will miss the Glovers’ game against Bath City.

The bagsman picked up his fifth Yellow Card of the season in the 1-1 draw against Chippenham Town, after said a word or two too many to the referee.

The fifth caution confirmed as falling under “C2 – Dissent by Word or Action”

With yellow cards being competition specific and taking seven days to kick in, the former Arsenal youngster will be eligible to play against Welling on Saturday and Wrexham in the FA Cup before sitting out the Wednesday night game against Bath after that.

A reminder that Saturday’s game against Welling represents the Glovers’ 19th league game of the season and is the cut off point for a five-booking ban. Both Matt Worthington and Charlie Cooper sit on four bookings, if they avoid the wrath of the ref, they can breathe easy (until their 10th booking that is)

 

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Yeovil Town face a short trip to Devon on Tuesday night as they face Torquay United down on the English Riviera. The fixture will see the two pre-season title favourites go head to head for the first time this season, with Town sitting top of the National League South currently seven points ahead of the Devonshire side.

After another successful weekend in the FA Cup, it’s back to league action for the Glovers who will want to make it 12 consecutive wins against former boss Gary Johnson.

Gary Johnson during his first spell at Yeovil

The Gulls will be hoping the impressive home form they have shown this season will continue and secure them the three against their West Country Rivals.

Yeovil Town News

Over the last 11 games, the Glovers have been the in-form team not only in the league but the country and even Europe with only The New Saints Víkingur and Bayer Leverkusen able to match Towns winning record. This form can be attributed to several key factors, the main one being the attacking line. With 28 goals scored in the league alone this season, which makes Town the division’s top goal scorers. The defense has been solid too, only conceding 16 (the fifth-best in the league).

The Somerset side’s key man for the game is talismanic striker Rhys Murphy, who has bagged eight goals in thirteen games since re-signing for the side. The 33-year-old has always enjoyed facing his former team, scoring many important goals including the last-minute winner on a wet New Year’s Day in 2020.

Another one of Town’s important figures is midfielder Matty Worthington. Almost an unsung hero outside of the Huish Park faithful, Worthington’s emergence as a goalscoring midfielder under Mark Cooper has been impressive.

Yeovil Town celebrate Matt Worthington’s opening goal.
Picture courtesy of Debs Curtis.

Speaking of Cooper, he has never been beaten by Gary Johnson in the six times the pair have faced each other, with the Yorkshireman winning three and drawing three.

Other than Sendles-White, the Glovers have no players missing.

Torquay United Team News

The Devonshire side’s form this season has been very sporadic, with the majority of their wins coming at home, having not lost at Plainmoor in the league since a 0-3 defeat to Worthing in August. However, Gulls fans have not been happy in recent weeks even calling for boss Gary Johnson to be sacked after only winning one from five through October.

Torquay did though pick up all three points against Bath City in their last game, thanks to a goal from former Glover Shaun Donnellan.

Ex-Yeovil player Shaun Donnellan. Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

United’s key man is a striker, in the form of Bradley Ash. The 27-year-old has found the net four times so far this season in the absence of Aaron Jarvis.

Two former Glovers players to watch out for are centre-back Shaun Donnellan and midfielder Kevin Dawson.

Aaron Jarvis misses out through injury.

 

 

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Another week, another Glovers’ representative in the official Vanarama Team of the Week.

Rhys Murphy‘s goal(s?) helped the Glovers pull off their second Cup upset in the FA Cup by beating National League side Gateshead.

Well in Rhys!

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Yeovil Town goal hero Rhys Murphy believes the 3-2 scoreline flattered their opponents Gateshead today as his side progressed to Round Two of the FA Cup with their eleventh successive win today.

Having gone in to a 3-0 lead, the Glovers had a penalty the striker described as “iffy” given against them and then had to endure a nervy last few minutes as visiting frontman Marcus Dinanga added a second five minutes in to seven minutes of second half injury time.

His manager Mark Cooper said referee Gary Parsons had “tried to make a game of it” with his decisions and his top scorer agreed the home side never looked in trouble.

Speaking to BBC Somerset’s Sheridan Robins after the game, Murphy said: “We have controlled games with and without the ball and had a good mix of performances that a good team needs. I think we looked comfortable today, they may have scored two but one is an iffy penalty and the other is when they are throwing the kitchen sink at us in the last few minutes. I don’t think the scoreline reflects the game fairly, it was a solid performance and I thought we looked dangerous, so we will dust ourselves down and go in to a big game on Tuesday.

“The management team are always one step ahead and do their due diligence, so they know the strengths and weaknesses of who we are coming up against. We always have a game plan for whoever we are playing and we have come up against a few teams recently that like to dominate the ball and we have come up with a game plan where we have let their strength become their weakness.”

Murphy was replaced by Jake Hyde after 72 minutes with the top scorer on a hat-trick. Before the game, Cooper said that Murphy had been “gagging” to play having not featured in the 2-0 home win over Braintree Town seven days earlier.

The frontman said: “No player wants to not play, but you have to realise you are getting older. The manager looks like he is doing a great job managing the whole squad, not just myself. Every player wants to play every week and I am no different but luckily we are in a position where whoever is called upon is doing a job. We don’t rely on any one player from front to back, we have a really good squad and the staff are working hard.”

Now Yeovil are back in National League South action with a trip to Gary Johnson’s Torquay United on Tuesday night and Murphy is seemingly gagging to be let loose against the Gulls as well.

Asked about the match, he said: “Everyone can’t wait, straight after the game we said ‘good win, but let’s focus on Tuesday’, so it’s rest and recovery tomorrow and let’s get ready for another big one. We are in a good place, the fans have been brilliant and I am sure they will travel well. We have got some good memories down there, so hopefully we will go down and make some more.”

We think we may know the memories you are referring to there, Rhys.

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Top scorer Rhys Murphy is being “let loose” on today’s FA Cup opponents Gateshead as he seeks to tune up for Tuesday night’s trip to Torquay United.

Boss Mark Cooper admitted the ten goal frontman was “gagging to play” having not featured in last weekend’s 2-0 win over Braintree United. 

He is paired alongside ex-Gulls’ frontman Frank Nouble with Exeter City loanee Sonny Cox dropped to the substitutes’ bench along with Jordan Young.

Speaking to BBC Somerset’s Sheridan Robins, the manager said: “With Tuesday night in mind, Murph’s had a really good rest and he’s gagging to play, so we let him loose today. Players just want to play, but I promised players like Murph and (Jake) Hyde that I would try and manage them and get them more minutes on the pitch and so far so good.

“We have another massive game on Tuesday night and we need a real fresh front four then. We have to keep an eye on Tuesday, but we have to win today before we think about that. We can’t look at games and think we do this here and that there, we just have to take the next game.”

Despite the rain having lashed down on Somerset throughout the week, the Huish Park surface has been passed fit to play and Cooper hopes that may not suit the passing game of the North East side.

Cooper said: “They are a really good footballing team, so it might suit us better than them, I don’t know. There has been an awful lot of rain, the last two games has been absolutely torrential rain from minute one, and it is still wet but it is playable.

“These are not your normal non-League team because the style they play is like a League One side. The style they play is pure possession, really difficult to play against, so we have to be aggressive and relentless to make it an uncomfortable afternoon with them.“

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The first round of the FA Cup is upon us and it will see Yeovil Town host possibly their hardest opponent yet, in high flying National League team Gateshead FC. (Storm Ciaran dependent)

The inform Town will be looking to upset the odds against a very strong Tynesiders team, but the prospect of extending the winning streak to 11 games as well as the Huish Park faithful should be enough to spur on the Mark Coopers men.

Gateshead recently lost manager Mark Williamson to MK Dons and have been under the stewardship of ex-Newcastle United keeper Rob Elliot. In his two games in charge so far, Elliot has one point from six.

Yeovil Town News

Manager Mark Cooper believes Gateshead will pose a difficult test. He said: “I like watching them in my spare time. I would say they’re the one of best if not the best pure football teams in the National League.

“They’re very similar to Notts County…If you take Chesterfield out of it, they’re the toughest test we could have got from the National League.”

The former Darlington man is hoping for a result either at the weekend. He said: ” We just spoke to the staff and if it’s nil-nil then one of us is going to run on to the pitch to score an own goal. It will be the worst thing for both teams with the amount of games coming up.”

A slight dilemma for Cooper could be up front where the recent purple patch from Jake Hyde has seen him rise into contention among the front line. With the likes of Rhys Murphy and Frank Nouble also competing for a similar role it will be a nice problem to have for the 54-year-old.

Jake Hyde
Picture courtesy of Iain Morland.

Jordan Young also spoke about the upcoming tie. He said: “We know how good they are but it’s similar to the Southend game, it’s a good chance to show what we can do.” Young also spoke about how “good a feeling” it would be to get to the second round of the Cup and compared the Cup fixtures to a “nice day out” as it takes your mind away from the league.

Jamie Sendles-White is the only player missing through injury.

Gateshead News

Rob Elliot feels the FA Cup will provide the perfect challenge for his young side as they make the long trip down to Somerset. He said: “By no means are we taking them lightly, it’s probably one of the toughest games we could’ve got, in terms of the travel, their form and the potential conditions. But I like that.”

The former Premier league shot stopper has “a lot of respect for Yeovil” and feels the Glovers are a “very good team” with “good, experienced players.”

Town fans will know all about the exploits of the majority of this Gateshead squad after that fateful Tuesday night last season. The danger man so far this season for the Tynesiders has once again been frontman Marcus Dinanga who has netted 12 goals so far. Other key men for the National League side include Luke Hannant and Louis Storey. Greg Olley returns after sitting out his one game suspension.

Gateshead are without Carl Maganay (Injury), Robbie Tinkler (Injury).

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There might be ten consecutive wins* up for grabs, but Yeovil Town top-scorer Rhys Murphy is seeing nothing more than three points against Braintree Town this weekend.

The marksmen has ten goals in all competitions to his name this season and is part of a Glovers’ side in a scintillating run of form and is hungry for more – wins and goals, that is.

But, speaking on Thursday ahead of the match at Huish Park, he revealed the manager Mark Cooper and his staff are not allowing anyone to get carried away.

He said: “There’s no chance of us getting too confident in the run we are having. The manager, the staff are on us every day. You may have won the last game but that means nothing, move on to the next one.

“We are having team meetings about the opposition and their strengths and weaknesses and we show them the respect they deserve, but there’s going to be no foot coming off the gas and we are going to be attacking every game and going in to win it.”

Asked about the possibility of moving in to double figures in their winning run, Murphy added: “We are not looking at breaking records, if they come along that’s great, but the aim is bigger than getting a record in the season. The focus is on making sure we are promoted.

“It would be pretty pointless breaking a record in October and not getting promoted. Your eyes always have to be on the bigger picture.”

By his (admittedly very high) standards, the frontman is having a bit of a goal drought having not scored in the last three matches albeit he has been instrumental in setting up a number of goals scored by his team-mates.

He was replaced after 70 minutes in the midweek win over W*ymouth and his replacement, Jake Hyde, went on to bag the side’s second deep in to second half stoppage time. 

To add to the strength of the Glovers’ forward line, Sonny Cox, the teenage striker on loan from League One Exeter City, impressed having replaced Frank Nouble at the same point in the game – and Murphy admits the competition is spurring the players on.

Murphy said: “Players can’t afford to take their eye off the ball, they need to be training hard and showing they are worthy of a start every week.

“You have to earn you shirt and when you do you need to be taking your chance and, if you don’t, there are people coming in to take your place. And even if you are playing well, the manager has shown he is able to make substitutes that impact in games.

“We saw that the other night (against W*ymouth) and there has been other occasions where subs have come on and had a really strong impact on the game which is great.

“It’s a long hard season where the entire squad is going to be needed and you are not going to be successful with only one or two players performing. We need everybody and at the moment, everybody is pulling their weight.”

 

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Competition for places is driving Yeovil Town’s players on to fight for their place in the starting line-up, according to star striker Rhys Murphy.

The frontman scored his ninth and tenth goal of the season in the 3-1 home win over Aveley, a result which lifted the Glovers to the top of the National League South table, before being replaced by Jake Hyde with 16 minutes remaining.

Speaking to BBC Somerset’s Sheridan Robins after the game, Murphy said: “There’s so many good players in the squad, we are in a really good place with competition for places. Everyone needs to be on it and whoever has got the shirt, you are confident they are going to go out and put in a performance.

“I was a bit frustrated because I could have had a couple (of goals before I scored) but the team has created so many chances today, it felt like just a matter of time.

“I knew when the next chance was going to come and it did and they weren’t pretty goals but they were in the right places.

“The Gaffer is big on positioning, so thankyou to him and to the team for getting the ball in the right positions. Long may it continue, whether it is me or whoever, it really doesn’t matter.”

With early season pace-setters Bath City and Taunton Town both dropping points, the victory lifted Yeovil to the top of the National League South table on goal difference, with second-placed Taunton have played a game more.

Murphy added: “I am more pleased to find out that we are top of the table. I thought it was a really good team performance today, first half and then it was always going to be a trickier second half, but I thought we dealt with it okay.
Another home win, the fans were brilliant and it is nice for them to go home knowing we are top of the league.

“The Gaffer said we needed to have energy and start brightly because (Aveley) had a long week and then had to travel down today, so he was really on us to start well.

“Thankfully we did, everyone was on the front foot and it just seemed to click and it is always enjoyable when it goes that way.”

Having raced in to a 3-0 half-time lead, Aveley, who remain sixth in the table even after the defeat, came out strongly in the second half and showed why they have are the division’s surprise package of the season so far.

Murphy said: “You know they were going to react (in the second half) so it is about managing the game, taking the sting out of the game, but you know you want to be scoring more goals.

“It felt like there was the potential there for more goals, but I thought we managed it well. There was a bit of space in behind which we didn’t quite exploit, we just wanted to get the game done and win and we are top of the table.

“The team is full of confidence, we are in a good moment but we know it is only a moment. It’s not a case of job done, it’s a nice little reward and evidence we are doing the right thing.

“We are not going to pat ourselves on the back, we want more and the manager’s going to demand it from himself, the staff and the players as well so we are looking forward to the next game.”

The next game sees Murphy’s former side Southend United visit Huish Park in the FA Cup fourth qualifying round next weekend.

The last time the two sides met it ended with a 2-0 victory for the Shrimpers – with Jake Hyde and Rhys Murphy on target.

Murphy said: “I hope it is a good game and I hope we can twist it round and me and Hydey are on the scoresheet for Yeovil. The main thing is whoever scores, let’s win. The most important thing is being in the first round and take that momentum in to the next game.”

You can listen to the full interview with Sheridan Robins Here:

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Yeovil Town match winner Rhys Murphy has been speaking to BBC Somerset’s Ian Randall after the Glovers’ 2-1 win over Hampton & Richmond. You can hear the entire interview at the bottom of the article.

Murphy, who’s first half goal proved to be the winning one, said that the team worked well as a whole to produce a near perfect away performance.

“It’s always a good time to score before half time, but I don’t think there’s ever a bad time to score, Jordan (Stevens) took his goal unbelievably well – what a great tackle that was -So, yeah, two nil at half time and I felt like we probably started a little bit slow, but we expected a reaction from them.

But I think we were just starting to hurt them on the counter attacks and I thought that if we had got that third goal it would have been game done.”

The second half saw Jake Hyde (two yellows) and Matt Worthington (straight red) receive their marching orders from the referee, Murphy just want to focus on how the team dealt with the changes and saw the game out.

“I thought the team did ever so well to deal with what they had and see the game through.”

“But obviously then sendings off have changed the course of the game slightly, but I thought the team did ever so well to deal with what they had and see the game through.

At the end of the day, I thought the team worked really well today, there was another chance they created for me just before that and I didn’t quite get the ball set back to Frank who was in a great position, so that was one that I frustrated with myself.

This team creates, whether it’s for me or for someone else, this team creates lots of chances every game, so it’s a good team to play in.”

The result moves the Glovers up to second in the table – for a short while going top of the league during the game, Murphy says that the group wont settle for anything less.

“We’re picking up points, which is pleasing, all season whether we’ve win, lost or draw, we want more, so that won’t stop all season, so we’re going to keep demanding off each other and I think today was a good away performance.

I thought everybody was tremendous today, down the middle of the pitch Morgs, Wans, Coops Worthy, unbelievable performances from them boys, especially when we go down to ten men.
They do so much work for the team and that’s not forgetting anybody else, but they probably do a lot of work that goes unnoticed.

So yeah, to keep the ball out of Joe’s box and stop him from making saves and Josh (Owers) came on, did terrific, so did the skipper. 

It’s hard coming on as a defender in those types of games, so everybody did really well. It’s a good win.“

Whilst the scoreline suggests a close run affair, the feeling is that the Glovers had their opponents in a comfortable place for large parts of the game and the front man is happy that the team can see games out in that style

“I’m not sure it was that tight of a game. I think – ask Joe – probably quite a comfortable game up until the sendings off, so I thought we had quite good control on it, even when we didn’t have the ball.

We weren’t getting hurt. So, again, I haven’t watched it back, obviously, but as away performances go, I think today was quite a good one, which is positive.

We can mix it up and if we need to win in the ugly ways or any way, then at the moment we’re doing that.”

You can listen to the entire interview below, including a few words about preparing for Didcot Town in the FA Cup next week.

 

 

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Hat-trick hero Rhys Murphy has been named in the Team of the Week for his performance in the 7-1 win over AFC Stoneham at the weekend.

The striker scored a second half treble to secure the Glovers a place in in the next round.