Southend United (Page 2)

By:
On:
In: Latest Yeovil Town News

Manager Mark Cooper highlighted Yeovil Town’s failure to strengthen their forward line in the transfer market as he was dealt another both with the loss of striker Alex Fisher through injury.

The frontman, who is the club’s joint top scorer with five goals, suffered a suspected broken ankle in an innocuous looking collision with goalkeeper Collin Andeng-Ndi in the 2-0 home defeat to Southend United at Huish Park in Saturday’s late kick-off.

That leaves only Malachi Linton, who also has five goals to his name this season, and on loan Doncaster Rovers man Reo Griffiths, who was not in the squad, as the only recognised strikers in the squad.

Asked about Fisher’s injury by BBC Somerset’s Sheridan Robins, Cooper said: “I am being told it is a break, but until that is confirmed I am not going to speculate. He is on the gas and air and it is more about Fish again than anything else.”

He then added: “You look at all the other clubs down (at the bottom of the National League), they have all strengthened in that area and we haven’t.”

Cooper has not hidden his displeasure at the involvement of the club’s owners-in-waiting SU Glovers who have been public in talking about how they are getting involved in bringing players in. Recent arrivals Callum Harriott, who had a thigh injury, Zanda Siziba and Griffiths were not involved in the squad against Southend.

Asked directly about whether he was unhappy with the off-the-field interference in recruitment, Cooper said: “We have spoken about it before, we have to be better in all aspects, recruitment-wise, whatever it is, we have to be better. That was clearly shown today.”

The manager explained his decision to put defender Max Hunt on up front following the departure of Fisher on a stretcher, saying: “I didn’t think we were going to score by playing and cutting them open, I thought it was just going to come from a knock down in the box, try and create a bit of pressure in the box.”

If you were looking for anything to lift your spirits, you will not find it in this post-match interview but the manager did say he would not question the desire of his players.

He said: “The fight is the one thing I can’t question (about the players) and it’s one thing I can’t question. If you see the effort, the distance and sprints they have put in, we can’t question their fight. Can we question their quality? Possibly.”

The next game takes Yeovil on the long trip to Gateshead on Tuesday night. The Tyneside club booked their place in the FA Trophy final with a penalty shoot-out win over Barnet today and have now won their last three matches.

Asked about that, Cooper added: “They got to Wembley today so they will be cock-a-hoop and looking forward to playing for us knowing we are depleted but there is no feeling sorry for yourselves, you have to roll your sleeves up and get on with it.“

By:
On:
In: Latest Yeovil Town News, Match Reports

Venue: Huish Park
Saturday, 1st April, 5.20pm kick-off

Pitch: Green
Conditions:  Dry and sunny

Scorers: Jake Hyde 24 (0-1), Rhys Murphy 90+2 (0-2),

Bookings: 

Yeovil Town: Miguel Freckleton 34, Malachi Linton 78
Southend United: Cav Miley 44, Nathan Ralph 45, Harry Cardwell 74

Sendings off:

Yeovil Town: Miguel Freckleton 84

Referee: Ed Duckworthj

Yeovil Town (5-2-3)


Substitutes: Alex Fisher (for Jack Clarke, 46), Max Hunt (for Alex Fisher, 58), Malachi Linton (for Jordan Young, 73), Reckord, Johnson.

Southend United: Andeng-Ndi, Ralph, Taylor, Scott-Morriss, Lomas, Hobson, Kensdale, Benton (for Fonguck, 70), Miley, Hyde (for Powell, 70), Cardwell (for Rhys Murphy, 90). Substitutes:  Mooney, Bridge.


Match Report

Yeovil Town’s relegation woes deepened with a 2-0 home defeat against Southend United – but the result was only part of the story of the day at Huish Park.

A first half strike from Jake Hyde and a late second from former Glover Rhys Murphy did the damage, but just five minutes after coming on at half-time top scorer Alex Fisher suffered a horrific injury after a collision with visiting keeper Collin Andeng-Ndi.

Then with seven minutes of the game remaining defender Miguel Freckleton was given a second yellow card and a the corresponding red. That rules the Sheffield United loanee out for Tuesday night’s trip to Gateshead. Lucky him.

We’ll not blame you if you don’t want to read this latest tale of woe…..

 

First half

Following a one-minute applause to mark the second anniversary of the passing of ex-Glovers’ captain Lee Collins, Yeovil attacked the away end in the first half.

The first chance fell to Scott Pollock, getting his first start for Yeovil, inside the opening two minutes as Yeovil got in down the left side, but the midfielder could not angle a shot past Collin Andeng-Ndi in the visitors’ goal. Squaring the ball to Maguire-Drew was perhaps a better option although he was shadowed by a Southend defender.

It was a bright opening five minutes for Yeovil and Andrew Oluwabori tested Andeng-Ndi from distance and at the other end a long ball forward almost found Harry Cardwell after eight minutes, but Owen Bevan did well to put him off his shot with only Grant Smith to beat.

With 21 minutes played, Maguire-Drew picked up the ball in the middle of the pitch and fed Jordan Young, but his effort was not troubling Andeng-Ndi from distance. A minute later, a corner came to Lomas who was found at the back post and his effort was stopped by the feet of Smith.

Three minutes later, the visitors were ahead. The Yeovil defence switched off from a throw and a ball in to the box from Nathan Ralph was nodded down by Gus Scott-Morriss in to a crowded penalty area. Cardwell reacted and got the ball back to Jake HYDE who lashed in the opener.

That gave the visitors a lift and on 28 minutes Scott-Morriss’ cross from the right found Cardwell at the back post, but he couldn’t angle his header on target.

After a bright start, the home side had started to quieten down and the goal and, other than a couple of runs forward by Oluwabori, there was little in the way of a response. Huish Park has fallen deathly quiet.

A deep cross to the back post from Maguire-Drew went towards Oluwabori at the back post with five minutes of the first half remaining, but as far as quality balls in to the box were concerned they were few and far between.

Another came from the same source as Maguire-Drew’s free-kick found Pollock inside the box and his header thumped against the base of the post and away for a corner. That’s a chance to book end the half from the midfielder, who had a reputation from scoring from his days at Boston United…..you can do the rest.

One or two boos met the half-time whistle. It certainly was not as bad as the previous performance against Bromley – but a lack of attacking intent barely even worth mentioning these days. Big second half required, but we seem to say that every week as well.

Half time: Yeovil Town 0 Southend United 1

 

Second half

Alex Fisher replaced Jack Clarke at the half-time interval and it was the club’s joint top-scorer – with just five goals, of course – who was involved in the first incident. A totally innocuous coming together between Fisher and Andeng-Ndi saw the striker go down with what was instantly obvious was a broken ankle. The television coverage caught Fisher scream in pain, a heartbreaking thing to see.

Just when you thought things could not get any worse – they did. All the best, Fish.

Max Hunt replaced him in the target man role, but having a centre half playing as centre forward perhaps summarises the attacking issues which have riddled us for the entire season – and last season!

Ironically, it was another defender, captain Staunton, who had a glorious chance in the 64th minute. A superb corner from Maguire-Drew saw the skipper get ahead of his opponent Nathan Ralph and Andeng-Ndi did superbly to make a one-handed save and turn it around the post.

A mistake by Pollock on the edge of his box gifted Southend a big opportunity after 69 minutes. His attempted forward pass was blocked and broke to Cardwell, but he lifted his shot over the bar.

On 74 minutes, Malachi Linton, who scored on his last appearance in the 1-1 draw at FC Halifax Town a fortnight ago, replaced Young. Difficult to see where the spark of inspiration was going to come from for the home side.

Bevan put a header over from a corner, won by some good play from Oluwabori, another good ball in from Maguire-Drew on a day when quality balls in to the box were sadly lacking.

Remember when we said about things not getting any worse? Well, on 84 minutes substitute Callum Powell’s burst forward and was checked by Freckleton, who had already been booked in the first half. Two yellows make a red. On first inspection it did not look like a bookable offence to me, on re-inspection (via television replay) it still didn’t. Sigh.

Three minutes from time, Pollock broke in to the box and got a shot in on goal which was stopped on the line by Harry Taylor. Pollock has looked lively, but sadly from his three efforts on goal, he has not converted any of them.

As the 11 minutes of injury time came up, Rhys Murphy replaced Harry Cardwell. You know what’s coming here, don’t you? Scott-Morriss’ ball in from the right hand side and Powell was completely unmarked in the middle of the box, inexplicably his effort came off the bar. The ball broke to MURPHY who showed the type of striker’s instinct so sadly lacking from his former club to smash home the second.

Two goals from two clinical strikers. That was the difference.

Full time: Yeovil Town 0 Southend United 2

By:
On:
In: Latest Yeovil Town News

Striker Jordan Young returns to the Yeovil Town starting XI after a hamstring injury to face Southend United in front of the BT Sport cameras (5.20pm kick-off).

He is expected to be in a three-man attack alongside Jordan Maguire-Drew and Scott Pollock. On loan midfielder Jack Clarke, who has also been missing through injury, is also back and seems likely to pair with Charlie Cooper.

There is no place for recent arrivals winger Callum Harriott, who has a thigh injury, midfielder Zanda Siziba or striker Reo Griffiths.

For the visitors, ex-Glovers’ striker Rhys Murphy is on the substitutes’ bench with another former Yeovil Town man Nathan Ralph in the starting XI.

 

By:
On:
In: Latest Yeovil Town News

Yeovil Town goalkeeper Grant Smith says securing survival in the National League is still in the hands of his team-mates.

The Glovers’ stopper, who has kept 13 clean sheets in all competitions this season, follows the thinking of his manager Mark Cooper that midweek defeats for Aldershot Town and York City have pulled them back in to the relegation scrap.

Yeovil go in to Saturday’s home game with Southend United occupying the top spot in the division’s bottom four with only Gateshead, who now sit two points and one place above them, having played fewer games.

Speaking on Thursday, Smith said: “All we can do is focus on ourselves, if we win our games that’s all we can do. Obviously teams around us play each other and we have to play those teams, so if we can get some wins then that will lead to others not getting results. So it is truly in our hands.

“By Saturday we will be fully focused on what we are doing, we can’t affect anything else so ultimately it doesn’t matter if other teams don’t get results. If we don’t win the game, it doesn’t matter if others win, lose or draw.”

Grant Smith. Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

He admitted that the team’s poor form in front of goal – just 32 goals in 38 matches which is 11 worse than bottom club Maidstone United – was putting extra pressure on the defence not to concede.

The Glovers have the best sixth best defensive record in the division and you have to go up to 12th place to find a better goals against tally – which is Saturday’s opponents, Southend United, incidentally!

Smith said: “It adds pressure on us defensively because we need to be perfect because we do lack in goals, but we have faith in the boys and hopefully starting Saturday that will come.

“When you know we don’t create five, six, seven chances, we know we might only create one chance that does add pressure because we know that if we let in one or two goals, the stats don’t lie, so it does add pressure.”

By:
On:
In: Latest Yeovil Town News

Striker Jordan Young is “touch and go” for tomorrow’s visit from Southend United in front of the television cameras at Huish Park.

The 23-year-old has been missing for the past two games with a hamstring injury and is one of a number of fitness doubts for manager Mark Cooper going in to the weekend.

The boss said ruled out any chance of midfielder Jordan Stevens being fit and said a thigh injury sustained by recent arrival Callum Harriott in last weekend’s 1-0 home defeat to Bromley could keep him out.

Speaking on Thursday, Cooper said: “It’s about the group, it’s about that spirit, togetherness and desire and a group of players are desperate for Yeovil Town to retain its National League status.

“The core group have that connection and it’s down to me to galvanise that and make it more powerful. We might lack in quality, but we don’t lack in effort.

“There is a togetherness in the changing room and the players are desperate for the club to stay up. It’s all about what happens on the pitch, we can’t effect or control what goes on off the pitch, from my point of view I can only put the best team possible on the pitch and get them to have a right go in a Yeovil shirt.”

Jordan Young. Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

He confirmed striker Malachi Linton, who scored the equaliser in the 1-1 draw at FC Halifax Town a fortnight ago but was an unused substitute against Bromley, was available. The manager said: “Mal is okay, but we have a selection of forwards and we have to try and find a combination which leads to us scoring more goals.”

Asked about the number of injuries suffered by his squad, Cooper added: “There are reasons for it. We have found ourselves in a position where we are having to get players fit during matches because they can never replicate the tempo, speed and adrenaline of a match in training. Some players are going to break down, that is just nature.”

 

Following last weekend’s defeat both Cooper and captain Josh Staunton made it clear issues behind-the-scenes had been a major distraction and this week owner-in-waiting Matt Uggla revealed that former Tottenham Hotspur and QPR assistant manager Kevin Bond had joined the club as (we think) Director of Football.

There has been no statement made by the club since Uggla tweeted the arrival earlier in the week, but Bond has been meeting with various people at Huish Park this week.

Asked about the news, Cooper said: “I can’t go in to that. That’s up to the club to answer that. It’s difficult because you see and hear what is going on, but it is important I try and protect the players because we all get things wrong. We will take some stick, but we only have the club’s best interests at heart and we will try our best to do the best job we can.“

In midweek, victories for Gateshead and Dorking Wanderers saw Yeovil drop in to the National League relegation places.

They now sit 21st, two points behind Gateshead, who are in FA Trophy semi-final action on Saturday, and five points behind Dorking, who travel to Dagenham & Redbridge at the weekend.

But, a midweek defeat for Aldershot Town and a draw for York City, who have both played two more games than the Glovers, means they are within striking distance as well.

Cooper said: “I think the results have dragged more teams in to it. Certain teams won but there are another couple of teams that lost that are bang in it, there’s more teams involved in the scrap to stay up than there was on Tuesday night. Look at Aldershot and York now, they are bang in trouble.

“We have got eight games, we want to win eight games, that is the challenge and hopefully we can get enough players fit to give us that lift.”

The bottom of the National League table going in to this weekend.

Asked about how he and his backroom staff had lifted the players who were booed off the pitch by the Huish Park crowd after the defeat to Bromley, Cooper said: “With good training, reinforcing messages that they can be good players, there is no point in me hammering the players and expecting them to run through brick walls on a Saturday.

“It is more arm around the shoulder, they are good people and we have to drain every last minute of ability out of them.

“We started really flat last weekend and that was a culmination of a number of things that have happened, but there’s no excuses, it’s about the players being the best version of what they can be when they cross that white line. We need to get at least eight or nine of the eleven to be right at it, last Saturday we had two or three.

“The intent is to out have two corners, a few shots and crosses in the first five minutes and not be 1-0 down, but that comes down to personal pride and concentrate. The players will be prepared and we hope we get good performances.”

By:
On:
In: Five Conclusions, Gloversblog, Latest Yeovil Town News

The hunt for Yeovil Town’s second win of the National League season goes on after a 1-0 defeat away at Southend United in a match which saw the Glovers play 73 minutes with ten men following the first half dismissal of Gime Toure.

The result puts them clear of the National League drop zone by goal difference alone with 11 matches of Chris Hargreaves’ tenure as manager now played.

Dave gives his opinions on what he saw from the away end at Root’s Hall.

 

Southend were not a good team either. I’m not sure if this one ranks as a positive or a negative conclusion, but the fact that our opponents were unable to muster more than a single goal against us with ten men speaks volumes. For the 17 minutes that we had the full complement on the pitch, we caused them problems and looked like causing them more.
I, like the other 80 supporters in the away end, saw nothing of the incident which led to Gime Toure’s red card but if that “moment of madness” had not happened, we threatened to be a slightly above average team against an average one. Is that a positive or a negative dressed up as a positive? You decide.

Gime Toure. Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

The sock count will be increasing. I’m going to try and get a couple of positives in at the beginning here, because there was effort from the team – socks well and truly worn out. I’ll defer judgement on Gime Toure’s red, but if he kicked out at Kacper Lopata then he landed his team-mates well and truly in it. There was huge frustration that for the first half minutes which followed the 17th minute dismissal we defended deeper and deeper until the inevitable happened and Jake Hyde popped up with the eventual winner, but there was some effort mostly in the final 20 minutes. To the extent you would not believe we had a one man deficit at some points.

Against any other player, is that a foul? CRASH! Yes, that’s the sound of Rule 1 of the Gloverscast being shattered on the floor, but I have to talk about at least one decision made by referee Sam Mulhall. No, I don’t mean the sending off because he (like me!) completely missed that and was informed by his assistant. On 32 minutes, Josh Staunton beats Southend keeper Collin Andeng-Ndi (who looked shaky all match) to a corner to head home, the keeper goes sprawling on his back waving his hands and the official chalks the goal off for a foul. Against any other player on the pitch, is that a foul? To me, no, it’s simply a player wanting the ball more.

You can’t have ten hard luck stories. As I walked out of Root’s Hall without acknowledging the efforts of the Yeovil side (I had a train to catch!), I could almost hear the post-match interviews – socks worked off, commitments to putting it right on Tuesday night at Dorking and the same hard luck stories we’ve heard so often. The fact is, you can’t have ten hard luck stories, we’ve won one of our 11 matches so far this season afterall. The simple fact is performances have not been good enough and no about of effort and desire alone is going to fix that. These things are the minimum we expect, but they are not enough to earn three points on their own. There’s enough quality there, there’s no obvious deadwood like we had last season (if you tell me Reuben Reid scored a hat-trick for Weston-super-Mare this weekend, you’re only reinforcing my point) but the fact is they’re not performing at the moment and that’s down to more than effort.

Martyn Starnes, far left, with Stuart Robins and Scott Priestnall at the match at Altrincham in August.

What else did we think was going to happen? Don’t get me wrong, I like Chris Hargreaves, he seems a nice guy and obviously someone who has a good pedigree as a coach. But Darren Sarll is showing at Woking what he is capable of when he’s not got a hand tied behind his back (whether he consistently does that remains to be seen) and the answer to our demise seems simple. We’ve got a management team who are trying to assemble a team capable of challenging with a budget completely inadequate for the task with a hand tied behind their back and a chain around one foot. The club is rudderless bordering on delusional with none of the long-term vision or concrete framework we were promised by its leadership. If this is the alternative to a takeover bid from a consortium which it is claimed had no money, I think I would’ve taken my chances with them. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, nothing changes until everything changes and right now that feels a million miles away.

By:
On:
In: Latest Yeovil Town News

Yeovil Town skipper Josh Staunton has said that Tuesday night’s game at Dorking Wanderers is a “must win” following the Glovers’ 1-0 defeat to Southend United.

A clearly emotional and almost angry skipper spoke to BBC Somerset’s Sheridan Robins following the game.

“We can’t keep making excuses and feeling sorry for ourselves, it’s times like this we have to earn your stripes as a Yeovil player. Anyone who was here to day can tell those on the pitch gave their all for the club, but we have to everything right to get it right by Tuesday.

“There’s no point dressing over it, we need a win, we needed a win today, we need a win even more now because the games are ticking by. We need an ugly win, it doesn’t matter how we get it really, performances have been okay, but they don’t bring us results.”

When asked if the team had discussed if the midweek trip to Dorking  represented a ‘must win‘, the response was clear: “Absolutely.”

“Anyone who doesn’t know that in is kidding themselves a bit. We know today was a big go for us and this was an important week for us. We gave ourselves a mountain to climb, shot ourselves in the foot (with the dismissal of striker Gime Toure after 17 minutes) and we can’t let it be a hangover for Tuesday and an excuse for Tuesday. It’s a case of brushing this off and getting right for Tuesday whatever way we have to do it.

“We have got to start turning performances into results, it’s as simple as that. We’ve had some good home performances and they’ve come to one point. We’ve got to start – I don’t know, I’m a bit emotionally driven at the moment – I’m struggling to find excuses for it, we need to go and get a win.”

Josh Staunton. Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

Staunton had a goal ruled out shortly after his side had been reduced to ten men, something which he says he hasn’t had an explanation about.

“As is the way these days, the goalkeeper tried catching… well, I don’t know what the goalie was trying to do. I just jumped up and headed it, he came flying into the back of me, I was pretty stationary, my arms were down and no explanation given, just ‘it’s a foul’.

“When things are against you, it seems things really are against you, those things swing matches. It would have been a real positive swing on going down to ten, but as seems to be the way the goalies are protected.”

The captain was happy to express he fr****tion (we’ve banned that word) at both the incident which saw Gime Toure sent off and the Southend goal, calling them both key moment which cost the side a better result.

“We were under the cosh a bit, they were committing men and the bloke had an unopposed header in the box, as seems to be the way at the moment. He’s headed it into the far corner, it was a decent header to be fair to him, but again it’s a momentary lapse in concentration which has cost us all three today.”

The second half of the game, saw a rise in effort to make up for the one man, and one goal deficit, but it was not enough.

“One thing you’ll never question with this group is the resiliance, the application and the attitude, everyone had a go today and those boys are on their absolute last legs out there… when you go down to ten against a decent footballing team, you are doing a hell of a lot of running, at the back we were leaving ourselves man-v-man an awful lot to try and get the goal.”

Yeovil Town’s “must win” game on Tuesday kicks off at 7:45pm at Dorking Wanderers.

By:
On:
In: Latest Yeovil Town News, Match Reports

Venue: Root’s Hall
Saturday October 1st, 3pm kick-off

Conditions: Dry and bright
Pitch: Green

Attendance: 5,324 (81 away supporters)

Scorers: Jake Hyde 37 (0-1),

Bookings: 

Yeovil Town: Richards-Everton 77, D’Ath 88
Southend United: Andeng-Ndi 52, Powell 65

Sendings off:

Yeovil Town: Gime Toure 17

Referee: Sam Mulhall


Yeovil Town : (3-4-3)

Grant Smith

 Owen Bevan  Josh Staunton   Ben Richards-Everton

                                      Morgan Williams  Matt Worthington   Lawson D’Ath   Charlie Wakefield (for Jake Scrimshaw, 76)

Sam Pearson (for Finley Craske, 65)

Alex Fisher (for Malachi Linton, 59)   Gime Toure

Substitutes: Max Hunt, Will Dawes.

Match Report

It was yet another hard luck story for Yeovil Town as the wait due a second National League win of the season goes on.

Having been reduced to ten men after Gime Toure was sent off after 17 minutes for his part in an off-the-ball incident with Southend defender Kacper Lopata. This correspondent, like referee Sam Mulhall, did not see what it was given for but reports on social media suggest a kick out from the Frenchman. If so, that is inexcusable.

The real hard luck came when Josh Staunton had the ball in the net from a corner only for it to be given for a foul on Southend keeper Collin Andeng-Ndi, moments later play swung to the other end and Jake Hyde got what turned out to be the winner.

Here is Dave’s verdict from the away end…..

First half

 

The first surprise saw Charlie Wakefield slotting in at left wing-back in place of the injured Jamie Reckord.

The first chance fell to the star man playing down the….errr….left after just two minutes when a sweeping move made its way out to him and he curled a shot just wide of the post.

Chances were few and far between, but on 12 minutes Morgan Williams got away down the left and put a ball in which ended up at the feet of Sam Pearson whose effort hit as much air as it did ball and failed to test the hosts’ keeper.

Another effort saw a scramble in the hosts’ box which came to nothing before play broke to the other than end Cav Miley effort from the edge of the box was palmed aside by Grant Smith.

The most notable of the game so far came on 18 minutes after an off the ball incident led to a red card for Gime Toure. The incident seemed to pass everybody in ground, including referee Sam Mulhall by, but a tussle and a Southend defender Kacper Lopata saw the latter hit the deck. The assistant flagged and, after discussion with the referee, the man in black produced a red card.

A bit of Googling (thanks, Ben) suggests Mulhall was the same man who gave an early red to Wealdstone defender Lewis Kinsella for a boot up Malachi Linton’s backside. Suggestions on social media suggest Toure may have done the same to Lopata. Impossible to see from the angle of the away support.

Cue confusion in the away end and an intense period of pressure from the home side as Yeovil went deeper and deeper, welcoming the Shrimpers pressure on.

A lot of the threat came from Jack Bridge down the left but Ollie Kensdale and Marcus Dackers both called Grant Smith in to action as it seemed

On 32 minutes, Sam Pearson was set away on the left and fired a ball in to the near post where Alex Fisher could not make the contact and the ball went away for a corner. From the resulting corner by Lawson D’Ath, Josh Staunton rose highest in the box to head home, only for a foul to be given against Southend keeper Collin Andeng-Ndi. Against any other player on the pitch, that is never a foul but it’s the keeper.

There was a sense the dye may be cast there and two minutes later, a cross by Bridge was met by a close range header from Jake HYDE to open the scoring.

 

Half time:  Southend United 1 Yeovil Town 0

Second half

The first chance of the half fell to Yeovil on 52 minutes when Andeng-Ndi brought down Fisher on the edge of the box after a self-inflicted foul due to some poor decision making.

As the half wore on, the home side saw a lot of possession without creating too many opportunities to force a save out of Smith with an effort out of the dangerous Bridge putting an effort over the bar after cutting in off the left flank either side of the hour.

Malachi Linton replaced Fisher up front for the visitors on 59 minutes and six minutes later Finley Craske replaced Sam Pearson, taking up a position in the middle of the park.

The two substitutes combined on 72 minutes when good pressure from Linton presenting Craske with a chance with the hosts’ keeper off his line, but his effort floated wide. Speculative but that’s all I have!

Dackers put an effort just over four minutes later but, for all the possession they enjoyed (and they did enjoy plenty of it), that was as near to a meaningful chance as the home side got.

The frustration of knowing that the standard of our opponents is not that far off our own even on a sub-par showing like this one was palpable to those in the away end in Essex.

Socks were worked off, no doubt bits were being chomped at but again it’s those decisive moments. One came just in to the first of six minutes of added time when Matt Worthington did superbly to break in from the left flank, picked out Craske with a great opportunity but his shot sailed high, wide and not so handsome.

Goal difference is all that separates us from the National League relegation zone and, after 11 matches, that is no hard luck story.

Full time: Southend United 1 Yeovil Town 0

By:
On:
In: Latest Yeovil Town News

There is one change for Yeovil Town with Jamie Reckord replaced by on loan defender Owen Bevan for today’s trip to Southend United (3pm kick-off).

The left wing-back is missing from the squad with a knee infection.

Winger Will Dawes, signed for an undisclosed five-figure fee from Stratford Town, is named on the substitutes’ bench.

Yeovil Town : (3-4-3)

Grant Smith

Owen Bevan  Josh Staunton   Ben Richards-Everton

                                                Charlie Wakefield                                                              Morgan Williams

Matt Worthington   Lawson D’Ath

Sam Pearson

Alex Fisher Gime Toure

Substitutes: Finley Craske, Max Hunt, Malachi Linton, Jake Scrimshaw, Will Dawes.