Match Report: Yeovil Town v St Albans City

After the disappointment of our opening day defeat at Hemel last weekend Yeovil Town made amends by winning 2-1 at Huish Park yesterday afternoon against St Albans City. An early goal from Jake Hyde lifted the spirits around Huish Park but St Albans equalised on 30 minutes after a mistake by Will Buse. Just before half time Rhys Murphy restored the lead and Town were able to see the game out for the win.

Mark Cooper made two changes to the starting lineup as Zac Bell was dropped and Jamie Sendles-White was benched. Jake Hyde and Josh Staunton replaced them.

A 4-3-3 formation was chosen with Alex Whittle, Jake Wannell, Josh Staunton and Morgan Williams in front of Will Buse. Charlie Cooper, Jordan Maguire-Drew and Matt Worthington were in midfield while Rhys Murphy, Jake Hyde and Frank Nouble were up front.

On the bench was Jamie Sendles-White, Jordan Young, Josh Owers, Sonny Blu Lo-Everton and Olly Thomas.

St Albans kicked off towards the home end.

Yeovil made a fast start to the game and on 4 minutes they were ahead when Jordan Maguire-Drew shot at goal from the right side and Jake Hyde got the final touch to put it into the net.

Just one minute later though St Albans nearly equalised when the Yeovil defence was all over the place and Will Buse was able to stop a St Albans shot from close range.

Yeovil continued to play some neat football, albeit with the defence not looking completely comfortable.

On the half hour mark Will Buse came out to collect the ball but got caught and Mitchell Weiss rounded him and tapped the ball into an empty net.

That goal seemed to take the momentum out of Yeovil and they weren't as threatening for the next 10 minutes.

Out of nowhere, on 40 minutes a long range shot from Charlie Cooper almost curled into the far corner but it hit the inside of the post and away from danger.

With 1 minute to go until half time Yeovil's lead was restored when Rhys Murphy brought the ball down, worked some space to sheet and fired it into the bottom corner.

Half Time: Yeovil Town 2-1 St Albans City

The start of the second half was a tame affair with neither side creating much.

St Albans made their first sub on 61 minutes by replacing Ryan Blackman with George Hoddle.

On 63 minutes Yeovil were presented with a great chance to increase the lead when a long ball by Jake Wannell found Jake Hyde who only had Michael Johnson in front of him but he fluffed his shot wide from close range.

On 71 minutes Rhys Murphy closed down Michael Johnson who misjudged the bounce of the ball in the box. Murphy got the ball but his shot from a narrow angle was poor.

The last 15 minutes saw St Albans begin to tire out and many of us were hoping that we would be able to turn up the heat and put the game to be. It didn't really materialise and the remainder of the game saw Yeovil happy to sit back and let St Albans have spells of possession.

St Albans made their second substitution on 77 minutes when Andronicos Gergiou was replaced by Bobby Dunn.

It took until the 83rd minute for Yeovil to make a change as Frank Nouble was replaced by Josh Owers.

Shortly after St Albans replaced Dylan Fage with Shaun Jeffers and Yeovil replaced Jake Hyde with Olly Thomas.

10 minutes of time was added on and after Rhys Murphy was replaced by Jamie Sendles-White the game was over and Yeovil could enjoy their first win of the season.

Full Time: Yeovil Town 2-1 St Albans City

It was important to get the victory today more than anything else. A large crowd was sent home happy and we get our season up and running. While we do need to have more of a killer instinct to put teams to the sword when they are there for the taking it is important to remember that this is only game 2. Our ruthlessness may well come in time and with another three home games coming up let's hope we can go on a good winning run.

Our next fixture is on Tuesday when Truro City visit Huish Park. Kick off is at 7:45PM.

Match Attendnace: 3,412 (86 from St Albans City)

Yeovil Town

1 - Will Buse, 2 - Morgan Williams, 3 - Alex Whittle, 6 - Jake Wannell, 8 - Matt Worthington, 9 - Jake Hyde (replaced by 40 - Olly Thomas on 87 minutes), 10 - Jordan Maguire-Drew, 24 - Charlie Cooper, 30 - Frank Nouble (replaced by 15 - Josh Owers on 84 minutes), 32 - Josh Staunton, 39 - Rhys Murphy (replaced by 5 - Jamie Sendles-White on 95 minutes)

Substitutes

5 - Jamie Sendles-White, 11 - Jordan Young, 15 - Josh Owers, 16 - Sonny Blu Lo-Everton, 40 - Olly Thomas

Kit

Green and White Pin Striped Shirts, Green Shorts, Green Socks
Goalkeeper: Blue

St Albans City

1 - Michael Johnson, 2 - Jack James, 3 - Sam Brown, 4 - Ben Smith, 5 - Dan Bowry, 7 - Ryan Blackman (replaced by 28 - George Hoddle on 61 minutes), 8 - Giorgio Rasulo, 12 - Mitchell Weiss, 18 - Andronicos Gergiou (replaced by 10 - Bobby Dunn on 77 minutes), 21 - Dylan Fage (replaced by 9 - Shaun Jeffers on 86 minutes), 22 - Nathan Carlyle

Substitutes

6 - Michael Clark, 9 - Shaun Jeffers, 10 - Bobby Dunn, 26 - Raul Fernandes Da Silva, 28 - George Hoddle

Kit

Yellow Shirts, Navy Blue Shorts,
Goalkeeper: Turquoise

Referee: Ross Martin
Assistant: Thomas Green
Assistant: Graham Pearce