Match Report - Yeovil Town v Hartlepool United

Yeovil Town's winless run in the National League stretched to 9 games this afternoon as they were defeated 3-1 by Hartlepool United at Huish Park. All four goals were scored in the first half with Hartlepool taking a 3-0 lead before Joe Quigley pulled a goal back in first half stoppage time.

Darren Sarll made two changes to the side that were held 1-1 at Woking last weekend as Ryan Burke was brought in for Carl Dickinson while Jimmy Smith was introduced for the suspended Charlie Lee.

Yeovil opted for a 4-4-2 formation with Ryan Burke, Luke Wilkinson, Morgan Williams and Alex Bradley in front of Adam Smith. Jimmy Smith, Lawson D'Ath, Albi Skendi and Matt Warburton made up the midfield and Joe Quigley and Rhys Murphy lead the attack.

On the bench was Matt Worthington, Gabriel Rogers, Harry Palmer, Courtney Duffus and academy player Alfie Lloyd.

Yeovil started off positively straight from the kick off as they drove forward and forced two corners just 20 seconds into the game. Matt Warburton took them but both of them were headed away and the danger was cleared.

That was unfortunately as good as it got for Town for most of the remainder of the half as Hartlepool took the lead with just 2 minutes on the clock. Rhys Oates drove forward with the ball, beat the Yeovil defence and squared the ball across to Luke Molyneux who had an easy tap in at the far post.

This early setback was not what Yeovil needed and Hartlepool were continuing to be the better side, cutting Yeovil open on multiple occasions and threatening to increase their lead as Yeovil struggled to stop their attacks. Had Hartlepool been much more clinical in front of goal the game would have already been beyond Yeovil's reach after just 15 minutes.

On 16 minutes Yeovil had the ball in the net as Joe Quigley managed to find the bottom corner but he was adjudged to be offside.

This didn't rattle Hartlepool though and on 20 minutes Adam Smith had to make a good save from a Lee Molyneux shot that was heading into the bottom corner - pushing the effort around the post for a corner. Thankfully the corner was defended and the danger was cleared.

Yeovil had an injury scare just before the half hour mark as Rhys Murphy went down and had to receive treatment and it looked for a short while that he was unable to continue but thankfully the strike was given the all clear to continue playing.

2 minutes later Yeovil were appealing for a penalty as Matt Warburton appeared to be pushed over in the box but the referee was unmoved by the Yeovil players shouts.

On 36 minutes Hartlepool took a 2-0 lead which their play definitely deserved as Gavin Holahan slotted the ball past Adam Smith after Yeovil had once again failed to deal with a Hartlepool attack.

On 41 minutes Yeovil had another injury scare as Ryan Burke needed treatment but just like Rhys Murphy he was able to continue although he had to leave the field of play before being allowed back on. This meant that Yeovil had to defend a corner with 10 men which they managed to do but the ball was fired back into the box and Tyler Magloire turned and shot into the back of the net for 3-0.

3 minutes of time were added on and in the first minute of injury time Town made it 3-1 as Joe Quigley was able to pull one back for Town from close range.

Half Time: Yeovil Town 1-3 Hartlepool United

Yeovil made their first change at half time by introducing Courtney Duffus for Morgan Williams as Duffus was making his first appearance since his injury at Halifax last month.

Hartlepool continued to look the better of the two sides in the second half and on 50 minutes Yeovil survived another scare as the ball was fizzed across the Yeovil goalmouth but fortunately for Town there was no onrushing Hartlepool player to convert.

Yeovil were huffing and puffing in the second half and started to create some half chances of their own but it was nothing to really trouble Hartlepool as they were managing the game very well and Yeovil couldn't create any clear cut chances.

With 70 minutes of the match gone Rhys Murphy was put through on goal and was able to find the back of the net but was adjudged offside.

2 minutes later Yeovil made their second change as Gabby Rogers was introduced for Jimmy Smith.

5 minutes later Hartlepool almost made it 4 as shot from the edge of the box from Gavin Holahan flashed wide of the post.

Yeovil made their final substitution on 81 minutes as Alfie Lloyd was brought on for Lawson D'Ath as Yeovil were trying to throw everything they had at Hartlepool by playing with 4 strikers on the pitch.

In the final 10 minutes Yeovil were trying desperately to somehow get something out of the game but after the 90 minutes were up it was still 3-1.

4 minutes of time were added but Town were once again not good enough to warrant anything from the game and Hartlepool's long trip back home was made much easier as they took the points.

Full Time: Yeovil Town 1-3 Hartlepool United

The entire game was very poor from Yeovil and it was the first time this season that Town had looked so poor from start to finish. Hartlepool did what was necessary today and if it wasn't for some wasteful finishing in the first half the score could have been much worse.

Darren Sarll is going to have to fix the problems within the side quickly as the longer this winless run goes on the harder it will be for Town to kickstart their season and they run the risk of being left behind at the bottom of the table.

The result of course sees us remain bottom of the table with 5 points but we are still in touch with a number of sides above us so we can get out of this predicament with a few good results but at the moment it is hard to see when those results will come.

Town have a break from league action next Sunday as they travel to face fellow National League side Stockport County in the 2nd Round of the FA Cup with a 1.30PM kick off at Edgeley Park.

Man of the match voting for this 3-1 defeat against Hartlepool is now open. You can cast your vote here.

Yeovil Town

1 - Adam Smith, 5 - Ryan Burke, 6 - Luke Wilkinson, 8 - Lawson D'Ath (replaced by 30 - Alfie Lloyd on 81 minutes), 9 - Rhys Murphy, 10 - Jimmy Smith (replaced by 16 - Gabby Rogers on 73 minutes), 11 - Mat Warburton, 17 - Morgan Williams (replaced by 14 - Courtney Duffus on 46 minutes), 18 - Albi Skendi, 19 - Joe Quigley, 27 - Alex Bradley

Substitutes

7 - Matt Worthington, 14 - Courtney Duffus, 16 - Gabby Rogers, 30 - Alfie Lloyd, 23 - Harry Palmer

Hartlepool United

21 - Henrich Ravas, 2 - Lewis Cass, 3 - David Ferguson, 7 - Ryan Donaldson, 8 - Nicky Featherstone, 10 - Luke Molyneux (replaced by 6 - Mark Shelton on 73 minutes), 11 - Rhys Oates (replaced by 19 - David Parkhouse on 77 minutes), 14 - Gavin Holohan, 15 - Ryan Johnson, 22 - Tom Crawford, 38 - Tyler Magloire

Substitutes

5 - Timi Odusina, 6 - Mark Shelton, 12 - Joe Grey, 16 - Claudio Ofosu, 19 - David Parkhouse