Match Report - Yeovil Town v Eastleigh

Yeovil Town's nightmare start to the season continued tonight as they were beaten 3-1 by Eastleigh at Huish Park. An early goal from Tyrone Barnett and a penalty from Joe Tomlinson put the away side 2-0 up at half time. Ben House made it 3-0 just before the hour mark but despite Joe Quigley pulling one back for Town shortly after the damage had already been done.

Darren Sarll made two changes to the side that was defeated 3-2 at Stockport County just two days ago - new signings Daniel Osho and Tom Knowles were given a place in favour of Alex Bradley and Joe Quigley.

Yeovil lined up as a 4-3-3 formation with Daniel Osho, Josh Staunton, Luke Wilkinson and Carl Dickinson in front of Adam Smith while Albi Skendi, Matt Warburton and Charlie Lee made up the midfield three. Up front was Courtney Duffus, Tom Knowles and Chris Dagnall.

On the bench for Yeovil was Daniel Leadbitter, Rhys Murphy, Gabby Rogers, Joe Quigley and Harry Palmer.

Eastleigh kicked the game off shooting towards the home terrace.

The opening exchanges were fairly tame and neither side were really threatening until on 6 minutes when Eastleigh took the lead thanks to a defensive error from Josh Staunton on the edge of the box that allowed Eastleigh in. The ball was squared across goal and Tyrone Barnett was there to fire the away side in front.

That was not the start that Yeovil were wanting as they looked to finally get their first win and Town knew they had to get back into this game.

2 minutes later Tom Knowles almost grabbed a debut goal for Town as he produced a powerful shot at the Eastleigh goal but Joe McDonnell was equal to the effort.

The first corner for Town came on 12 minutes with Matt Warburton attempting to cross the ball in but it failed to beat the first man and was easily defended.

After going 1-0 Yeovil had much more possession for most of the half but didn't really create any clear cut chances and they failed to put Eastleigh under any real pressure. They were enjoying good spells of possession but it was ineffective and was easily defended by the away side.

On 20 minutes Eastleigh almost made it 2-0 as free kick into the box from the right hand side was headed at goal and flashed just wide of the post.

Yeovil went straight up the other end following this and had a good chance of their own as Chris Dagnall drove into the Eastleigh penalty area and produced a low shot attempting to slot the ball under the keeper but Joe McDonnell produced a good save.

On 25 minutes Yeovil got away with a clear handball as Eastleigh knocked the ball forward and Josh Staunton handled the ball to intercept which and a free kick was expected to be given however somehow the referee and his assistant didn't see it and he had got away with it.

Yeovil were ultimately made to pay for their ineffective play and another defensive error lead to Eastleigh having a penalty as Luke Wilkinson's header was misjudged and Ben House was charging into the Yeovil penalty area. Adam Smith came out to try and nick the ball off him but he ended up fouling Ben House instead and a penalty kick was given.

Joe Tomlinson stepped up and sent Adam Smith the wrong way, firing the ball into the bottom right corner for 2-0.

One again after this goal Yeovil appeared to be woken up a bit and were again enjoying large spells of possession but just like before it was ineffective. At times they were slowed to a walking pace as they tried to find a way through but Eastleigh were too organised and were able to stop Yeovil from creating any chances.

Just before half time Yeovil were awarded a free kick 25 yards from goal and Carl Dickinson stepped up to take it. He produced a decent shot but it wasn't enough to trouble Joe McDonnell and Eastleigh went in at half time with a 2-0 advantage and Yeovil had a mountain to climb if they were going to be able to turn this game around in the second period.

Half Time: Yeovil Town 0-2 Eastleigh

Once again in the second half Yeovil enjoyed more possession but with a 2 goal advantage Eastleigh knew they could just keep their shape, keep things tight and make it very difficult for Yeovil which was again causing Yeovil to struggle to carve out any good opportunities.

On 56 minutes Yeovil made their first substitution as Chris Dagnall was replaced by Joe Quigley.

2 minutes later yet another defensive error allowed Eastleigh to score as Josh Staunton lost possession as Ben House nicked the ball off him midway into the Yeovil half who charged through on goal and fired past Adam Smith to put the away side three goals to the good and make life even more difficult for Yeovil.

After the goal Josh Staunton had to be replaced as he appeared to have suffered an injury and was replaced by Daniel Leadbitter.

On 66 minutes Yeovil managed to pull one back as a corner from Matt Warburton found Joe Quigley who headed past Joe McDonnell to give Town a very small glimmer of hope.

On 68 minutes Yeovil made their final substitution as Rhys Murphy was introduced for Tom Knowles.

Yeovil continued to try and force something to happen to pull it back to 3-2 and put the pressure on the away side but again they weren't causing Eastleigh any real trouble and the minutes just ticked away with Yeovil struggling to claw their way back into the game.

On 75 minutes Eastleigh made two substitutions - bringing on Ryan Hill and Dan Smith for Sam Smart and Tyrone Barnett respectively.

The only effort worth noting after this was that Charlie Lee produced a good shot on the half-volley from the edge of the box but it was well saved.

4 minutes of time was added on and Eastleigh made their final substitution on 91 minutes, bringing on Tom Blair for Ben House and the injury time passed without incident to condemn town to a 10th game without a win in the National League.

Full Time: Yeovil Town 1-3 Eastleigh

Once again this was a very poor performance from Yeovil but what is even more worrying is that we have now gone 10 games in the league without a win and rooted to the bottom of the table with just 5 points. At the moment we are only 2 points away from safety but every club above us up to 16th place have at least one game in hand over us so we will only know the true extent of the damage this run has done once those fixtures have been played.

At the moment it is very difficult to see where the first win is going to come from as our current performances wont yield many wins if they continue and it won't be long until we are cut adrift at the bottom of the table.

Our next game is away at Bromely on Tuesday 8th December as We have no game on Saturday as we were due to play Macclesfield Town at Moss Rose which will help to give the players time to recover after playing 2 games in 2 days but quite simply it the game at Bromley is a must win. Mind you - the last 4 games have all been must win!

Man of the match voting for this latest defeat against Eastleigh is now open. You can cast your vote here.

Yeovil Town

1 - Adam Smith, 17 - Gabriel Osho, 32 - Josh Staunton (replaced by 2 - Daniel Leadbitter on 61 minutes), 6 - Luke Wilkinson, 3 - Carl Dickinson, 22 - Charlie Lee, 18 - Albi Skendi, 11 - Matt Warburton, 34 - Chris Dagnall (replaced by 19 - Joe Quigley on 57 minutes), 21 - Tom Knowles (replaced by 9 - Rhys Murphy on 69 minutes), 14 - Courtney Duffus

Substitutes

23 - Harry Palmer, 2 - Daniel Leadbitter, 16 - Gabby Rogers, 9 - Rhys Murphy, 19 - Joe Quigley

Eastleigh

1 - Joe McDonnell, 11 - Sam Smart (replaced by 20 - Ryan Hill on 75 minutes), 2 - Joe Partington, 15 - Alex Wynter, 6 - Andrew Boyce, 17 - Joe Tomlinson, 19 - Danny Hollands, 8 - Jack Payne, 4 - Cav Miley, 10 - Tyrone Barnett (replaced by 9 - Dan Smith on 75 minutes), 18 - Ben House (replaced by 24 - Tom Blair on 91 minutes)

Substitutes

5 - Pierce Bird, 14 - Tom Bearwish, 20 - Ryan Hill, 24 - Tom Blair, 9 - Dan Smith

Next Fixture

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Yeovil Town v Torquay United

Date: 29/03/2024
Competition: National League (South)
Venue: Huish Park
Kick Off: 15:00

Latest Result

Braintree Town

0-1

Yeovil Town

Attendance: 1,985 (Unknown from Yeovil Town)

National League (South) Table

Last Updated: 26/03/2024

Pos
Team
Pld
GD
Pts

1
Yeovil Town
40
+29
83

2
Chelmsford City
41
+28
76

3
Braintree Town
40
+18
68

4
Hampton & Richmond
39
+11
67

5
Maidstone United
39
+10
67

6
Worthing
40
+19
66

7
St Albans City
40
+13
63

8
Aveley
41
+4
63

9
Bath City
39
+16
62

10
Farnborough
40
+4
60

11
Chippenham Town
40
+5
57

12
Slough Town
39
+8
56

13
Tonbridge Angels
41
+3
55

14
Weymouth
39
-3
50

15
Weston-super-Mare
37
-7
48

16
Hemel Hempstead Town
40
-14
45

17
Torquay United
39
-5
44

18
Welling United
40
-17
44

19
Truro City
34
-7
41

20
Taunton Town
36
-15
40

21
Dartford
39
-13
39

22
Eastbourne Borough
39
-24
38

23
Havant & Waterlooville
40
-30
33

24
Dover Athletic
40
-33
23