Match Report: Stratford Town v Yeovil Town

Yeovil Town claimed a deserved 1-0 victory in their first pre-season game of the 2021-2022 season against Stratford Town at Knights Lane as a goal 10 minutes into the second half was enough for Yeovil to return to Somerset with victory.

Yeovil Town lined up in a 4-4-2 formation with Mark Little, Luke Wilkinson, Max Hunt and Jordan Barnett in front of Grant Smith. Josh Staunton, Tom Knowles, Alex Bradley and Dale Gorman made up the midfield while Joe Quigley and Reuben Reid lead the attack.

On the bench was Matt Worthington, Max Evans, Lewis Simper, Charlie Wakefield, Tom Stephens and 4 trialists.

Yeovil made a positive start to the game and had the ball in the back of the net after just three minutes but Reuben Reid was adjudged to have been offside.

Yeovil continued to press and were looking the more dangerous side as Yeovil created numerous chances but couldn't find the the goal that their play deserved.

On 15 minutes they once again had the ball in the net however Stratford keeper Liam O'Brien was fouled by Reuben Reid.

Stratford then began to play their way back into the game and were beginning to create chances of their own but the best chance of the half came on 29 minutes for Yeovil as Joe Quigley found himself charging through 1 on 1 with Liam O'Brien who produced a great save to keep the scores level.

8 minutes later and O'Brien made a similar save in a 1 on 1 situation but this time with Alex Bradley.

The rest of the half passed without incident and both sides went in level after an entertaining first half.

Half Time: Stratford Town 0-0 Yeovil Town

As to be expected Yeovil made numerous changes at half time as Mark Little, Luke Wilkinson, Josh Staunton and Reuben Reid made way for Charlie Wakefield, Matt Worthington and two trialists.

The start of the second half wasn't quite as exciting as the first half but all that changed on 55 minutes as Tom Knowles found the back of the net with a good strike from the edge of the area.

On 62 minutes Yeovil decided to change the goalkeepers as Grant Smith was replaced by Max Evans and one minute later Dale Gorman was replaced by Lewis Simper.

Yeovil almost doubled their lead on 66 minutes as Joe Quigley had three chances fall to him in quick succession but Liam O'Brien produced two fine saves and one effort was cleared off the line.

Yeovil made further substitutions on 68 minutes as Joe Quigley and Reuben Reid was replaced by Toby Stephens and a trialist.

Three minutes later they made their last substitution as Max Hunt was replaced by a trialist.

The final stages played out with Yeovil still looking the more dangerous side as a few good chances were spurned but in the end Yeovil ran out worthy winners.

Full Time: Stratford Town 0-1 Yeovil Town

So a positive start to pre-season this time around which was made more encouraging by the fact that Yeovil still looked very good even after making numerous substitutions.

Our pre-season continues next Saturday afternoon as Yeovil host League Two side Forest Green Rovers. Kick off is at 3PM

Stratford Town

1 - Liam O'Brien, 2 - Michael O'Regan, 3 - Kynan Isaac, 4 - James Fry, 5 - Joe Mugunda, 6 - Jack Turner, 7 - Ben Stephens, 8 - Ross Oulton, 9 - James Harding, 10 - Will Grocott, 11 - Will Dawes

Substitutes

12 - Shaq Whittingham, 13 - Louis Beresford, 14 - Owen James, 15 - Leam Howards, 16 - Mitchell Glover, 17 - Adam Taylor, 18 - Harvey Billings, Trialist x4

Kit

Orange Shirts, Navy Blue Shorts and Orange socks
Goalkeeper: Green

Yeovil Town

1 - Grant Smith, 3 - Mark Little, 21 - Jordan Barnett, 13 - Alex Bradley, 5 - Max Hunt, 6 - Luke Wilkinson, 32 - Josh Staunton, 8 - Dale Gormon, 9 - Reuben Reid, 10 - Joe Quigley, 11 - Tom Knowles

Substitutions

7 - Matt Worthington, 12 - Max Evans, 14 - Lewis Simper, 17 - Charlie Wakefield, 18 - Tom Stephens, Trialist x4

Kit

White Shirts with Black and Grey detail, White Shorts and White Socks
Goalkeeper - Light Blue