Image by Yeovil Town
Yeovil Town Vs Weymouth
Isuzu FA Trophy Third Round, Huish Park, Tuesday 10 December, 19:45 GMT
Good afternoon, Terras fans!
I expect you’ve heard that there’s a football game this evening…
The match in question? An FA-Trophy tie away to a team in Somerset.
You may have heard of a side named Yeovil Town. If not, they’re a team we have faced a few times before.
More than any other side in fact, and enough times for The Glovers to be our biggest rivals.
Besides this evening’s clash being a FA-Trophy Third-Round tie, this must-win knockout game gives us the chance to beat our rivals on their own turf in a competitive match for the first time since December 1988.
Leading the dugout for this feisty fixture is interim boss Jason Matthews, whose history here as both player and manager leaves him a perfect gaffer in charge for tonight’s tie.
Jason, who was in charge for this year’s well-earned win on April Fool’s Day, and our squad look to defeat the Somerset side for the second time this calendar year.
HOW TO FOLLOW
We are pleased to announce that commentary will be provided by Andy Murray this evening; click HERE to access his in-game thoughts.
Live updates will also be posted on our social media accounts; footage and reaction will also be uploaded after the final whistle.
CLUB NEWS
One of the tricky things about being a manager is picking the right team ahead of a big game.
That task is perhaps made even harder when setbacks unsettle the squad.
This has certainly applied to us over the past week; with Will Buse’s cup-tie conflict and Charlie Rowan’s suspension, interim boss Jason Matthews told us of his already-existing “process of making changes.”
Thankfully, we have already found a solution to at least one of our issues.
Joining on a 28-day loan spell, we announced the signing of teenage goalkeeper Josey Casa-Grande from Bath City last week.
Although only 19-years-old, the Welsh shot-stopper already has a number of clubs on his CV, including Championship outfit Bristol City.
What better start for him in a Weymouth shirt than away to our arch rivals…
THE GLOVE(R)S ARE OFF…
Since our club history began in 1890 we have faced our enemies a whopping 256 times, unsurprisingly more than any other team.
Though we have been the derby-day deciders 100 times, we were stuck on the frustrating number of 99 for nearly four decades…
That was until this year’s April Fool’s Day, when Yeovil were long overdue the fools on that day when Dan Roberts’ first-half finish into the top-left corner proved to be the only goal of the game.
A “shush” celebration was never more apt than that day.
Unfortunately, though, the game was abandoned approx.15 minutes before the match was due to end when a supporter was taken ill in the stand.
Thankfully, the fan recovered and we were still awarded the three points for our dominating display.
It was a valiant victory that had been a long time coming for the Terras faithful, who hadn’t seen our team snatch the hands of The Glovers in a competitive game since 1988.
For the squad that day, which included five players who could feature this evening, the result proved to be a recent revenge after we had been inflicted a 2-0 defeat at Huish Park the previous October.
Before that, this fixture had seen four draws in the same 2021/22 campaign, with three of them ending in a 1-1 scoreline, albeit with one of them ending in a penalty shoot-out victory for the Somerset side which ensured their progression to the FA Cup First Round.
But interestingly, that replay game saw a 87th-minute equaliser from a certain Josh McQuoid which took the game to extra time.
We had earned ourselves this replay through an even more impressive goal, when Tom Bearwish “stabbed home” a long throw in the 95th minute to cancel out Charlie Wakefield’s early opener.
These moments from two of our star stalwarts will surely carry us through a feisty fixture that has seen plenty of punch-ups in the past.
In fact, the blood has boiled on both sides since the 19th Century, with one abandoned game in 1893 being an example.
Our players left the field with no intention of returning, after a shot, believed to have struck the inside of the post, was awarded a goal-kick.
The incident, which would not have occurred had goal nets existed back then, resulted in an abandoned game.
When the rivalry started is still a mystery, but this incident was unlikely to have started a close bond between the sides.
What we do know is that this fierce fixture has only intensified since, and a win at Huish Park for the first time since 1988 would give us the perfect early Christmas present.
NATIONAL LEAGUE “NEWCOMERS”
The Glovers are back in the fifth tier of English football after the first time asking, winning the National League South last season with 95 points, 11 points clear of second place.
But for a team who were in the Championship just over a decade ago, one may argue that Mark Cooper’s side are still a little way off where they aim to be.
But their form this season, should they keep it up, may see them achieve two successive promotions, a feat that would take them into the Football League for the first time since the 2018/19 campaign.
Sitting in eighth place with 31 points, the only thing that keeps them out of the play-offs is goal difference, behind seventh-place Sutton United.
Their recent form has been the definition of a mixed bag, winning and losing an equal amount in their previous six matches.
Beyond that, their nine wins and eight losses in 21 league games suggests a team that is familiar with both extreme feelings after the full-time whistle.
What may excite our fans is that their better performances have overwhelmingly stood out on their travels, with them being statistically the third-best National League South on the road this season, just one point behind away leaders Oldham Athletic.
In contrast, their form at home has been bettered by 14 other teams.
For a side that is searching for their first competitive win at Yeovil’s home ground for a few weeks off 36 years, this is the fortune that may have found us at the right time.
