The Glovers kicked off pre-season in style with an impressive 5-1 win against Melksham Town.

While the important factor was to get minutes in legs, the Glovers did not waver from the opportunity to find the net. It took only six minutes for Aaron Jarvis to bring the ball down into the path of Jordan Young, who drove forward and drilled it past the keeper.

Yeovil Town Under 18’s player Jacob Shore made a start for the Glovers but unfortunately departed after 13 minutes after sustaining an injury from a defensive duel.

Melksham had their first sight of goal on 19 minutes when they broke down the left wing at speed before dragging their effort wide of the goal from a tight angle.

On 25 minutes, the Glovers were capitalising on the gaps forming in the Melksham defence. Alex Whittle broke down the right before cutting back to Jordan Young, who saw his effort well saved by the Melksham keeper. Moments later, the shot-stopper had to be on his toes again as Aaron Jarvis broke into the area and got a shot away but was denied.

However, it didn’t take Aaron Jarvis long to go one better. On 28 minutes, Michael Smith made a darting run down the right before playing a delightful ball into the path of Jarvis, who found the net with his outstretched boot to make it 2-0.

The game settled once again, and as the half drew to a close, both sides had chances from set pieces. First up were Melksham, who had a free kick in a dangerous position but were unable to trouble Ollie Wright. Then came the Glovers’ chance on the verge of half-time when Charlie Cooper’s corner almost caught out the keeper as it curled just wide of the back post.

The second half saw a host of changes (ten to be exact) as Mark Cooper looked to manage numbers and get a good view of each player involved in the squad.

It was Melksham who were first to find the net in the second half on 57 minutes. A shot from the edge of the area was saved by Matt Gould, but the ball fell into the path of the Melksham forward who tucked in the rebound.

The Glovers reacted almost immediately when Harvey Greenslade netted his first goal in green on 61 minutes. Sam Pearson broke out of the defence, leading a counterattack, before playing the ball through to Greenslade, who used his pace well and slotted the ball beyond the keeper to make it 3-1.

This sparked the Glovers to properly regain momentum as they started to attack almost constantly. Jordan Stevens raced down the right wing before finding Frank Nouble with a cross, but the number 10 put his effort wide of the goal. Then Nouble linked up with under-18 product Corey Koerner, who put a dangerous ball into the area but it was cleared away.

The Glovers soon made it four through a slice of magic from Dylan Morgan on 74 minutes. Morgan brought the ball down wonderfully before driving forward and beating his man, eventually drilling his effort beyond the goalkeeper to make it 4-1.

Harvey Greenslade got in on the act for the second time in the game moments later. Brett McGavin lined up what will be the first of many set pieces from a dangerous position before rattling the crossbar. Corey Koerner was first to react as he managed to find Greenslade, who poked the ball into the net to make it 5-1 with just ten minutes left on the clock.

The final stages were well managed by the Glovers with flowing passing, which seemed to be the theme throughout the evening, but they were unable to add to their already impressive goal tally as the full-time whistle eventually came, bringing an end to proceedings.