by Matt Partridge
The Young Glovers sealed a comfortable 3-0 win over Paulton Rovers in their home opener in the Western Counties Floodlight Youth League. Second-half goals from Morgan Alexander, Joe Crisp, and George Geraghty made it six points from their opening two games.
Around 100 fans were on hand at Huish Park to see Yeovil Town U18s make their much-anticipated home debut for the 2024/25 season. After last week’s 3-1 win away at Clevedon Town, the Young Glovers were full of confidence as they welcomed their visitors from up the A37.
The home side set up with a familiar 3-5-2 formation and were quick to threaten through Adam Samuels and Corey Koerner in the wing-back positions. Yeovil’s best chances in the first half came through set pieces, with centre-back Blake Watts going close with headers from a corner and then a free kick delivered by Crisp.
Yeovil continued to control the game during the first half, with the lively Ollie Hughes causing the visitors problems with several mazy runs from midfield, and the industry of Nansimir Nanev and Crisp laying the foundation in the middle of the park. Koerner saw a free kick from the edge of the box drift over the bar, and a pass from Geraghty released Alexander, whose shot went just wide of the target.
A goalmouth scramble led to a chance for defender Jaydon Biss as the home side continued to press, but as half-time approached, manager Matt Percival would have been thoughtfully plotting a way to break down a resolute performance from the visitors as the score remained 0-0.
The home side started the second half on the front foot and took a deserved lead when Alexander drove forward down the right side before placing a low finish into the bottom corner, 1-0.
Paulton then created two good opportunities to level, with a header narrowly flying over after a corner, and then a low shot from the edge of the box flashing wide.
Looking to build on their slender lead, Yeovil threatened once more from a set piece as Crisp saw his free kick well parried by the keeper. Reece Bastafield and Oscar Foot then entered the game for the home side as Percival freshened up his attacking options.
In the 70th minute, Foot was pulled down in the box, and Crisp stepped up to convert the ensuing penalty to give the Young Glovers some breathing space and a 2-0 lead.
With the points seemingly in the bag, Percival was able to rotate things further as Denzil Gurung, Devon Proctor, and Josh Ansell entered the game.
Yeovil made it 3-0 in the dying minutes when striker Geraghty stole in at the near post following a corner and stabbed home a predatory finish to seal a confident team performance.
A solid backline has kept the opposition to a single goal in the opening two fixtures and has allowed for some exciting and expansive football from this Yeovil Town U18 squad. The next league fixture is an away match at Odd Down on Thursday, 7th November.
