After 174 days of waiting, Glovers fans finally caught a glimpse of their side as Yeovil fell to a 3-0 defeat against Stratford Town.
Three second half goals saw the Warwickshire based outfit claim victory in a game where fitness levels and avoiding injury were the main objective for Yeovil.
It was largely a game of ‘guess the trialist’ in the first half for Town fans as no less than four started for the Glovers.
Familiar faces amongst the 11 included Luke Wilkinson, Lawson D’Ath, Matt Worthington and Carl Dickinson.
There were also starts for new additions Adam Smith and Jack Clarke with academy product Gabby Rogers also starting on the right flank.
The first half was typical of many pre-season friendlies gone by, with players going through the motions and chances few and far between.
Yeovil’s brightest spark would be Rogers, who continually made himself a thorn in the Stratford side with intricate passing a deft touches to beat his man on a number of occasions.
However, it would be the hosts to fire closest in the first half as Lewis Wilson smashed an effort into the side netting after catching Dickinson out in his own half.
It would be Dickinson to have Yeovil’s best chance of the half, a well-hit free kick left Ty Belford in the Stratford goal scrambling, but he did enough to get a fingertip to it.
The second half saw seven changes to the Yeovil team, as Rhys Murphy, Courtney Duffus, Jimmy Smith, Lee Collins, Alex John, Josh Staunton and a trialist entered the fray.
The second half also saw a change in tempo, with both sides looking more ferocious in attack.
Yeovil would find the back of the net through Murphy as he poked home after Duffus’ effort was saved, however last season’s top scorer was adjudged to be offside and the goal was chalked off.
After a number of defensive adjustments, Yeovil were caught out with three quick fire goals by the hosts.
The first came through Will Grocott in the 67th minute who was able to find space at the back post for the easiest of finishes.
Stratford’s second came in the 72nd minute in very similar fashion as this time Joe Curtis escaped his marker and poked home.
The third and final goal of the afternoon came via Grocott again as he converted from the spot following a handball in the box.
Yeovil will now look ahead to next week’s friendly on Friday night against Frome Town.
