Yeovil Town’s pre-season preparations were stepped up a notch as they played out an impressive 1-1 draw against League One outfit Exeter City.
Following Tuesday’s goalless draw against Taunton Town, the Glovers made a step in the right direction, with an improved display against an EFL outfit.
The ever-impressive Tom Knowles found the net for Town in the first half, before Matt Jay equalised for the hosts in a productive afternoon in the sun for both sides.
Chris Hargreaves opted to go for the 5-3-2 formation with Morgan Williams, Max Hunt and captain Josh Staunton as the three central defenders whilst Jamie Reckford and Trialist A were selected as the wing backs.
Sam Perry and Matthew Worthington continued in midfield whilst Alex Fisher’s first game back at Huish Park would be against his former side. He was joined by Malachi Linton & Knowles in the forward positions.
Exeter came the closest in the early stages with Timothee Dieng’s header edging wide of the back post from Jake Caprice’s cross.
But it was Yeovil who took the lead with 20 on the clock, when Knowles intercepted a loose ball from the Grecians defence, before driving through on goal and finishing instinctively with a left footed finish.
Exeter came close once again on the half hour mark when Williams’ clearance fell at the feet of Jack Sparkes, whose curled effort went just wide.
Exeter did find the equaliser in the 34 minute. After pinball in the box, the ball deflected off Hunt and straight into Jay’s path, who slotted it home from all of two yards.
Following the goal Matt Taylor’s men continued to push on as we approached half-time, but to no avail as the back three of Town stood firm.
An early feature of the second half was the pace of Knowles on the counter, and he brought about the first card when Trialist A pulled him back on the halfway line.
With chances at a premium, substitute Ollie Hulbert came the closest for Yeovil after trialist E’s looped cross caused havoc in the box, but unfortunately the ball fell kindly to goalkeeper Harry Lee.
Substitutions meant the game ended in a stop-start fashion, undoubtedly a good work out for the team in the heat though.
Next up for Yeovil is a home clash against Plymouth Argyle to look forward to on Saturday at 3pm.
Yeovil Town: Smith; Trialist (Wakefield), Williams, Staunton (Trialist), Hunt, Reckford (Haste), Perry (Stephens), Worthington (Trialist), Knowles (Hulbert), Fisher (Trialist), Linton (Trialist)
By Jacob Jones
