A dominant second half performance sees the Young Glovers pick up their first league win of the season against bottom placed Wimborne Town. Goals from Aidan Skiverton and a double from substitute Bobby Hilton seal the points in a 3-1 win.
Yeovil Town U18s picked up a vital win at home to Wimborne Town U18s to kickstart their league campaign and gather further momentum after impressive midweek wins in the college league.
Manager Matt Percival rotated the squad from their previous home league match with Charlie Travers earning a start in goal and Jacob Shore returning at the heart of a 3-man defence. Sol Padmore and Corey Koerner got the starts in midfield.
Wimborne saw an early opportunity go begging after a sloppy defensive pass fell to the onrushing striker who saw his shot rebound off the crossbar.
The home team then created a flurry of opportunities in the opening quarter, using their height advantage at several well-worked set pieces. First Shore saw a header saved by the keeper following a deep free kick, before Aidan Skiverton had a header cleared off the line as Yeovil pressed for an opening goal.
The Young Glovers took the lead in the 30th minute when Padmore sent a high ball to the back post where Skiverton found himself unmarked and arrowed a diving header beyond the keeper, 1-0.
Wimborne posed a threat with their fast front pairing and Travers did well to smother a low shot to preserve the lead.
As the half drew to a close, skipper Max Dyer – employed as a striker in this match – did well to tee up strike partner Alex Stevens but his header sailed over.
Much like in the opening half, Yeovil Town were slow to get going as the match resumed and paid the price when the speedy striker raced through on goal before slotting home an angled finish in off the post, 1-1.
On around 55 minutes, Percival made his first change, sending on Morgan Alexander for Jacob Johnson at right wing back.
The home team were eager to regain the initiative and began to control matters and dominate play. Further changes came in the 60th minute as Nans Nanev and Bobby Hilton entered the game for Padmore and Stevens.
Wimborne thought they had taken the lead when an angled shot hit the side netting, but otherwise it was the home side who began to dictate matters. Jack Bareham and Josh Haskett came on in the 70th minute and the visitors were now struggling to deal with wave after wave of Yeovil attacks as the midfield battle was being won by the home side.
Shortly after, the Young Glovers grabbed the lead when Koerner sent over a cross which was well controlled and finished by striker Hilton, 2-1.
As the game entered the final quarter chances continued to fall to the home side as Alexander, Haskett and Dyer each saw opportunities go begging.
A deserved third goal came late on when Haskett flicked on a high ball to Hilton who slotted in from close range to grab his second and make it 3-1.
Further chances fell to Bareham and Shore before the final whistle sounded giving Yeovil Town a deserved win after a strong second half performance.
We caught up with Manager Matt Percival after the game for his take on the match:
‘I thought we deserved that win today as the lads have been working very hard but we haven’t really had the results. We’ve been working hard in training and on team patterns and making sure our fitness is where we need to be. Hopefully today’s result will give them a bit of confidence and we can kick on from here’.
