IT’S A PARTY IN THE PARK!
ALL-CONQUERING Yeovil Town smashed their own National League South attendance record on Boxing Day – and then took another giant step towards ensuring they will be playing top-flight football again next season.
A huge crowd of 6,301 – surpassing Yeovil’s previous league best of 6,289 set back in October – packed into Huish Park to see the Glovers power past west country neighbours
Taunton Town 4-1 – a result which stretched their lead at the top of the table to a whopping ten points.
“I really enjoyed it,” beamed Glovers boss Mark Cooper. “I thought we were magnificent; the players were incredible, and the supporters, especially behind that goal were incredible too.
“To break the record again and score four goals to go further clear at the top, it was a really good day.”
Frank Nouble latched onto Michael Smith’s pass to fire the Glovers in front on 15 minutes before Irishman Smith turned goalscorer six minutes later for his first Yeovil goal since his arrival in Somerset in September.
Rhys Murphy might have had a hat-trick as chances fell his way, but he wasn’t to be denied on 69 minutes when he coolly slotted the ball past Dan Lavercombe in the Taunton goal.
Three minutes later, substitute Sonny Blu Lo-Everton added a fourth, deeming Austen Booth’s effort for Taunton as mere consolation before visiting striker Nick McCootie was sent off late on for two yellow cards.
Yeovil’s lead at the top stretched even further after second place Hampton & Richmond Borough were held to a thrilling 3-3 draw by in-form Slough Town.
Quickfire strikes from Munashe Sundire and Nathan Minhas put Slough in firm control early on before Jake Gray halved the deficit for the Beavers midway through the second half.
Favourites
Ben Seymour then drew the visitors level and the comeback appeared to be complete five minutes from time when Mason Bloomfield netted Hampton a third.
But Slough snatched a share of the spoils in the eighth minute of time added on through Slavi Spasov.
That allowed Bath City to move back up into third place with a hard-fought 2-1 away win at Chippenham Town.
All the goals came in the final quarter with Scott Wilson and a Cody Cooke seeing the Romans home despite Dan Ellison’s late goal back for the Bluebirds.
Bath are now one of four sides on 40 points – the next in line being Worthing, who comfortably saw off south coast rivals Eastbourne Borough 3-0 at Woodside Road – Joe Rye, Joe Felix and Ricky Aguiar the scorers. Eastbourne, many people’s favourites for promotion at the start of the season, remain rooted in the bottom four.
Torquay United lost ground on their rivals after they went down to a single-goal defeat by Truro City in the other west country derby at Plainmoor.
Ben Adelsbury netted the only goal in the first half to secure the White Tigers a third straight victory.
Tonbridge Angels recorded a record crowd of 2,806 as they shared the spoils with promotion chasing Maidstone United in the Kent derby at Longmead.
A 90th-minute rocket from Jordan Higgs ensured the home majority went home happy with a point after Matt Rush had fired the Stones in front.
Maidstone saw the gap to seventh placed Chelmsford City reduced to two points after the Clarets powered past Braintree Town 3-0 at Cressing Road.
Second-half goals from Jermaine Francis, Charlie Ruff and Freddie Hockey sealed the points for Robbie Simpson’s men.
New loan arrival Hady Ghandour netted his goal for Farnborough as they edged past Hampshire rivals Havant & Waterlooville on the road with goalkeeper Jack Turner in fine form for Spencer Day’s men.
That result pushed Havant back to the bottom of the table after Dover Athletic secured a much-needed 2-1 win over Aveley.
Challenge
Garrett Kelly put Aveley in front just after the hour but the Whites hit back to win through Zidane Sutherland and Iffy Allen.
Weston-super-Mare and Weymouth played out a classic at Woodspring Stadium, which the visitors won 3-2.
Top scorer Dayle Grubb put Weston in front from the penalty spot, only for efforts from Harry Parsons and Tom Bearwish to turn the tables by half-time.
Jason Pope then restored parity for the Seagulls but the Terras weren’t to be denied with in-form Brandon Goodship notching a 71st minute winner. Weston had Sam Avery sent off in stoppage time for a last-man challenge on Parsons.
Richard Chin’s second-half goal was enough for Dartford to see off hosts Welling United, while Hemel Hempstead Town also enjoyed victory on the road with a 2-1 win at St Albans City.
Michael Clark fired the Saints into a 16th-minute lead but after home striker Shaun Jeffers saw red, Hemel won through, courtesy of Brandon Barzey and Montel McKenzie efforts in the final 13 minutes.