Yeovil Town beat their TV hoodoo with a 1-0 victory over FC Halifax Town at Huish Park.
Joe Quigley’s first-half penalty was the difference between the two teams, in a game that Town could’ve won by an even more convincing scoreline
Despite the visitors chasing the game, the Glovers continued to manage the game well to secure a second win of the season.
Darren Sarll kept the same team that beat Aldershot Town on Bank Holiday Monday. That meant Grant Smith began in goal, with Jordan Barnett, Luke Wilkinson, Max Hunt and Dan Moss in front of him.
The midfield saw Dale Gorman and Josh Staunton sitting deepest, with Tom Knowles, Sonny Blu Lo-Everton and Charlie Wakefield in the attacking positions. Quigley began as the lone striker.
Picking up where they left off, it was a positive start to proceedings, with Quigley almost opening the scoring, finding space to shoot from the edge of the box, but his effort was tame.
In the tenth minute, there were vocal calls for a penalty from the Glovers players, most notably Wilkinson but the referee was unmoved.
However, just four minutes later a penalty call went Town’s way, as Knowles was taken down in the area. Quigley stepped up and expertly converted his fourth goal in three National League games.
Town had a third penalty appeal in just twenty minutes of football, as Knowles again felt he had been hauled down in the box after breaking beyond the Halifax defence.
After the flurry of penalty claims, the game rather slowed down, with both sides enjoying long spells of possession but little attacking cutting edge.
It took until the 45th minute for another opening to be carved. Counter attacking with pace, Gorman did excellently to find Wakefield nursing through but his effort was acrobatically cleared.
Starting the second half with attacking intent, it didn’t take long for Town to force a save. Some excellent one-touch football eventually found Gorman with room to cross, he found Quigley who had his header saved by Johnson down to his left.
Following a lack of chances in the first half, the visitors looked to force their way back into the game in the second, going close through Matt Warburton as his free-kick was saved by Smith.
However, that was the best it got from a Halifax perspective, with Town continuing to create the better of the opportunities throughout. Just past the hour mark, Knowles’ long throw reached Wilkinson who fired over via a deflection leading to further vocal encouragement from the Thatchers Stand.
Marshalling the game well, Halifax struggled to create anything clear-cut, with BT Sport’s man of the match Wilkinson and Hunt heading almost every ball away.
In the closing moments, Town had two more opportunities to put the game beyond doubt. Substitute Yussuf and Wakefield combined well in the right channel but the Glovers’ number 23 fired over. Just moments later, Yussuf was involved again after he burst into the penalty area but Johnson was equal to his attempt.
Yeovil Town: Smith; Barnett, Hunt, Wilkinson, Moss; Gorman, Staunton; Knowles (Bradley), Lo-Everton (Yussuf), Wakefield; Quigley
Bookings: Gorman, Staunton
Subs not used: Evans, Stephens, Williams
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