Article: PNE v Yeovil Town | Football, Preston North End

PNE V YEOVIL TOWN

Northenders.

On Friday night PNE play hosts to Yeovil Town in a re arranged league 1 fixture.

Yeovil Town were formed in 1895 (as Yeovil casuals) and until they were promoted to League Div 2 in 2003 had spent all their previous years in none league football. The Glovers went on to win Div 2 the following season. In season 2006/7 they ended the season as runners up in the Div 1 play off final. Since the 2003-04 season they have played in green and white horizontal hoops.
Yeovil Town's club motto is "achieve by unity" and is one that should strike a positive note and send a message to all football clubs and their supporters.

So then the Glovers as they are nicknamed are relative newcomers to the Football League, but have carved a name in their football history as giant killers when in none league football. The Glovers claimed the scalp of some 20 football league teams in the FA Cup during their none league years.
They play their home games at Huish Park, built in 1990 on the site of an Old Army Camp at Houndstone and named after their former home at Huish, itself famous for the notorious pitch, which had an 8-foot sideline to sideline slope. (I should make the point that I always thought the slope was an end to end slope). The new ground has a capacity of just under 10,000 but allowance has been made for future expansion to a stadium of up to 20,000.So far an extra 3500 seats and leisure facilities including a shopping centre has been planned.

PNE and Yeovil have never met each other before in a League fixture, so Friday's fixture will create another little piece of history for both clubs. To the best of my knowledge PNE have never played Yeovil in any previous fixture cup or league.

Yeovil currently hold 17Th place in Div 1 and have still to win away from home this season, they have gained two draws on their travels, so shouldn't be treated lightly.
PNE were putting together a nice run of form prior to the international break, and supporters will be hoping that the break wont have had an adverse effect on the players. Phil Brown will be hoping that the PNE players called up on International duty will return unscathed and fit to play in this game, and one question that everyone will waiting for an answer to is Will Phil Brown start with a 4 3 3 or 4 4 2 formation. Will Smith be back to full fitness and if so will he be selected ahead of Parry who has been doing so well at left back while standing in. There are also other questions regarding PNE's starting eleven that can be debated, will Ashbee get a start and if so who will he replace. Will Hume be included after playing two games for his Country Canada. Lot's to speculate on including will Turner have recovered from his elbow injury sustained whilst away with the Scottish squad.

Friday night is an unusual choice for a Home fixture as far as PNE supporters are concerned, so it will be interesting to see how many fans respond and come along to Deepdale to urge the team on.

I feel that PNE will take the three points in this game and keep their momentum going but I also hope they can improve their performance from the two previous home games. As always Yeovil will be doing their utmost to prove me and everyone else wrong, so another test for Phil Brown and the team.

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Yeovil Town manager Terry Skiverton told BBC Somerset:

"It's a tough game for us - it's another big game in the space of a month.

"I feel like we've played some really decent teams in Sheffield United and MK Dons and I feel like we've come off the back of it with a bit of credit.

"But we need to go do that little bit extra and get results against the big teams."
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Please post your thoughts on this game on this thread.

 

I hope 442, with the front 2 [Hume and Mellor] playing closer together....sorry Proctor has just not performed well enough to be included on Friday....little threat .....despite his one headed goal.
so i reackon it should be Turner, Smith, Carlisle, McLean, Conner Mc, Parry, Coutts, Barton, Mayor, Hume, Mellor. Give Grezza rest!!

3-0 PNE good start to the weekend!!!!!

 

Doubt whether Hume will start, too many air miles this week.
Played Yeovil in a friendly under Craig Brown drew 4-4, finally only playing Friday night due to a cock up on the fixture computer, it has us the Dingles and the Lashers all at home on the same day. Lashers are are always away when we are at home.

 

Quite correct maclad, i had forgot about the friendly game under C Brown...
With regard to the lashers, they are always away......away with the fairy's...

Question for you maclad...when I post a new thread/article I note that the title doesn't show the capital letters that I have used when posting. Yet as is the case now with this article, I come back later and it has been changed to read correctly. Is this something that I am doing wrong or have you or the site administrator done something to change it....?????.....thanks in advance

 

Hume on the bench and DEF Ashbee or Grezza to start. Yeovil play with a three man midfield so should be interesting

 

Plumber, never change anything, might be the format the site uses.

 

Turner doubtful

 

Latest from Deepdale is that Turner should be fit to play, but the "should" obviously means there is still a doubt about his fitness.

I get the impression that Phil Brown believes Hume to be suffering from fatigue following his two games for Canada and jet lag etc. Hume reportedly wants to play, so it could be that Hume starts the game on the bench to be used as an impact striker.

Grey is now in full training after his long term injury which is very good news, but is not ready to play just yet.

No mention of Smith in the pre match reporting, which might suggest that Parry will keep his place at leftback and deservedly so.

I think that Alexander will play again tonight even though Ashbee now comes into consideration, Ashbee could be on the bench though.

Finneyfan makes the point that the Glovers play with three in the midfield which could influence what formation Phil Brown decides to go with. I think that the Glovers will be looking to stifle Northend by getting men behind the ball and hoping to catch PNE on the break, as other visiting teams have done. PNE and the supporters may have to be patient again before securing the points, an early home goal would help PNE's cause on the field and get the fans behind them off it. The pitch is sure to be greasy after all the wet weather we have had, so an opportunity then for PNE to have more attempts on goal than of late and from outside the box. I would like to see PNE being more aggressive going forward and imposing their authority on the game.

I am reasonably confident that Northend will have too much in the locker for the Glovers and will secure a fourth consecutive victory tonight..

 

PNE overcome the Glovers in seven goal thriller.

Teams for tonight's game at Deepdale.

PNE: Turner, McLaughlin, Carlisle, Hume, Coutts, Proctor, Nicholson, McLean, Parry, Alexander (c), Mellor.
Subs: Ashbee, Tsoumou, Barton, Mayor, Arestidou.

Yeovil Town: Steer, Ayling, Jones, Huntington, Upson, MacLean, Williams, Edgar, Ehmer, O'Brien, Wotton (c).
Subs: Blizzard, Gilbert, Agard, Brown, Stewart.

This Div one clash produced entertainment and excitement galore, and with the supporters getting behind the team managed to produce a memorable night of football at Deepdale. The Glovers to their credit played a full part in their role as first time visiting opponents and had PNE fans biting their nails for the added on four minutes at the end of the game. The result was PNE 4.....Yeovil Town 3 but Northend could and should have won the game by a greater margin.
PNE hit the woodwork on three occasions and tested the Yeovil keeper on several occasions.
PNE opened the scoring after just 4/5 minutes when from a free-kick taken by Alexander, Mellor on the turn shot, saved by the goalkeeper and Proctor was there to fire home!
PNE went on to play some decent football and should have gone further ahead when Proctor found himself unmarked to recieve a high cross, but with all the goal to aim at didn't direct his effort accurately and the keeper was able to make a comfortable save. PNE went quiet for a while and Yeovil took full advantage of this when they produced a very good flowing movement from one side of the field to the other and ended with Edgar being left unmarked to slot the ball home. PNE had had a couple of scares prior to this goal when Carlisle under hit a back pass to Turner in goal, who had to chase out and make a last ditch effort to prevent a goal injuring himself in the process. Alexander also had to perform miracles clearing off the Northend goal line. The half ended with PNE having had most of the possession but Yeovil hadn't come to be rolled over and had made life difficult for PNE by working extremely hard for each other.

The second half was when everything seemed to happen with incident after incident and PNE in the ascendancy creating chance after chance to re take the lead. The woodwork was hit on three occasions and the Glovers keeper was doing everything he could to halt Northend in their tracks, it was only a matter of time before the lead was restored and eventually it came when Barry Nicholson scored. Nicholson was at the back post, however credit must go to Paul Coutts with a powerful run and pass that found the midfielder who scores his second goal of the season. PNE were rampant at this stage of the game and with the home support reminding us of how they can get behind the team when roused it was game on. Hume and Mellor were causing the Yeovil defence all sorts of problems with Proctor adding to the threat as well, it looked like Northend were well on their way. Parry went on a run into the box and went down and it did look like a penalty from where I was sat, but the Ref said no and Booked Parry for diving. It was only a matter of time before PNE extended their lead and that they did when Mellor scored, a free-kick on the half way line taken by Alexander, Up towards Hume, great flick on by Preston's number seven into the path of Mellor, the former Liverpool man was in the right place at the right time to head home. PNE were well worth this lead and threatened to add several more goals as the game progressed, then out of nowhere Yeovil scored. Yeovil moved up field and one of their players made a pass to a team mate but the ball hit the Ref and travelled to another Yeovil player who spotted Turner off his line and despite the keeper getting a hand to it couldn't prevent the ball dropping over his head into the net to make the score 3-2 PNE. After a quiet five minute spell the game sprung to life again when Proctor drove into the area and passed back fot Mellor who produced a great finish to put Northend 4-2 in front and score his second goal of the night.
The minutes were ticking bye and PNE were looking in control when Yeovil moved up field into the Northend box and a penalty was awarded to the visitors for a handball by Carlisle. I couldn't clearly see if it was a valid decision or not but the PNE players didn't think it was but the man who makes the decision decided it was a deliberate handball. The Yeovil player made no mistake from the spot and brought the score back to 4-3 PNE, and so the home support nail biting began and continued right up to the final whistle with Yeovil going extremely close to grabbing a point.

For me Both Hume and Mellor deserved man of the match, with Hume producing some outstanding moments, with Mellor scoring his two goals.
Turner had to make several good saves with the Yeovil keeper having a storming game.
Coutts caused the opponents a lot of problems and Alexander continues to make nonsense of his years.
Proctor worked hard as always and grabbed his goal.
I had hoped that Northend would have more attempts on goal than previously and they did to great effect.
Yeovil are not a bad team and have had to play some tough fixtures in their opening games, and tonight proved to be a threat when breaking out of defence, they had a couple of players with pace who caused the PNE defence some problems. They will move up this division as time goes on.

Credit also to the Glovers fans who made the long trip for a Friday night game and gave their team good support.
The Gate was about 11450 which is the best attendance so far this season, so playing this game on a Friday night was a successful exercise and hopefully the gate will continue to grow as the season progresses.

New signing Daley was introduced to the crowd at halftime and must have enjoyed watching his new team mates bag all three points.

It is four wins on the bounce for PNE now, but the next two games will be a test and they are both away, but the signs are still good that PNE can have a very good season.

 

Plumbs think you need to spell check YEOVIL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Cracking nights entertainment, certainly wasn't a penalty, but by then it wasn't surprising as by then Mr Boyeson had started wearing a yellow shirt. Thought we deserved the points played some super attacking football in the 2nd half and should really have been out of sight.
As you say credit to them for their part in the game however they did practice a few of the darkarts, one tackle on Coutsts stands out.
Credit to their support 622mile round trip on a Friday

 

Turner possibly has a broken toe

 

Thanks for pointing the misspelled Yeovil out maclad.....poor excuse I know but it was way past my bed time when I did the above report..
I know that I never mentioned the Ref's performance, mainly due to not wanting to detract from a great night's entertainment but it was a very poor performance. Dishing out 15 yellow and three red cards in his previous early season games perhaps did serve as a warning. Whistle happy and got many decisions completely wrong and particularly in the second half against PNE.
It has become obvious that the match officials in this Div are generally speaking a class below the Championship.

 

Arrived at the ground a bit earlier than usual last night, and was stood outside with my grandson killing a bit of time, when Daley walked out of the main entrance accompanied by a PNE official. He was kitted out in his new PNE tracksuit etc, and was carrying a Jamaican flag. He looked extremely happy and relaxed and was making his way behind the Town End stand round to the players entrance. Not sure but I think he had only arrived in this country earlier in the day. He must have been impressed with the game and the PNE support. I look forward to seeing him play when he is match fit etc.

 

Not good news at all maclad..

I am sure the injury will keep him out for a time, not sure what PB will do about it if Turner has to miss several games. Maybe an opportunity for our No 2 keeper to make a name for himself...

 

El Hajd Diouf was also at the game

 

Unsurprisingly it seems to be taking him some time to find a new club.........but maybe he already has..