Yeovil Town secured back-to-back league wins for the first time in 2020 after a 1-0 win over Dover.
Marc Richards’ stunning second half strike was enough to separate the two sides, in a game which was largely controlled by the Glovers.
Keeping the hosts at arms length for the entire 90 minutes, Darren Sarll will no doubt be delighted with the three points, and the clean sheet to go alongside it.
Sarll only made a single change, and it was forced upon him.
With Liam O’Brien’s injury, his replacement between the sticks was Stuart Nelson.
This meant new loan signing Adam Smith would only be named on the bench.
There was one other change to the overall Glovers squad, with Gabby Rogers dropping off the bench for Tom Bradbury to replace him.
The opening stages saw two sides battling for dominance, with Yeovil just shading the opening 45 minutes.
The green and whites best chance fell to Jimmy Smith who escaped his marker and met Remeao Hutton’s well-weighted cross at the back post only for Lee Worgan to save his effort.
It was often the case where the ball narrowly escaped a Yeovil runner, with Marc Richards often just a matter of inches from connecting.
For the hosts, chances were few and far between, the best being Nassim L’Ghoul’s free-kick which caused no discomfort for Stuart Nelson as it harmlessly flew wide.
However, the Whites would have a penalty shout waved away. With Effiong breaking into the box, Luke Wilkinson produced a stunning last ditch challenge to win the ball, much to the Dover fans dismay.
After a rather underwhelming first half, it wouldn’t take long for the second to burst into life, with a goal in under two minutes.
After the ball was played back to M.Richards in space, the forward wasted no time in shooting first time, catching Worgan off guard, and finding the top corner spectacularly!
The Glovers continued to pile on the pressure, almost adding after the ball fell to Skendi on the edge of the box in the 56th minute but as the ball took a bobble he fired over the bar.
The bar would deny Town a second, after a stunning cross from M.Richards, the ball found J.Smith at the back post, his effort was saved but the ball fell to Duffus who smashed his header against the bar and couldn’t direct his follow up on goal.
Dover had to do something to get something out of the game, and manager Andy Hessenthaler made changes in an attempt in doing so. Changing his system by substituting his wide players put the hosts on top.
These changes did work in Dover’s favour, but they did very little in terms of making clear-cut chances. The best would be a half-chance which fell to substitute Adeoye Yussuf at the back-post who fired straight at Nelson.
Ultimately, Town were able to see the game out and bring a deserved three points back to Somerset.
Yeovil Town: Nelson; Hutton, Collins, Wilkinson, Dickinson; Lee, Worthington (Bradbury), Skendi, J.Smith (Cooper); M.Richards (Dagnall), Duffus.
Bookings: Hutton.
Subs not used: A.Smith, C.Richards.
Dover: Worgan, Passley, Taylor, Lokko, Havilland, Effiong, L’Ghoiul, Minns, Modeste, Gobern, Poleon.
Bookings: Taylor
Subs: Reason, Yusuff, Rooney, Rigg, Simpson.
