The Glovers moved up to 2nd in the National League South table after a 2-1 win against Hampton & Richmond. First-half goals from Jordan Stevens and Rhys Murphy were enough to get them over the line.

In the 4th minute, Sam Deadfield put a free kick into the box which found the head of Mason Bloomfield, who headed high over the top of the goal. Moments later, the Glovers had a set-piece of their own which was crossed in by Jordan Young, but the referee stopped proceedings for a foul.

After 16 minutes, the hosts had another chance, this time falling to Ben Seymour. He twisted and turned on the edge of the box before his effort was charged down. The resulting corner was swung in by Sam Deadfield but could only find the gloves of Joe Day.

On 17 minutes, the first booking of the afternoon was waved in the direction of Charlie Cooper after he tripped his man as Hampton tried to start an attack. Just a few minutes later, Rhys Murphy joined Cooper for a similar challenge.

Then the chances started flowing for the Glovers. A long cross-field ball dropped to the feet of Jordan Young, who set himself before shooting over the bar from 25 yards out. Just after half an hour, Rhys Murphy broke through the defence but was held up and unable to shoot or find Frank Nouble, who was trying to make himself an option in the box.

On 34 minutes, the deadlock was broken and broken in style. After good work on the left wing from Charlie Cooper, he was bundled over, winning a free kick. The resulting free kick from Cooper was cleared away from danger, or so Hampton thought before Jordan Stevens unleashed a venomous half-volley which flew into the top left corner beyond Adam Desbois.

A couple of minutes later, Charlie Cooper again created a chance from a set-piece. His ball into the box was headed straight up into the air and dropped to Rhys Murphy, who tried to find the far corner with an overhead effort but it was over the crossbar of Adam Desbois’ goal.

It wasn’t long before Rhys Murphy was on the scoresheet. With just a couple of minutes left of normal time, Murphy latched onto a through ball from Alex Whittle and beat his man before finding the far corner with a low shot, doubling the Glovers’ lead.

This is how it remained as the whistle was sounded around the Beveree Stadium to mark half-time.

The second half saw Hampton enter it with more attacking intent. On 49 minutes, Sam Deadfield had a free kick in a dangerous position which was flicked wide by the head of Ben Seymour.

On the hour mark, the Glovers came close to adding a third. After sparking an attack down the right wing, Rhys Murphy laid the ball back to Jordan Young but his low effort was dragged wide of the post. On 65 minutes, Luis Fernandez had to be on his toes as he got in the way of not one but two goal-bound efforts to keep the score at 2-0.

A flurry of changes happened for both teams. The Glovers saw Jake Hyde and Josh Owers enter the field, replacing Rhys Murphy and Alex Whittle. It was Hyde who looked lively after coming on, but unfortunately, two quickfire yellow cards saw Jake Hyde head back to the dressing room just 8 minutes after his introduction.

The game then settled with a lot of the ball remaining in the middle of the park before the last 10 minutes saw Hampton go forward with a bit more urgency as time was running out.

A free kick from Sam Deadfield was swung in from the right, which dropped into the box, sparking a goalmouth scramble which saw Joe Day have to make a point-blank save to deny Hampton a goal.

It wasn’t until late into stoppage time when Hampton got their golden opportunity to get onto the scoresheet. The ball once again dropped into the six-yard box and a shot from close range was judged to have struck Matt Worthington’s arm. As a result, the referee pointed to the spot, and Worthington was shown a red card, putting Yeovil down to 9 men.

Former Glover Ben Seymour took responsibility for the penalty and tucked it low into the bottom corner, making it 2-1 in the 8th minute of stoppage time. For the hosts, it was too late to find an equalizer as the official brought an end to proceedings.

The win pushes the Glovers up to 2nd in the table, with results elsewhere going their way.