TT TALKING POINTS
Dom Roman – @DomRoman
The Ed looks ahead to the game at Plainmoor
Merry Christmas to all, I hope Christmas Day was a good one for you and your family. Our party was slightly pooped by the FA Trophy loss, but with two good wins before that there’s room for optimism as we face Yeovil Town on Boxing Day again. In this Boxing Day best out of 3, the clincher awaits – pre-match talking points here I come…
RETURNING HEROES
The team that Gary Johnson fielded last Saturday should have beaten lowly Tonbridge, but sorely missed Shaun MacDonald and Asa Hall. The good news is that, fitness and COVID permitting, both will return to face the Glovers. MacDonald and the back 3 of Wynter, Lewis and Moxey have some steady games under their belt together and can take plenty of heart from that splendid battling performance against on-form Stockport County. On-form Yeovil will be confident and knocking on the door, so big games are required again in defence. Meanwhile Asa Hall will no doubt be one of Gary’s first names on the team list, and will relish a derby clash in what will be testing weather conditions. Just his kind of ‘roll your sleeves up’ type of 90 minutes.
DEFENDING SET PIECES
Something that United must do better on is set pieces, with another one conceded against Tonbridge in the early minutes of the FA Trophy fixture. Stockport could and should have scored early at Plainmoor last time out, finding far too much space from corners but failing to convert, whilst others have been grateful for how lax United’s marking has been. Teams will do their homework on the Gulls and spot these weaknesses, so getting organised, well-communicated and concentrated early is a priority if we’re going to keep climbing the National League table.
TAKING CHANCES
Yeovil Town’s success in recent months has been built on a miserly Scrooge-like defence, with only 4 goals conceded in 11 games. The moral here is we’ll need to be clinical with any good chances that come our way, and Sinclair Armstrong will be a key man again. He’ll be marshalled by the Glovers centre back pairing of Wilkinson and Hunt, and will have to grind hard to get any change out of those two. By all accounts Darren Sarll’s team press aggressively, so a quick counter attack utilising Sinclair’s pace down the channels could be effective just as it was against Stockport. It’ll then be up to the likes of Klaidi Lolos (if picked), Armani Little and Tom Lapslie to get up in support of the loan man.
WRIGHT OR LOLOS
Gary Johnson’s main decision for the game (fitness and COVID issues permitting) will be whether he picks Klaidi Lolos or Danny Wright alongside Sinclair Armstrong. Two very different players! GJ will look at how best to attack Yeovil. Would a more direct approach using Wright pushed up with Armstrong ruffle their feathers, or would Lolos’s skill and ability to get involved in attacking build-up be more favourable. The good thing is that whatever the decision, we’ll have one of the strikers available as an impact sub, hopefully sat next to Connor Lemonheigh-Evans, who missed the Trophy match last weekend.
THE YELLOW ARMY
That Stockport (h) atmosphere was just delightful. More songs than I’ve heard at Plainmoor in a long while, and a real determination from the Popside especially to make a real racket. The Popside sets the tone for Plainmoor, enthusiasm from that stand can push on everybody else, both in the stands and on the pitch. I asked for the Weymouth noise to be translated to home base and my wish was granted, so I’m being repetitive here and mentioning it again! Let’s use Stockport as a marker and keep it going. See you at Plainmoor.
COYY – Dom
“They are massive to us, our supporters. It’s a real confidence boost for the boys, and they do a lot more when there’s noisy, supportive, noise from our fans. We’ve seen it a million times, and I can’t express how important our fans are in these types of games” – GARY JOHNSON
OTHER ARTICLES:
BOXING DAY MEMORIES by Danny Burnell
OPPOSITION Q&A – YEOVIL TOWN by Adam Barrington
TT PARTNERS
PROUD AWAY SPONSOR OF KLAIDI LOLOS
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