Hampton & Richmond were pinned back in the first half and suffered two blows of attacking quality, going in 2-0 down at the half. Reenergised in the second, they saw Yeovil town reduced to nine men yet were unable to earn points against the promotion candidates. 

This matchday ten fixture saw Yeovil Town visit Beveree for a Saturday 15:00 kick off. The visitors came into the game as favourites over Hampton & Richmond after a start to the season good enough for sixth position and three points from the top of the table.  

The first half saw the Somerset-based side display their quality, keeping the possession of the ball for the most part. However, it was Hampton & Richmond who had the first big chance of the game, in the fourth minute, when Sam Deadfield delivered an excellent dead ball delivery from the left hand side into the box which Mason Bloomfield glanced over the bar.   

Ten minutes later, an excellent spell of possession followed for Hampton & Richmond who put together a synchronised passing move ending in a Ben Seymour shot blocked from the edge of the box.  

However, the resilient Beaver’s dam eventually gave into pressure in the 34th minute. Yeovil Town’s Charlie Cooper received the ball with his back to goal and turned brilliantly to earn his side a freekick just outside the goalkeeper’s area. The resulting set piece, delivered by Cooper, ricocheted around the box before falling out to the tricky Jordan Stevens whose finish likely dropped the jaws of even the Hampton and Richmond fans and demonstrated technique of the highest quality. The strike was drilled into the top left corner, leaving Adam Desbois with no chance.   

Yeovil’s Rhys Murphy, who already had three National League South goals this season, added his fourth in the 42nd minute. After being set free into the Hampton and Richmond box, he sent one defender to the floor with a fake shot before finishing into the bottom right corner to make it 2-0 to the away side.   

The second half saw Hampton & Richmond in Yeovil’s half much more consistently. Mel Gwinnet utilised his bench in an attempt to get a hold of the game using all three substitutions by the 68th minute, with Rob Hall, Alfy Whittingham and Connor Kurran-Browne coming on.   

Meanwhile, Yeovil’s tactical changes put them under more pressure as substitute Jake Hyde came on in the 66th minute and was sent off by the 72nd, receiving two quick yellow cards in his six minute stint to send the Glovers down to ten men.   

This pressure was evident when Yeovil keeper Joseph Day had to pull out a close range save, from inside his penalty area, following a Hampton & Richmond by-line freekick in the 81st minute. Deadfield threatened Day again in the 88th minute, holding a defender off before turning and shooting into the keeper’s hands.  

Yeovil captain Matthew Worthington was then given his marching orders in the 96th minute. A Suarez-esc handball off the line to deny a goal scoring opportunity handed Hampton & Richmond a conciliation penalty, dispatched by Ben Seymour a minute later for his second spot-kick goal this season.  

Drama did not escape the game after the full-time whistle, for the 1269 in attendance, as Hampton and Richmond right back Jordan Thomas was shown a red card whilst in discussion with the match referee, Eugene Robinson.