Ollie Pearce, Worthing put Yeovil Town’s National League South title celebrations on hold
It was late heartbreak for Yeovil Town after a late Ollie Pearce goal saw their National League South coronation put on hold, and Worthing leave Huish Park 3-1 winners.
Pearce beat Joe Day from the penalty spot to give the visitors the lead after 15 minutes, before teenager Brad Dolaghan doubled their advantage on the stroke of half-time.
Alex Fisher pulled a late goal back for the Glovers pouncing on a Frank Nouble flick-on with 5 minutes to spare, before a goal elsewhere meant that Town would be crowned champions with a late equaliser.
Rhys Murphy looked to have scored that goal, firing past Oliver Wright in stoppage time, but he was ruled offside. Pearce then broke the hearts of nearly 6000 Town fans by scoring the winner on the final kick of the game.
Yeovil had the best of the chances early on, as Sonny Blu Lo-Everton forced an impressive close-range stop from Wright, after connecting with a low cross from Sam Pearson within 11 minutes.
Worthing were awarded a penalty shortly after though, as Jake Wannell was booked for a foul on Pearce in the area.
The Rebels’ goal machine made it 37 for the season to give his side an early lead, sending Day the wrong way and powering his penalty into the bottom left corner.
As half-time beckoned the visitors doubled their lead, capitalising on a mistake from Jay Foulston.
The full-back intended to play a short pass back to his goalkeeper, but the ball bobbled as he went to pass, and was pounced on by Joe Felix.
Felix skipped past Day, then looked to his left and spotted 19-year-old Brad Dolaghan, in the centre of the area, who tapped the ball into the net and doubled Worthing’s lead at the break.
Rhys Murphy was introduced as a half-time substitute, and made an instant impact, winning Town a penalty four minutes into the second half. His attempt was saved by the former Bath City goalkeeper Wright.
Needing either a win, to match, or better Chelmsford City’s result to be crowned champions, a celebration was looking unlikely at the hour mark, as the Clarets had just taken the lead at home to Slough Town.
But shortly after news broke that Chelmsford had received not one, but two red cards, Cooper’s side were revitalised.
Murphy looked to have the ball in the back of the net after 82 minutes, but he was penalised for a foul in the build-up. A minute later, substitute Alex Fisher fired the Glovers back into the game.
Fisher locked onto a ball that was headed across goal by Frank Nouble and powered a header over a diving Wright, and into the back of the net.
Seven additional minutes were added after time had expired, giving the Glovers plenty of time to grab an equaliser, which as it turned out was all they needed.
Morgan Williams came close two minutes into that period, jumping to meet a cross from Dylan Morgan, another substitute. The defender’s head made good contact with the ball, but was directed just wide of the net.
Just as Slough had equalised against nine-man Chelmsford, Murphy looked to have put the ball in the back of the net again with three minutes of stoppage time remaining.
The 33-year-old latched onto a long ball that was flicked on by Morgan Williams, and beat Wright one-on-one. Huish Park erupted, only to look over to the assistant referee and see that the goal had been ruled offside.
Still needing one goal to be crowned champions with four games to spare, all ten outfield players continued to push forward to find a late equaliser for Town, but it wasn’t to be.
Ollie Pearce scored his 38th goal of the season with the last kick of the game, capping off an excellent counter-attack by Danny Cashman, postponing Town’s coronation.
The Glovers’ next opportunity to win the National League South is on Thursday, April 11, when they face Truro City, in Gloucester.