A look at how our loan players fared over the last month.
- James Plant (Yeovil Town) and Funso Ojo (Shrewsbury Town) set up goals to help their respective sides collect valuable points.
- Dan Jones suffers his first defeat as Gateshead lose narrowly to Tamworth, while Andrew Buah starts in Congleton Town’s two wins this week.
Port Vale youngster James Plant has made an early impact at Huish Park after his first two appearances for the Somerset side.
Coming off the bench in his debut against Aldershot Town, Plant provided the Glovers with an attacking spark as Mark Cooper’s side managed to find a second-half equaliser. Last Saturday, the 19-year-old excited home fans with his versatility in a 1-0 win over Dagenham and Redbridge. Plant started the game at left-back, where he provided a terrific cross to set up the decisive goal, and finished it on the right wing.
The win made it three matches unbeaten for Yeovil, and next up is a trip to Chesham United this weekend in the Fourth Round Qualifying Stage of the Emirates FA Cup.
Elsewhere, Funso Ojo helped Shrewsbury pick up their first point away from home this season in a battling 2-2 draw against promotion contenders Bolton.
The Belgian midfielder, who has been selected consistently in Paul Hurst’s starting eleven, impressed on both sides of the ball, assisting Salop’s second goal with a clever corner and producing a crucial block to deny the Trotters a late winner.
Ojo didn’t feature in the 4-0 defeat to Birmingham in the Bristol Street Motors Trophy on Tuesday but will be looking to continue his form when Salop visit for Crawley Town.
Valiant Dan Jones has made a tremendous start to his loan spell at Gateshead with three clean sheets and three victories in his first three appearances, but Tuesday saw the Heed dealt their first loss in five after a 2-1 defeat at Tamworth that leaves them fourth in the National League.
Academy graduate Andrew Buah featured until just before the hour mark in both victories for former Port Vale player Richard Duffy’s side this week; Congleton Town progressed to the next round of the FA Trophy with a 1-0 win over Hyde United before beating Bootle 2-0 in the Northern Premier League on Tuesday.
Author: Matt Carville, University of Staffordshire
