Venue: Huish Park
Tuesday, February 1st, 7.45pm kick-off
Conditions: Clear but blowy
Pitch: Held up nicely
Attendance: 3,936 (461 away supporters)
Scorers: Shields 4 (0-1), Cordner o.g. 52 (1-1)
Referee: Scott Jackson
Bookings:
Yeovil Town: Robinson 38, Worthington 63, Wilkinson 88
W*ymouth: Murray 51, Mussa 53, Fitzsimons 63,
Sending off: Mussa 90 (second bookable offence)
Yeovil Town : (4-3-1-2)
Grant Smith
Morgan Williams Luke Wilkinson Ben Barclay Jack Robinson
Matt Worthington (for D’Ath, 67) Dale Gorman Jordan Barnett (for Alex Bradley, 84)
Sonny Blu Lo-Everton (for Reid, 46)
Charlie Wakefield Adi Yussuf
Substitutes: Alex Bradley, Toby Stephens Lawson D’Ath, Max Evans
W*ymouth: Fitzsimons, Cordner, Mnoga, Mussa, Harfield, Drewe, Murray, McQuoid (for Rose, 75), Bearwish, Mampala, Shields (for Blair, 86). Substitutes: Morgan, Goodship, Blair, Greenidge.
Match Report
The W*ymouth wait for a win at Huish Park stretched out to 33 years, but that mob down the road managed to hold Yeovil Town to a draw.
The Terras took the lead after just four minutes when midfielder Sean Shields gave the visitors a fourth minute lead in front of the Thatcher’s Gold Stand.
That set the tone for a woeful first half with the visitors controlling much of the play and leading to boos from the home fans at the interval.
The reception seemed to spark Yeovil who came out brighter after the restart and drew level when Adi Yussuf’s shot was turned in to his own net by Tyler Cordner on 52 minutes.
Midfielder Omar Mussa saw red for a second booking in the 90th minute just moments before Yussuf missed a golden opportunity to win it in injury time.
Here’s how Ian saw it…………
First half
The changes from the win at Woking the previous weekend were enforced with defender Mark Little and forward Tom Knowles out through suspension. Their replacements were on-loan full-back Jack Robinson and striker Adi Yussuf respectively.
The Glovers got off to the worst possible start conceding a 4th minute opener with stunned the crowd into silence. Josh McQuoid picked up Sonny Blu Lo-Everton‘s loose header on the edge of the Yeovil box and his cross to the back post found the unmarked Sean SHIELDS who blasted a left-footed shot into the roof of Grant Smith‘s net. 1-0.
Shortly after a goal scramble nearly fell kindly to Adi Yussuf, but the Tanzanian couldn’t connect cleanly and scooped his effort into the travelling support.
Rattled by that early opener, Yeovil couldn’t impose themselves on the game, while W*ymouth played with an unburdened freedom finding space on the wings and looked assured in possession.
In the 20th minute, Charlie Wakefield stung the gloves of Ross Fitzsimons in the W*ymouth goal. The ‘star man’ found space in the right and Lo-Everton’s through ball teed him nicely for a good effort that wasn’t quite dynamite.
On the 27th minute, a minor injury to Lo-Everton allowed Glovers’ boss Darren Sarll to gather his players together and presumably tell them to sort it out, perhaps in stronger words than that.
The Glovers looked disjointed, and a polar opposite from their last performance at Huish Park against Wrexham. The front three lacked cohesion with Wakefield the bright spark with a couple of promising runs and an inviting cross which no one latched on to.
A lax pass from Dale Gorman allowed W*ymouth a good chance to counter inside his side’s own half but a combination of Jordan Barnett and Luke Wilkinson held things up conceding a free kick in a dangerous position. It was dispatched tamely wide by Tyler Cordner.
The first half faded away with neither side willing to take any risks and the half-time whistle was met with boos from Thatcher’s terrace.
Half time: Yeovil Town 0 W*ymouth 1
Second half
Sarll withdrew Lo-Everton for Reuben Reid at half time, switching to a 4-4-2. Reid partnered Yussuf up front and Wakefield and Barnett moved to the flanks.
The switch worked and Yeovil took control of the game and grabbed an equaliser in the 52nd minute through Yussuf. The ball broke loose just inside the box and his low not-so-cleanly struck shot ricocheted off W*ymouth defender Tyler Cordner and trickled into the corner of the net for an OWN GOAL. 1-1
Roared on by the Thatcher#s, the energy and urgency couldn’t have been further from that in the first half. But there was sharp intake of breath on the hour when Tom Bearwish met a cross in the six yard box only to direct it straight at Smith.
Smith was called into action minutes later as McQuoid fired in a low effort that was heading for the bottom corner.
With Reid growing in confidence and fitness and the returning Lawson D’Ath entering the fray, the Glovers added experience and nous when they needed it most. They did have to contend with time wasting from the bar stewards in terracotta and blue, and the odd counter.
As ever, it was the marauding Wakefield causing problems on the right trying to recreate the golden years with some Nick Crittenden-esque runs. His well flighted cross flew past the back post and could have had Glovers dancing in the street had a teammate connected.
That energy which came at the start of the second half dissipated as fatigue began to take hold and Sarll introduced some freshness with Alex Bradley replacing Barnett with seven minutes remaining.
As the game entered stoppage time, Mussa received a second booking for bringing down Wilkinson as he looked to haul Yeovil to victory.
Yussuf had a golden opportunity to clinch it at the death but somehow couldn’t connect to send the fans home happy.
However, it remains Boxing Day 1988 since our the slime from the seaside managed a win in Somerset.
Full time: Yeovil Town 1 W*ymouth 1