Venue: McCain Stadium
Sat 7th December 2002, 3pm kick-off.
Conditions:
Ground:
Nationwide Conference :
Scarborough 2 – 1 Yeovil Town
Att: 1,470
Referee: Mr Matadar
Bookings:
Yeovil: Lockwood (22, unsporting behaviour), Way (59, dissent)
Scarborough: None
Line up : (3-4-1-2)
 1. Chris Weale |
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2. Adam Lockwood |
26. Jimmy Aggrey |
14. Roy O’Brien |
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10. Nick Crittenden |
6. Darren Way |
8. Lee Johnson |
11. Michael McIndoe |
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20. Gavin Williams |
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25. Kirk Jackson |
24 Abdelhalim El Kholti |
Substitutes: 19. Abdoulai Demba, 12. Chris Giles, 16. Andy Lindegaard, 18. Kim Grant (77, for El Kholti), 26. Steven Collis
Scarborough: 1. Andy Woods, 30. David Holdsworth, 4. Paul Sheppherd, 3. Mark Hotte, 7. Jason Blunt, 8. Gareth Stoker, 2. Scott Jordan, 12. Anthony Ormerod, 29. Ryan Mallon, 28. Keith Scott, 9. Neil Campbell
Subs : 26. Richard Dryden, 17. Leigh Walker, 22. Bimbo Fatokun (64, for Campbell), 11. David Pounder (82, for Mallon), 21. Olivier Brassart
Scorers: Roy O’Brien o.g. (19, 1-0), Abdelhalim El Kholti (42, 1-1), Bimbo Fatukan (70, 2-1)
This report courtesy of Martin Baker:
It took eighteen matches and 3.5 months, but Yeovil Town finally succumbed to their first league defeat since the second game of the season at Scarborough as they went down by a 2-1 scoreline to an in-form Scarborough side. That it was the Yorkshire side that ended the Glovers proud run should have come as no great surprise – Yeovil’s one and only win against Scarborough came 20 years ago and even that was at the old Huish ground. With Terry Skiverton and Colin Pluck both out suspended, it was always going to be a difficult day oop north.
The game began in bitterly cold conditions and poor light not helped by one of Scarborough’s floodlights being down to it’s last lightbulb. Kirk Jackson headed an early chance over the bar, but largely the ball stayed around the midfield area, with Scarborough having the slight edge on territory. That all said, it took two Yeovil players to give Scarborough their best opening opportunities. A Jimmy Aggrey backpass put Chris Weale under pressure and his low drive struck the heels of a Scarborough striker with the ball ricocheting past Weale. Fortunately the Yeovil keeper was able to recover his ground to slide the ball clear, and Scott Jordan skied the ball high and wide.
The second spot of confusion in the Yeovil defence was not quite so fruitfully dealt with though. Jimmy Aggrey was left with little room to maneouvre when he had to loop a ball back over his head when around 10 yards out, and when Gareth Stoker put the half-clearance back into the box, Roy O’BRIEN sliced the second clearance straight past Chris Weale and into the top left corner of the net, instead of the corner flag area that he had been intending.
Yeovil fans would know the name of Neil Campbell well. The former Doncaster striker was playing his ‘usual game’ which meant that he seemed more concerned with trying to influence the referee and goad his opposing players than trying to look where the ball was. Adam Lockwood landed in the book after one such tussle with Campbell, whilst little moments with Jimmy Aggrey and Darren Way produced similar reactions from the Scarborough striker. Fortunately, match referee Mr Matadar seemed to be one of the few Conference referees who believed in keeping his cards in his pocket – even if sometimes throughout the match his lack of action threatened to result in players taking actions into their own hands.
Chris Weale had to be at his best to deal with another Boro chance on the half hour mark when the home side broke up a Yeovil attack. With Keith Scott racing up the length of the field, turning three Yeovil players in the process, fortunately Weale came sharply off his line and Scott’s panicked shot was saved well down to Weale’s left.
At this stage, Yeovil largely had control of the game without having any great bite to threaten Scarborough keeper Andy Woods. Kirk Jackson was laying off the ball as required, but either his knockdowns were not pacey enough, or his team-mates were not supporting him tightly enough as largely play was breaking up around the eighteen yard line. Darren Way represented the closest Yeovil could come as he got on the end of a Jackson knockdown, only for his drive to go straight into the body of keeper Woods.
Just four minutes before the break, Yeovil did get the slice of luck they needed to balance out O’Brien’s misfortunes. After a swift solid break up field, Abdelhalim EL KHOLTI received the ball deep in the Boro midfield, turned a home player in one easy movement, and after a short run, let fly with a 25 yarder that deflected off a defender’s outstretched boot, making the ball loop over Woods, giving him no chance of stopping Yeovil going in at half time on level pegging.
Half Time: Scarborough 1 Yeovil Town 1
The second period began quietly, although Lee Johnson’s fierce 20 yard drive from a Darren Way layoff would have surely have gone in if the ball had been a yard to the right, such was the strength of the shot. Darren Way landed in the book for disputing a foul given against Jimmy Aggrey on the edge of the area.
The referee’s lack of willingness to deal firmly with such incidents was turning up the temperature on a game that seemed to be hovering on the edge of boiling over. For one Scarborough fan, the whole thing was too much, but his attempted pitch invasion was thwarted by the home stewards giving an unwanted distraction of a dozen stewards attempting to keep the home terrace under control as the ‘supporter’ was hauled away.
Back at the football, Neil Campbell twice got himself into space, but wasted his chances – one going far over the crossbar, whilst another saw Chris Weale save well at the foot of his goalpost. He was replaced by Bimbo Fatokun, whose pace seemed to immediately unsettle the Yeovil defence.
Six minutes later, the damage by the substitute was done. Gareth Stoker lofted a 30 yard cross into the box, and despite Adam Lockwood initially tracking the striker, Bimbo FATOKUN managed to get half a yard behind and that was enough for him to plant a stooped glancing header past Chris Weale from eight yards out.
Thereafter Scarborough’s win never really looked in doubt. Kim Grant replaced Abdelhalim El Kholti, but Yeovil very much huffed and puffed. Whilst Darren Way and Lee Johnson did their jobs well, the invention of McIndoe, Crittenden and Williams was lacking a little, and Andy Woods had to do little to justify his wages.
In reality, the home side could have pinched a third when a cross field ball to Anthony Ormerod left the home side’s man of the match in free space, but he shot well over the crossbar despite being in clear space.
As things finished though, Yeovil could have few complaints about the scoreline. Whilst the two errors for the home sides goals doubtless cost them, the lack of scoring opportunities did not really justify a share of the points. Whether Yeovil can bounce back next week at Northwich, will depend very much on how the management, players and supporters keep things in perspective, and hold their nerve as they go into a phase of games against struggling and midtable sides, where a different sort of football will be played.
Internet Man of the Match Voting Result:
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Overall match rating: 5.9 / 10
Performance: 5.8
Entertainment: 6
8 votes received.