From the Ciderspace Archives
Venue: Avenue Stadium
Wednesday 21st July 2004, 7.45pm kick-off.
Conditions: Very mild, dry
Pitch: Plenty of grass but very bumpy
Scorers: Kevin Gall (65 mins, 0-1), Dan Bulley (90, 0-2)
Attendance:
Referee: Lee Probert
Bookings:
Yeovil: None
Dorchester: None
Yeovil Town : (4-4-2)
Steve Collis
Paul Terry, Scott Guyett, Terry Skiverton, Michael Rose
Gavin Williams, Nicholas Myers, Lee Johnson, Simon Weatherstone
Bartosz Tarachulski, Kevin Gall
Subs: Colin Pluck (70, for Scott Guyett), Roy O’Brien (70, for Terry Skiverton), Adam Lockwood (70, for Paul Terry), Steve Reed (70, for Michael Rose), Hussein Yazdani (76, for Lee Johnson), Charlie Welch (76, for Nicholas Myers), Dan Bulley (90, for Tarachulski), Sean Smith (90, for Gavin Williams), Gary Fordham (?) (90, for Simon Weatherstone)
Taff’s View Of The Game
The second game in two days for most of the Glovers on show tonight, so maybe it was no surprise that most of the game was played at half-pace, with Town seemingly content to pass the ball around, keep possession and stay fit for the tougher tests to come.
Giant Pole Bartosz Tarachulski (actually, compared to Hugo he’s not so big) started his first game in England for Yeovil and did enough to suggest that he’ll be a difficult customer to handle for 3rd division defences this season (providing he signs!), winning many flick ons in the air and holding the ball up well. He often found good positions in the box but unfortunately too many of his team mates just didn’t have their crossing boots on tonight, the standard of balls into the box ranging from abysmal to generally woeful and all points in between.
The first half meandered by without too much in the way of goalmouth action at either end. Nicholas Myers was again impressing in the centre of midfield and went close with one effort from outside the box and at the other end Dorchester were sporadically trying to put the Glovers defence under pressure, including one moment when Steve Collis was involved with a one-on-one with a Magpie forward which came to nothing. Otherwise the first half was a case of lots of pretty football, but no cutting edge.
Half-time: Dorchester Town 0 Yeovil Town 0
The usual pre-season half-time guessing game of ‘how many subs will the manager bring on?’ was in full swing when the players ran out for the second half and the answer was – er, none. Popular interpretation of that was that Gary Johnson had been as unimpressed with the first half performance as some of the crowd – which appeared to be 75% Yeovil supporters – and had told his players to put right what had been lacking in the first half, and certainly there was a much greater urgency and pace about the Glovers initially in the second period.
Lee Johnson and Nicholas Myers began spraying the ball around from central midfield, Gavin Williams was becoming more involved and the Glovers could easily have been three goals to the good after three more or less identical efforts from Johnson, Williams and Simon Weatherstone all failed to test the Dorchester keeper. In all three cases the ball found its way to players breaking into the penalty area from the right wing, and all three curled identical left-footed shots past the outside of the post when the goal was beckoning.
The pressure had to tell eventually however and it was the rejuvenated Kevin Gall who did the business. A lovely run and through ball from Nicholas Myers sent the young Welshman free and clear with only the keeper to beat and he made no mistake, slotting the ball home with a minimum of fuss. Two in two games now for Kev, albeit against modest opposition, but the important point is that after 6 months when he couldn’t buy a goal for love nor money he is now scoring again. We know he can do it, his teammates know he can do it, let’s hope that he now knows that he can do it, because an on form Kevin Gall scoring regularly would be a mighty asset for YTFC.
With the usual flurry of substitutions now well underway for both sides the game began to lose what cohesiveness it had found, but there was still time for one more Yeovil goal. On the stroke of full-time substitute Gary Fordham (at least, that’s what his name sounded like over the tannoy) showed his more illustrious team mates how to cross a ball properly by setting up fellow replacement Dan Bulley, who made no mistake from five yards. 2-0 may have been slightly flattering to the Glovers against a useful-looking Dorchester outfit (good luck against the Seaside Scummers this season lads!), but with no injuries and more points in the fitness bank this was a reasonable evening’s work for Gary Johnson’s men.
Taff