Yeovil Town let valuable points slip from their grasp when they failed to hold onto a lead against promotion-chasing Huddersfield Town at Huish Park this afternoon. Despite having a man advantage for 76 minutes, when former Glover Lee Peltier had a moment of madness by getting sent off for striking Dean Bowditch, the Terriers got an equaliser from Antony Kay to wipe out the first half advantage the Glovers held through Andy Williams. In the end, a 1-1 draw was the best Yeovil could manage, despite their front pair having chances to increase the first half lead.
Team news saw two of Tuesday night's substitutes take to the field and start the match. Alex Russell and Andy Williams replaced Ed Upson and Sam Williams in the starting line-up, with Dean Bowditch being shuffled back out onto the wing. A frenetic start from both sides saw play switch from end to end although perhaps the biggest early incident came away from the ball itself, with Paul Wotton barely lasting a couple of minutes in the match. The midfielder pulled up with what looked to be a significant hamstring problem, hobbling off straight away and being replaced by Ed Upson in the centre of the park.
More early drama added a twist to the game, when Dean Bowditch and former Glover Lee Peltier tussled close to the benches, and Pelts stupidly made use of his elbow right in front of the Fourth Official. Referee Phil Crossley took his time, consulting with John Busby, before producing a straight red card, leaving Huddersfield down to 10 men for 76 minutes, and Peltier suffering a miserable return to his former club. The Terriers made an instant substitution to realign their back four in the light of the dismissal.
Inevitably, with the extra man, Yeovil began to dominate possession, albeit without producing a huge number of chances. Visiting keeper Ian Bennett smothered a ball at the feet of Andy Williams to stop him breaking through, whilst Oli Johnson's strong run resulted in him placing a shot just wide of the post as the centre of the park opened up invitingly. Then the Terriers almost gifted the Glovers an opening goal, as Stephen Jordan put a Nathan Smith cross onto his own post, with the ball rebounding back out into the grateful arms of Ian Bennett.
Finally though, with six minutes remaining of the first half, Yeovil made their possession turn into a clear-cut chance, as the vision of Alex Russell found Andy Williams in space. His first touch was miscontrolled although in doing so forced a Terriers defender to commit himself. Williams slipped inside onto his left foot and then fired home from just inside the box to put his side 1-0 up, and to give 10 man Huddersfield a mountain to climb.
Just before the break, the Glovers could have been 2-0 up, as Oli Johnson was put through in a one-on-one, but his hesitance allowed Terriers defender Peter Clarke time to get back and put in an excellent challenge before Johnson could pull the trigger. The Glovers deserved their half time lead, but needed to be a bit more authoritative with what they were doing in order to take true advantage of the situation.
Huddersfield introduced a bit of pace to their front line for the start of the second half, with Benik Afobe introduced for Lee Novak. Early chances for the Glovers saw Oli Johnson and Andy Williams spurn opportunities, with the latter firing wide of the target after broke through, with perhaps the angle on his shot defeating him in the end. Luke Ayling put a disappointing free kick attempt wide of the target.
If Huddersfield were going to get back into the game then it was almost certainly going to be from a set piece. And so it proved when an Anthony Pilkington corner was greeted by the head of centre-back Antony Kay, who powered the ball home for an equaliser for yet another occasion when the Glovers had switched off from a set piece. 1-1 and despite the man disadvantage, the Terriers were back in the game.
There were lengthy periods during the second period where Huddersfield began to look as though that was deserved. Following the equaliser, Yeovil seemed to lose their way, and despite being a man down it was Huddersfield who began to control the midfield. The Glovers front pair couldn't hold the ball up, or create anything of note, and a double substitution of Oli Johnson and Andy Williams were swapped out for Antonio German and Sam Williams as the Glovers opted for a front line duo. Not that this significantly changed the pattern of the game.
A lengthy delay and a lot of on field discussion ensued when Sam Williams and Antony Kay jumped up for a header, resulting in a head injury for the Huddersfield goalscorer. Huddersfield's Peter Clarke tried to wind the situation up, both by confronting Williams and then confronting referee Phil Crossley. Clarke's persistence forced the match official to consult with his assistant, who ruled that the collision had no malice to it, with Crossley not even awarding a free kick, despite Clark continuing his argument with the officials.
Huddersfield had chances to win the match late on with substitute Benik Afobe forcing Stephen Henderson into a smart save, and the visitors unable to follow up the rebound. Then Hendo was forced to make a save from Anthony Pilkington, whilst the Glovers ended the match with Paul Huntington worryingly hobbling around after he needed lengthy treatment. But with all three substitutes already used, he had to try to carry on.
The final four minutes of added time produced no further action, unless you count Peter Clarke trying to lay into Sam Williams upon the final whistle, with assistant manager Nathan Jones wisely separating the pair and leading Williams away from any provocation coming his way. In the end the second half was a bit of a damp squib from a Glovers point of view - a man advantage for 76 minutes, and yet it never really showed as the match went on. At the start of the match, a point against a top three side would have been seen as a good result, but the opportunity was there for the Glovers to take command and it never quite happened that way.
Link: 2010-11 Latest League One Table.
Final Score: Yeovil Town 1 Huddersfield Town 1.
Scorers: Andy Williams (1-0, 39 mins), Antony Kay (1-1, 59 mins).
Yeovil Town:
13. Stephen Henderson
8. Luke Ayling 5. Paul Huntington 14. Max Ehmer 6. Nathan Smith
18. Andrew Tutte 20. Paul Wotton 15. Alex Russell 10. Dean Bowditch
12. Oli Johnson
7. Andy Williams
Substitutes:
1. Richard Martin (GK) 9. Sam Williams (75 mins for Andy Williams) 16. Edward Upson (5 mins for Paul Wotton) 19. Adam Virgo 17. Craig Calver 21. Antonio German (75 mins for Oli Johnson) 25. Daniel Fitzsimmons
Huddersfield Town:
13. Ian Bennett
2. Lee Peltier 5. Peter Clarke 8. Antony Kay 22. Stephen Jordan
20. Kevin Kilbane 31. Chris Atkinson 16. Scott Arfield
7. Gary Roberts 21. Lee Novak 11. Anthony Pilkington
Substitutes:
1. Alex Smithies (GK) 12. Tom Clarke 32. Jack Hunt (16 mins for Chris Atkinson) 24. Benik Afobe (46 mins for Lee Novak) 19. Alan Lee 18. Jamie McCombe 17. Jordan Rhodes
Yeovil Bookings: None.
Huddersfield Bookings: Antony Kay (59 mins, excessive celebration). Red Card: Lee Peltier (14 mins, violent conduct).
Referee: Phil Crossley (Kent). Assistants: Mike Cairns (Somerset) and Mark Howes (Birmingham). Fourth Official: John Busby (Oxfordshire).
Attendance: 3,620
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5 March 2011 : 
