Venue: Huish Park
Wed 14th January 2004, 7pm kick-off.

Conditions: Cold and wet
Pitch: Slippery

Scorers: Jamie Gosling (1-0, pen, 29), Matt Robinson (1-1, 47), Jake Edwards (2-1, 48), Derek Holmes (2-2, 64)

Attendance: 233

Referee: Mr K Stroud
Assistant Refs: Mr T Jackson, Mr K Johnson
Fourth Official: Mr A Raggett

Bookings:
Yeovil: Gosling (21, foul)
Bournemouth: Connell (88, dissent)

Yeovil Town : (3-4-1-2)
13 Steve Collis
19 Chris Giles (C), 25 Sam Croft, 15 Steve Reed
24 Dale Williams, 23 Jamie Gosling, 26 Sean Smith, 3 Abdelhalim El Kholti
7 Adam Stansfield
18 Kirk Jackson, 17 Jake Edwards

Subs:
21 Steve Thompson, 27 Charlie Welch (65 mins for Stansfield), 28 Andy Martin (82 mins for Reed), 29 Greg Squibb (65 mins for Edwards), GK Danny Barker

AFC Bournemouth: (3-5-2)
1 Kevin Scrivens
2 Tim Bond, 4 Lee Wood, 3 Jason O'Connor
11 Wade Elliott (C), 7 Allan Connell, 8 Brian Stock, 5 Fanzi Saddi, 10 Danny Thomas
9 Derek Holmes, 6 Matt Robinson

Subs:
12 Jamie White (68 mins for Saddi), 13 Jason Harvell, 14 Mark Howlett (80 mins for O'Connor)

AFC Bournemouth sent what their official web site described as 'a strong Cherries line-up' for this reserve game, with Derek Holmes joining trialist Matthew Robinson up front, and first team regulars Wade Elliott, Danny Thomas and Welsh under-21 international Brian Stock included. Yeovil used the regular mix of squad players and youth team players, with three of the under-17 side starting and the game ending with six youth players on the field. In the starting formation Adam Stansfield played behind the front two of Kirk Jackson and Jake Edwards.

A fairly scrappy start saw the home side create the earliest attacks, with a fourth minute Yeovil corner taken by Abdelhalim El Kholti being collected by visiting keeper Scrivens, a Kirk Jackson header going wide, and a Dale Williams shot comfortably held. At the other end a good run into the Yeovil area by Matt Robinson forced a fine tackle from Steve Reed.

In the first quarter of an hour Reed impressed at the back, with Jake Edwards looking good leading the Glovers front line. Chris Giles headed a Reed free kick wide, and was soon called upon to tackle Robinson who again broke into the Yeovil penalty area. Allan Connell also looked sharp for the visitors with a good shot narrowly missing the target.

Jake Edwards won the ball from a sluggish Tim Bond, but his shot went across the face of the Bournemouth goal and wide of the post. A Kirk Jackson shot was blocked by a defender for another corner. Alan Connell did well for the Cherries, sliding the ball through to Danny Thomas, but Steve Collis was quick to come out and make a saving dive at his feet. Thomas was then brought down by Jamie Gosling, who was cautioned by Mr Stroud. Both sides tried to press forward, but the first 25 minutes passed with no clear cut chances for either side.

A Jamie Gosling free kick floated into the area was met by Jason O'Connor using his hand, and Mr Stroud had no hesitation in pointing to the spot. The penalty was taken by Gosling, and appeared to have been well saved by Scrivens; however, an infringement was spotted and a retake ordered. This time Jamie GOSLING made no mistake, firing low into the right hand corner. 1 - 0.

In the 34th minute Bournemouth earned their first corner. A minute later Adam Stansfield made a fine run into the Bournemouth area, and was clearly caught from behind, but rather than 'do a Kewell' he remained on his feet and shot over the bar. In the final moments of the half Dale Williams made a good defensive tackle, Connell headed just wide, and after good attacking work from Williams on the right flank his pass found Steve Reed whose long range shot went to the left of goal and did not trouble the visiting goalkeeper.

Yeovil started the second half poorly, with both Gosling and Edwards conceding possession to Bournemouth near the Yeovil penalty area in quick succession. The second of these errors proved costly as a pass found Matt ROBINSON directly in front of goal, and Collis had no chance as he slid the ball home. 1 - 1.

Just a minute later Jake EDWARDS made amends by firing into the bottom left hand corner of the Bournemouth net from the edge of the area to restore the lead. 2 -1.

With goals now seeming to come at the rate of one a minute, Kirk Jackson broke through the Bournemouth defence about 60 seconds after the Edwards score, but a last gasp challenge by a defender sent the ball looping high in the air. Keeper Scrivens got his hand to the attempted clearance and touched the ball over the bar for a corner. Bournemouth survived the attack and broke away, with their effort ended by a foul by Glovers captain Giles. The referee spoke to him, but no card was shown.

A Yeovil cross was punched away by Scrivens, and he did very well to block the volley from Gosling who picked up his clearance. After a good tackle on Stansfield by Bond, the Bournemouth keeper saved bravely at the feet of Edwards after a fine run and cross from the promising Dale Williams.

Almost on the hour mark a fairly scrappy game became even scrappier as the heavens opened and heavy rain fell. From this moment on Yeovil seemed to sit further back and allow Bournemouth more of the game. When Robinson crossed for Derek HOLMES to head home from close range after 65 minutes, Yeovil replaced Stansfield and Edwards with youth players Charlie Welch and Greg Squibb, and although they played well - like Croft, Smith and Williams who played all 90 minutes - the home side seemed to play too deep and to lack sharpness in attack. The initial change of formation saw Jackson drop to central midfield, with Gosling partnering Giles in up front.

Soon after the first Bournemouth change, with Jamie White on for Saddi, Robinson was clear through with a one-on-one against Collis, but the Yeovil keeper saved superbly to keep the scores level. With a little under 20 minutes remaining Dale Williams was pushed forward with Jamie Gosling returning to midfield. A Gosling corner was well headed by Giles, but stopped by Scrivens.

A fluent move by Yeovil - their best effort in the latter stages - saw El Kholti bring the ball out of defence and pass to Giles in the centre of the pitch. He played the ball to Gosling on the right flank before running forward, and Gosling's cross found the head of Giles but sadly his effort was wide to the right of the goal, missing the score that the move deserved. Both sides still pressed for a winner, and a bizarre attempt at a back pass by a Bournemouth defender gave away a corner but was not far from being an own goal.

Bournemouth replaced O'Connor with Mark Howlett, after good defending from Sean Smith it was Collis who again saved Yeovil with a fine double save. A final substitution saw Andy Martin on for Steve Reed. A good long shot from Brian Stock went wide of goal, and an equal effort from Dale Williams went straight into the arms of a grateful Scrivens.

With only a couple of minutes remaining Allan Connell disputed a decision one time too many, and found his name in the referee's notebook for dissent. Bournemouth had a final chance to win the game with the clock already on 90 minutes when they were awarded a free kick a little way outside the Yeovil penalty area, but Welsh under-21 international Brian Stock fired a free kick which owed more to the style of Jonny Wilkinson than David Beckham.

Final score: Yeovil Town Reserves 2 AFC Bournemouth Reserves 2

A good result for a fairly young Glovers side against a strong Bournemouth team. Those attending were amused by the inaudible shouts from the visiting management team, who sounded like a cross between Bill & Ben and the Swedish Chef from the Muppets.

For the statisticians the figures for tonight are as follows. Entering via turnstile number two - 233 people; golden gamble tickets sold - 108; queue for refreshments just before the end of half time - 41 people.

Robin Evans

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