The fall-out from the Swansea City win on New Years Day became clear when Gary Johnson was forced into his first major revamping of the Christmas holiday with Lee Johnson and Michael Rose being forced to drop out of the team due to injuries sustained at the Vetch Field. A patched up Colin Miles was sent out into Rose's position whilst Paul Terry shuffled into midfield to give Andy Lindegaard the right-back spot.

Andrejs Stolcers became Yeovil's earliest booking in a match this season when he took the law into his own hands - literally - by grasping the ball as he fell to the deck near the corner flag. Referee Jarnail Singh was unconvinced of the push on the winger and even less impressed with Stolcers stopping play in such a manner.

It was very clear from the onset that the Glovers were going to dominate the game to an extreme and they created a series of first half chances without ever really looking like they had come out of second gear. Shrewsbury had their own game plan and it was to slow down play as much as possible - their frequent goal kicks and rare set-pieces taking an age to be executed, and the Glovers seemed to be almost suckered into the slowdown of tempo with the game frequently being played at a walking pace.

That didn't stop Yeovil from going close to the goal with a number of attempts. A Paul Terry cross saw a Terry Skiverton header go across the face of goal but Phil Jevons had to stretch too much to get any power in on his shot. Kevin Gall dropped in a deep right wing cross but Andrejs Stolcers could only strike the ball out of the ground. Jake Sedgemore landed in the book when he showed his studs to Bartosz Tarachulski. Bartosz himself turned and shot after receiving an Andrejs Stolcers free kick wide on the right, then Stolcers attempted another variety of his "edge of the area" curlers but the ball went just wide of the post. A Darren Way cross found Phil Jevons on the near post but his header went straight at Scott Howie.

This may sound like complete Yeovil domination and it probably was in terms of the statistics. But this was a one-paced game that felt positively flat and from the silence around the ground, you could hear Gary Johnson screaming "more movement! more movement!" from the dugout. Thankfully one of the few players who seemed to be heeding his cries was responsible for Yeovil breaking the deadlock ten minutes before the break. Colin Miles played a one-two with Darren WAY, and the midfielder, who had been the lynchpin of the side throughout the half, unleashed a 25 yard drive that took a deflection and into the corner of the net.

If that goal was meant to liven up the game it didn't, and you just felt that Shrewsbury's tendency to sit behind the ball and let Yeovil come on to them was making the game just too easy for the Glovers. They weren't feeling challenged enough to up the tempo of the game and the Glovers continued with their half-paced attempts to breach the Shrewsbury defence. Colin Miles saw his rising drive just clear the crossbar, whilst Way again tried his luck from distance after a Stolcers corner was only half cleared by the Shrewsbury defence.

It took 47 minutes for the visitors to manage their first on-target shot of the day - a Jake Sedgemore free kick that curled over the wall but went straight down the throat of Chris Weale. Yeovil went into the break 1-0 up and cruising, but you sensed that Gary Johnson wasn't going to be awfully impressed by the lethargic pace of the game. At least the single Way goal would save the team from a real rollicking.

Luke Rodgers replaced former Hereford stiker John Grant at half time whilst Sam Aiston landed in the book for a push in the back on Kevin Gall as the right winger broke clear down the flank.

Yeovil continued to chip away at the Shrewsbury goal without any great increase in tempo. Andrejs Stolcers almost caught out Scott Howie when he chose to shoot direct at goal from a free kick with the keeper already coming off his line expecting a cross. A quick bit of back-peddling saved Howie's blushes. Way tried his third long-ranger of the afternoon and it seemed as though the game was likely to drift towards an anonymous conclusion without ever being any kind of a classic.

Everything seemed to change just past the hour mark though. Kelvin Langmead, who had lifted one second half chance over the bar managed to take a bouncing ball in behind the Yeovil line-up and as Chris Weale came out of his goal, Langmead knocked the ball towards the corner flag, then took a dive that could well get him called up for the next Olympics. So laughable was the Shrewsbury player's attempt that when referee Singh ran towards the penalty area, it seemed as though a yellow card was going to be raised. Instead the London referee pointed to the penalty spot leaving Chris Weale flabbergasted. Singh is usually one of the most reliable officials on the circuit but he had been well and truly suckered there, and Jake SEDGEMORE was able to plant his penalty into the bottom corner to level out the scores.

Gary Johnson made a double-substitution to try and shake things up with Arron Davies replacing Phil Jevons, whilst Stephen Reed replaced a limping Scott Guyett. But the match only seemed to slip away from Yeovil in a moment of madness from Colin Miles. As substitute Luke Rodgers headed down the left ring, Miles raced across the field to cover, and in a scene that can only be described as watching a car crash in slow motion, Miles booted Rodgers up in the air with a dreadful tackle and there wasn't a single spectator in the ground that was going to argue with the red card that followed.

Two minutes later and things went from bad to worse. With Yeovil still reorganising their backline with only one central defender on the field of play, Shrewsbury created a rare fluent passing move that saw the ball go through four or five of their players as the ball headed up field and into the path of David EDWARDS, who took advantage of the precise area of the penalty box where Miles would have been to thrash the ball home from ten yards.

Just when it seemed as though Yeovil's holiday period was going to end in disappointment, it was the visitors that hit the self-destruct button. Luke Rodgers and Andy Lindegaard tangled close to the away dugout, and Rodgers fists came up and landed blows in full sight of the referee and a melee developed. When calm was restored, the exit of Rodgers down the tunnel was a formality and it was now a game of 10-a-side.

Shrewsbury should have been down to nine players minutes later when Jake Sedgemore - already on a yellow card - committed his second "studs up" tackle of the afternoon, but referee Singh chose to try and calm the game down much to the consternation of the home fans.

But Yeovil and the crowd were now truly fired up and Shrewsbury back-peddled as the Glovers surged forward. Shrewsbury held the lead for just four slender minutes as their penalty area got packed. Kevin Gall's cross into the box saw Howie make a flying save from a Terry Skiverton header, and as the ball was returned back into the box from the same source, Paul TERRY was able to loft a header into the corner of the net to make it 2-2.

Now truly on-song for the first time in the game, there was only one side getting even near the ball. Six minutes later Yeovil were back in control and normality was restored. Arron Davies released the ball down the right channel to Kevin Gall, and his low cross was first flicked by Andy Lindegaard then off the knee of Adrian CACERES who entirely wrong-footed Scott Howie as the ball ricocheted into the corner of the net allowing Huish Park to erupt in delight.

Caceres himself then turned provider just five minutes later as the game closed out in a crazy fashion. The winger threaded the ball through the Shrewsbury backline and once again Kevin GALL was the man who found the ball. Racing on towards a one-on-one with goalkeeper Howie, he was as cool as a cucumber as he slotted the ball past the visiting keeper for a humiliating 4-2 scoreline.

A comfortable win for the Glovers in the end, and yet another goalfeast, but how strange that it took a moment of adversity to wake the team up and respond to the battle. But maximum points over Christmas is no mean feat and the players should be congratulated for keeping that run going. They deserve the short break they will now get before Rotherham.

Final score: Yeovil Town 4 Shrewsbury Town 2

Badger

For the Yeovil contingent in the large Bank Holiday crowd expectations were high for this match. Having won the previous six matches and being joint top of the league, Yeovil looked likely to be easy winners over Shrewsbury, who were themselves sitting just above the relegation zone. However, from previous experience we know that Yeovil never make things easy for themselves, and so this potentially bland, one-sided fixture became an enthralling encounter.

The first half started as quite a well balanced affair, with both teams creating reasonable opportunities. However, Yeovil seemed to lack any real urgency and their finishing wasn't that of a team challenging for automatic promotion. Shrewsbury also had some promising attacking movements, with John Grant playing some good crosses in from the right wing.

As the game approached half time it was still goalless, but Yeovil now seemed to take control. They piled the pressure on Shrewsbury and it seemed inevitable that, after numerous opportunities, they would find the back of the net. It was Darren WAY's low drive from the edge of the area on 33 minutes which gave the home side the lead at half time.

In the second half Yeovil continued where they had left off at the end of the first, creating chance after chance, with Way's excellent long range strike just clearing the cross bar. However, a misjudgement from the usually flawless Yeovil 'keeper Chris Weale resulted in him fouling Kelvin Langmead, who it has to be said went down fairly easily on the edge of the area. Referee Jarnail Singh awarded a penalty, which Jake SEDGEMORE confidently converted.

Shrewsbury now sensed that they were back in the match and, although Yeovil continued to attack, the game was now far more evenly balanced. Shrewsbury were counter attacking well and it was one of these breaks which created a major turning point in the game. As Shrewsbury broke quickly down the left, Yeovil defender Colin Miles knew he was beaten. He slid in with a ridiculously high tackle and the referee had no choice but to show him a straight red. Minutes later, a hopeful Jamie TOLLEY shot caught the Yeovil defence unaware and gave Shrewsbury the 2 - 1 lead.

This time last season, a goal and a player down, Yeovil would almost certainly have crumbled completely. However, their experience in the league meant that they knew exactly how to respond. They continued to attack and seemed just too hot to handle for the Shrewsbury defence, with Latvian international Andrejs Stolcers proving particularly difficult to contain on the left wing.

On 74 minutes, Yeovil winger Andy Lindegaard was brought down by Luke Rodgers right in front of the Yeovil fans. An ugly melee ensued, which involved local boy Lindegaard being thrown to the ground. Rodgers was duly dismissed. The sending off seemed to inspire Yeovil, and now the teams were equal in numbers the home side looked more likely to gain at least a point, if not all three from this game. Their equaliser finally came on 78 minutes when Man of The Match Paul TERRY, headed past the helpless Scott Howie in the Shrewsbury goal. Terry later revealed that he celebrated the goal so flamboyantly because he had forgotten Shrewsbury's second and thought he had given his team a 2 - 1 lead!

The home side now felt that they could go on and win the tie and so pushed more and more players forward. Substitute Adrian CACERES sprinted forward to direct a Kevin Gall cross into the net. With the crowd now buzzing, Yeovil were all over the visitors. Minutes later, Caceres returned the favour when his perfect pass tore apart the Shrewsbury defence and sent Kevin GALL clean through on goal. Gall finished off the movement with a sublime strike past the advancing Howie, winning the match and sending the Somerset outfit three points clear at the top of the league.

Overall,this was an inspired comeback from a team clearly on the crest of a wave.

Deborah Hayes

MOTM Vote Result:

Player MOTM Score Darren Way 17 484 Paul Terry 9 436 Kevin Gall 5 327 Terry Skiverton 3 142 Andrejs Stolcers 5 133 Bartosz Tarachulski 4 133 Adrian Caceres 1 36 Arron Davies 1 22

Overall match rating: 8.1 / 10
Performance: 7.4
Entertainment: 8.8

45 votes received.

Any comments/questions please email ytfcmotm@ntlworld.com

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