Despite scoring two goals in his last two games, Jason Eaton lost his place in the side to Yeovil's second top scorer Adrian Foster. That was the only change to last Saturday's starting line-up at Bedford. On the bench there was a slight tweak as Paul Tisdale came in following his stomach muscle injury, but other than that things were kept much the same.

Yeovil started the game having to defend a near gale force wind, and were expecting to endure a real battering from a Southport side that must have set their targets as needing a goal lead before the sides turned around.

Despite Southport starting brightly, and most of the play being in the Yeovil half, there was little to show from the first 30 minutes, with just a booking for Dean Chandler to show after he had brought a Southport player down from behind. Referee J. Devine, who refereed Yeovil's match at Doncaster a year ago, played an excellent advantage but did not forget Deano's shirt number.

Chandler had a slightly wobbly start, considering his recent improved standards, and completely misjudged a high ball after 30 minutes which Robert Pell reacted quickly to. But as he ran up field, Kevan Brown was there on the edge of the area with a perfectly executed sliding tackle to rescue Chandler's blushes.

As the half drew to a close, Southport finally began to create real chances, but they were wasted with weak finishing. After Ben Smith fouled Neil Grayston, Lee Elam quickly took the free kick, but his shot was a weak one that Tony Pennock was never going to be bothered by. The first shot on target for either side, and 38 minutes gone - this was mind-numbing stuff.

Warren Patmore picked up yet another yellow as he led with his elbow on Scott Guyett, whilst Robert Pell got similar treatment for his late tackle on David Piper. Then right on half time Yeovil, who had been gradually edging their way back into the game, and working out how to counteract the vicious conditions, finally created their first chance. When Warren Patmore and Steve Dickinson challenged for a high cross, the Southport goalkeeper fumbled the ball, but Jamie Pitman's shot could not be worked through a crowd of Southport defenders.

With Yeovil having restricted Southport to nothing of any great consequence, it seemed that the away side had done the hard part of the job, and now, with the wind in Yeovil's favour, there was plenty of opportunity for them to aim for all three points.

After 50 minutes, it looked like they were on the right track. Last week, three of Yeovil's four goals were labelled as flukes. This week it could be argued that they got another, but whilst the likes of Adrian Foster continue to snap around defenders ankles, pressurising them into mistakes, then surely the amount of "flukes" will continue for them. This time, Steve Dickinson, receiving a rather poor backpass was charged down by Adrian FOSTER, and in a panic, the Southport keeper scuffed his kick straight to the Yeovil marksman, who equally scuffed the ball, left footed straight into an empty net.

This at last burst this turgid game into life, and from a Southport corner, Dominic Morley's shot was deflected by a Lee Elam header, but wide of the mark. Despite the wind being in Yeovil's favour, Southport were finally working out how to whip the ball into the box, although they couldn't get it much further than that.

Characteristic of a scrappy match, just as Yeovil's goal was scored by a defensive blunder, so Southport's equaliser was born from similar origins. Terry Skiverton, who has had a faultless season so far, produced an uncharacteristic show of sloppiness, and allowed his control of the ball to bobble away from him. And so Lee ELAM, scourge of the Yeovil defence at Huish Park in October, robbed Skiverton of the ball, rounded Tony Pennock, and slotted into an empty net for a deserved 70th minute equaliser. He vaulted the advertising hoardings to celebrate with the home supporters, yet somehow Mr Devine let him off without bringing out his cards again.

Southport instinctively went for the winner, but lacked the killer punch to get it. Their best chance came from a Mark Stuart cross from which Robert Pell glanced a header wide.

Any neutral watching this game will have probably vowed never to go to another football match again. The first half was a tactical pleasure for Yeovil's coaching staff, but was a yawnathon for the two sets of partisan spectators, as Southport completely failed to put Yeovil under any pressure with the wind at their backs.

I can't really be happy with today's result. Kidderminster and Rushden both won which means we fall further behind. I thought that at half time with us still 0-0, against the strong wind, that we should have done enough in the second half to win the game. We had the perfect start to the second half and we didn't take advantage of it and that's the disappointing thing.

But as I've just said to the players, we've just had three difficult away games - Kettering, Bedford and Southport. If, before then, you'd told me that we would win two and draw one, I think I would have accepted that, so I am trying not to be too down about it. But my thoughts are that we could have won, and in fact should have won after being 0-0 at half time.

The three substitutions were an effort to try and get us playing again. The eleven that went out there and did so well in the first half had 25 minutes in the second half, and produced hardly a single shot even with the wind, so changes had to be made. I felt that in the last 15 minutes of the half we actually created three decent chances, so in a way I was pleased that something started to happen.

Our goal came through a mistake from the keeper and their goal came through a mistake from Terry Skiverton. So on the balance of play a draw is probably a fair result, but it is disappointing after playing against such a strong wind in the first half and coping so easily with the threat. I thought that we could go on and win the game. But as I told the players, you have to actually go out there and do it. The wind doesn't actually win games, you have to go out there and attack with it, and we didn't do enough of that to win the game.

We're still in there though, and it's never been easy to come to Southport. I know as a player I have come here many times and been on the losing team. So to come here and get a draw should be a fair result for us, but in the context of things we are disappointed with only one point.

With the David Webb situation, I didn't know much of what was going on too much really. As far as I was concerned Dave Webb came down to have an informal chat with me and asked me if there was any way in which he could help me. I said that if he could help me get the players to the club that I want, then that would be a help. But it's not as if we train every day and it is not as if I need people to take training sessions.

Really I've had nothing to do with the whole saga. As far as I am concerned, I'm just getting on with the business of trying to win football matches and whats happening behind the scenes doesn't really bother me too much. He's a friend of Norman Hayward and as far as I'm concerned he was just there to help in any way that he could.

I feel a little bit sad that it has all come out and then gone away again so quickly, and I don't really see the whole point in that. It was yesterday [Friday] that I found out. But the matter has never really been on my mind. I was really focussing on the team. I don't make the decisions behind the scenes. I don't want to start worrying about that - I just want to focus on the players that we've got here and the players that I want to get here.

We've made a bid today [Saturday] for a player. I can't reveal who he is, but it is happening today and I've yet to find out the outcome. He's a left sided player who can operate in a midfield or defensive position.

1. Kevan Brown 35%
2. Terry Skiverton 15%
3. Jamie Pitman 14%
4. Glen Poole 11%

MATCH RATING - 4.4 (Performance - 4.8; Entertainment - 4.0)