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If anything, the second half opened with even less goalmouth action with Doncaster finding increasingly that they would have to shoot from distance as even the few opportunities they got in the first half to get in behind the Yeovil defence were drying up. Aside from their few long-rangers, the first 20 minutes of the second period passed off without either side getting too much on goal.
The first moment of serious note of the second half was a booking. Referee Neil Swarbrick had not been the best of officials during the match - stopping the game far too frequently and giving almost every 50:50 decision in favour of the home side. His booking of Nathan Jones was fairly ridiculous - choosing to caution him for taking a free kick too early - heaven forbid that a player on the pitch might want to try and liven up the tempo of a match that was slightly lacking in entertainment value. Mr Swarbrick soon told Jones there would be none of that!
Nicky Law produced a rare chance for the Glovers, probably intending to chip keeper Neil Sullivan from the edge of the box. When that sort of attempt comes off, it looks sublime. When it is a couple of yards too high it doesn't look quite so sublime but at least he was trying to find the target in a half when few other players were managing it. An awesome body block by Nathan Jones on a Jason Price shot showed how well both sides were playing from a defensive point of view. That said, Mark Wilson did worm his way through midfield on one occasion - thankfully his shot was not as good as his mazey move, with the 50 yard run being completed by an attempt that went high and wide.
Lee Morris and Peter Sweeney were introduced for Marcus Stewart and Arron Davies in the final 20 minutes to try and liven things up a bit in the Glovers attack. Not that this achieved any great effect. Morris did manage to get into two useful positions but both came to nothing. The first rather summed up Yeovil's creative moves on the night, with Chris Cohen's superb pass into space absolutely tailormade for Morris to run onto - if only he hadn't picked that precise moment to make a move off the ball in entirely the opposite direction! Then Morris laid the ball back to Cohen on the edge of the box who got himself into space. Unfortunately the ball landed on the midfielder's right boot and the end result was the ball looping harmlessly over the bar.
The major surprise was that Doncaster left it until the 87th minute to try and change a match that was slipping away from producing any sort of a result. Whilst an away draw for the Glovers would be considered to be relatively positive in that it would see them pick up a point from one of their harder remaining fixtures, Doncaster need the points if they are to get themselves into a playoff spot, and it was unusual to note the lack of any serious moves by them to push men forward in the final minutes. If anything the match fizzled out with both sides apparently content to settle for a point, and inevitably that was what both sides got in the end.
An excellent defensive performance by the Glovers on the night. Nathan Jones and Terry Skiverton have already been mentioned for some superb defensive blocks to keep Doncaster away from goal, but the performance of Terrell Forbes shouldn't go unmentioned with a couple of his pacey runs to cut out balls behind the Glovers defence simply outstanding - not only for the way that he outpaced his marker, but also in the assured way he regained possession and then looked for a pass, rather than aiming for Row Z.
Sadly at the other end of the park, the Glovers were not on song at all. Far too many crosses went straight into the arms of keeper Neil Sullivan, and there weren't enough passes to the front pair to truly make you believe that Yeovil were likely to score. Once Doncaster's first half attempts had been snuffed out, the second half was that of two sides huffing and puffing without any real clinical penetration, and if there was ever a game where a 0-0 scoreline summed up what had been served up on the night, then this was it. Still, an away point at one of your promotion rivals is not to be sniffed at, and this may well turn out to be a point gained, rather than two lost, come the end of the season.
MOTM Vote Result:
| Pos |
Player |
| 1 |
Terrell Forbes |
| 2 |
Jean-Paul Kamudimba Kalala |
| 3 |
Nathan Jones |
Overall match rating: 4.8 / 10
Performance: 5.0
Entertainment: 4.6
18 votes received.
Any comments/questions please email ytfc.motm@tiscali.co.uk
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