It isn't too surprising when you've conceded four goals away from home for your manager to decide that things need changing. Particularly when you are due to arrive at one of the shortest pitches in the Football League against a team that have historically always used the unusual shape of their pitch to bomb balls into the penalty box to try and put pressure on visitors unfamiliar with the layout. All too often Yeovil Town have come unstuck at Whaddon Road, and manager Russell Slade clearly was expecting more aerial bombardments when he chose Scott Guyett ahead of Matthew Rose at the back. Martin Cranie was the fairly obvious replacement for Nathan Jones in the left-back slot, meaning that when Terrell Forbes moved out wide to allow Guyett to slip in, Yeovil began the game with four qualified centrebacks in their back line - leaving no doubt that Russell Slade had been to Cheltenham before. The midfield 'squad rotation' continued with Nicky Law and Arron Davies being preferred to Martin Brittain and Peter Sweeney, as Slade attempted to keep fresh legs in critical positions on the park.

The home side started off well and an early shot from Steven Gillespie was heading down low into the corner, but Steve Mildenhall got down well to parry the attempt and an attempt to follow-up saw the ball go out for a goal kick. Cheltenham were coming in with fierce tackles and not allowing Yeovil much time on the ball, and the Glovers were mainly limited to a couple of long distance shots from Chris Cohen that went wide of the target. However, Arron Davies did manage to break clear of John Finnigan, racing away towards goal. His final shot though was a little disappointing - falling tamely into the arms of Cheltenham keeper Shane Higgs.

A goal came out of nothing midway through the half though, when Yeovil won a throw-in out on the left flank. A Terry Skiverton had flick-on down the channel appeared to result in Marcus Stewart chasing a lost cause with the ball seemingly going out of play. Everyone else on the field switched off entirely including critically the Cheltenham defence, but the one person who didn't switch off was Wayne GRAY, who was able to collect a back post header from Stewart's delicate chip across the six yard line. 1-0 up and despite a fairly even opening period, the Glovers were now in the driving seat.

Steven Gillespie tried to immediately hit back with a 20 yard drive, but Nicky Law could have made it 2-0 when Marcus Stewart again evaded the Cheltenham defence, setting up the Sheffield United midfielder who volleyed just wide of the target. Two minutes later and Law was in there again, driving the ball again from distance, but Shane Higgs had the shot covered. With the Glovers dominating almost entirely following the goal and Cheltenham suddenly looking fragile, Wayne Gray produced superb pace to outplay the home defence and squared the ball across the face of goal. Marcus Stewart was perfectly placed to convert it but surprisingly he skied his attempt over the bar from six yards out.

Cheltenham weren't offering too much in reply, although Kayode Odejayi was needing plenty of attention on set pieces to try and keep him quiet. It was only when the half began to close that they began to rally. A David Bird long range attempt had to be palmed over the crossbar by Steve Mildenhall for a corner and from that corner the ball was only half-cleared and Steven Gillespie shot through a crowd of players, forcing Mildy into a brilliant save despite being significantly unsighted - pushing the ball out for another corner.

Arron Davies picked up a yellow card after he fouled Cheltenham's Keith Lowe after the two had tussled with Lowe coming out on top and Arron perhaps letting his frustration at losing possession getting the better of him. But the half ended positively with Chris Cohen looping a shot over the bar with the Glovers overall looking good value for their lead, having on the whole defended well and particularly in the period following the opening goal forcing Cheltenham onto the back foot and with Gray and Stewart causing the Cheltenham back line significant problems - Gray with his pace and directness, and Stewart with his ability to drag the home side's back line out of position, opening up large gaps for his strike partner to run into. So far, so good!

Scott Guyett became an early substitution during the first few minutes of the second half, being replaced by Matthew Rose as Yeovil were forced to reshuffle shortly after the break. A Terry Skiverton downward header from a corner forced by Martin Cranie went just wide of the post as Yeovil attempted to extend their lead.

Kayode Odejayi had claims for a penalty turned down when there appeared to be a shirt pull inside the box as he went up for a header, but referee Ray Olivier either disagreed or didn't see the incident. Cheltenham manager John Ward did and let anyone who would listen know his views on the subject. The Glovers were also forced to clear the ball close to their own goal line as the home side began to pressurise. Martin Cranie's superb blocking tackle from Keith Lowe stopped another attempt on the Yeovil goal turning into anything concrete.

A Shane Duff cross went to the back post and Kayode Odejayi put the ball back across the face of goal with no-one able to get on the end of it. Then Terrell Forbes was forced to clear off the line, with Yeovil's back line that had looked so sturdy suddenly looking nervous and fragile without Guyett's aerial presence, now apparently unable to counteract the tall and physical Cheltenham front line.

For a while things looked slightly concerning, but one feature of Yeovil's play this season has been their ability to soak up pressure like a sponge and then murder teams on the break. Cheltenham were about to find out all about that. Just beyond the hour mark, Chris Cohen produced a great ball across field to Arron Davies who may have been stood 60 yards away but found the ball land perfectly on his boot with astonishing precision. Davies beat the Cheltenham right-back with pace and when he cut into the penalty box, he unselfishly squared and there was the man in form Wayne GRAY, superbly placed and superbly timed to sweep the ball home from six yards out to put the Glovers 2-0 up for what was surely the killer goal.

Damian Spencer and Paul Connor were immediately introduced as John Ward tried to change the balance of the game, ultimately switching to a 3-4-3 formation in the closing minutes as they tried to bomb balls into the Yeovil box. Perhaps surprisingly Kayode Odejayi was one of those replaced.

Wayne Gray should have bagged his hat-trick on another breakaway when he raced through the Cheltenham defence, forcing his way past the home defence, but he surprised everyone in the whole ground by squaring the ball to Marcus Stewart when he probably should have aimed for the far corner and the chance was wasted with Stewart unable to get his foot under the ball. Next Terry Skiverton went close with two chances that deflected off Michael Townsend after he was put in from set pieces, with both attempts on goal going out for corners.

However in the closing minutes, the home side's desperate attempts to grab something out of the game, combined with Yeovil's increasing reluctance to overcommit themselves saw the game sucked into the Yeovil defensive third as time ticked down. Jean-Paul Kalala became the third Yeovil player to clear the ball off his own goal-line, brilliantly heading the ball clear as Shane Duff got a free header in the penalty box with under 10 minutes to go. Then the Glovers had to twice clear off their own line as Damian Spencer's near post header ricocheted off the underside of the crossbar after a long throw-in from Craig Armstrong and in the scramble ensued there were two clearances from Martin Cranie to deny Cheltenham the chance of a comeback, with perhaps a few thousand eyes falling on the linesman at that end, wondering if the ball had at any stage crossed the line. Terry Skiverton also played his part - producing a last ditch tackle on Damian Spencer to stop him breaking through free on goal.

In the final minute, Wayne Gray came close to that elusive third goal, forcing his way through, but Gavin Caines forced him enough off his stride to stop him getting any power into a shot that went wide of the target.

However, just as it seemed that Yeovil would successfully ride the storm, John FINNIGAN grabbed a goal right on the 90 minute mark. The Cheltenham captain followed up on Steve Mildenhall's brilliantly parried save after a Cheltenham free kick had been put across the face of the box allowing Steven Gillespie the chance to shoot through a crowd of players. The follow-up from Finnigan left four minutes worth of nail-biting injury time to deal with, but thankfully Cheltenham were unable to force much pressure with the Glovers successfully holding possession and running down the clock to give Yeovil a deserved win. The home side had strong spells during the game and probably deserved their late goal, but despite forcing the Glovers to clear their lines on no less than five occasions, it was the pace and power of Wayne Gray that was to be their undoing - lifting Yeovil up to third and inching them ever closer to the guarantee of a League One playoff slot.

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