Steve Thompson made just one forced change to the Good Friday line-up with goalkeeper Chris Weale's knee injury allowing Steve Collis to make an early return to the side following his recent illness. Otherwise matters were unchanged, with Kevin Amankwaah still unavailable following his multitude of leg injuries.

If you are going to beat a side like Forest on their own patch, you need an early goal to dampen the enthusiasm of the home supporters and the Glovers got a dream start in that respect. Phil Jevons was fouled on the edge of the box by Forest captain Ian Breckin, and whilst Forest keeper Rune Pedersen was lining up his wall whilst kicking his heels against one goalpost, a quick word with the referee was enough to allow Phil JEVONS the chance to curl the ball into a completely empty net for the cheekiest of opening goals!

Forest were on a five game winning run and so it was no surprise to find a team with that kind of momentum come roaring back. Kris Commons weaved in from the wings and produced a superb shot that Steve Collis brilliantly tipped over the crossbar, emulating Chris Weale's one-handed save against Scunthorpe earlier in the weekend. Not a bad way to remind your former club that you are still alive and kicking!

Most of Forest's moves involved whipping in crosses aimed at the head of former Rochdale striker Grant Holt, although Adam Lockwood had to watch the striker's abilities with his feet when he produced a superb block inside the penalty box to thwart the striker's shot on goal. Both Locky and Scott Guyett were doing a great job on the striker and it took him 20 minutes to finally evade them, but still only succeed in heading the ball over the crossbar.

Whilst Holt and Tyson, who represented the big money names in the Forest line-up, were being well shackled, that seemed to open up plenty of space for Kris Commons to run into free space, and he twice went close with efforts - one struck with his feet wide of the target, then a header that fizzed across the face of goal. Holt nearly got in for one loose ball, but Steve Collis was alert and managed to smother the ball before the big striker could get a foot near it.

Five minutes before the break though, Yeovil's attempt to weather the Forest storm before half time was dealt a blow when a Sammy Clingan corner was delivered in at the near post and flicked on by Forest captain, central defender, and bizarrely top scorer Ian BRECKIN who rose above Terry Skiverton to level the scores at 1-1.

The half finished with both sides having one chance each. Firstly Nathan Tyson forced Steve Collis into a good save low to his left after the Forest striker shot through a crowd of players. Then Andy Lindegaard broke through the heart of the Forest midfield running directly at their goal and forcing Rune Pedersen to gather sharply as Lindy shot from the edge of the box.

A couple of wild Forest shots that really should have tested Steve Collis started up the second period. Sammy Clingan miscued hopelessly over the crossbar, then minutes later Gary Holt - yes Forest have two "G. Holt"s in their side - burst through the middle, feeding Nathan Tyson, whose attempt was as accurate as Clingan's.

After suffering an injury shortly after, Clingan was replaced by Nicky Southall, and there was an air of Yeovil having neutralised the Forest attack somewhat as the clock ticked down. But appearances can be deceptive, and Forest grabbed a second goal that had more than a slice of good fortune going for it. Grant Holt put in a cross that both Nathan Tyson and Adam Lockwood challenged for. Locky got in an outstanding block, but the end result was that the ball ricocheted and span back on itself, and coming in for the closest of close range finishes was substitute Nicky SOUTHALL to bundle the ball home.

Steve Thompson immediately replaced Matt Harrold with Craig Rocastle as Yeovil switched to a 4-4-2, and almost immediately after that Paul Terry saw his looping shot over the top of defenders towards the Forest goalmouth headed off the line, after Forest had failed to clear their lines properly from a Yeovil corner. Two more substitutions for the Glovers followed, with Scott Guyett's exit for Kevin Gall a fairly obvious attempt to press the gamble button, plus Nathan Jones's swap for Colin Miles designed no doubt to allow the latter to act as an anchor man to deliver balls into the box from the halfway line.

Forest still showed some limited danger, with Gary Holt accepting a layoff on the edge of the box and rifling a shot that cleared the bar by a matter of inches. But a minute later Phil Jevons missed probably Yeovil's best opportunity of snatching a point from the City Ground when he accepted a layback from Arron Davies who had made a run down the right wing. Kevin Gall let the ball run but Jevo leant back a little too much in the follow-through end the end result was that his 10 yard shot cleared the crossbar.

The game ended with Yeovil being twice almost caught on the break as they tried to push up leaving Colin Miles as a lone defender. On one occasion Grant Holt received a back post header which he tried to plant back across the face of Steve Collis's goal, only for it to land on the top of the netting. Then a minute later, Miles blocked off superbly to deny the striker in a similar position, his sliding tackle pushing the ball out for a corner.

But not even four minutes injury time could get Yeovil the goal they so desired. There was no faulting their commitment and effort out there in Nottingham. But Forest were stronger in the tackle, and more brutal in the penalty box, and look like a team that is going places. Even at 1-0 down their team and crowd oozed confidence and refused to let the deficit bother them, and even at a goal head start the Glovers were always going to find it tough to compete. Let's hope that none of their three remaining opponents are as tough as Forest were, as despite Yeovil having run Forest close, the win that Yeovil need to put themselves into a strong position to avoid relegation has eluded them over the Easter weekend, and next Saturday's fixture against Gillingham couldn't get much bigger ... until the game after that follows of course!

Badger

MOTM Vote Result:

Player MOTM Score Scott Guyett 7 458 Terry Skiverton 8 450 Chris Cohen 5 358 Arron Davies 2 142 Phil Jevons 2 125

Overall match rating: 6/ 10
Performance: 5.3
Entertainment: 6.7

24 votes received.

Any comments/questions please email yeo.motm@ntlworld.com

Back to Top of Page