No changes in the starting line-up for Steve Thompson to make for the Good Friday match against Scunthorpe United, and that was no surprise given the previous Saturday's excellent 3-0 win over Doncaster Rovers. Steve Collis had recovered from the illness that kept him out the previous weekend and so ousted Michael Jordan from the bench.

Without a shadow of a doubt, the visitors won the first 20-25 minutes, though without breaking the deadlock. Chris Weale had to make a good save low down to his post when Steve Torpey took advantage of a left wing cross that was headed downwards on the back post, but Yeovil's keeper anticipated well. During the first 10 minutes or so, the Glovers struggled to even get out of their own half, sat deep and with a significant gulf between the midfield and forward line whenever they did regain possession.

Referee Andy Woolmer was having a strange erratic game. After Nathan Jones landed with an elbow in the face from Scunthorpe's Cliff Byrne, Woolmer appeared to be lecturing Jones for simulation but then after a lengthy conversation proceeded to award Jones the free kick! Midway through the half, Cleveland Taylor exposed Yeovil's left flank by racing his way through the Yeovil defence, weaving to and fro before firing in a whipped shot that Chris Weale had to brilliantly turn over his own crossbar through a single-handed finger-tipped save. From the corner Stephen Foster volleyed with power a shot that fortunately cleared Yeovil's crossbar. Two minutes again Taylor broke through the Yeovil backline with some superb running, but this time Adam Lockwood was on hand to shepherd him wider and wider until he ran out of room and his cross fired into the advertising boards.

It took Yeovil until the half hour mark to do anything worthy of note from an attacking point of view, with two quick runs from Andy Lindegaard twice alarming the previously in control Scunthorpe defence. Having spent the opening 30 minutes aiming balls at Andy Crosby's head, Yeovil found that Scunny were far more vulnerable if you ran at them, and Lindy's quick running and low crosses almost reaped rewards. The first ball landed just behind the incoming strikers, whilst the second saw Arron Davies flick a near post header over the bar.

Stephen Foster landed in the book for a shockingly late challenge on Matt Harrold, leaving the Yeovil striker clearly furious with referee Woolmer, given that the ball had long since been released onto the right wing. Perhaps that show of temper led to Woolmer interpreting a later Harrold tackle as worthy of a booking when he slid in on Andy Crosby attempting to block a clearance and Woolmer played a game of tit for tat by dishing out a second yellow.

As the game ran into the injury time of a half that the Glovers would in the main want to forget, Scott Guyett defended brilliantly when he muscled his way in front of Andrew Keogh as the striker threatened to get in on goal, with the Aussie eventually sliding the ball out for a corner. From that corner the ball floated over everyone in the box, finding Foster on the back post who struck the ball first time, but didn't allow for Chris Weale making another stunning save from the narrow angle, having done well to cover his goal in time. The half time whistle blew with Yeovil perhaps having improved slightly from the opening 20 minute period, but in all honesty they were extremely fortunate not to go in at half time a goal behind.

The opening period of the second half saw little happen, with neither side getting on top of the game - that was until Scunthorpe forced a corner 12 minutes into the half. Ian Baraclough took it from the Bartlett Stand side, Paul Terry was pushed out of the way as he tried to go for the ball at the near post, and Chris Weale seemed to buckle beneath his feet as he jumped for the ball, giving Billy SHARP the simplest of tasks to head the ball past the prone keeper. The push on Paul Terry should have ensured it was disallowed, but Woolmer's hapless game continued and the header stood. Even worse was that Wealey had injured the same knee he had problems with at Chesterfield, and after a three minute delay, Steve Collis took to the field.

The Glovers came close to establishing a quick equaliser. After switching to a 4-4-2 following the goal, Adam Lockwood was given more freedom to surge forward and he made a late run from an Arron Davies left wing cross, planting a header that keeper Tom Evans tipped onto the post. As the ball flew out into play, Chris Cohen's crisply volleyed shot was goalbound, but Evans managed to somehow recover his ground to make a flying safe in front of his opposite post. Breathtaking, but so frustrating!

Scott Guyett was withdrawn for David Poole as Thommo tried to introduce more attacking options to his team and they should have had a free kick when Andrew Keogh blocked a Terry Skiverton cross from the right using his hand. Even Keogh stopped play assuming a free kick would be awarded! But referee Woolmer was continually making the easy decisions rather than the brave ones and curiously he was consistent in his performance once you worked out his bizarre interpretation of the rules. If a defender fouled a striker, then let play go on. Yet if a striker vaguely nudged a defender, then blow the whistle promptly. Whilst the Glovers were hardly playing well, this sort of officiating did not help their cause, and it's difficult to imagine one official being so constantly berated by supporters throughout an entire game. Certainly a candidate for the worst official to visit Huish Park this season!

Nathan Jones was withdrawn from service, replaced by Craig Rocastle in the final ten minutes as Yeovil completed the game by pushing a whole host of players up into the opposition penalty box. But this was in the main a high degree of huff and puff from the Glovers. Plenty of possession, plenty of people in the penalty box, plenty of corners and plenty of hope. But there was little to truly panic visiting keeper Tom Evans or his back line, with far too many balls delivered at the perfect height for messers Crosby and Foster to deliver back up the park.

Scunthorpe dragged out matters by making three of the most excruciatingly slow substitutions known to man with Woolmer unsurprisingly doing nothing and that was about as dramatic as the five minutes of injury time got. Scunthorpe deserved their victory even if they had been forced deep during the final 20 minutes worth of play, with the Glovers never getting around their method of closing down Yeovil's passing game, and forcing them into mistakes. Many teams would have failed to last the 90 minutes playing a match with that kind of workrate, but Scunny managed to survive the late onslaught without too much trouble, and how they did that will be food for thought for Steve Thompson as he ponders how to get a result at the City Ground on Monday.

Badger

MOTM Vote Result:

Player MOTM Score Andy Lindegaard 7 400 Chris Weale 7 367 Chris Cohen 5 350 Terry Skiverton 5 333

Overall match rating: 3.9 / 10
Performance: 3.6
Entertainment: 4.3

24 votes received.

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

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