Venue: County Ground, Swindon
Wed 27th August 2003, 2.00pm kick-off.

Scorers: Keith O'Halloran (1-0, 9), Paul Terry (1-1, 18), Jon Stevenson (2-1, 20), Mark Draycott (3-1, 87)

Attendance: 120 approx (doubled or even trebled by the arrival of a group of kids at half time, but dwindling to 150 or so as they were gradually collected by their parents)

Referee: Mr D S McDermid

Assistant Refs: Mr D Ford, Mr M Strong

Fourth Official: Mr A L Spalding

Bookings:
Yeovil: Paul Terry (19,failing to retreat from free kick), Hugo Rodrigues (82,foul)
Swindon: Dave Bampton (39, foul), Mark Draycott (74,foul)

Line up : (3-5-2)
13 Steve Collis
22 Ian Patchett, 12 Hugo Rodrigues, 25 Sam Croft
16 Andy Lindegaard, 21 Steve Thompson, 23 Jamie Gosling, 24 Paul Terry, 15 Steve Reed
17 Jake Edwards, 7 Adam Stansfield

Subs: 3 Abdelhalim El Kholti (sub 46 mins for Croft), 26 Jamie Underwood (sub 85 mins for Patchett), 27 Dale Williams (sub 85 mins for Thompson), GK Danny Barker

Swindon Town: (3-5-2)
1 Steve Smith
6 Ben Martin, 5 Alan Reeves, 4 Dave Bampton
2 Ian Herring, 8 Keith O'Halloran, 11 Jamie Cheeseman, 7 Brian Howard, 3 Andy Nicholas
10 Jon Stevenson, 9 Grant Smith

Subs: 12 Chris Taylor, 14 Mark Draycott (sub 66 mins for O'Halloran), 15 Luke Garrard (sub 81 mins for Martin), 16 Danny Taylor, 17 Michael Pook (sub 63 mins for Cheeseman)

A Wednesday afternoon kick-off does not seem to attract many spectators, even with free entry, and the 14,500 all seater County Ground (perhaps ironically for the reserves first away game, a larger stadium than those at Rochdale, Luton or Leyton) seemed rather lifeless this afternoon.

Both sides lined up with a back three and five in midfield for their second match in the Pontins Combination. The game began fairly quietly, and it took a sixth minute long shot from Steve Reed, following a pass from Andy Lindegaard, to liven things up as it hit the crossbar. Just a minute later matters became even more lively at the other end of the field when Hugo Rodrigues was judged to have fouled Jon Stevenson, and the referee had no hesitation in awarding Swindon a penalty.

Keith O'HALLORAN stepped up to take the spot kick, and Steve Collis made a fine save diving to his left. The ball rebounded to Jamie Cheeseman who powered his shot high over the bar, but the referee had apparently already signalled for the penalty to be retaken. This time O'Halloran shot to the other side of Collis, and although the Yeovil keeper guessed correctly he was unable to stop the second effort. 1 - 0.

After 18 minutes a Steve Reed free kick was directed for the head of Rodrigues, but was headed out for a corner. Steve Thompson took the corner from the left and Paul TERRY bundled the ball over the line for an equaliser. 1 - 1.

Just a minute later Terry went from hero to bad boy as he failed to move away from a Swindon free kick, and the ball was blasted at him from close range. The referee had no alternative other than to book him for this.

To rub salt into the wound, the retaken free kick was floated to Ian Herring on the left of the Yeovil penalty area. His precise cross was met with a bullet header by Jon STEVENSON which gave Collis no chance. 2 - 1, and a very fine goal indeed.

Five minutes later the impressive Stevenson beat two Yeovil defenders and lobbed a shot over Collis, which cannoned back off of the crossbar. He certainly gave the Glovers a torrid time throughout the game, but Yeovil had several good attacking moves and perhaps were unlucky not to have been given a penalty when Jake Edwards went down in the area after a little over 30 minutes had been played. Adam Stansfield took every opportunity to run at the Swindon defence, and Dave Bampton received a yellow card after tripping him just outside the penalty area. Paul Terry also ran into the Swindon area after running past 3 or 4 defenders, but finally succumbed to an excellent tackle. In a late flourish Steve Thompson headed a Reed free kick just wide of the Swindon goal.

One change was made for the start of the second period with Abdu El Kholti replacing Sam Croft.

The second half started fairly quietly, and eight minutes had elapsed before the dangerous Stevenson broke through after beating Rodrigues, but his shot went to the left of the Yeovil goal. Swindon captain Grant Smith was next to test the Yeovil defence but Collis saved well.

This seemed to inspire Yeovil who began to lay siege to the Swindon goal. A goalmouth scramble in which numerous shots were blocked saw the ball finish in the safe hands of Steve Smith, who was flat on the ground at the time. Within a minute a break saw a fine low cross from Adam Stansfield, but no one could get the final touch.

Swindon replaced Cheeseman with Michael Pook. Yeovil continued to press and Smith excelled himself with a fine blocking save from Adam Stansfield in a one-on-one situation and then a fingertip save from a Jake Edwards shot. Swindon made a second change with Mark Draycott taking the place of penalty scorer O'Halloran, although Draycott played up front with Stevenson seeming to take a deeper role.

Draycott's first impression on the game was to pick up a 74th minute booking for a foul, although his later contribution was unfortunately more decisive. One unwelcome aspect of the game was the lack of continuity due to the large number of offside decisions suffered by both sides.

Yeovil still pressed forward, and a particularly noteworthy effort was the sharp turn, run and cross from Andy Lindegaard with a little over ten minutes remaining. Swindon made their final substitution just after this with Ben Martin off and Luke Garrard on. Things weren't all going Yeovil's way and Hugo Rodrigues was booked for a foul. A Draycott shot was blocked by the Yeovil defence, and his shot from the rebound was well taken by Collis.

With five minutes of normal time remaining Gary Johnson made a double substitution with James Underwood and Dale Williams replacing Yeovil's oldest and youngest - Thompson and Patchett. I feel Ian Patchett deserves a special mention having played very well, and certainly not looking overawed by the "second division squad" standard opponents.

Although time was running out I felt that Yeovil certainly deserved to equalise to get a draw, but this feeling was short lived as after 87 minutes Swindon played a ball through to substitute Mark DRAYCOTT with the Yeovil defence parted in such a way that leaves the Red Sea a very distant second. Draycott collected the ball and after making a couple of important phone calls, choosing his lottery numbers, and finishing his coffee, he showed how to handle a one-on-one situation as he clinically slotted the ball past Collis for a 3 - 1 lead. Tracey and I were sitting about halfway back in the main stand, almost level with the halfway line, but I'm pretty sure we were the nearest green shirts to him.

Yeovil again pushed forward, but another good ball saw Draycott again running toward goal, although this time with a defender close on his heels. Steve Collis came out and saved superbly preventing a flattering fourth goal for Swindon. Collis was actually on fine form today, having had little chance with (or blame for) the retaken penalty, the bullet header or the runaway striker. Other honourable mentions in a workmanlike but not outstanding Yeovil performance must go to the tireless Andy Lindegaard, Steve Reed and Paul Terry.

Robin Evans

Back to Top of Page