After four games without a win, Gary Johnson decided to shake things up through a formation change for the trip to Championship side Ipswich Town, who came so close to taking up a position in the Premiership last season. Phil Jevons was forced to drop out of the sixteen due to a groin strain, whilst there was still no place for David Poole who continues to suffer from a minor foot injury.

Ipswich, who were fielding a young and extremely enthusiastic side, scampered their way through the Yeovil defence early in the game, frequently getting into the penalty box but without necessarily quite knowing what to do when they got in there. Dean Bowditch flashed the ball across the face of goal with no-one able to get on the end of it, whilst Jaime Peters headed wide.

Matt Harrold had a better idea of how to shoot at goal, thumping a ball at the Ipswich goal from the edge of the area, with home keeper Lewis Price nearly being embarrassed when he parried the ball but was almost got caught out by the power, having a struggle to stop spooning it into the back of his own net.

Much of the morning's East Anglian press raved about Ipswich striker Dean McDonald, who had made his debut on Saturday. He had a rude awakening when one of his weaving runs was interrupted by a Yeovil defender racing out of his penalty area, sending him flying up in the air in spectacular fashion. No, not Colin Miles this time, but Terry Skiverton, who surely goes down as the least controversial booking of the season so far. Five minutes later McDonald got identical treatment - and this time it really WAS Colin Miles - although this time it was a legitimate challenge, and young McDonald started to wonder if he really fancied this game.

Ipswich continued to press, with Darren Currie's long ranger going a yard wide of the post. A more unintentional shot on target was achieved by Matthew Richards, whose defensive hoof from just inside his own half went 60 yards up field towards goal. Chris Weale probably had a sudden flashback of last season's Notts County match, but the goalkeeper looks in confident form at present, and he backpedalled and cleanly caught the effort.

Dean Bowditch was proving to be the main culprit as Ipswich spurned chances to gain the lead, slicing wide from eight yards out as Wealey did his best to put the player off.

After 45 minutes, where Ipswich had probably edged the game, they were made to pay for their poor finishing. Yeovil won a corner that Lee Johnson stepped up to take, and as a row of four six-footers all made a bee-line into the penalty area, Darren WAY was left all alone to plant a firm near post header into the back of the net to give the visitors a 1-0 lead at the most perfect time possible.

Ipswich manager Joe Royle clearly wasn't happy with what he'd seen out there, as he made three half time substitutions to try and change his side's fortunes. If the home side's attacking prowess had looked a little powder-puff in the opening period, they really took the game to Yeovil as the second half opened up with the Glovers having to perform a rear-guard action to keep their slender lead.

Richard Naylor managed to cut down the left wing and force Chris Weale to come off his line as he headed in on goal, but as he lifted the ball over Wealey, Terry Skiverton was covering superbly and cleared the ball off the line. Substitute Ian Westlake fired a long ranger just over the bar as Ipswich seemed to get closer to an equaliser.

Gary Johnson decided that, with play mainly camped in one half, he would give Ipswich something to think about by taking off Matt Harrold and giving them the speed of Kevin Gall to worry about. That change seemed to relieve the pressure a little, and as the mid-point of the half was reached Yeovil began to launch their own moves into the Ipswich half.

Darren Way had penalty appeals turned down when he got into a tangle with Ipswich substitute Fabian Wilnis, but neither referee nor linesman, who were in excellent positions, seemed in the slightest bit interested. Colin Miles limped off, being replaced by Adam Lockwood as Yeovil began to soak up the Ipswich pressure with more confidence, helped in part by the home side playing far more long balls in a desperate attempt to keep the ball in the Yeovil penalty box. Efetobore Sodje and Terry Skiverton lapped up every such ball with ease.

Darren Way came close to grabbing his second of the night when he curled a cross that angled across the penalty area and almost crept in at the far post. As the clock ticked down Gary Johnson made his final change of the night, and a formation change, as Paul Terry replaced Pablo Bastianini, allowing for a more rigid 4-5-1 formation, with Kevin Gall as the lone striker, intending to catch Ipswich cold as they pushed up in numbers.

With three minutes left that tactic pulled off a dream as, with nearly all players camped in one half, a long ball out of defence by Kevin Amankwaah found Kevin GALL who used his pace to run through the Ipswich half. He was semi-checked by a defender's tackle, but employing the "if at first you don't succeed, try, try again" philosophy, grabbed the ball a second time, stood, pondered, had a cup of tea, and then casually flicked the ball into the corner of the net to send the 500 travellers into delirium. Game over!

Goals breed confidence, and it was Yeovil who looked more likely to increase their lead as the Ipswich fans streamed out to head home. Taking a tip out of the Pablo Bastianini school of football, Gally attempted to lob the Ipswich keeper from 45 yards, sending the ball just wide of the post, but that didn't matter one bit.

Often people see cup games as unwelcome distractions, and clearly that was Joe Royle's view of the Carling Cup, given his somewhat suspect team selection for the match. But in a season where the Glovers may have to be patient within their new League One surroundings, this may be a campaign to take the cup competitions very seriously indeed, and the chance to draw another big tie in the next round of the Carling Cup will be what Yeovil want. However, this is also a result that can boost the Glovers confidence in their league campaign as well. It serves as a reminder that if this group of players can beat Ipswich Town on their own patch, then they are more than capable of doing the same to the Swindons and Chesterfields of this world. The body language of the players at the end of the match suggests that they may realise that as well now.

Badger

MOTM Vote Result:

Player MOTM Score Darren Way 8 692 Kevin Amankwaah 2 323 Terry Skiverton 3 292

Overall match rating: 8.7 / 10
Performance: 8.9
Entertainment: 8.4

13 votes received.

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

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