Just one change to Russell Slade's starting line-up from the side that lost 2-1 at Tranmere on the previous weekend, with former Southampton player Arron Davies being given the chance to see what he could do against his former club. Perhaps that was also influenced by there being some question of whether on-loan winger Kevin James would be given permission to play by his parent club Nottingham Forest - their exit from the competition on Monday night made that decision fairly academic and he took one of the places on the bench.

Southampton chose a slightly stronger side than manager George Burley may have been hinting at, with teenage starlet Gareth Bale included despite coming off injured over the weekend. One interesting choice on the bench for the Saints was that of former Bucklers Mead pupil Martin Cranie, although sadly he was destined to not get onto the pitch against his hometown club.

Southampton's pedigree was obvious right from the start. In front of an impressive crowd of over 20,000 in their plush new St Mary's Stadium, they put on a performance befitting of their surroundings right from the start, and the Glovers appeared a little bit awestruck at times. The home side started off peppering long range shots at the Yeovil goal. Gareth Bale, who has been causing Sky pundits to drool with his free kicks in recent weeks, showed he is actually human by putting one wide from a mere 35 yards out.

After Nathan Jones was forced to head out a backpost cross for a corner, Rudi Skacel's near post kick was headed wide of goal by John Viafara. Kenwyne Jones produced a wild shot from distance before a more accurate strike from the same player from the edge of the box allowed Steve Mildenhall to make his first save of the match with 12 minutes gone.

In a start that was nearly all Southampton, Arron Davies did manage some respite by having a shot blocked on the edge of the box by Chris Baird. But that was becoming increasingly rare. Rudi Skacel produced a strong save out of Steve Mildenhall when he had to dive low to block a shot. Five minutes later, two outstanding defensive blocks - firstly by Terry Skiverton, then by Nathan Jones, denied Skacel and Adam Lallana respectively.

The fact that such bodies were having to be flung across the skiddy penalty area was a rather ominous sign that the Yeovil defence were becoming more and more stretched, and it was their efforts to try and block out Southampton by numbers of bodies that was to undo them. With 25 minutes gone, Adam Lallana fed Andrew Surman who fired in a long range shot which Mildenhall got his fingertips to. As the loose ball was met by a scramble, Chris COHEN got their first and cleared, only to find the legs of Jean-Paul Kalala in the way. The ball rebounded, hit Cohen again, and landed in the back of the net for an own goal. Subsequent news agencies credited the goal to Cohen, Kalala and also newcomer Mark Lynch, such was the chaos, but Cohen seemed to have the final touch.

There was a touch of the Kamikaze about the equaliser that followed five minutes later as well. Pedro Pele and John Viafara got in each other's way and with echos of the opening goal, when Pele's clearance struck his team-mate, Wayne GRAY needed a split second to take advantage and slam the loose ball into the back of the net for an excellent finish.

Sadly the celebrations of the 2,000+ strong Yeovil contingent didn't last long. Terry Skiverton was rather harshly adjudged to have fouled Bradley Wright-Phillips and from a 30 yard distance, Gareth Bale backheeled the ball into the path of Rudi SKACEL, who on spotting the two-man Yeovil wall a little fast asleep took two paces forward and blasted a shot that pinged off the inside of the post, leaving Mildenhall completely static in disbelief that Saints had regained the lead.

Paul Terry fired over the crossbar as Yeovil tried to get back on level terms, but with a spot of longball, Southampton extended their lead in stunning fashion. A flick-on fell into the path of Bradley WRIGHT-PHILLIPS with his back to goal. Terrell Forbes is undoubtedly Yeovil's quickest defender this season, but even he was left for dust as the Southampton striker turned his man inside out and slipped the ball into the far corner to make the scoreline a rather ominous looking 3-1. This could get messy.

Thankfully the Yeovil backline held out until the halftime break, but some heavy teamtalking would be needed to help lift the heads of a Yeovil side that had been in the main totally outplayed by a classy looking Southampton outfit.

Thankfully Yeovil came out of the blocks in a far more positive manner at the start of the second half and went on to enjoy their best spell of the game during the opening 20 minutes. Much improved passing and build-up play was ensuring they kept the ball a great deal better even if they still lacked the killer blow in the main. Chris Cohen in particular was building up a fine head of steam and was at last creating some spaces for other players to run into. It didn't exactly bother Southampton keeper Kelvin Davis but at least it took the pressure off the beleagured back line for a while.

Russell Slade rang the changes around the hour mark, introducing more attacking options and reverting to a 4-4-2 as Matt Harrold replaced Ishmael Welsh who had been lively at times but still without significant end product. Paul Terry was replaced by Kevin James giving Yeovil four attacking players on the field as they went for broke.

Chris Cohen produced an outstanding midfield run that took him 50 yards up field before John Viafara illegally blocked him. Matt Harrold took charge at the free kick, producing an attempt from 25 yards that went about a yard wide of the target.

Despite this being a much improved start to the second half, there was clearly the danger that Southampton would still have something left in their locker. Ricardo Fuller, who had come on as a substitute for Wright-Phillips took advantage of Yeovil losing possession deep in the Saints half. The gulf in class was all too apparent when merely 10 seconds after the ball had been intercepted, Fuller's crossfield ball, and Nathan DYER's impressive strike into the back of the net put the tie firmly beyond doubt, whilst at the same time reminding Yeovil that if they committed too many players up front they would get punished.

Matt Harrold had a great chance to pull a goal back when a rather poor defensive clearance landed at his feet, but he seemed almost surprised to be gifted the ball in the penalty box and couldn't get himself enough room to punish the lapse before red and white bodies surrounded him and the moment was gone.

With 12 minutes left, matters were put even more out of sight by some fairly sloppy Yeovil defending. Ricardo Fuller evaded a range of half-tackles before drawing Steve Mildenhall out of his goal on a narrow angle. When the ball came across goal into the path of Kenwyne JONES, it didn't fall perfectly for him, but with the goal gaping, he wasn't likely to miss. 5-1 and the first time Yeovil had conceded five goals for five years, back in the days when Kingstonian were the opposition and the delights of the Nationwide Variety Trophy were up for grabs. How times change!

The Glovers to their credit though, didn't let their heads down, and they at least went back with a smile on their faces. Mark Lynch and Kevin James combined on the right flank and when the latter put the ball to the Southampton back post, it was judged perfectly for Matt HARROLD to give himself a much needed confidence boost by heading home from close range to give a slightly more worthy 5-2 scoreline to take home with the last movement of the game.

There's no doubt that this game was a bit of a lesson in football at times, with Yeovil's opponents a class above for much of the match. Southampton's crisp passing and movement looked to be that of a side more pushing for the Premiership than last season's Carling Cup opponents Millwall who barely looked better than the Glovers and have now joined them in League One. Yeovil Town have to use this game as a very large learning curve, but on the other hand it is rather unlikely that they will witness any opposition of Southampton's standard in League One this season.

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