Steve Thompson kept faith with the side that had beaten Port Vale 1-0 on Saturday with just one change to the team forced by the suspension of Alejandro Melono following his controversial red card. Thankfully Thommo had a ready-made replacement in the form of Liam Fontaine, who was only just returning from his own suspension.

Despite Southend going into the match on a run of five consecutive wins, Yeovil's fine record against the Essex side was bound to put them in a confident mood, and they started off taking the game to the Shrimpers with Pablo Bastianini receiving a quickly taken short free kick in the 7th minute where he swivelled and shot on target with home keeper Darryl Flahavan doing well to turn the ball round on his near post.

Southend's Kevin Maher and Phil Jevons were involved in a personal battle right from the start of the game, and after the Southend midfielder had fouled Jevo twice, a late sliding tackle by Jevo landed him in the book. At the other end, Efetobore Sodje produced a magnificant block on Shaun Goater to stop him getting in a shot on goal, but it was at a cost with Sodje receiving lengthy treatment and five minutes later having to leave the field of play permanently with an achilles injury, being replaced by Colin Miles, with Fontaine shuffling into the centre.

Yeovil had a big let-off when Miles slipped inside the area not long after his arrival. Miles still managed to block Wayne Gray's attempt whilst lying on the deck, and as Shaun Goater attempted to put the loose ball in the net, Kevin Amankwaah put his body in the way and on the third attempt Mark Bentley kindly blazed the ball over.

This was an excellent end-to-end half, although the Glovers were edging the play, and Darren Way's left wing cross was perfect for Phil Jevons but the Yeovil forward got in underneath his header and the attempt looped over the bar. The new Yeovil back line were performing superbly, with players frequently teaming up in pairs ensuring that if a Southend player did have the beating of their marker, that they would find another Yeovil defender ready to stop the move going any further.

Half an hour into the match Yeovil got their closest attempt of the half after an Arron Davies cross was only half cleared, with the ball falling to Darren Way, whose 25 yard shot hit the top angle of the crossbar, and spinning off for a goal kick.

A couple of minutes later, Colin Miles was forced to block a Shaun Goater shot for a corner as again the Yeovil back line ensured Chris Weale's goal was not breached. Luke Guttridge then exchanged passes with Shaun Goater as for once they managed to get in behind the resolute Glovers defence, but Guttridge saw his weak shot go well wide of the target.

Arron Davies tried his luck from long range but his attempt never did enough to truly worry home keeper Darryl Flahavan, but as the half closed out, Yeovil got their big break. Maher and Jevons had been continuing their battle throughout the half, with Jevons frequently complaining to referee Barry Knight about some of the treatment he was getting from behind. Ironically in one of Maher's lesser challenges, Knight blew up and Phil JEVONS refused to let Maher's game of 'shove' disturb his free-kick preparation as he curled the ball into the top corner giving Flahaven no chance of getting a touch. Not a bad way to send the Glovers into the half time break and a superbly executed strike.

Shaun Goater opened up the second period by attempting to restore the balance, riding tackles from Colin Miles and Liam Fontaine, but Chris Weale anticipated his snap shot well, diving to his left and catching the ball at the first attempt. Southend then had claims for a penalty turned down, although Mark Bentley's dive in the area having spotted a training Yeovil leg to fall over was hardly the most convincing of simulations and should consider himself lucky to have not received a card from referee Barry Knight.

It seemed as though as the half went on that Southend were running out of ideas of how to break down the Yeovil back line. Lobbed passes over the top were being misdirected and it was looking as though they were in need of some inspiration from somewhere. They got what they needed right on the hour mark in somewhat fortuitious fashion, drawing level thanks to a deflected shot. Luke GUTTRIDGE fired a speculative effort from the edge of the area, but the attempt ballooned up off the body of Colin Miles giving Chris Weale no chance whatsoever.

Kevin Amankwaah was starting to get forward more in the second half as his opposite number Mitchell Cole began to wilt after being shackled well during the first period, and a right wing cross by Amankwaah was flicked on by Jevons at the near post with Flahaven doing very well to anticipate the deliberate deflection on Amankwaah's low cross.

Pablo Bastianini, who had received a hefty whack on the ankle and spent the next 10 minutes or so looking very sorry for himself was replaced by Matt Harrold as Thommo attempted to liven up the Yeovil front line. Phil Jevons went close when he hit a first time shot from a long ball up field, but couldn't keep his shot down.

Wayne GRAY missed a back post header that he put wide of the target from a Southend free kick where he had been left unmarked midway through the half. But two minutes later he found himself unmarked in almost the same spot on the pitch from a flicked header by Shaun Goater, and despite mis-hitting his shot, the ball bounced into the ground, thus wrong footing Chris Weale as the angled shot landed in the opposite corner of the net in slow motion to complete Southend's nine minute turnaround.

For once Mitchell Cole created some danger straight after Southend's second goal when he tried to hook the ball over his head inside the Yeovil penalty area but his audacious attempt went wide. Yeovil were forced to substitute the substitute with Colin Miles withdrawing due to illness with Paul Terry replacing him resulting in a spot of reshuffling as Nathan Jones became the latest player to move into the back line.

Yeovil's ability to compete with Southend had been on the slide ever since the equaliser from Guttridge, with players failing to show off the ball movement when they had possession and unable to deal with Southend's now incisive running with substitutes Jay Smith and Freddy Eastwood injecting new running into the home side. The match was sliding away badly from the Glovers half time position of strength.

Eastwood missed the proverbial sitter when he received a right wing cross from Wayne Gray right in front of goal, but despite being unmarked and having time on his hands, he contrived to send the ball over the bar. But as the game went into injury time with Yeovil pushing up in numbers, though looking unlikely to grab an equaliser, a ball over the top allowed Freddy EASTWOOD to run onto the ball, draw out Chris Weale from his goal and lift the ball into the far corner of the net. Worse was to come before the final whistle, when slack marking from a deflated Yeovil team allowed Freddy EASTWOOD again to receive the ball following a throw-in and to finish the game with an improbable and rather flattering 4-1 scoreline.

Although Steve Thompson can tell his team that they did not deserve to come out of the game having lost by such a large margin, attention will inevitably be drawn towards the way that Yeovil collapsed late on in the game after competing so well for the first hour. The team must be mentally strong and use their first hour performance as a platform when they travel for another difficult and long journey on Saturday at Scunthorpe where it is looking increasingly likely that Thommo's caretaker position will be allowed to continue.

Badger

MOTM Vote Result:

Player MOTM Score Kevin Amankwaah 4 600 Phil Jevons 4 517 Lee Johnson 1 183 Darren Way 1 167 Nathan Jones 1 150 Liam Fontaine 1 83

Overall match rating: 5.8 / 10
Performance: 5.3
Entertainment: 6.3

12 votes received.

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

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