Venue: Huish Park
Tues 7th October 2003, 7.45pm kick-off.

Conditions: Fairly cold but just about dry
Ground: Slippery

Scorers: Simon Clist (0-1,3), Lee Matthews (0-2,28), Kevin Gall (1-2,36), Ryan Harley (1-3,58), Jake Edwards (2-3,60)

Attendance: 716

Referee: Mr G Beale
Assistant Refs: Mr R Newman, Mr A Raggett

Bookings:
Yeovil: Colin Pluck (84,foul), Terry Skiverton (90,dissent)
Bristol City: None

Yeovil Town : (4-4-2)
1 Chris Weale
24 Paul Terry, 4 Terry Skiverton, 5 Colin Pluck, 15 Steve Reed
20 Gavin Williams, 8 Lee Johnson, 6 Darren Way, 10 Nick Crittenden
17 Jake Edwards, 9 Kevin Gall

Subs: 7 Adam Stansfield (64, for Gall), 12 Hugo Rodrigues, 13 Steve Collis (GK), 18 Kirk Jackson (80, for Edwards), 23 Jamie Gosling (65, for Terry)

Bristol City: (4-4-2)
1 Mike Stowell
2 Sekani Simpson, 5 Matthew Aubrey, 6 Clayton Fortune, 3 Ryan Harley
7 Goma Lambu. 4 Robin Hulbert, 8 Simon Clist, 11 Darren Hawkins
10 Marvin Brown, 9 Lee Matthews

Subs: 12 Leroy Lita (66, for Brown), 13 James Stabler (GK), 14 Joe Anyinsah, 15 Lee McGuire (79, for Hawkins), 16 Callum Hart (75, for Aubrey)

An unusual line-up for the Glovers with Paul Terry playing at right back and Steve Reed at left back either side of the returning Terry Skiverton and Colin Pluck. Jake Edwards partnered Kevin Gall up front, with Kirk Jackson joining Adam Stansfield on the bench.

Yeovil were first out of the blocks with Bristol City being pressed back for the opening exchanges. This did not last for long, however, as the first time City moved toward the Yeovil goal a mistake by Lee Johnson let in Simon CLIST on the edge of the home penalty area. His shot from 25 yards crashed into the top left of the Yeovil net. 0 - 1.

The pitch was particularly slippery after recent rain, and Paul Terry received a hearty round of applause early on when he slipped but still managed to clear the ball while on the floor although under the close attention of a City forward. Other early observations were that Colin Pluck was heading well despite having his head bandaged, and the ref was a little over fussy.

Ten minutes had gone before a Gavin Williams shot floated to the right of goal, but it was no real threat. Darren Way started very positively in defence and midfield, and Paul Terry looked good in his role of the right of the back four, but when he lost the ball to Marvin Brown an excellent tackle by Terry Skiverton halted the City move.

A 14th minute punt up field from Chris Weale was knocked on by Jake Edwards to Gavin Williams, who ran and tried a much better shot which went just past the right hand post in the Glovers best effort yet. The good spell continued for Yeovil with Nick Crittenden and Kevin Gall playing a neat one-two, but nothing came of the attack. With 20 minutes on the clock a nice touch by Williams put Gall through, but as he ran at keeper Mike Stowell a superb tackle by the hugely influential Clayton Fortune denied him. It was not all Yeovil, however, as just a minute later Terry Skiverton was clearing up in the Yeovil area.

City were closing down well and packing midfield, but with 25 minutes gone had not really created any chances other than the Clist goal. Yeovil, by contrast, were continually pushing forward but failing to create clear cut chances. A Darren Way header, a Gall close range shot and another promising Crittenden-Gall one-two all came and went before Lee MATTHEWS started chasing a ball from a yard behind the clearly not fully match fit Terry Skiverton, but beat him to slide his shot past Chris Weale. 0 - 2. Two efforts; two goals.

A right footed Gall shot on the half hour was well held by Stowell, but City's more physical approach allowed them to come forward and a 30 yard lobbed shot from Fortune was tipped over the bar by Weale. The visitors had a good spell with pressure and a degree of control. When Yeovil pressed back Jake Edwards was brought down 30 yards out, and Lee Johnson's free kick was put over the bar by Fortune. The resulting Gavin Williams corner was headed into the six yard box by Colin Pluck, and cleverly back heeled into the net by Kevin GALL. 1 - 2; game on.

A minute later Gavin Williams was brought down 25 yards from the Robins goal, but Colin Pluck's free kick sailed well over the bar. In the last five minutes of the half a lovely through ball by Gavin Williams for Darren Way won a corner on the right, and Terry Skiverton's powerful header had home fans rising to celebrate before realising that the ball had gone just wide of the goal. Good Yeovil work on the stroke of half time saw Fortune take the ball off of Williams' toe as he ran into the penalty area.

Just after 8.30pm a superb piece of work by non-playing Adam Lockwood saw him select my golden gamble ticket for the £80 first prize, so don't be surprised if I put him forward as man of the match. Back on the field a Darren Way shot saw Stowell take a low catch, and a dipping Lee Johnson effort soon after had the same result. Yeovil forced a corner soon after, but then City had a good spell of possession in a fairly sluggish start to the second period.

On 55 minutes Colin Pluck lost the ball to Matthews. He ran into the area, but was forced wide to the left and Chris Weale was able to smother the ball. At the other end a good Gavin Williams shot brought a good save from Stowell diving to his right. An even better save was needed when a Crittenden cross from the right allowed a very good shot by Gall, which Stowell pushed around the post for a corner.

A break by City saw Ryan HARLEY allowed to run past several Yeovil defenders - he didn't beat them; they just let him run past - before taking up a good shooting position in front of the centre of the penalty area and firing into the right hand side of Weale's goal. 0 - 3. Assists should be awarded to the City player passing to him, and to at least three Yeovil defenders for their help in not challenging him.

Yeovil almost retaliated immediately, with a Williams volley going across the face of the goal following a free kick. It was only two minutes after City's third that Yeovil reduced the deficit to one when Jake EDWARDS beat a defender before shooting low from the left hand corner of the penalty area into the far corner of the net. 2 - 3; game on, again. Nick Crittenden almost went one better than Edwards, beating two men before shooting from a very similar position. However, his effort was well held by the diving keeper.

The referee spoke to Matthew Aubrey after a foul on Kevin Gall, which saw Gall immediately withdrawn and replaced by Adam Stansfield. The resulting free kick saw a Jake Edwards header headed back out by a defender, allowing Edwards a sharp shot from the right side of goal which the keeper did well to push around the post for a corner.

Jamie Gosling was brought on to replace Paul Terry, and City replaced Marvin Brown with Leroy Lita. Nick Crittenden turned and fired a 30 yard shot which was palmed over the bar for another corner. A Lee Johnson shot went just wide of the left hand upright as Yeovil continued to press for an equaliser. With a little under 20 minutes remaining a Gavin Williams shot across the face of goal was kept out at the expense of yet another corner.

City replaced Matthew Aubrey with Callum Hart, and continued to soak up pressure, although they continued to look potentially dangerous on the break, and earned a free kick by the corner flag on the right of goal after a push by Steve Reed.

The last substitutions were made with Lee McGuire replacing Darren Hawkins for City, and Kirk Jackson on for Jake Edwards. Colin Pluck proved he was back by receiving a booking for a foul. With five minutes remaining a Clist handball on the edge of the area seemed to be seen by everyone in the Stadium except the match officials.

Yeovil still pressed, and a City break found gaps in the home defence but Lambu scooped a good chance wildly over the bar. As the clock reached full time Terry Skiverton said something out of order and joined Pluck in Mr Beale's notebook. Stoppage time saw a Crittenden break on the left. The ball fell to Kirk Jackson who controlled well, and lined up a powerful shot which substitute Hart blocked well, conceding a corner in the process. The attack saw the ball nestle in the corner of the City net, but the referee had already blown for an offside, denying Yeovil an equaliser and the extra time which their play had merited.

Final score: Yeovil Town 2 Bristol City 3

An entertaining game, which Gary Johnson and his staff will be disappointed to have lost, although I do not think any sleep will be lost over ejection from the County Cup.

The very real possibility now remains that, should the Glovers face league opposition in any FA Cup matches played, after 108 years as a non-league club 2003/04 will see no competitive games against non-league sides at all!

Robin Evans

MOTM Vote Result:

Player MOTM Score Gavin Williams 3 500 Kevin Gall 2 433 Jake Edwards - 233 Darren Way - 200 Lee Johnson 1 167

Overall match rating: 7 / 10
Performance: 6.3
Entertainment: 7.7

6 votes received.

ytfc.motm@ntlworld.com

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