A lively start from the home side saw Gavin McCallum shoot across the face of goal in just the second minute of play. Swansea won the first corner of the game a minute later, which was cleared to Liam Preece and his blocked shot rebounded to Shaun McDonald who shot well over the bar. An early free kick from Dale Williams was floated into the area, but was well taken by visiting goal keeper Kyle Letheran.

A teasing low cross from the Swansea left was well cleared by Charlie Welch, and this led to a break by McCallum, and he found Williams on the left but the Yeovil forward was crowded out by a solid defence. Ten minutes into the first half and Welch played a good ball through to James Ansell, which he played on to Andy Holmes, but a good tackle from Lee Surman ended the move. Swansea attacked in a fairly even game, and a good overhead clearance from Sam Croft was needed.

Swansea took the advantage when good work from the lively McDonald resulted in a move concluded with a simple ball into the unmarked Steve McNABNEY who slotted past Danny Barker from close range. 0 - 1.

Within a minute of the goal a Yeovil attack was thwarted by Kevin Davies, at the cost of a corner. Davies was certainly the winner of the worst haircut award, sporting a two coloured Lee Trundle-like effort which prompted watching Glovers physio Glen Schmidt to observe that "he looks like he's being shagged by a labrador"; he was also, however, my pick of the Swansea side, excelling both in defence and in his forward runs. After a brief delay for treatment to a Swansea player Dale Williams swung in the corner from the left and Jamie UNDERWOOD rose to head powerfully in. 1 - 1.

With parity now restored the visitors pressed forward with a Mark Pritchard shot well blocked by Sam Croft, and Underwood called upon to make a good tackle. A Swansea free kick from a fairly central position about 25 yards out was dealt with, and at the other end a couple of long throws from Andy Holmes needed the Welsh side to defend stoutly.

Just past the midway point in the half a clearance fell to McDonald, and his firm shot was well blocked by Barker. A couple of corners followed, and Matthew Roberts controlled well before firing a fine shot/cross which Barker took comfortably. A good break by for Yeovil by McCallum saw his first shot blocked by Surman, and his effort from the rebound cleared for a corner by Davies.

Sean Smith was penalised for a foul midway into the Yeovil half, and the Roberts free kick was well taken by Barker under pressure. Ansell made a great tackle on Pritchard, and the entire Yeovil defence was performing well, with Greg Squibb in particular having a fine game.

With around half an hour gone the Glovers had a good spell in attack. A Williams free kick from the halfway line was played across the area by Welch and cleared by a defender. A good combination between Jamie Underwood and Richard Cullingford won a corner on the right, taken by Williams and headed out for a corner from the left which he also took. With 33 minutes on the clock a mistake by Swansea keeper Letheran saw him spill the ball, which Dale Williams collected; he took his time and carefully chipped the ball over the helpless custodian, but Kevin Davies saved the keeper further embarrassment with an excellent interception, heading over the bar for a corner.

A lovely move - probably the best of the game - involving Underwood, McCallum, Welch, Williams and Cullingford, and involving play on both flanks, ended with Cullingford shooting over the bar. At the other end McNabney shrugged off a couple of challenges before shooting wide. A cross from Liam Preece was met with a strong header forcing a fine fingertip save from Danny Barker, and the ball fell to Mark Pritchard, who saw his shot rebound from the bar and back into play.

Swansea finished the first half stronger, with Squibb making a couple of important clearances, Barker collecting a good Roberts cross and Underwood making an important tackle.

Yeovil again started well, with nice touches from McCallum, and Squibb again looking solid at the back. The first notable shot of the second period fell to McDonald of Swansea who shot wide. A good touch from Dale Williams put Richard Cullingford away on the right, but his cross was met by a good clearing header from Davies at the cost of a corner. Although a second corner followed, the visitors seemed to be in the ascendancy and were beginning to have more possession and pick up more of the loose balls.

Yeovil made the first change with Shane Case replacing James Ansell. With an hour gone Williams flicked on to Holmes, who in turn found McCallum but his effort went wide. A shot from McNabney was well blocked by Squibb, and at the other end Cullingford was well tackled by Surman. A great McCallum cross was cleared for a corner, and from the Williams corner Andy HOLMES rose to head home. 2 - 1. A number of Swansea players, who had been very vocal throughout the game, expressed their displeasure following the goal, and on this occasion Matthew Roberts found himself booked for dissent.

Five minutes later Swansea replaced Liam Preece with Tom Evans and, with Andy Holmes temporarily off the field for treatment, substitute Evans was played into a good position almost immediately, but an excellent tackle from opposing substitute Shane Case ended the move.

With a quarter of an hour remaining another Swansea player, Luke Harrington, was booked for dissent. A Davies free kick was met with a powerful header by Lee Surman, and it looked a goal until the diving Danny Barker touched it around the post - another great save by the young Yeovil goalkeeper.

Coming up to the last ten minutes Yeovil brought on Jake Reid in place of Andy Holmes, and Swansea took off Steve McNabney for Drew Sherman. A very good spell of pressure followed for Swansea, with four successive corners earned. Yeovil made their third and final change when Gavin McCallum - who had played very well - was withdrawn, and replaced by Chris Pearce.

With a little over five minutes left Jamie Underwood was brought down by Roberts to the right of the penalty area. The defence did well to clear the Williams free kick, but a free kick awarded to Swansea just inside their own half was less well defended by the home side when Mark PRITCHARD was allowed room to direct his powerful downward header past Barker.

A minute after the equaliser there were loud appeals from Yeovil that Kyle Letheran had come out of his area before diving to block an attack, and certainly it did appear that the ball was handled as he dived. The referee gave no free kick, but Sean Smith protested aggressively enough to talk himself into being given a yellow card. With time running out Dale Williams was also cautioned after committing a foul near to the touchline.

Final score: Yeovil Town u-18 2 Swansea City u-18 2

A good team performance from the Yeovil side, who had lost their previous encounter with Swansea City earlier in the season by three goals to one. Overall a draw was probably the fair result, and my choice for man of the match was Greg Squibb.

Robin Evans

Back to Top of Page