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| Yeovil Town 1 Dover Athletic 1
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Scorers
Brown (84, 0-1)
Foster (90, 1-1)
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Attendance : 2,420
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Officials
S Castle (Wolverhampton)
P Stallard(red trim)
I Evans(yellow trim)
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Line-Up & Formation
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Tony Pennock |
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Rob Cousins |
Terry Skiverton |
Chris Sparks |
Matt Stowell |
Matt Hayfield |
Steve Stott |
Ben Smith |
Lee Archer |
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Warren Patmore |
Jason Eaton |
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Substitutes :
Tony Pounder (84, for Archer)
Adrian Foster (69, for Patmore)
Paul Tisdale (69, for Smith)
Kevan Brown (not used)
Jamie Pitman (not used)
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Opposition Line-Up :
1. Paul Hyde, 2. Joe Dunne, 3. James Virgo, 4. Jake Leberl, 5. Lee Shearer,
6. Neil Le Bihan, 7. Dave Clarke, 8. Simon Wormull, 9. Mark Hynes, 10. Steve Brown,
11. Steve Norman
Substitutes :
Carruthers, Daniels, M Clarke, Mitten
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Bookings :
Yeovil : Skiverton (40, foul), Stott (45, foul)
Foster (79, foul)
Dover : Leberl (21, foul), Hynes (64, dissent) D Clarke (64, foul)
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Team Selection :
Steve Thompson's first team selection and his task was made slightly easier
when Patmore and Stott passed late fitness tests. A change of formation rather than
wholesale changes of personnel was the order of the day, the team lining up in
a rough 4-4-2 rather than the more usual 5-3-2.
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First Half :
The game kicked off in bright and breezy conditions and it was the
visitors who so nearly took advantage of a nervous start by Yeovil, both
Hynes and Brown mis-kicking in the penalty box after a mistake from Chris Sparks
presented both players with opportunities to shoot in front of goal. Matt
Hayfield appeared to be fouled when driving towards the Dover goal
immediately afterwards - an opinion not shared by the fussy referee - but
otherwise the first 20 minutes were pretty comfortable for the visiting
team, with Simon Wormull in particular causing the Yeovil defence problems
with his incisive passing. Having said that, Tony Pennock wasn't being
called upon to make many saves at this stage.
We had to wait until the 22nd minute before a Yeovil effort on goal and then
we really should have scored from it. Eaton was fouled by Leberl, who was booked
for his pains. From the free kick Smith found Archer out wide whose first-time
cross was met at the far post by the unopposed Matt Hayfield. Unfortunately
for the home team his header slipped the wrong side of the post.
The Archer-Hayfield combination came close again just afterwards: Another
first-time cross from wide on the left by Archer again found Hayfield
in the box. This time his header was on target but was cleared off the line by
a Dover defender. Wormull created a great chance for Dave Clarke before
half-time which the Dover number 7 wasted and the half petered out in
a somewhat inconclusive fashion with Skiverton and Stott being booked for
reasons known only to Mr Stallard.
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| Half Time : Yeovil Town 0 Dover Athletic 0
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Second Half :
Dover came out the stronger after the break with the always-dangerous
Wormull forcing Pennock into an excellent reaction save. From the resultant
corner the ball was headed towards the Yeovil goal but the well positioned
Lee Archer cleared off the line. Warren Patmore blazed a shot over the
bar, but it was the visitors who were again looking more purposeful with the ball.
Mark Hynes brought out the best in Tony Pennock with a powerful drive, but
somewhat against the general run of play it was Yeovil who next came close,
Chris Sparks looping header being tipped over the bar by Paul Hyde in the
Dover goal.
From the resultant corner Yeovil wasted what was perhaps the best chance of the
game so far when Terry Skiverton had time to chest the ball down, turn and
balloon the ball over the bar from 5 yards out. Dover were still having
slightly the better of it in open play though and Skiverton made amends
for his miss a few minutes later when he cleared off the line after a Steve
Brown shot had beaten Pennock.
There was more idiosyncratic refereeing from Mr Stallard when with about 10
minutes to go Adrian Foster, who had replaced a subdued Warren Patmore,
and Dover keeper Paul Hyde collided when challenging
for a loose ball outside the Dover penalty area (see above photo). Hyde had clearly handled
the ball outside the box but it was the luckless Foster who ended up in the referee's book.
Dover seemed to have wrapped the game up in the 84th minute. All afternoon
their speedy forwards had been giving the Yeovil defence problems and it was
no real surprise when the breakthrough finally came. Steve Brown
received the ball in space in front of goal. Tony Pennock came out to narrow
the angle but BROWN shot underneath the goalkeeper's body to put the
visitors one up.
Yeovil began to push forward in numbers in a desperate attempt to save
the game. Again Skiverton shot over the bar from close in and Foster's low drive
was saved by Paul Hyde. Finally, in the depths of injury time a Rob Cousins
cross was met by Adrian FOSTER who threw himself at the ball. His
diving header left Hyde with no chance and the ball buried itself in the back
of the net, much to the relief of the home crowd.
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| Final Score : Yeovil Town 1 Dover Ahletic 1
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Web Site Verdict :
A point gained rather than 2 points lost in the end. Perhaps unsurprisingly
given the upheavals of the past week the team looked and played as if they were
out of sorts and all too often were second to the ball to an eager Dover
team. Having said that we certainly created enough chances to win the game
and with a little more composure in front of goal the result could well
have been different. But we seem to be suffering from a general lack of confidence
at the moment. It was noticeable how after Dover scored and we began to push
forward more we immediately began to look a better side. More urgency is
needed right from the start in future.
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Thommo's Verdict :
To go 1-0 down in the 84th minute was very disappointing, but it was certainly good to get the
goal back and get a draw out of the game. That's not ideal when you are looking for three points
at home but with a couple of minutes to go, we would have settled for that.
Fozzie's been really unlucky not to have played from the start today. I think he's done really
well this season, and so has Jason when he has played, and it was really hard to choose between
them today. In the end they've ended up playing together and they did well.
Confidence is a massive thing in football, and it's strange to say that confidence is lacking
when you are in third place. But it does seem that way and maybe after two defeats, that causes it
a bit. But what I want is for the boys to be strong in their mental attitude and be strong
physically .
I thought that we had looked the most likely team to score because we had opportunities from
Terry, Matt and Jason, but on the other hand they had two good ones, so perhaps a draw was a fair
result. I can never be pleased with not getting three points at home. I'm pleased with the
players attitude but not with the result.
There's alot to do here. We need to get our confidence back and look at what we can improve on.
There's no doubt that Colin had a lot of things right, such as the team spirit and some of the
players he's brought to the club. But there are things we can improve on, and I'm hoping that
if I can do that, the end result will be a team that produces better performances and better
results.
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Man of the Match :
As voted by YTFC fans on the internet in Paul Chesterman's survey:
1. Tony Pennock (35%)
2. Rob Cousins (20%)
3. Matt Stowell (15%)
4. Terry Skiverton (11%)
31 votes received.
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More Match Photos :
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Above : Matt Hayfield's header goes just wide as Stotty looks on
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Above : Lee Archer (left) and Warren Patmore (right)
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Above : Lee Archer (left) and Jason Eaton (right)
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Above : Ben Smith (left) and Jason Eaton (right)
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Above : Steve Thompson (left) and Ben Smith (right)
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Above : Steve Stott yells for a foul on Adrian Foster (left) and Ben Smith (right)
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Above : Jason Eaton (left) and Tony Pounder with Steve Stott (right)
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Above : The controversial banner displayed on the home terrace in the first half
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Above : Two shots of Lee Archer
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Above : Jason Eaton (left) and Ben Smith (right)
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Above : Matt Stowell (left) and Lee Archer (right)
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Above : Jason Eaton (left) and Rob Cousins (right)
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Above : Matt Stowell (left) and Terry Skiverton (right)
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Above : Warren Patmore (left) and Matt Hayfield (right)
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Above : Jason Eaton, with Matt Hayfield
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