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| Kingstonian 0 Yeovil Town 1
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Scorers
Griffin (60, 0-1)
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Attendance : 1,421
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Officials
D Spicer
(red trim)
(yellow trim)
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Line-Up & Formation
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Tony Pennock |
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David Piper |
Kevan Brown |
Matt Stowell |
Chris Sparks |
Lee Archer |
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Steve Stott |
Ben Smith |
Jamie Pitman |
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Adrian Foster |
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Charlie Griffin |
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Substitutes :
Tony Pounder (62, for Archer)
Matt Hayfield (not used)
Jason Eaton (81, for Griffin)
Paul Tisdale (not used)
Steve Thompson (not used)
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Opposition Line-Up :
1. Farrelly, 2. Mustafa, 3. Luckett, 4. Crossley, 5. Harris, 6. Allan,
7. Patterson, 8. Pitcher, 9. Kadi, 10. Marshall, 11. Thompson
Substitutes :
12. Walker (88, for Kadi) 13. Hurst 14. Smith 15. Basford 16. Lester
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Bookings :
Yeovil : Foster (31, foul), Smith (36, throwing ball away), Stott
(43, foul)
Kingstonian : Patterson (55, foul)
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Team Selection :
Yeovil reverted back to their familiar 5-3-2 formation with David Piper being
the main benefactor. Matt Stowell moved into the centre of defence as Lee
Archer took the left wing-back position. Jamie Pitman took the midfield
role he started with against Telford whilst Adrian Foster returned from
suspension.
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First Half :
A slow uneventful start by both sides as Yeovil reverted back to their
more familiar 5-3-2 formation. Kingstonian had the lions share of the
possession but only had a seventh minute shot by Junior Kadi to count for
their efforts. Yeovil were creating their own pressure by breakaway play and
this all had the start of a Yeovil away performance of last season. So far so
good.
Steve Stott got caught up with a familiar face to Yeovil fans, Gary
Patterson, but despite the off the ball scuffle both escaped without a Yellow
card.
Beyond the half way mark though, the game swung heavily in Kingstonian's
favour. Tony Pennock had to come to block a ball and with him out of his area
Tarkan Mustafa clipped the top of the bar. This was the key for the K's to
break out and put Yeovil under pressure and five minutes later Richard
Thompson, on loan from Wycombe saw his shot slip past Pennock but not past
Chris Sparks who cleared a yard off the line.
Ben Smith landed in the book for throwing the ball away whilst Steve Stott
also got cautioned for a foul on Gary Patterson. Yeovil managed a few half
chances wide of the mark via Steve Stott and Charlie Griffin but otherwise
did not cause goalkeeper Steve Farrelly too much stress.
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| Half Time : Kingstonian 0 Yeovil Town 0
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Second Half :
Like the first half, the second half started tentatively but it was
Kingstonian who had first bite of the cherry. Gary Patterson deftly placed
the ball to Dwight Marshall in the area but his turning shot was well blocked
by Tony Pennock and cleared to safety. But still the home side continued to
hold the edge.
In the 59th minute the Yeovil defence were lucky to escape with a clean
sheet intact. An inswinging corner was met by firstly a header that was
cleared off the line, then by a first time shot that Pennock saved. The
the ball went into the net on the third attempt, only for the linesman's flag
to Be raised for off-side.
With the K's supporters chanting "we're gonna score in a minute" Yeovil
did. Straight up the other end and a left wing Adrian Foster cross bobbled
firstly off a K's defender and then onto the grateful head of Charlie
GRIFFIN whose shot clipped off the post and into the net for a very
unexpected lead.
The goal brought Yeovil out of their shells well and they made an
immediate substitution bringing Tony Pounder on in place of Lee Archer.
Yeovil were catching the home side on the break through Griffin and Foster
with K's running out of ideas up front despite still keeping most of the
possession.
With nine minutes left Charlie Griffin was replaced by Jason Eaton whilst
K's brought Johnny Walker on for Junior Kadi with just two minutes left. K's
were pressurising but some brilliant defending from David Piper was blocking
the K's route down the left wing. On 90 minutes Tony Pennock produced a
brilliant point blank save from Johnny Walker and two minutes into injury
time K's pushed a header wide but Yeovil held on.
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| Final Score : Kingstonian 0 Yeovil Town 1
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Web Site Verdict :
At last we got the result we needed! It was not done in great style or flair, but it was
done with 100% determination and effort. The players should be proud of this
backs-against-the-wall performance. It wasn't pretty, we rode our luck on many occasions,
and we created very few chances. But given what the players and the club have been through
over the past few weeks, it was the result we needed, and not the performance. This win
will have stepped up morale in the side in a big way, and with Witney and the FA Cup looming
on Saturday, it was so important not to go back into that game on a downer.
As for the K's, it looks like Geoff Chapples prediction regarding the K's squad size
is coming true. With their squad almost as full of injuries and suspensions as our own,
they badly lacked a quality striker in their side, whilst Yeovil had the benefit of
probably the best shot-stopper in the Conference. Consider that the difference between the
two sides, and why Yeovil won.
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Thommo's Verdict :
It was a great result to come here and win. The players have shown a lot of heart, and a
lot of bottle. We rode our luck a bit, but they do say you've got to make your own luck
in football, and we certainly went out and did that. Considering I felt I had to make quite
a few changes from Saturday, I was glad it paid off.We decided to go with three in midfield,
rather than the two central midfielders, because that was where they got us on Saturday.
I wanted the two wingbacks to hang back so that we didn't get caught out in defence.
The game plan was to make it as difficult for them in that area as possible as they are very
strong in midfield. In Patterson and Pitcher, they've probably got two of the best
midfield players in the Conference, and I thought the three midfield players did
tremendously well, as indeed did the whole team. I thought Tony Pennock made a magnificent
save at the end, and how he saved that I'll never know. I think his form all season has
been very good. I can only think of one mistake he's made all season, and that, for a
goalkeeper in 14 or 15 games is great form.
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Man of the Match :
As voted for by YTFC fans over the internet in Paul Chesterman's survey :
1. Tony Pennock (55%)
2. Jamie Pitman (14%)
3. Dave Piper (6%)
15 votes received.
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