The teams faced tricky conditions for today's game, with a strong wind blowing towards the away end and into the faces of Southport's sparse travelling support. The surface looked greasy, but it must be said that the pitch looks to be standing up to the rigours of the season far better than at the same stage last year.

Yeovil started the match brightly with the front pairing of Griffin and Foster in particular looking sharp, but the first threat on goal didn't materialise until the 16th minute, when a Jamie Pitman cross found Dave Piper in front of the Southport goal, but the ball was whipped off his foot just as he was on the verge of shooting. Charlie Griffin then forced Dickinson into a save with a clever turn and shot from the edge of the area - by now Yeovil were well in control of the game.

The home side's superiority was made to count in the 29th minute. After a sustained passing movement featuring most of the Glovers' players, Steve Stott's powerful shot was blocked by Dickinson in the Southport goal. The ball fell to Adrian Foster whose snap shot was again blocked by the goalkeeper. Again the ball rebounded and this time FOSTER made no mistake, blasting the ball into the back of the net.

Charlie Griffin again came close a few minutes later, but headed over when it seemed easier to score; and the same player combined well with Foster just after that, Griffin's defence-splitting pass leaving Foster one-on-one with Dickinson in the Southport goal, the keeper doing well to deny the Yeovil striker. Foster had another chance in the closing minutes of the half, but his free header ballooned into Dickinson's grateful grasp.

And so to something completely different. Whereas in the first half Yeovil had largely tried to keep the ball on the floor and concentrated on not giving it away cheaply, in the second period they reverted to the long-ball, hit-it-forward-and-hope tactics that have proved so singularly ineffective lately. Added to that Southport awoke from their slumbers, aided and abetted by substitute Lee Elam. It's said that Bristol City are on the verge of preparing a bid for Elam - on this performance one can understand why, and one can only wonder why he wasn't on from the start of the match.

It was Elam who put Southport level in the 53rd minute. A wind-assisted kick from goalkeeper Steve Dickinson bounced deep into the Yeovil half, wide on the right. Tony Pounder horribly mis-judged the bounce, allowing the 'Port substitute in behind him to collect the ball. ELAM noticed Pennock off his line and with a beautifully-judged lob put the ball in the back of the net.

Yeovil tried to bounce back. A Matt Hayfield cross looked to be heading for Charlie Griffin until Tim Ryan bravely blocked the ball at the expense of a boot from an already-committed Griffin, saving what surely would have been an almost certain goal. Adrian Foster hit the bar with a header from a corner and Griffin could have done better than head wide when following up. But these were isolated incidents - in truth it was now nearly all Southport.

Number 9 Ian Arnold was in the thick of it with his intelligent flicks and passes creating havoc in the Yeovil defence. Elam came close with a shot after a wonderful backheel from Arnold laid waste to the Glovers' defence; and Lee Ellison missed a glorious chance after Arnold's through ball put him in the clear. Southport dominated possession for most of the second half, aided by Yeovil's tendency to give the ball away as soon as they had it for even a brief time.

As voted for by YTFC fans in Paul Chesterman's internet survey:

1. Adrian Foster 36%
2. Kevan Brown 16%
3. Matt Stowell 15%
4. Dave Piper 12%