Venue: Top Pitch, Huish Park
Sat 27th September 2003, 11.00am kick-off.

Conditions: Cold but dry
Ground: Good

Scorers: Sean Smith (1-0, 16), Scott Brice pen (1-1, 67), Dale Williams (2-1, 78)

Attendance: Approx 50

Referee: Mr Lee Cox
Assistant Refs: Mr Andy Murphy, Mr Mike Finean

Yeovil Town u17's : (4-4-2)
1 Danny Barker
4 Andy Holmes, 6 Sam Croft, 5 Greg Squibb, 3 Charlie Welch
2 Luke Clennell, 9 Sean Smith, 11 Jamie Underwood, 8 Tyson Murray
7 Paul Hartley, 10 Dale Williams

Subs:
12 Jamie Price (76 mins for Clennell), 15 Bradley Bryant (57 mins for Hartley), 15 Richard Cullingford, 16 Andy Martin (76 mins for Murray)

Bristol Rovers u17's: (4-4-2)
1 Lee Matthews
5 Wes Wood, 4 Scott Brice, 2 Ceri Bowlem, 3 Mark Fear
7 Ben Williams, 8 Brad Purnell, 6 James Palmer, 11 Adam Callan
9 Francis Rolli, 10 Marcus Palmer

Subs:
12 Scott Sinclair (71 mins for Wood), 14 Stuart Minell (79 mins for Purnell)

The attendance for this match was probably lessened by both the chill wind, and the fact that the first eleven were kicking off at 5.35pm rather than 3 o-clock. The 40 or so who were present at the start, which later swelled to 50 plus, included manager Gary Johnson sitting on the Yeovil bench, chief scout Frank Leworthy and keeper Steve Collis.

The Yeovil Town under 17 side made a very late change to their starting eleven, with Richard Cullingford suffering from a stomach bug and dropping to the bench. The revised side made the brighter start to the game, but benefited from a slight slope and the wind behind them for the first half. They earned a corner in the third minute, which was taken from the right hand side by Charlie Welch, and headed out by a Rovers defender allowing Jamie Underwood to try one from the left.

The visitors began to claw their way back into the game with some attacking play and a couple of free kicks in the Yeovil half. At the other end a good move from Dale Williams saw him slide the ball through to Luke Clennell on the wing, and he put a good low cross into the area for Jamie Underwood, but a combination of full back and keeper defended well for Rovers.

Paul Hartley and Tyson Murray both looked good for the home side, and gave the visitors some awkward moments with clever skills and control. However, Sean SMITH looked to be the Yeovil danger man, and it was no surprise when he turned and shot from the edge of the area through a crowd of players to give Yeovil the lead just after fifteen minutes. An excellent finish. 1 - 0.

Just three minutes after the goal another Smith effort from outside of the area sailed past the Rovers right hand post. A couple of minutes later he beat two defenders before shooting, but this time his shot went over the bar.

The Bristol Rovers forwards seemed to be quite quick and lively, but the Yeovil defence seemed to be coping comfortably, with Sam Croft in particular looking confident and assured. The midway point of the half was reached without Danny Barker needing to make a save.

A Jamie Underwood corner was met with a solid header by Hartley, but this went wide. After a long punt upfield from Danny Barker, Dale Williams ran past the last defender but chipped over the goal. Soon after, a Tyson Murray shot from an angle was held by keeper Matthews after good work from Charlie Welch. Smith, Williams and Hartley seemed to be continuously giving the opposition problems, with good support from Murray and Underwood. Solid performances from Croft, Greg Squibb and Andy Holmes allowed Welch and Clennell to move forward and create well on the two wings, and also to give Barker little to do other than deal with the occasional back pass.

With ten minutes of the half remaining a good ball from Murray gave Williams a chance to shoot, but his effort curled wide. He won a free kick soon after, which Welch stepped over and Clennell curled wide.

A break from Marcus Palmer looked promising for Rovers, but his pass to Francis Rolli found the forward offside. Rolli then put a good ball through for Adam Callan, but Danny Barker chased well out of his area to clear the ball with his feet.

The last few minutes of the half saw Dale Williams booked for a foul on Mark Fear, and a good save from Danny Barker right on the stroke of half time after a break from Rovers.

With Rovers having both the advantage of the slope and the wind in the second half it was clearly going to be a tougher time for Yeovil, and a concern must have been whether a one goal advantage was enough. Early in the second half Barker needed to come out of his area to head the ball away, and Greg Squibb made a timely tackle on Adam Callan.

Yeovil made a change with Bradley Bryant replacing Paul Hartley, and he soon made an impression with a turn and shot which went just over the bar. Underwood also had a good close range shot well saved by Matthews.

Rovers were making more progress with their second half attacks, and Andy Holmes stood out in defence making a number of fine tackles, and also supporting the midfield and attack well. Midway through the second period Yeovil were fortunate to be given a free kick on the edge of the Bristol Rovers penalty area after what had looked to be a fair challenge. This was not typical of Mr Cox, as he controlled the game well and gave a fine display of refereeing, but Charlie Welch took advantage of the decision with a very good free kick which hit the left hand post before running across the face of the goal.

Good work by Dale Williams saw his shot well held by Matthews, but almost immediately Rovers were on the attack and a Sam Croft tackle just inside the Yeovil box was judged to have been a foul. He was booked for the offence, and Scott BRICE stepped up to fire a good penalty kick low to the right beating the diving Barker. 1 - 1. The score line was probably about fair, with Rovers looking much stronger in the second half than they had in the first.

Bristol Rovers replaced Wes Wood with Scott Sinclair, and five minutes later Yeovil made a double substitution with Jamie Price and Andy Martin on for Clennell and Murray. A couple of minutes after these changes Dale WILLIAMS broke through into the Bristol Rovers area, and comfortably took the ball around Matthews before slotting home. 2 - 1.

Rovers made another substitution, and presumably it was Stuart Minell who replaced Brad Purnell, although Minell was listed as number 14 (and the only other substitute named) although the player coming on wore number 15. The last ten minutes saw a good shot from Jamie Underwood, which went wide, and a few efforts from Rovers, with Marcus Palmer dragging the ball wide, Ceri Bowley chipping over, and Ben Williams firing well over from distance.

Robin Evans

Back to Top of Page