On a very cold morning the Swindon Town under-18 side, managed by former Nottingham Forest star Ian Woan, arrived at Huish Park shortly before the scheduled 10.30 am kick off time, and the match was delayed by fifteen minutes to allow them sufficient time to prepare.

The delay did not worry Yeovil, who won the first corner with little over 60 seconds on the clock. Less than two minutes had elapsed when Gavin McCALLUM put the home side ahead with a low, hard shot from 30 yards. 1 – 0.

The Glovers featured a couple of new players today; Raphael Akala up front, and Ebenezer Masade in midfield. A fine run from Masade in the fifth minute showed his quality, and allows the inevitable pun that Ebenezer is good!

Swindon have a fine academy, and a reputation as a strong side, and as expected they soon tried to get back on level terms. Chris Allen headed straight into the hands of keeper Scott Vine, and McCallum intercepted a cross from James Walker at the cost of a corner. Allen took the corner short to Ben Wells, and then tried a shot/cross from the return, which Vine collected comfortably.

Craig Alcock made a couple of useful defensive headers. Akala looked positive and confident running with the ball, but Swindon still looked dangerous coming forward and Walker was causing some problems with his runs down the left flank.

As the visitors increased the pressure Wells shot over the bar, but then the dangerous Ashan HOLGATE, who impressed me last season when playing for Swindon reserves, beat Vine from close range. 1 – 1.

The game was fairly even at this stage, and Swindon keeper Jon Stewart punched away a Yeovil free kick, and when his side counter attacked it took a great defensive tackle from captain Jake Smeeton to thwart them. There was a scrappy period were there was lots of play in the middle of the park, but neither side created any clear cut chances. McCallum and Richard Cullingford impressed particularly for Yeovil, but the Swindon midfield looked solid.

A free kick from McCallum was nodded down in the Swindon area, but quickly cleared by Walker. Allen was involved in a promising move, but Ben Wood did well to force the ball off of him at the cost of a throw. With half an hour gone a good cross from Shane Garricks was headed out, but Swindon were definitely beginning to take control.

Garricks did well to beat a couple of defenders before firing a shot which beat the outstretched hand of Vine, but rebounded back off of the bar. A couple of minutes later Holgate broke through with just Vine to beat, but the Yeovil custodian did well to come out, and as Holgate rounded him he was forced toward the by-line. He played the ball back across the area, and although there were now a couple of defenders there, Shane GARRICKS powered his shot and Vine parried it but could not prevent the ball from crossing the line. 1 – 2.

Allen shot over from the edge of the area before Yeovil made a change, with Jamie Barber replacing Tom Clarke. Craig Alcock was very busy in the home defence, and had done a good job in keeping Holgate quieter than may have been expected. Four minutes before the break Garricks slid the ball across to the seemingly unmarked Ben WELLS on the edge of the area, and he controlled it before placing a low shot into the net. 1 – 3.

A teasing, low Holgate cross from the left was touched by Sam Morris, but he was unable to make proper contact. In stoppage time a Yeovil corner taken by Cullingford was headed wide by Smeeton.

Early in the second period Cullingford showed good control before shooting from just outside the area, but wide of goal. Wells shot wide from distance for the visitors, and a good looking cross skimmed the head of Masade, but he was unable to make a decent contact. Allen put the ball over for Garricks, but Vine did well to come out and clear with his feet. A promising Swindon attack ended with Wells shooting well over, and Masade showed some impressive skills in beating a couple of opponents before making a pass.

With just over an hour gone Yeovil came very close to reducing the deficit. A fine try from distance by McCallum was parried by Stewart, and then played out to substitute Barber on the left. His shot beat the goal keeper, but rebounded back into play from the inside of the post.

Swindon replaced captain Holgate with Jamie Taylor with 27 minutes remaining. By now Yeovil were really in the ascendancy, and looked likely to get back into the game. When the goal came it was from substitute Barber who had hit the post minutes earlier. Good interplay from Akala, Cullingford and McCallum was followed by Ormrod chesting down for Jamie BARBER to shoot from just outside the area, and his superb effort found the top left hand corner of the net. 2 – 3.

Matt Concliffe was brought on in place of Ormrod, and Yeovil were now pressing well and creating chances. A David Stroud free kick for Swindon resulted in a Glovers break, and the home side dominated possession although the visitors looked dangerous on their attacks and won another corner during this spell.

Inside the last ten minute a Cullingford free kick was punched away by Stewart. Swindon replaced Morris with Robert Powell, and earlier substitute Taylor had a good chance but was well tackled by Alcock. Taylor had another chance when there was a good knock down for him following a Wells free kick, but he was slow to react and Yeovil cleared. Walker shot over after a mishit by a fellow striker fell to him.

Coming into the last couple of minutes McCallum made a great run, but his low shot was just the wrong side of the left hand post. Vine made a good catch from a shot from Wells.

As the ninety minutes ended Allen made a poor challenge on Akala. Mr Pottage spoke to him, but no card was produced, and I should mention that I thought he did an excellent job overall, keeping the game flowing where possible, making fair decisions for both sides and not over-reacting at any stage.

The free kick awarded for the foul on Akala was central and about 30 yards from goal. Cullingford played the ball short to McCallum, but his shot was held by Stewart at the second attempt.

Final score: Yeovil Town u-18 2 Swindon Town u-18 3

I think that the Yeovil lads not should be too disappointed with this result. At half time I felt that perhaps Swindon would add to their tally, and it is a credit to Yeovil that they came so close to earning a draw. It was noticeable that after the second Yeovil goal, Swindon, with their academy training, took every opportunity to slow the game down and waste as much time as possible. Perhaps the Yeovil players should see this not only as gamesmanship, but also as a compliment from a visiting side who were definitely hanging on rather than cruising!

Robin Evans

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