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| Yeovil Town 5 Rushden & Diamonds 1
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Scorers
Skiverton (1, 1-0)
Skiverton 44, 2-0)
Underwood (45, 2-1)
Hayfield (51, 3-1)
Hayfield (66, 4-1)
Smith (68, 5-1)
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Attendance : 2,180
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Officials
Mr L Probert
Mr Greenwood(red trim)
Mr Vaughan(yellow trim)
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Line-Up & Formation
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Tony Pennock |
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David Piper |
Terry Skiverton |
Kevan Brown |
Matt Stowell |
Jamie Pitman |
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Ben Smith |
Rob Cousins |
Paul Tisdale |
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Matt Hayfield |
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Warren Patmore |
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Substitutes :
David Norton (80, for Pitman)
Glen Poole (86, for Tisdale)
Steve Thompson (not used)
Dean Chandler (not used)
Jason Eaton (not used)
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Opposition Line-Up :
1. Turley, 2. Brady, 3. Rodwell, 4. McElhatton, 5. Peters, 6. Warburton
7. Butterworth, 8. Hamsher, 9. De Souza, 10. Collins, 11. Underwood.
Substitutes :
Mills (46, for Rodwell), Cramman (46, for Hamsher), Mison (75, for Collins),
Wooding, Smith.
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Bookings :
Yeovil : Hayfield (34, dissent), Smith (54, handball)
Pitman (75, foul)
Rushden : Hamsher (26, foul), Peters (34, foul), Turley (57, foul),
McElhatton (70, foul)
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Team Selection :
Matt Stowell returned at the back, replacing Dean Chandler; and Jamie Pitman
came in at left wing-back for Glen Poole, otherwise head coach Steve Thompson
kept faith with the team that performed so admirably against Hereford in midweek.
Midfielder Matt Hayfield again partnered Warren Patmore up front, keeping
recognised striker Jason Eaton on the bench.
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First Half :
Within a minute of the game starting Yeovil had Rushden on the back foot and
kept them there for the rest of the game. The Glovers forced a corner after 30 seconds
had gone. Jamie Pitman's cross was flicked on at the near post by Warren Patmore to the
waiting Terry SKIVERTON who rather scuffed his header past Billy Turley
in the Diamonds goal. It was the beginning of what was to be an afternoon to
forget for the keeper who cost Rushden over £100,000 ....
The goal brought Diamonds manager Brian Talbot down from the stand to the
dug-out amidst a warm reception from the home crowd, something that was to be
repeated throughout the game. It had a galvanising effect on his team however
with the Diamonds forcing the ball into the Yeovil net following a corner, only
for the assistant referee to rule Rodwell's effort offside.
Yeovil were playing where they left off against Hereford on Tuesday night,
with lots of one-touch passing and plenty of running off the ball. Again it was
Ben Smith and Paul Tisdale pulling the strings in midfield, with Rob Cousins
tidying up the loose ends behind them. Dave Piper was finding plenty of space
wide on the right and creating problems in the Rushden defence with his dangerous
crosses, Patmore just failing to get on the end of one in particular when unmarked
in the box. Yeovil nearly made it 2-0 when another Patmore flick following a free-
kick found Matt Hayfield one-on-one with Turley in the Rushden goal, but the
keeper did well to block the effort.
Rushden weren't out of it by any means though, with the pony-tailed Underwood
making inroads down the left wing. Darren Collins had a chance to level the match
when in space inside the Yeovil area, but the defence did magnificently to
close him down and block his shot.
Just as it seemed the half was about to peter out, Yeovil were awarded a corner.
Terry SKIVERTON again rose like a leaping salmon (see photo, left)and completely unmarked
powered a header past Turley in the Rushden goal. The visitors looked shell-shocked,
but dragged themselves back into the game when in the 4th minute of injury time
Skiverton was harshly judged to have fouled a Rushden player just outside the Yeovil
area. The advantages of full-time training were there to be seen in a cleverly
worked free-kick involving decoy runners and several quick passes which eventually
found UNDERWOOD one-on-one with Tony Pennock, the Diamonds forward making
no mistake with his snap-shot.
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| Half Time : Yeovil Town 2 Rushden & Diamonds 1
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Second Half :
Yeovil began the second half in sparkling fashion. Warren Patmore yet again won
the ball and fed Ben Smith wide on the right. Smith's perfect cross found Jamie
Pitman unmarked in front of goal. His shot was blocked by Turley but the ball
rebounded to the following up Matt HAYFIELD - looking for all the world
as if he had played as a striker all of his life - who gleefully put the ball into
the empty net. 3-1 to the Glovers.
Hayfield again found himself in the clear shortly afterwards with only Turley to
beat, but was unceremoniously felled when in the act of shooting by the Rushden
keeper. The referee waited for the ball to narrowly miss the unguarded goal before
whistling for the foul. The Huish Park crowd bayed for the red card and it
seemed a clear-cut decision, Turley being the last man between Hayfield and
the goal, yet Mr Probert contented himself with the yellow - perhaps he knew what
was to come and decided that letting in 5 would be the greater punishment!
Rushden again tried to give themselves a lifeline and Tony Pennock was forced
into a brilliant reflex save from point-blank range following a corner. Yeovil however
were unstoppable by now and in the 66th minute went further ahead. Warren Patmore
found himself in space wide on the right. His deep cross had the hapless Turley
in all kinds of trouble, the keeper stretching to tip the ball onto the bar. Again
the rebound was met by the following up Matt HAYFIELD who lashed the ball
home from close range. 4-1, and the game was now safe.
Ecstasy turned into derilium for the celebrating home crowd 2 minutes later,
when in the goal of the game Ben SMITH volleyed home a powerful shot from
outside the box. Huish Park was having a party and took great delight in reminding
Rushden boss Brian Talbot of the score. He had the last laugh of sorts though.
Thanks to his refusal to change the kick-off time to avoid clashing with the
Scotland v England Euro 2000 play-off, only 2,180 was at Huish Park this afternoon
when under normal circumstances a crowd of over 3,000 could have been expected, meaning
Yeovil missed out on approximately £10,000 worth of gate money. Still, as we saw
this afternoon, money doesn't necessarily buy you happiness.
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| Final Score : Yeovil Town 5 Rushden & Diamonds 1
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Web Site Verdict :
Wow again! Another terrific display by Yeovil, certainly their best home
performance in the Conference this season so far. As with last Tuesday's Hereford game,
their success was built on a foundation of good one-touch football, plenty of
off-the-ball movement and the willingness to work tremendously hard for each
other. We had 11 heroes out there today - not one poor performance by anyone.
The defence was rock-solid, the midfield fought for everything and Wazza and Matt
Hayfield up front ran tirelessly all game.
Steve Thompson deserves enormous credit for motivating the team and instilling
belief into the side after a difficult last month or so. Perhaps now it's our turn
to have a good run....
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Thommo's Verdict :
I thought the boys were magnificent today, everyone of them to a man. I've just been there in
the dressing room, and I've told them, that whereas I can't expect that level of performance
every week, but what I can expect is the workrate, the determination and the fitness they showed
out there. I'd watched Rushden play on a video, and there's no doubt they are a good team.
I know they looked poor today, but we made them look poor. We felt that crossing was Rushden's
main strength, so we forced them to play their wingbacks high up the field, so they couldn't
get their crosses, and David Piper and Jamie Pitman did excellent jobs there.
Matty Hayfield is one of these players that makes things happen. He has the annoying habit
for the other team of being where the ball has just ricocheted. And we saw that today - the
ball would ricochet and who would be there picking it up ? Some could call that luck but it's not when
it keeps happening.
It's his enthusiasm for the game, and him using his brain to think about where the ball is going to drop.
Warren Patmore was superb. Warren's come off without a goal, and he said to me he was disappointed he
didn't score, and I said to him "it doesn't matter - you were magnificent". He's such an important
player for us. He's priceless and there's no doubt about that. I think Warren should know that he's
good enough to have high confidence in every game.
It didn't feel like a new start for me, it just felt like a continuation of what I've been
doing for the past six weeks. That said, the players in their performance made it feel like it was
a new start for me. When you think about it, we've just outplayed a team which was a lot of people's
favourites for the Conference title. The league is wide open, and we can win this league. But there
has to be a belief in us that we can do it, and I think my main task at the moment is to get that
self-belief into the players that we can do well in any competition we enter.
That all said, we must not get carried away - it was just one performance, and sometimes you
get those days where everything goes your way. They had a goal disallowed in the first half, but
then again, they maybe should have had their goalie sent off in the second half. It was one of
those games where things went for us as a whole, but that's not taking anything away from the players.
If I was giving marks for them I'd have to give them all four or five stars, and most of them
would have five stars. They deserve all the credit for a performance like that.
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Man of the Match :
As voted for by YTFC fans in Paul Chesterman's internet survey:
1. Terry Skiverton 39%
2. Matt Hayfield 37%
3. Warren Patmore 7%
4. Paul Tisdale 6%
5. Ben Smith 5%
Match rating (marks out of 10) : 9
59 votes received.
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More Match Photos :
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Above : Matt Hayfield finds the ball sliding out of reach as a Diamonds player tackles
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Above : Another angle of Terry Skiverton's second goal (left) followed by wild celebrations (right)
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Above : Jamie Pitman with former Glover Miguel De Souza (left)
and Warren Patmore (right)
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Above : Ben Smith (left) and the tackle that led to Matt Hayfield's booking (right)
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Above : Matt Hayfield (left) and Ben Smith (right)
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Above : Matt Hayfield (left) and Jamie Pitman (right)
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