For the third match running, Russell Slade had the luxury of naming the same starting eleven and the same sixteen, as the Glovers made their first ever trip to the Withdean Stadium - a bizarre stadium in a bizarre setting. Parking the car just off the main dual carriageway in the middle of a three lane road that is closed off on match days, a Park and Ride bus weaves its way through a maze of chalet houses and bungalows, seemingly taking you anywhere other than a football ground. In actual fact, on arrival, that assumption was proved correct - unless you'd describe a collection of four uncovered stands borrowed from Wimbledon, an athletics track and a cricket pavillion masquerading as a 'Main Stand' as a football ground. Situated roughly 50 yards from the pitch itself, and therefore 150 yards from any goalmouth action at the other end, having had a 30 minute wait between parking up the car and getting to the ground, it is hard to believe that last season this "stadium" was hosting Championship football - even harder to believe that the likes of Kidderminster were once refused admission to the Football League because their ground was not up to the required standard. At least at Forest Green Rovers you can see the pitch on a Boxing Day.

The game started with Yeovil kicking towards the away supporters, so thankfully we had merely half a pitch length to pick out our favourite players and cheer for them. The first five minutes saw the hosts assume control, with a header from Andrew Whing being collected easily by Steve Mildenhall. This was followed by another header from Alex Revell from a Brighton corner that went wide of the near post - a minute later the same man produced a well struck shot that might have caused problems if it hadn't been straight down the throat of Mildenhall.

Terry Skiverton produced Yeovil's first chance at the other end, defty controlling the ball and lobbing (I kid you not!) the ball just over the bar on the angle of the area after a Martin Brittain corner had only been half cleared. As the game got into the swing of thing though, it was the partnership of Leon Best and Lee Morris that would shape the match for both teams. Each time Brighton went forward to try and create their own pressure, the Yeovil strike duo left them stretched at the other end and it was the Glovers who looked the more likely to score. Best got in behind the Brighton defence for the first time 15 minutes into the match, laying the ball back for Martin Brittain, whose cross was met by Arron Davies whose header (yes it was one of those unusual days!) was saved by Wayne Henderson in the Brighton goal. A minute later a Chris Cohen left wing cross was almost deflected into his own goal by a Brighton defender but Henderson caught the ball backpedalling right under his own crossbar.

Midway through the first half, the Morris and Best combination seemed to step up a gear. Lee Morris was the first to worry the home side when he got in behind the Brighton defence, rounding Wayne Henderson excellently, managing to stay on his feet despite the hint of a foul by the keeper, but his shot was from a narrow angle and it struck the foot of the post before rebounding off Adam Hinshelwood and almost into the back of the net - the defender escaping any embarrassment as the ball rolled the other side of the post for a corner. Four minutes later, Leon Best covered almost the same patch of ground as Morris, with Henderson bravely getting in the way of Best's run, and the Yeovil striker's attempts to grab the loose ball being thwarted when the ball ran too far ahead of him for a goal kick.

Seven minutes from the break though, the Yeovil pressure told with an accomplished looking goal. A Yeovil set piece was only half cleared by the Brighton defence, and with Terry Skiverton still in the penalty box, the Yeovil captain headed the ball towards the angle of the penalty box, nicely finding Leon BEST who showed all the composure of a striker 10 years his senior by chesting the ball down, letting it run on, then firing home into the bottom corner to put the Glovers 1-0 up, making something hard look so staggeringly simple.

Two minutes of injury time saw Yeovil get a slight attack of the jitters for the first time in the game as Brighton briefly threatened before the half time whistle blew. A couple of feisty tackles by Terrell Forbes got the home fans blood boiling and with referee Fred Graham considering them to be fair, Brighton manager Dean Wilkins sprinted off the dugout seats in the sort of manner befitting the athletics stadium to have have a nice half time "chat" with Mr Graham on his way off the pitch.

Whatever Dean Wilkins said to his team at half time following his conversation with the referee, it made little or no difference - soon Brighton had to come up with a whole new gameplan. Just 70 seconds after kick-off, Yeovil struck gold with the second goal of the game. A flowing move involving Chris Cohen and Martin Brittain saw the latter feed Lee MORRIS and the former Derby County striker, who had probably his best 45 minutes for Yeovil during the first period, capped that off with a 10 yard shot on goal that took a thick deflection off Brighton defender Guy Butters and into the back of the net for a 2-0 scoreline.

Arron Davies almost put Yeovil 3-0 up when he forced Wayne Henderson to block his shot with his feet from the edge of the box. The game became a little stretched with Yeovil still showing their intent to push up for a third goal combined with Brighton going for broke by introducing Joe Gatting as a substitute, pushing three strikers up front and taking chances at the back. Martin Cranie and Lee Morris were booked in quick succession close to the dug-outs for late tackles as Brighton tried to stretch the Glovers down the flank.

But just as Yeovil looked to be under the cosh a little bit, Brighton were hit by their own weak defending, with Leon Best again at the heart of things. A weak header out of the box was blocked by Leon Best and when he fed Arron DAVIES, the Welshman needed no time to tee up his shot from the edge of the box which was volleyed into the bottom left hand corner to effectively seal the points for the Glovers at 3-0 with an hour of play gone.

Brighton to their credit went for broke and probably had their best period of the game at 3-0 down. Substitute Joe Gatting showed plenty of pace by staying as a wide striker and that caused Martin Cranie - already on a booking - a torrid time as he knew that bringing down the Brighton striker would potentially result in a dismissal. As a result, Gatting got a lot more room than perhaps he would have been normally allowed to get, striking the outside of the back post not long after his appearance on the field.

After Arron Davies let fly from distance at the other end with the ball going over the bar, Brighton did succeed in making matters "interesting" by pulling a goal back. Terrell Forbes headed out a Brighton cross towards the edge of the box and as Dean Cox fed the ball back into the box, Joe GATTING got a goal deserved on his cameo performance, as he fired past Mildenhall from close range with an appeal for offside in vain.

For five minutes or so, Yeovil suddenly had an attack of nerves as the home crowd woke up from their depression and their players rallied in turn. The Yeovil back line looked stretched and had to raise their game to ensure that the Brighton players - now pushing forward and getting the ball in the box quickly - did not capitalise on their sliver of hope. Steve Mildenhall had to get down low to his left to save one attempt on goal, but largely things just about stayed firm, and after a five minute period of nail-biting, the Glovers regained their composure and began to pass their way through the Brighton midfield once again.

Leon Best got back into his stride as Brighton left wide-open spaces at the back and he shot over the bar from distance after he cut in from the right hand side. Minutes later he became the third Yeovil player in the book following a slight off the ball shove. Joe Gatting did the same at the other end, and not even a slightly strange four minutes of announced injury time extended to six for reasons best known to referee Fred Graham, but the spark had gone out of Brighton's brief re-emergence and the Glovers ran out comfortable victors, passing the ball down the flanks and easily running down the clock.

An entertaining game for sure, even if most of it appeared to be played in a different postcode to those present at the game. Brighton in patches didn't look too bad a side, but were left down by some sloppy defending and their inability to deal with Lee Morris and Leon Best. With both Yeovil strikers hitting form, and Marcus Stewart ready to let off the leash in the New Year, life at Huish Park isn't looking too bad at all.

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