The big question mark against Russell Slade's team selection before today's game was how he was going to cope with the loss of Marcus Stewart - blocked from playing in this fixture by his parent club. With numerous wide and striking options available to him, he opted to give Wayne Gray the task of fitting into Stewart's shoes, whilst there were also changes to last week's League One starting line-up in the wide positions with Lee Morris and Martin Brittain being drafted into starting positions. A further change came in the centre of midfield where Anthony Barry was rewarded for his midfield JPT goal with a place ahead of Jean-Paul Kalala. The Glovers would be up against a Bristol City camp with no less than eight personnel with connections with Huish Park, and a near capacity crowd as the 5th placed club took on the 2nd placed club in what was undoubtedly the League One match of the day.

Early controversy within a minute of the start saw Barry Corr appearing to use his elbow on a Yeovil with Terry Skiverton furiously gesturing to referee Andre Marriner after the match official declined to take any action on the back of the incident. After a frenetic start with flying tackles from both sides, Yeovil Town suffered a blow when Terry Skiverton suffered an ankle injury off the ball, being forced to leave the field of play. For a couple of minutes they played on with 10 men with Paul Terry operating as a stand-in central defender, but eventually Scott Guyett had to become the replacement at the back, and Steve Mildenhall was handed the captain's armband.

The Glovers went close when a Chris Cohen left wing cross was met by a backheader from Jamie McCombe, which was a little misdirected towards the Bristol City goal, but Adriano Basso was able to claim the accidental 'shot'. Midway through the first half, Jamie McCoombe was booked for kicking the ball away after Yeovil Town were awarded a free kick when he fouled Wayne Gray. Yeovil were well on top and City were finding their opportunities rare and only on the break. One such attempt came when Jennison Myrie-Williams weaved his way down the wing, evading Martin Brittain, but running out of room when a Paul Terry tackle inside the box blocked his run.

Five minutes later, a Nick Wright run was stopped by Nathan Jones, with referee Andre Marriner ruling the challenge by Jones to be illegal. Up stepped two rather familiar figures in Lee Johnson and Phil Jevons for the free kick with the latter taking the set piece, but when Jevons took it the ball deflected heavily off the body of Lee Morris with Louis Carey subsequently penalised for barging into Steve Mildenhall when the City player tried to get near the aerial ball. Carey was rather fortunate not to land in the book for a poor challenge that got him nowhere near the ball.

At the other end Wayne Gray turned and volleyed a shot wide that wouldn't have mattered too much as a linesman's flag went up deeming him to be offside. Jennison Myrie-Williams became the second City player to be booked for petulance when he threw the ball down in a temper, having not liked a decision, right in front of referee Andre Marriner resulting in a pretty academic booking. Scott Guyett and Barry Corr squared up to each other after the latter had again gone in with his elbows with the normally mild-mannered Guyett clearly rattled by some of the means being used to challenge for the ball by the on-loan striker. Matters were certainly getting heated out there, with some of City's challenges industrial to say the least.

As half time approached the game took a more evil turn in what had been a rather niggly half. Martin Brittain won a free kick after Lee Johnson had left a leg out on the corner of the penalty box and Nathan Jones laid the ball down. As the Welshman prepared to tee up the ball Scott Guyett and Louis Carey who had both been involved in separate niggles earlier in the game, got involved in a confrontation, Carey appeared to throw a punch, and the end result was a brawl and red cards dished out for both players - a sorry end to a half that had seen little football and plenty of the wrong type of local derby passion being displayed out there.

Half time saw both sides reorganise with David Noble coming on for Nick Wright but most critically Anthony Tonkin appearing in place of Lee Morris with Russell Slade being forced into a reshuffle to allow Tonks to act as a stand-in central defender with the Glovers having already lost two during the first 45 miutes. City opted for a 4-3-2 formation whilst the Glovers opted for 4-4-1.

A quiet start to the second half, thankfully burst into life with a spot of purist football when Paul Terry broke out of defence flanked by Chris Cohen, Martin Brittain and Wayne Gray outnumbering the City defence. Bizarrely play was pulled back when referee Andre Marriner had to stop the game having pulled a muscle when running out of Yeovil's half. Thus a frustrating end to the first major attack of Yeovil's half and fourth official Steve Tomlinson was drafted into action. Shortly after that unexpected substitution Wayne Gray got himself into an excellent position and produced a shot on goal, but slipped as he pulled the trigger and that resulted in Adriano Basso able to make a comfortable save.

Anthony Barry won a corner when he saw his long range shot deflected off Noble, and from that corner, Martin Brittain fed shot to Nathan Jones whose shot sailed wildly into the Westland Terrace. City were looking dangerous at the other end despite their lack of direct chances, with the likes of David Noble proving to be very effective in the City midfield. However, Steve Mildenhall was in the main untroubled by the territorial pressure with Yeovil's makeshift defence doing well to hold them at bay.

Arron Davies replaced Nathan Jones as Yeovil's final substitution just after Jones had executed a brilliant block against a shot from Jevons, denying the former Yeovil man a goal from close range. As Lee Johnson put the ball back into the box for a second time, Jevons again got a chance, but the ball went over the bar. The introduction of Davies saw Yeovil switch to a 3-5-1 formation, with perhaps the removal of Jones a touch surprising with so little in the way of experience at the back. The sort of substitution that tends to leave you scratching your head and wondering if the manager has made the right decision.

But hey who is to argue with a manager. Whilst the decision may have seen somewhat strange to these eyes, Arron's first significant move of the game was to be a clinical one. With just 12 minutes left, City loan striker Barry Corr tried to go for a bit of showmanship and gave the ball away cheaply to Arron DAVIES. In the sort of style that Gary Johnson would know far too well, Davies picked up the ball and ran at the City defence, unleashing a superb right-footed 25 yard strike into the corner of the net to lift the roof of Huish Park and send Russell Slade running down the touchline almost as if he planned to jump straight into the Westland end of the ground. 1-0 and just 12 minutes left to hold the fort. What a brilliant substitution to make! Perhaps it is a good job that Russell Slade is the manager!

Lee Johnson took a free kick only a minute after the goal and Huish Park held their breath, only to find the pint-sized midfielder land one a mile over the bar and into the rather glum looking away fans. Johnson had not had the greatest of games with David Noble the far more effective playmaker in midfield, and the Yeovil fans responded to the set-piece effort with sarcastic cheers.

Anthony Barry became the first Yeovil player to receive a yellow card in the dying minutes of the game as City tried all they could to get back into the game. Gary Johnson pushed four players up front with Barry Corr and Phil Jevons joined by Myrie-Williams and McCoombe. The latter produced the best out of Steve Mildenhall as he went at full stretch to save a header from the lanky defender at the foot of his post.

But as the scoreboard ticked over to show the 90 minutes were up, sloppy defending between Jamie McAllister and Richard Keogh as City left numbers short at the back saw a poor pass intercepted by Wayne GRAY who ran straight through the middle of them, beat the last man, got one-on-one with Adriano Basso then slotted the ball into the back of the net. The sound was that of Huish Park giving up a huge roar of delight - well, at three ends anyway! 2-0 and game over surely?

Three minutes into injury time City got themselves a late late lifeline. Anthony Tonkin's challenge on Lee Johnson put the former Yeovil man down in the deck in the penalty box, and Tonks landed himself in the book for the challenge. Up stepped who else but Phil JEVONS who sent Steve Mildenhall the wrong way to bring the score back to 2-1 and to create a nervous last 60 seconds for Yeovil to ride out. Thankfully they managed to do it without further drama.

An astonishing end to a dramatic game, and one that will have sent the majority of those in the 9,009 crowd's pulse racing during the final 15 minutes. The introduction of Arron Davies to the team turned the game perfectly and at the right time, and the finishing touch by Wayne Gray to seal the game was about as good as you could hope for. The way the first half panned out was a bit of a shame, although blood and thunder in a local derby is often something that dominates such matches rather than the football itself. But the Glovers wore City down and deserved their victory, purely because City's only on target shot during the entire game, more or less, was the penalty from Phil Jevons that almost let the visitors back in, and that tells you why Yeovil Town were the team that finished the game with all three points. And all without Marcus Stewart even setting foot onto the field of play - for either team!

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