As the second half started it was evident that Hartlepool had received the customary half time rollicking as they upped their game and tempo and looked more of a threat going forward. Collis was called into action for one of the first occasions of the game after Guyett conceded a free kick. As the ball came in it came off the studs of Paul Terry but fortunately for the home side Collis was on hand to hold on. Another free kick, this time given away by Terry Skiverton, came even closer: The dead ball was whipped in by Gavin Strachan and found the head of Michael Nelson whose free header somehow squirmed inches wide of the upright.
If that was a warning to Yeovil of how slender a one goal lead can be then they took heed of that threat and acted accordingly. Matt Harrold, in his own half released David Poole down the left and his fine run and cross into the box seemed to take an age to find Jevons, but find him it did, and the cool Scouser knocked the ball across the face of the goal and watched it cross the line in the far corner to give the home side a 2 goal lead, even if it was against the run of play - if only they�d got a second against Bristol City! Jevons has found his scoring touch of late, amid speculation of a January transfer move, if that�s the case then he certainly increased his sales value on today's performance.
Hartlepool never gave up, and moments later they had a glorious chance to pull a goal back when substitute James Walker broke free down the left, his tantalising ball across the goal line only needed a toe to guide it home, but fortunately there were no size 10�s on hand and the ball squirmed away to safety.
The second goal for the Glovers certainly acted as a pressure relief valve, and their play reflected that as they began to confidently stroke the ball around, with Nathan Jones at the heart of many attacks, Jones has terrific energy and his clever ball inside to Harrold on the edge of the box was taken well by �the Prince� and his powerful shot narrowly sailed over the bar. Harrold was again denied the goal his performance deserved when he broke away down the right, his well struck shot at last beat the keeper but not the post, bouncing back into play the ball again fell at the feet of the Yeovil striker and his instant shot was cleared off the line to deny him his goal.
Yeovil made two late substitutions, Davies replacing the impressive Poole, who at last is living up to his promise, and Gall replacing Jevons who received a standing ovation from the Yeovil fans on 85 minutes.
So another good win for Yeovil, even though afterwards Steve Thompson said that it was not as fluent a performance as that against City and Doncaster the week before. The workrate though was just as good, and none of the 5480 that attended the game (although at least 10% started to leave on 80 minutes) will worry about the performance too much if it means 3 valuable points in the bag, and a step closer to league one survival.
MOTM Vote Result:
Player |
MOTM |
Score |
Phil Jevons |
27 |
786 |
Matt Harrold |
3 |
262 |
Scott Guyett |
4 |
205 |
Lee Johnson |
5 |
186 |
David Poole |
3 |
114 |
|
Overall match rating: 6.5 / 10
Performance: 6.6
Entertainment: 6.4
42 votes received.
Any comments/questions please email [email protected]
|