Port Vale made a double substitution at half time as injury forced them to rearrange their side somewhat, and the opening five minutes
was a scrappy affair that implied that the match might be fizzling out a touch. The pitch had cut up badly during the first period and
large divots could be seen all over the pitch during the half time break, so perhaps it was becoming harder to play a purist football game
as time went on. However, perhaps Adam Lockwood will contest that the deterioration of the pitch was in part responsible for what was to transpire.
Seven minutes into the second half, Nathan Lowndes sent through midfield what appeared to be a harmless ball but
Adam Lockwood's 'golf air shot' blotted his otherwise impeccable copybook, letting in Leon CONSTANTINE behind the Yeovil defence.
Despite two defenders attempting to recover the situation, the end result was that they got in the way of the advancing Chris Weale, allowing
Constantine the ability to round the keeper and shoot into an empty net. 1-0 and another upward climb was going to be needed.
Almost immediately, Steve Thompson responded by introducing Matt Harrold onto the field of play, replacing Paul Terry who had struggled
to achieve anything out on the right flank. Harrold moved into the centre, with initially Kevin Gall going wide-right, but almost immediately
Phil Jevons found his way out there instead for one of the game's more confusing moments.
Port Vale predictably slowed the game down to a snail's pace - after 52 minutes worth of fast attacking play, they made a clear conscious
decision to try and play out the remaining 38 minutes at half pace, packing men behind the ball to protect their slender lead. Steve Thompson's response
for a game that was in danger of slipping away, was to take off Kevin Gall and David Poole and introduce Daniel Webb and Arron Davies.
Vale's only real chances were on the break and were rare with Jeff Smith's attempt to extend their lead, thwarted by a brilliant blocking tackle
by Andy Lindegaard just as the substitute shaped to shoot on goal.
The arrival of Daniel Webb on the field, working in tamden with Matt Harrold seemed to upset the Port Vale back line. Now having to track two
big strikers, they struggled to cope with a Yeovil attack that was closer to a 4-2-4 formation with Davies and Jevons both operating as wide
strikers, and Lindegaard and Jones operating as wing-backs.
Nathan Jones forced Mark Goodlad into a fantastic save as he drove a rising shot towards the top corner, with the keeper forcing the ball out
for a corner. Then even when Yeovil beat Goodland, they were still denied - Adam Lockwood's header from a corner was heading for the corner of the
net but George Abbey's goal line header stopped the Glovers gaining what would have been by now a fully deserved equaliser.
The Yeovil onslaught was rather bizarrely thwarted in the final minutes with a spectator getting onto the pitch for reasons that can only
be known to him. Kevin Amankwaah was being used as the only defender when the Glovers went up for set pieces, and this Port Vale 'fan' was able
to get onto the centre of the pitch without a single home steward moving a muscle towards him. A lone steward eventually reacted with the fan
confronting the Yeovil defender, but the spectator was easily able to out-sprint him and race for the side stand. It looked like the poor stewarding
was going to be defeated - that was until our 'fan' tried to vault back over the perimeter wall whereupon a Vale fan inside the stand did what half the ground would
have like to have done - delivering an excellent upper-cut to flatten the 'fan' back onto the pitch. A moment that would have brought even a smile
to those increasingly disappointed Glovers fans behind the goal. Football Fans 1 Idiots 0.
As the game went into injury time, and the home fans whistling and begging the match official to blow up for time, Phil Jevons cut in from the right
with the ball and saw a clear strike on goal. But he dragged his shot across the face of goal, and sent the ball just wide of the far post.
So close but yet so far! Yeovil were to come home pointless despite having had the home side on the back foot for most of the final part of the
game, but at the moment the ball just won't go in the net for the Glovers and what must be a growing concern for Steve Thompson is that since
their main playmaker Lee Johnson left the club, Yeovil Town have scored only one goal in four games and despite all of the possession, team spirit
and will to win that still exists, that is a worrying statistic. A win against MK Dons on Tuesday is undoubtedly what Yeovil need to avoid
a drama being turned into a crisis. But even then with the Yeovil squad paper thin in certain areas, Thommo must be given the remit to bring in
some quality players to ease the pressure on his enthusiastic, young, but on the whole inexperienced and learning team.
Badger
MOTM Vote Result:
Player |
MOTM |
Score |
Kevin Amankwaah |
4 |
527 |
Anthony Barry |
3 |
509 |
Chris Cohen |
3 |
400 |
Adam Lockwood |
- |
164 |
Andy Lindegaard |
1 |
109 |
|
Overall match rating: 5.4 / 10
Performance: 5.8
Entertainment: 5
11 votes received.
Any comments/questions please email [email protected]
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