Glovers boss Gary Johnson had threatened in his pre-match analysis that he would be reacting to the defeat at Grimsby by making a number of changes, and he kept to his word by doing a spot of squad rotation to keep things fresh. Kevin Gall and Bartosz Tarachulski - both substituted at Grimsby - dropped out of the side, allowing Paul Terry and Rory Fallon to take their places. More subtly Phil Jevons and Arron Davies swapped left wing and striker positions.

Northampton started like a greyhound out of the traps and had the Glovers all over the place in the first ten minutes. Gary Johnson had initially planned to watch the game from the heights of the main stand but within about five minutes he had raced down to bark out instructions as Yeovil failed to get their early shape right. They looked completely baffled by an early Northampton free kick move awarded after a foul by Terry Skiverton on Eric Sabin. After three players dummied the ball, the fourth saw Martin Smith strike the ball, David Rowson flick it on, and Scott McGleish attempt an overhead kick that Chris Weale brilliantly tipped over on his near post.

Rowson had another early shot from the edge of the area heavily deflected, with Wealey once again scrambling to push the ball round for a corner. The Glovers were getting pulled all over the pitch by the Northampton movement off the ball and individual players were losing their markers or looking like a bag of nerves when they did manage to get hold of the ball.

The barking of instructions from the sidelines from Messrs Johnson and Thompson gradually calmed things down though and soon it was Cobblers boss Colin Calderwood who was screaming at his players as first Andy Lindegaard and then Darren Way were allowed to ghost through the middle of the park on solo runs, with the home defence kindly waving them through unchallenged. Luckily for Calderwood's side keeper Lee Harper smothered both shots.

McGleish tried his luck from the edge of the area, but Wealey was able to beat out the shot. With just 13 minutes gone in a frenetic start to the game, Northampton thought they had a lead, only to find the goal ruled out. Eric Sabin knocked the ball out of Chris Weale's hands as he prepared to take a goal kick, and although Graham Salisbury did nothing to stop the move, when Lee Williamson put the ball in the net, linesman Michael McPherson reminded Salisbury of his duties by flagging for the foul.

McGleish had been badly hurt by his earlier overhead kick acrobatics, and had to withdraw with an injured arm with Norwich City striker Danny Crow taking his place. At this stage Yeovil were just starting to impose themselves on the game, and the loss of the striker seemed to require Northampton time to adjust. Phil Jevons picked up the ball for Yeovil on the edge of the area and volleyed at goal forcing Harper to tip his drive onto the crossbar and ultimately for a corner. From the resultant corner, Terry Skiverton's header had to be cleared off the line by Lee Williamson who was stood on the post, blocking the chance.

Arron Davies had his penalty appeals turned down midway through the half when a Northampton defender clearly grabbed hold of his shirt and hauled him to the floor but to add insult to injury when Davies fell on the ball, his arm contact resulted in a free kick being given against him for handball!

Despite the early scares, Yeovil were by this time well on top of the game and it was no surprise when they grabbed the lead on the half hour mark. A foul on Rory Fallon by Chris Willmott saw Lee Johnson take a quick free kick whilst the Northampton players were still arguing with the referee, and the Cobblers were caught cold. Finding Andy Lindegaard wide on the right, his ball into the centre was dummied at the near post allowing Arron DAVIES an easy chance to convert from six yards out, proving that he doesn't just score 30-yarders for the Glovers!

Five minutes later it would have been 2-0 if not for a wonderful save by Lee Harper. Another Lee Johnson free kick wide on the right seemed to be tailor-made for a floating cross and that was doubtless what the Cobblers were bracing themselves for. But instead, Lee drove the ball low and hard across the six yard line and as Rory Fallon reacted first, Harper showed instinctive reactions to palm the ball over the bar.

Northampton looked shell-shocked and on the backfoot, but Yeovil know from past experience that they can be dangerous at the drop of a hat. Tommy Jaszczun proved that right on the half-time break when after a slight period of comeback by the home side, Jaszczun drove the ball across the face of the box, with the ball pinging off the foot of Chris Weale's left hand post. But that was as good as it got for the Cobblers following their early burst of pressure, and the Glovers could consider themselves more than happy with the first 45 minutes of football.

No changes from either side at half time, but like the first period, Northampton started showing the upper hand. Danny Crow lobbed a long ranger straight into the arms of Chris Weale, whilst David Rowson's header from a Martin Smith corner went far closer with the ball dropping a yard wide of Wealey's left hand post. Next Crow got in behind the Yeovil defence but with Wealey getting a palm on his shot to slow the ball down, Terry Skiverton was on hand to execute a marvellous clearance off his own goal-line despite Eric Sabin sliding in on the Yeovil captain. Minutes later, it was Wealey again to the rescue, stopping a Martin Smith volley by palming it away from the top corner, and then having the anticipation to race to the edge of his area to slide the ball out of reach of an incoming Cobblers player.

Eric Sabin was the next to threaten the Yeovil goal as he got in behind the Glovers defence, but Kevin Amankwaah used his pace to great effect, by slide-blocking Sabin's shot, allowing Wealey to palm the ball away from the subsequent danger.

70 minutes into the game, Yeovil finally managed their first shot of a half in which they were increasingly adopting a siege mentality. Lee Johnson broke clear after Arron Davies put him through, and after making room for himself, he forced Harper into a low save. Lee Williamson landed himself in the book for a rather industrial tackle on Darren Way, as Yeovil at least gained some temporary ease of pressure by breaking out of defence on occasions.

A succession of substitutions took place with 15-20 minutes left with Northampton performing their last two rolls of the dice, whilst Gary Johnson replaced Phil Jevons with Kevin Gall, adopting a 4-5-1 strategy with Paul Terry acting as a defensive midfield sweeper as Gally took to the wing.

Kevin Amankwaah cleared a looping ball close to his own goal-line, as the Glovers sat deeper with the clock ticking out. Perhaps one criticism was that Yeovil really needed Gally and Davies to sit 5-10 yards further up field to try and initiate a breakaway, as by this stage Northampton were operating with only two players in defence, and it really needed a green shirt to give their back line something to think about and relieve the pressure.

But when David Rowson did a 'Johnny Wilkinson' straight out of Sixfields with just two minutes remaining, it seemed as though the Cobblers were running out of ideas, but as the clock ticked down to zero they finally got lucky. David Galbraith capitalised on a slip by Kevin Gall, and as his initial attempt was blocked by Paul Terry, Danny CROW reacted by curling a cross back into the area. Much to everyone's surprise, the on-loan striker landed the ball into the back corner of the net for what had been a goal coming for 30 minutes, but one in which the Cobblers needed a slice of fortune to get it. If Crow really meant to do what he did, then he shouldn't be on loan at the Cobblers!

The Glovers surged forward in search of a late late winner and Charley Hearn was booked for sticking his elbow into Bartosz Tarachulski's face 20 yards off the ball, to stop the Pole breaking through. But despite referee Graham Salisbury somehow conjuring up six minutes of injury time, Yeovil couldn't get their noses back in front and had to settle for what was on the balance of play a fair point to come home with. Though there was immense disappointment at conceding so late in the game, the Glovers should look at the bigger picture - one of their toughest fixtures left has been crossed off the list, and in doing so they created a six point gap at the top of the table - the biggest gap they have had since going top two months ago.

Badger

MOTM Vote Result:

Overall match rating: 7.1 / 10
Performance: 6.9
Entertainment: 7.3

27 votes received.

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