Two injuries to both strikers meant that Steve Thompson had to change things after last week's 2-0 defeat at Blackpool,
although luckily enough for him, one of the replacements was Matt Harrold, returning from injury. New loan signing
Tommy Doherty got an immediate start, displacing Paul Terry and moving into a position between the defence and midfield.
Terry Skiverton returned to the back four, reclaiming his captain's arm-band and allowing Kevin Amankwaah to shift
out wide with Andy Lindegaard the unlucky party.
It was difficult to tell whether the intention had been to leave Matt Harrold up front on his own and play four midfielders in a 4-1-4-1 formation, or whether Arron Davies had been in front from the start in a 4-1-3-2 formation. Either way, the intended plans for the start of the match were not going to last for long.
Just 10 minutes after a slightly scrappy start Doherty, who had got in a solid start in his new club colours, went in for a crunching tackle and came out second best. Hobbling heavily, it was clear he could not continue, and the end result was Paul Terry missing only 11 minutes worth of first team football, Doherty heading off with a repeat of his fibula
bruising injury, and Yeovil reverting to a 4-4-2 with Terry going central and Anthony Barry heading out onto the right wing. So much for forward planning!
Once the game settled down again, it was the Glovers who had the clear upper hand, with the Davies/Harrold combination
proving to be a big nuisance to the Chesterfield defence. But certainly at first, it looked as though it was going to
be the same old story from recent weeks: one of near misses. Davies fed Harrold who had got in behind the Chesterfield
defence, but his shot was headed into the side netting. At the other end, Paul Hall - scorer at Huish Park earlier in
the season - showed it wasn't just the Glovers who were missing their chances, as he fluffed a close range header from
a right wing cross, sending the ball wide of the target. Derek Niven tried a speculative long ranger that Chris Weale
had to grab at the second attempt in a goal mouth that was only just playable, thanks to overnight frost that the
home stand had sheltered from the morning sun.
With half an hour of the game gone, the Glovers had their second golden opportunity of the game when David Poole's
long mazey left wing run opened up the Chesterfield defence, and when he slipped the ball inside to Arron Davies,
the Welshman again fed his striking partner Harrold, who in taking the ball on his weaker left foot once again dragged the
ball into the side netting.
It didn't take long though for the Glovers to finally break their duck, and it came when the two strikers switched
roles. A massive Chris Weale goal kick came down deep into the Chesterfield half and was flicked on by Matt Harrold. Running in behind the defence was Arron DAVIES, who swivelled to give himself room, then slightly scuffed
a shot with his right foot that slowly bobbled right into the far corner giving the advancing keeper Carl Muggleton
little chance of retrieving the situation.
Just before the half time interval, during a half in which Yeovil had gradually grown in stature, they had
to readjust a second time. Anthony Barry went in for a sliding tackle in the most frost-hit corner of the pitch, between
the two stands, and it was obvious from the way both teams, the match referee and medical staff rushed to him
that he was very badly hurt. Almost immediately out came the stretcher bearers along with a leg brace, and Anthony
was sadly stretchered off with a dislocated knee. The 19 year old has looked a real find since he has come into the
side. He is occasionally raw in what he does, but at that age he has years ahead of him to improve his game, and
one can only hope that he can get himself back up to full fitness for the start of next season. Andy Lindegaard
was the reluctant beneficiary as he moved onto the right wing with Anthony gaining a generous round of applause
from all sides of the ground as he left the field in extreme pain.
During the extended injury time, Kevin Amankwaah broke out of defence down the right flank, providing a great crossfield
ball to Chris Cohen. The midfielder in turn fed Nathan Jones on the opposite flank, whose cross to the far post
was met by an incoming Amankwaah, who forced home keeper Carl Muggleton to make an excellent save with his legs
and to force the ball off for a corner. There was still time for Paul Terry's left wing cross to meet the head
of Matt Harrold to force Muggleton into another excellent save and complete an excellent half for the Glovers that
despite the two unfortunate disruptions had been highly promising, and on top of that had actually brought the one
thing many previous games had been lacking - a first half goal!
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