Huddersfield came out of the traps looking far more dominant at the start of the second period. Steve Collis produced an outstanding save when
he blocked Mark Hudson's attempt on the angle, knocking the ball out for a corner after the defensive midfielder had made a rare burst forward.
From the resultant corner, Andy Booth got a free header but he planted the ball into a surprised Steve Collis's hands, who almost spooned it to
his left. Thankfully a watchful Colin Miles was on the post and able to hack the ball away.
Paul Terry produced a brilliant defensive block on one occasion when Huddersfield stole a break on a Glovers attack, but the Yeovil midfielder
was able to not only thwart the breakaway in a single tackle but also had the cheek to come away with the ball at his feet, distributing it up field.
As the Glovers gradually committed more men forward, this was the main concern, but there was little doubt they needed to take a few more risks
to pull the game back.
Midway through the second half though, the Glovers were back in it. As a cross was floated into the box, Danny Adams grabbed the arm of Arron Davies
as he threatened to pull away from his marker, and up went a linesman's flag to let referee Grant Hegley know that a penalty should be awarded.
The Yeovil players celebrated as if Davies had scored, such was the joy at the decision but there was still the small matter of needing to convert
the spot kick. Mr Ice Cool himself, Phil JEVONS was on hand and like all bar a couple of Jevo's penalties in the past two seasons he
succeeded in sending the keeper the wrong way. 1-1 and the away end erupted, knowing that the penalty scored could be enough to guarantee
League One football, with none of their relegation rivals showing any signs of winning their matches.
Not that Yeovil Town seemed prepared to sit back and take that as a result. Huddersfield seemed to freeze on the spot and got scrappy, committing
several fouls. David Graham landed in the book for up-ending Paul Terry, then on the edge of the box Martin McIntosh was guilty of using Arron
Davies to give himself additional height and referee Hegley blew for a free kick. A lengthy delay ensued as firstly Huddersfield argued about
the decision, then there was an age as the wall got put back the obligatory 10 yards. But then up stepped Phil JEVONS to curl a masterclass
of a free kick into the top corner where it crashed off the underside of the bar, hit goalkeeper Paul Rachubka on the back and saw it nip over
the goal-line. 2-1 and the Glovers were in total dreamland. Not only that but League One Football was looking more than a possibility if only they
could see out the remaining 18 minutes!
Now you might have expected Huddersfield - needing to win to maintain their automatic promotion - to come storming back and push Yeovil deep
into their own half with their own version of the Alamo, but strangely it never happened. If anything it was the Glovers who looked the more likely
to score, refusing to change their gameplan of attacking the home side during the second period. Paul Terry made an excellent run through
the centre of the park, peeling the ball wide to David Poole who in turn fed the ball back into the centre of the penalty box towards Arron Davies
who had his shot blocked for a corner.
As Yeovil began to make more use of the channels and the area around the corner flags to run down the clock and frustrate Huddersfield, still
they maintained the upper hand, with Jevons and Poole combining superbly to suddenly slip between a crowd of Huddersfield defenders by one of
the corner flags. Poole really should have shot on goal, but he pushed the ball across the face of goal towards Jevons and the chance of sealing
the match was lost.
Huddersfield substitute Pawel Abbott, who never really got into the game, did cause Yeovil hearts to flutter a touch during what turned into
six minutes of injury time when his cross fell kindly to Andy Booth, but Huddersfield's goal king directed his header wide. Steve Thompson introduced
Matt Harrold four minutes into injury time replacing Arron Davies and that allowed the tall striker to wind down the clock further by holding the
ball up well and heading towards the corner flag every time he got possession.
At last the final whistle blew, and the away end erupted as the 500 strong supporters celebrated staying up in much the same way that they
celebrated winning League Two this time last season. The players clearly felt the same, if the pumping of fists in the air and the obligatory
"piling on" of Colin Miles onto his team-mates was anything to go by. After tasting the likes of Nottingham Forest, Bristol City and Huddersfield
Town at League One level, the whole experience is just too good to let go after just a single season, and it is with pleasure that Huish Park
will next season welcome Millwall, Brighton and Crewe as their League One equals next season. The dream lives on!
Badger
MOTM Vote Result:
Player |
MOTM |
Score |
Phil Jevons |
23 |
729 |
David Poole |
5 |
253 |
Paul Terry |
3 |
176 |
Terry Skiverton |
1 |
118 |
Arron Davies |
1 |
112 |
Adam Lockwood |
1 |
65 |
Steve Collis |
- |
65 |
|
Overall match rating: 8.6 / 10
Performance: 8.3
Entertainment: 8.9
34 votes received.
Any comments/questions please email [email protected]
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