As expected, the players that saw half an hour or less in yesterday's 4-2 defeat against Portsmouth were all given their chance to impress against Burgess Hill and the contracted squad were joined by two trialists in the form of Eastern European Lubo Blaha and former Cardiff City midfielder Michael Parkins.

Anyone who was still enjoying the Burgess Hill social club or barbeque when kick-off started will have been left feeling a bit bewildered by the start of the game when Stephen REED picked up the ball with just 30 seconds gone and blasted a shot from 25 yards out giving home keeper Pat Gannon little chance of picking it out. Perhaps the Burgess Hill announcer was in the middle of getting a sly hot dog from the barbeque before he sat down as he awarded it to Michael Parkins, which probably won't have impressed Reedy!

Burgess Hill refused to be fazed by the opener, and Danny McLaughlin produced an angled drive which Danny Barker did well to turn round for a corner. But in the main both sides were struggling to create chances. Burgess Hill's attempts were largely being thwarted by the Yeovil back line before they could get near Barker, whilst Yeovil's were being thwarted by their slight tendency to try and walk the ball into the back of the net on a pitch that did not lend itself to that sort of football. The 'Stephen Reed' route to goal would have been more appropriate here, and in the main control of the ball was being lost fairly quickly.

David Poole did manage to worm his way through the Burgess Hill defence on a 40 yard right wing run midway through the first half and that brought a good save out of Pat Gannon. New trialist Ludo Blaha wasn't particularly finding the hard pitch to his liking and his first touch was frequently not tight enough for him to take advantage of the frequent passes coming his way. However, he did manage one nice interchange with Adam Lockwood when he chested the ball down, hooked it back to Lockwood then on receipt of Locky's return sent a 25 yarder that clipped the top of the crossbar. But in the main, the half gradually degraded with the extreme weather very much to blame for the pace of the game.

Luke Oliver replaced Lubo Blaha at half time with the former Woking youngster again being selected up front to try and prove his worth. Two minutes into the half, that change almost paid off when David Poole's cross was headed over the bar by Oliver.

Just after Gary Johnson had made a double substitution, Yeovil went 2-0 up from a Michael Rose corner delivered as the two new players - Richard Cullingford and Gavin McCallum - arrived on the field. Rosey's corner pinballed about inside the Burgess Hill penalty box and David POOLE seized on the loose ball, firing home from 12 yards out.

Midway through the second half, Danny Barker was forced into a double-save when his initial parry from a Burgess Hill attempt cut loose in the penalty box but the youngster managed to get the ball under control on the second time of asking. But with the ball heading quickly up the other end, Yeovil forced another corner, and again a half-clearance saw Yeovil grab their third goal of the afternoon with Luke OLIVER slotting the ball home from 10 yards into the bottom corner of the net, giving more fuel to Gary Johnson's beliefs that Luke could perform a "dual" role this season.

Steve Thompson replaced David Poole immediately after the third goal and despite now being 42 years old, he continued to show some of the younger players how to cope with the brittle dry pitch. Gavin McCallum was looking bright on the left wing and he forced home keeper Pat Gannon to tip the ball onto the top of his own crossbar when his cross looked in danger of going directly into the back of the net.

With five minutes of the game remaining, Yeovil got their fourth goal of the afternoon and like two of the other strikes, it came through good goal-poaching in the Burgess Hill penalty area following a corner. Michael Rose once again provided the assist, and his ball eventually came clear to Scott GUYETT who flashed his shot through a crowd of players and in off the underside of the crossbar.

Yeovil finished with a flourish as inevitably Burgess Hill legs wilted in the heat. Stephen Reed fired wide of the target after Steve Thompson had gone on a powerful run. A minute later Michael Rose forced Gannon to make a strong save when he cut in from the left flank and shot on the angle.

Extreme conditions will have tested the players today more than the opposition, even though Burgess Hill did their best to thwart Yeovil's pass and move style. However, the fact that seven players got through 90 minutes of football in blistering heat today on a dusty hard pitch will have proved that many of the players are now approaching the level of fitness Gary Johnson demands.

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