Gary Johnson made one forced change and one unforced change for the trip to Barnsley as he looked to get his side their first three points of the season. David Poole dropped out of the match after failing a late fitness test, and Arron Davies was the lucky recipient of a starting place, as the rest of the midfield all shuffled across by one, leaving Paul Terry out on the right wing. Elsewhere Pablo Bastianini finally got the chance to show what he could do as he made his competitive debut after nearly three weeks worth of Argentinean bureaucracy. Matt Harrold was the incredibly unlucky man who made way.

Barnsley started by far the sharper, creating two good chances within the opening 10 minutes. Stephen McPhail's free kick from 25 yards out curled over the Yeovil wall, but Chris Weale pushed his shot over the bar. From the resultant corner, former Yeovil target Paul Hayes produced a glancing header that also landed over the crossbar.

Referee Ian Williamson, who has always been a typical 'centre-of-attention' referee in his previous games involving Yeovil, showed a lack of understanding of how the game should be played, when he allowed Barnsley's Paul Reid to run off with the ball after Yeovil were awarded a free kick and wanted to take it quickly. When Darren Way went chasing the Barnsley defender for the ball, the inept official finally woke up, and rightly booked Reid, but inexplicably booked Way, whose only crime was to want to play football.

Paul Hayes broke well for Barnsley getting in behind the Yeovil back four on the overlap and down the right wing, but Jacob Burns wasted the resultant cross, flashing his shot well over the bar. Barry Conlon then produced a weak shot straight into the arms of Chris Weale.

As the half wore on though, Yeovil began to get the measure of the Barnsley style, slowly stifled it, and began to take control of the game, and make their own forays into the Barnsley half. Chris Shuker was a soft booking for Barnsley as he grabbed Darren Way round the waist, dragging him to the floor. A foul certainly, but worthy of a booking? The Barnsley fans woke up from their slumbers and delivered their verdict to Mr Williamson in a chorus of boos.

Yeovil almost got their noses in front a minute before the break, when Darren Way burst through the middle and thumped a 25 yarder against the meat of the crossbar. With keeper Nick Colgan beaten all ends up, Phil Jevons tried to convert the rebound, but despite his quick reactions, he couldn't keep the ball down and it just cleared the bar. Bar this single chance from the Glovers, the half had tended to drift into midfield nothingness, although at least the Glovers had arrested that early Barnsley pressure and levelled the balance of the match.

Paul Terry became yet another ridiculous entry into Mr Williamson's notebook when he was found guilty of apparently holding down Barnsley's Neil Austin. Both had landed in a heap on the floor after a challenge, and all Terry seemed to be doing was trying to get to his feet. Williamson decided to think differently.

Despite this early intervention Yeovil increased their hold on the game in a series of attacks during the early period of the first half. Phil Jevons broke down the right flank, cut inside from the wing, but found his shot on goal blocked by a defender. First to react was Pablo Bastianini, but his scuffed shot was saved by keeper Nick Colgan.

Poor communication between the Barnsley back line and their keeper was causing anxiety all around the home sections of the ground, as the Glovers lofted bouncing balls at the home side's penalty area, and indecision came close to letting Pablo Bastianini a chance to squirm past their defenders. The home crowd grew restless and you just sensed that if the Glovers could sneak a goal, that they would turn on their team.

It took Barnsley 20 minutes before they could launch their first attack of any kind during the second period. Chris Shuker ran through the centre of the Yeovil midfield and let fly with an outswinger from the edge of the penalty area which Chris Weale did well to beat out, but only as far as Paul Hayes who on the angle lifted the rebound over the bar.

Three minutes later Barnsley again proved they were still in the match and still a danger when Jacob Burns blasted an angled shot from the edge of the area, only to find Chris Weale making a stunning save, tipping the ball onto the post and showing lightning quick reactions to grab the ball as it fired off the inside of the post. Barnsley's crowd, who had become increasingly irritable about the whole affair suddenly realised this was a game they still had a chance in.

At the other end, Phil Jevons had appeals for a penalty turned down when his ankle was taken away from him, as he twisted to shoot. Referee Williamson bizarrely told the Glovers camp that he DID see contact but claimed the Barnsley defender's contact was accidental. Perhaps we could all have sight of the rulebook the Berkshire official is working to?

Shortly afterwards, Jevo was replaced by Kevin Gall in a like for like swap. Paul Hayes also left the field for Nathan Jarman with the home supporters booing Andy Ritchie's decision. But those boos turned into cheers four minutes later as referee Williamson once again took centre stage. Neil Austin looked to have already lost his balance in the penalty area as he headed for the byline, but as Efe Sodje tried to challenge the stumbling wideman, Sodje's contact saw Williamson point to the spot. Not even home manager Andy Ritchie was going to try and kid anyone after the game that this wasn't a dire decision.

Robbie WILLIAMS sent Chris Weale the wrong way from the penalty spot, and by the actions of two poor decisions, Yeovil were now 1-0 down instead of a possible 1-0 up. Matt Harrold replaced Paul Terry as Yeovil adopted a 4-3-3 that became more forward thinking as time went on with Terry Skiverton more or less becoming a box-to-box midfielder.

Barnsley played keep-ball by the corner flag right from the penalty being scored, attempting to play out the game in a yard square in the corner of the pitch. Yeovil did create the odd chance - Kevin Amankwaah's long through was flicked on by Matt Harrold and Terry Skiverton's swivelled shot was tipped over the bar for a corner. But the home side's delaying tactics saw the clock run out.

Ultimately Yeovil will feel aggrieved by the actions of the Reading official, although they did enough during the game to have ensured those two decisions didn't matter so much. There is plenty of good strong possession from the Glovers this season, but the final delivery into the box is lacking somewhat, leaving both strikers with mere scraps to feed upon and that after four games worth of it, isn't really enough. Whilst Gary will show patience in his side and will give them time to adapt in League One, in the back of his mind, he will doubtless already be looking at a Plan B if the goal drought carries on. There's not an awful lot wrong with Yeovil's play as a League One side, but the most important part of the game - scoring goals - clearly has to be overcome over the next few games if a psychological fear of League One games is not to develop amongst players who clearly CAN perform at this level - they just need to remind themselves where the goal is.

Badger

MOTM Vote Result:

Player MOTM Score Pablo Bastianini 7 647 Kevin Amankwaah 5 533 Chris Weale 2 253 Darren Way 1 173

Overall match rating: 6.9 / 10
Performance: 7
Entertainment: 6.8

15 votes received.

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