Whilst Yeovil had started the first half sharper, it was Swindon who came out the blocks quicker with
Chris Weale being forced into a strong parried save on his near post, five minutes into the half and
Terry Skiverton forced to hack the ball away for a corner.
A minute later though and Swindon had turned the tables on Yeovil. Jack Smith was allowed way too much room
to run at the Yeovil back line and as the 'green sea' kindly parted, he thumped in a shot from the edge of
the area with his shot crashing off the underside of the crossbar. Rory FALLON was the first to react
and despite a linesman's offside flag being raised, the referee over-ruled and the goal stood, with video
replays later showing that the linesman was in the wrong.
Luciano Alvares shot on the volley whilst Bastianini sliced the ball on his weaker foot as Yeovil tried to
get back on level terms quickly. But the home side had their tails up and were creating far more during the
second half. Colin Heath forced Chris Weale into a save on the hour mark to demonstrate Swindon's new found
control on the game.
The Glovers weren't being helped too much by some suspect decisions going against them. A long backpass
clearly went for a corner, but an out of position linesman couldn't give it. Paul Terry - on for a rather
anonymous Arron Davies - looked to have been bodychecked off the ball by Patrick Collins, who was looking
to stop the Yeovil midfielder from getting the ball before the home keeper did on a through-ball. Once
again the match referee was uninterested. A minute later Yeovil were hard done by again as Darren Way was
hauled down near the corner flag with the linesman uninterested by a certain shirt tug. Whilst Yeovil's play
was not as sharp as during the first period, these decisions were not helping them in their quest.
The path of the game though was decided by a dreadful error by Paul Terry in midfield, midway through the half.
Who exactly Terry was trying to pass to isn't clear, but Ricky Shakes got an absolute gift, and his first time pass
put Colin Heath in behind the Yeovil defence, and the on loan Manchester United man shot past Chris Weale and
into the corner of the net to almost certainly wrap the game up at 3-1.
Yeovil looked deflated and Gary Johnson tried to liven things up with Matt Harrold replacing a tired looking
Luciano Alvares. They thought they had got their reward, when Nathan Jones was taken out by a rash challenge
by Swindon's Andy Gurney inside the area. Not even Mr Walton could have failed to award the spot kick, but
Lee Johnson's stuttering run-up saw his kick saved by Tom Heaton and Swindon were let off the hook. Johnson
was replaced shortly afterwards by Kevin Gall, as Yeovil refused to give up, but were seemingly running out
of steam.
A late flurry of carding by the referee added salt into the wound. Stefani Miglioranzi was booked for a foul
on Kevin Amankwaah, whilst Terry Skiverton joined him minutes later, but Yeovil's game finally imploded with a
moment of madness from Efetobore Sodje. Having tangled with Rory Fallon close to his own penalty area, an
enraged Sodje confronted referee Walton pointing to his face - apparently pointing out some spittle he claimed
had been delivered by Fallon. Walton presumably did not see the incident happen, and ignored Sodje's protests
but 60 seconds later, Sodje stupidly took the law into his own hands, delivering a slap to Fallon that was
spotted by Walton resulting in an inevitable red card.
Rather improbably, the second Sodje left the field, a Nathan Jones corner that the defender was heading up
field to join at the time of his dismissal, saw Terry SKIVERTON score with a header to pull the game
back to 3-2. As Swindon panicked Matt Harrold almost equalised from close range in a 50:50 challenge on keeper
Tom Heaton but the ball squirmed wide of the post. Then Bastianini almost provided a goal when he squirmed through
the Swindon back line forcing Heaton into another parried save.
But Sodje's loss at the back and the wide open spaces granted by the likes of Skivo and Milesy pushing up
attempting to force the equaliser saw Swindon finally clinch the points when Christian ROBERTS received the
ball down the channel and as he ran onto it, he accepted a ricochet off Chris Weale who had raced out of his goal
and at the second attempt slotted the ball into an empty net. Finally, it was game over for Yeovil as error after
error cost them dear.
A compelling match therefore left Yeovil still looking for their first win, but after a bright start, they hit
the self-destruct button with a series of sloppy second half errors. Overall, the Glovers didn't play as bad
as the scoreline might suggest and could even have nicked a point at the end, but when you make that many individual
errors, you are going to get punished and from that point of view they couldn't have too many complaints at
coming home pointless.
Badger
MOTM Vote Result:
Player |
MOTM |
Score |
Pablo Bastianini |
17 |
926 |
Darren Way |
1 |
168 |
Nathan Jones |
- |
137 |
Colin Miles |
1 |
116 |
Kevin Amankwaah |
- |
116 |
|
Overall match rating: 6.3 / 10
Performance: 5.4
Entertainment: 7.4
19 votes received.
Any comments/questions please email [email protected]
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