Other reports : BBC Sport; Nationwide Conference website; Boroguide; official SBFC website; official YTFC website;
Venue: Broadhall Way
Sat 13th September 2002, 3pm kick-off.
Conditions:
Ground:
Nationwide Conference :
Stevenage Borough 2 - 2 Yeovil Town
Att: 1,879 (est 450 Glovers)
Referee: Mr S Rubery (Ilford)
Assistants: Mr P McCaul, Mr S Feerick
Bookings:
Yeovil: McIndoe (57, foul), Demba (71, foul)
Stevenage: McMahon (63, foul), Fisher (82, foul)
Starting line up and formation : (4-4-2-ish)
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 1. Chris Weale |
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 2. Adam Lockwood |
 4. Terry Skiverton |
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 5. Colin Pluck |
 3. Anthony Tonkin |
 10. Nick Crittenden |
 6. Darren Way |
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 8. Lee Johnson |
 11. Michael McIndoe |
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 20. Gavin Williams |
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 23. Howard Forinton |
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Substitutes: 9. Carl Alford (68, for Forinton), 12. Jon Sheffield, 14. Roy O'Brien, 16. Andy Lindegaard, 19. Abdoulai Demba (46, for Tonkin)
Stevenage: (4-4-2) 1. Mark Westhead, 2. Simon Travis, 5. Jason Goodliffe, 6. Robin Trott, 4. Matt Fisher, 8. Sam McMahon, 16. Jamie Campbell, 24. Michael Blackwood, 14. Martin Williams, 9. Kirk Jackson, 25. Charlie MacDonald
Subs : 10. Jean-Michel Sigere, 11. Adrian Clarke, 13. Philip Wilson (69, for Westhead), 21. Neil Smith (90, for MacDonald), 22. Graeme Tomlinson
Scorers: Kirk Jackson (44, 1-0), Terry SKIVERTON (58, 1-1), Kirk Jackson (59, 2-1), Abdoulai DEMBA (65, 2-2)
This report courtesy of Robin Evans:
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Michael McIndoe and Howard Forinton work their way through the midfield
Photo © 2002 Ciderspace
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The first meeting between these sides since the FA Trophy Final in May
finds
many changes to both teams. Yeovil fielded three players signed since
last
season (Williams, the returning Forinton, and sub Demba), whilst the
Stevenage
line-up featured many new names, including two players signed this week
and making their first team debuts (Blackwood and McDonald).
Both teams began with 4 - 4 - 2 formations. The first few minutes saw
attacks
at both ends, with Chris Weale making a couple of early catches, and
Darren
Way blasting a rebound over the bar after a McIndoe free kick, but clear
cut chances were absent.
On 11 minutes Gavin Williams fed a ball through to McIndoe, who rounded
the Stevenage keeper and fired a low cross but this was cleared for a
corner.
The home side fought back, and just a minute later Skiverton was headed
behind to give them a corner. Stevenage had a good spell for a couple of
minutes, and Nick Crittenden made a timely tackle to prevent a clear
chance
in the Yeovil box.
Yeovil then had a better spell, and a free kick for a challenge on
Forinton
just outside the Stevenage box on 21 minutes was well taken by Michael
McIndoe
and tipped over the bar by a stretching Westhead.
A fairly quiet period followed. Terry Skiverton and Colin Pluck looked
solid
in the heart of the Yeovil defence, Darren Way was winning many headers
in midfield, and Nick Crittenden made some good moves on the right wing,
but too many Yeovil passes were going astray and neither side were
making
much of their possession.
Stevenage tried to create something from a free kick on 33 minutes, but
McDonald shot wide from 10 yards out. A minute later Gavin Williams
hooked
a shot well over and onto the stand roof. Stevenage pressed back, but
Adam
Lockwood made a fine tackle on Blackwood when he was charging toward the
Yeovil goal.
Both sides were awarded free kicks in attacking positions, but made
nothing
of them. Coming into the last few minutes of the first half it looked as
if neither side would break the deadlock, but after 43 minutes sloppy
play
just outside the Yeovil box allowed McDonald to flick the ball onto Kirk
JACKSON who had got behind the defence and lifted the ball over the
advancing
Weale to give Stevenage the lead.
Yeovil tried to respond immediately, with McIndoe having an attempt
stopped
by Westhead, and then a Lee Johnson pass putting Forinton through on the
left wing, but his low cross was collected by the goalkeeper.
Half time: Stevenage Borough 1 Yeovil Town 0
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Who's a happy boy then? Abdoulai Demba celebrates his debut goal for the Glovers
Photo © 2002 Ciderspace
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For the second half Yeovil started with Abdoulai Demba replacing Anthony
Tonkin, and a change to a 3 - 4 - 1 - 2 formation, with Gavin Williams
tucking
in behind Demba and Forinton.
This change seemed to suit Gavin Williams, and the Glovers came flying
out
of the blocks at the start of the second period with a good period of
pressure,
punctuated by one Stevenage corner. Forinton had won a corner within a
minute
of the restart, and McIndoe, Forinton and Williams all had efforts
blocked
by defenders or held by Westhead.
Stevenage goalkeeper Mark Westhead had appeared to pick up an injury of
some kind, although the cause was not apparent, but treatment from the
home
trainer was required. After 51 minutes a clever back heel from Way
allowed
Williams to cross, and Demba challenged the keeper for the ball, with
the
result that Westhead went down heavily. The referee spoke to Demba, but
no card was shown.
Stevenage again attacked, and McDonald won a free kick on the edge of
the
Yeovil penalty area. A good effort from Jamie Campbell missed the left
hand
post. Soon after McMahon tried a shot, but was well wide.
Yeovil won successive corners and applied some pressure, but as
Stevenage
broke away McIndoe went in with a late tackle, and was booked in the
57th
minute.
A long clearance from Weale was put through to Demba by the increasingly
dominant Gavin Williams, and the keeper blocked Demba's effort. Williams
took the resulting 58th minute corner, and he found Terry SKIVERTON, who
seemed to have acres of space as he guided his header into the back of
the
net. One all.
The goal celebrations had barely ceased when Stevenage found space on
the
right hand side, and after further poor defending a scramble in front of
the Yeovil goal found Kirk JACKSON with room to push the ball past
Weale,
restoring the home side's lead just a minute after the scores were
levelled.
The visiting team put pressure on immediately, and Stevenage found
themselves
having to defend. Darren Way continued to battle in midfield, and on 63
minutes a frustrated Sam McMahon was booked for bringing him down.
Yeovil continued to press, and Demba fed a ball through to Lee Johnson,
but his shot was blocked. The roles were then reversed on 65 minutes,
with
Johnson the provider as Abdoulai DEMBA headed his cross into the goal to
level the scores once more. Since his introduction Demba had been a
constant
source of problems to the Stevenage defence, who seemed to struggle with
his pace and size.
The home side were still trying to win all three points on offer, and on
68 minutes a corner taken by Martin Williams went across the face of the
Yeovil goal, but no contact was made. Yeovil made a second substitution
with Carl Alford replacing the tiring Forinton. A minute later Stevenage
brought on their reserve goalkeeper, Phil Wilson, for the injured
Westhead.
On 71 minutes Demba and Stevenage right back Simon Travis both
challenged
for a cross, but the referee considered the Yeovil man to have fouled
and
produced a yellow card. Demba almost got his revenge just a minute later
when a Williams pass found him clear, but he was judged to be offside.
At
the other end, good work from Blackwood found Martin Williams, but he
shot
well over.
Both sides tried to make chances, but the next serious attempt was an
excellent
80th minute shot from McMahon which beat Chris Weale, but crashed
against
the Yeovil crossbar. On 82 minutes McIndoe was challenged from behind by
Matt Fisher, who earned a booking for the foul. From the resulting free
kick there were loud appeals for a penalty as Carl Alford appeared to be
floored in the area, but the referee waved the claims away.
Stevenage pressed forward again, and Williams shot wide after the Yeovil
defence failed to clear. Yeovil attacked, and a Crittenden cross was
snatched
virtually off of Demba's head by Wilson. Leading scorer Skiverton had
his
header rebound from a defender, and his follow up shot was just wide of
the left hand post.
On 89 minutes Martin Williams, announced as the Stevenage man of the
match,
found Blackwood in space but he shot just wide. In the last minute of
normal
time a McIndoe cross found Carl Alford at the back post, but the referee
had already blown for a foul as Alford used a Stevenage defender to lean
on as he crashed his header into the roof of the net.
The period of added time was all Yeovil attack, and two minutes in there
was a loud penalty claim as Carl Alford was once again floored, but the
appeals were once again rejected. The home side were clearly the most
eager
to hear the final whistle, as admitted by the action of Wayne Turner
when
he substituted McDonald with Neil Smith three minutes into the four
added.
Why make a substitution at this stage other than to waste a few more
seconds?
The final action was a Yeovil corner, which Colin Pluck reached but
could
only head over the bar. The Glovers were probably disappointed not to
snatch
a late winner, but I feel that both sides were reasonably happy with the
outcome.
Robin Evans
Final score: Stevenage Borough 2 Yeovil Town 2
Internet Man of the Match Voting Results:
Player |
MOTM |
Score |
Terry Skiverton |
8 |
562 |
Gavin Williams |
4 |
295 |
Michael McIndoe |
2 |
238 |
Nick Crittenden |
3 |
200 |
Abdoulai Demba |
1 |
181 |
Colin Pluck |
2 |
162 |
Darren Way |
1 |
57 |
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Overall match rating: 7.1/10
Performance: 6.5
Entertainment: 7.8
21 votes received.
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Howard Forinton battles with Stevenage's Jason Goodliffe
Photo © 2002 Ciderspace
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Gavin Williams in a second half attack
Photo © 2002 Ciderspace
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Anthony Tonkin cuts inside into midfield
Photo © 2002 Ciderspace
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Howard Forinton leaves his Stevenage marker struggling to make up ground
Photo © 2002 Ciderspace
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Goal! Terry Skiverton scores to pull the scores back to 1-1
Photo © 2002 Ciderspace
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Terry Skiverton is congratulated by Carl Alford as the Yeovil dugout celebrates
Photo © 2002 Ciderspace
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Lee Johnson attempts to work his way past a Stevenage defender
Photo © 2002 Ciderspace
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Anthony Tonkin finds himself closed down by a Stevenage midfielder
Photo © 2002 Ciderspace
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Gavin Williams makes another advance into Stevenage territory
Photo © 2002 Ciderspace
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Terry Skiverton fires in a second half shot
Photo © 2002 Ciderspace
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Michael McIndoe tries to keep the ball in play down the left wing
Photo © 2002 Ciderspace
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Anthony Tonkin finds himself closed down by a Stevenage midfielder
Photo © 2002 Ciderspace
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