Yeovil Town climbed to the top of the Coca Cola League Two table on Saturday with a valuable 2-1 away win against Shrewsbury Town.

Yet not for the first time this season they had to turn on the style in the second half after falling a goal behind just before the break.

A tight first period had seen Luke RODGERS put the home side ahead. His 15 yard drive into the corner of the net after Colin Miles had been dispossessed threatened to be the only goal of the game.

Shrewsbury�s defence had looked watertight until a series of substitutions by both managers changed the game with Lee Johnson and Bartosz Tarachulski the goalscoring heroes for the Glovers with a typical second-half comeback.

Yeovil manager Gary Johnson had his match preparation disrupted by a number of incidents, the most significant of which was the loss of club captain Terry Skiverton, who strained a quad muscle in training in the lead-up to the game.

However, Johnson must have wondered what kind of a weekend he was in for when his players had mobile phones and watches stolen from a pre-match training camp, were woken up at 4.00am by a noisy guest in their overnight hotel, then found their coach blocked in by other vehicles when trying to leave for the match.

When Miles joined Skiverton on the bench at half time continuing Yeovil�s curse of the central defenders after jarring his ankle in a first half challenge, it seemed as though it was going to be one of those days.

Whilst the first period had been reasonably even, Shrewsbury�s back four had looked comfortable, playing high up the field, with the Glovers struggling to create clear-cut chances, or to get in behind their hosts.

Ironically just before Rodgers gave the home side the lead, Yeovil had gradually been unlocking the home defence, with Gavin Williams and Phil Jevons linking up well for the latter to send his shot just wide.

Then Jevons nearly got in on the end of a ball across the face of goal from Miles that was hacked away for a corner.

Kevin Gall was brought into play at half time, replacing Miles as Paul Terry dropped back into defence, and the Welsh striker brought much needed pace and width to the Yeovil play.

However, it was Yeovil�s second substitution on the hour that saw Polish striker Bartosz Tarachulski introduced that truly swung the game the Glovers way.

They were helped in part by Shrewsbury manager Jimmy Quinn�s decision to change from their solid 4-4-2 to a 5-3-2 formation that immediately looked jittery as they sought to protect their slender lead.

Darren Tinson was forced to clear the ball off his own goal-line with Tarachulski�s first touch and just twelve minutes after the Pole�s introduction Yeovil had turned defeat into victory.

The Glovers midfield terriers combined to set up the 69th minute equaliser. When Darren Way�s shot was only parried by home keeper Scott Howie, Lee JOHNSON was the first to react, stabbing the loose ball home from eight yards.

Then just three minutes later the turnaround was complete. Receiving a Paul Terry cross into the box, Bartosz TARACHULSKI controlled, turned and shot home from 10 yards with a grace that belied his size.

Shrewsbury bombed players forward in search of the equaliser but it was Gavin Williams that should have produced the next goal.

After being upended by home defender Stuart Whitehead in the closing minutes, Williams saw a twice-taken penalty saved on both occasions by Howie, after Darren Tinson had encroached on the first.

Thankfully the penalty miss did not matter and despite a series of huge launches by Howie into the Yeovil penalty area during the final few minutes, Gary Johnson was able to end the day with a smile on his face as he learnt that draws for Scunthorpe and Wycombe had left his side on top of the table for the first time this season.

Badger

MOTM Vote Result:

Overall match rating: 6.3 / 10
Performance: 6.3
Entertainment: 6.3

16 votes received.

Any comments/questions please email [email protected]

Back to Top of Page