The sight of Andrejs Stolcers kicking a ball about at half time, fully dressed in his Yeovil kit made
it fairly obvious that one change was going to take place during the break. Instead we got two, with
a fairly tired looking duo of Kevin Gall and Bartos Tarachulski being replaced by Stolcer and Gavin Williams,
who supported a cast on one hand to protect his finger.
The result was absolutely stunning. With Phil Jevons playing a slightly more forward role than in the first
period, Williams and Stolcers proceded to combine with Jevons and Lee Johnson to produce a series of one-touch
football that left Swansea only able to watch and admire. Stolcers could have scored within 60 seconds of his
arrival when a neat one-two with Phil Jevons saw Yeovil carve the Swansea defence in two, with the Latvian's 15 yard shot
going just over the bar.
Jevons then performed another one-two with Gavin Williams with Willy Gueret being forced to bravely save at
the Welshman's feet as he came close to teeing up his shot. Lee Johnson was the next man to be fed through the
gaping holes in the visitors defence and his deep right wing cross was only cleared as far as Darren Way, whose
first time shot just missed the target. Yeovil's passing and movement was outstanding and it wasn't long before
Swansea manager Kenny Jackett decided he had seen enough, adding Bradley Maylett to introduce some bite into the
Swansea centre.
Not that it stopped the Yeovil rollercoaster. Gavin Williams put Phil Jevons through straight down the centre
but he fired over the top of the bar. Swansea's chances were largely being restricted to breakaway attempts,
and Trundle still showed he could be dangerous when Chris Weale was forced to beat out a narrow angled drive when
most ordinary strikers would have only thought of the cross.
Roy O'Brien of all people, created Yeovil's closest chance of the half, when the central defender had
advanced so high up the field that his run to the edge of the box forced goalkeeper Gueret to tip the ball onto his
own crossbar and ultimately over for yet another corner. The closeness of the Irishman's strike turned up the noise
in the Westland Stand, and Swansea seemed to shrink further into their shells as they clung on for the point.
The Glovers then went on to have a mass of penalty appeals as bodies, arms and legs were used by the visitors to
try and keep the inevitable out. Garry Monk's mistimed attempt to head the ball caused him to miss it entirely and instead
barge Andrejs Stolcers. Izzy Iriekpen appeared to shove Phil Jevons off the ball when he was racing to get to a
ball before it went out of play. Then Samuel Ricketts appeared to trip Gavin Williams as he cut towards goal. Three
big appeals but nothing given from referee Mr Singh and his linesman Andy Turner.
At the other end, Yeovil were grateful to Chris Weale once more when Swansea went for the Route One approach - a
huge heave-ho up field letting in substitute Kevin Nugent, but Weale did brilliantly to stall the experienced
striker by standing up to him and eventually seeing the striker run out of room, blasting the ball straight at
the Yeovil keeper who parried for a corner.
Just when you felt that Swansea were going to go home with a point, they were undone by yet another magical
pass by Gavin Williams. Referee Mr Singh once again excelled himself, giving Yeovil the advantage after Williams
was cut down by a two-footed tackle by Roberto Martinez. With the ball running through to Phil Jevons, the
Yeovil striker headed straight down the middle only to be upended by another dreadful tackle - upending Jevons
on the edge of the penalty box. Many felt the tackle was committed outside, but linesman Mr Turner flagged for
a penalty. The only decision that was never in doubt was Garry Monk's exit from the field, with perhaps
Martinez - already on a yellow card - lucky not to be joining him.
After a lengthy delay and plenty of gamesmanship from Swansea players, Gavin WILLIAMS stepped up
and sent keeper Gueret the wrong way right in front of the Westland Stand. With the Jacks now down to ten men,
and looking dead on their feet, the Glovers finished the game easily in control. Though Chris Weale's
nomination as the VP's man of the match was a reminder that the game was not quite as one-sided as it had ultimately
turned out to be.
Badger
MOTM Vote Result:
Player |
MOTM |
Score |
Chris Weale |
29 |
671 |
Gavin Williams |
20 |
614 |
Paul Terry |
3 |
119 |
Terry Skiverton |
3 |
112 |
Roy O'Brien |
3 |
98 |
Liam Fontaine |
1 |
69 |
Darren Way |
- |
61 |
|
Overall match rating: 7.4 / 10
Performance: 6.9
Entertainment: 7.9
59 votes received.
Any comments/questions please email [email protected]
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