No changes in the starting line-up for Yeovil Town's first visit to Layer Road in 14 years. Whilst the Essex ground has not changed substantially since 1991, the circumstances of the two clubs has, with both competing two leagues higher than their previous meetings in the Conference league. Steve Thompson made just one change to the overall squad, with David Poole's foot injury seeing him lose his place in the squad to Adam Lockwood.

The Glovers nearly got off to a flier four minutes into the game. A Lee Johnson corner was headed towards the corner of the goal and with home keeper Aidan Davison well beaten, it needed the head of midfielder Kevin Watson to retrieve the situation and get the ball cleared off his own goal-line. The first fifteen minutes or so showed a bright start by the Glovers and although they were initially having difficulties in finding the front pairing of Pablo and Matt, the attacking play looked good and Chris Weale was largely uninvolved.

Midway through the first half though, the home side did begin to find their range, although they probably weren't helped by some wayward finishing by on-loan striker Jamie Cureton. First he looped a header over the bar, then three minutes later he managed to turn a Yeovil defender inside the box, only to hook his shot wide of the post. It was becoming clearer that the Glovers defence were not enjoying Colchester's long ball approach - pumping balls into the box from the halfway line, with Chris Iwelumo used as the target and Cureton as the foil.

Matters weren't helped when Colin Miles, who had pulled a calf muscle during the warm-ups, decided that he couldn't carry on any further, and was already heading towards the dugouts long before the substitution board announced his departure from the game, with Scott Guyett thrown in the deep end for the second weekend running.

Just past the half hour mark and the Glovers won a free kick out on the angle of the penalty box. With the Colchester defence screaming at each other to "get out of the box" in order to try and play an offside trap, in the end their backline duly obliged, but Pablo BASTIANINI made an excellently timed run from Lee Johnson's free kick and got himself a near free back header to glance the ball into the net for a 1-0 scoreline. Pablo managed to pick up a yellow card as part of his celebration, whipping off his shirt as he ran past the Yeovil dugouts celebrating his goal. Personally I am losing track as to whether that is or isn't a bookable offence although referee Matt Messias fell into the camp that believed it was.

Colchester tried to hit back with Mark Yeates firing in a shot that Chris Weale could only parry. With a Colchester striker coming in for the rebound, it looked like an equaliser was on the cards, but as soon as he went for it, up went the linesman's flag, due to the player being stood in an offside position from the initial shot by Yates. Again Colchester's inswinging, bouncing crosses continued to flash across the area - one such left-wing attempt had Iwelumo inches away from connecting with it, but a Yeovil defender's deflection took the ball off for a corner. From that corner, Cureton made it a hat-trick of misses as he sent his header over the bar.

Yeovil's attacks were somewhat rarer now as the home side pressed, although Arron Davies did manage to set up Matt Harrold five minutes before the break, but the striker's shot went over the bar. Kemal Izzet threatened when his header had to be cleared off the line by Scott Guyett, but there was only so many times that Yeovil were likely to ride their luck on their inability to defend from the home side's crosses. Almost immedately left winger Mark Yeates put in an angled ball across the face of the area and Chris IWELUMO succeeded in bundling himself, the ball, and his marker Terry Skiverton over the goal line for an equaliser that had been coming. A bad time to concede, although the remaining three minutes of the half were played out without further problems occuring.

Like the first half, Yeovil started off strongly, and it took them just six minutes of the second half to regain the lead. Phil Jevons threaded the ball through the centre of the Colchester defence, and with Matt HARROLD running onto the ball, he rode a reckless challenge from Colchester defender Wayne Brown and with the keeper approaching off his line, calmly slotted the ball home to put Yeovil 2-1 up.

Just 12 minutes later, Harrold had a great chance to extend Yeovil's lead when he went shoulder-to-shoulder with Colchester defender Sam Stockley. The latter came off far worse, injuring himself in the fall and subsequently having to be replaced, but only the legs of keeper Aidan Davison denied Harrold his second goal of the afternoon as Stockley's slip left him with only the keeper to beat.

Mark Yeates spurned a great chance to equalise for Colchester when he received a ball that got in behind the Yeovil back line, but he sliced his attempt wide of Chris Weale's goal. But midway through the second half again Yeovil's inability to deal with Chris Iwelumo gave Colchester their equaliser. A ball in from the left was nodded down on the angle by the tall striker, and with the ball running along to the far post, not even Jamie CURETON could miss the two-yard gift he got, and Colchester were level.

Steve Thompson brought on Adam Lockwood for Arron Davies as the Glovers switched to a 5-3-2 to try and get extra bodies to deal with Iwelumo, whilst Kevin Gall was used as extra speed up front in place of Pablo Bastiaini. As the balance of the game swung back to Yeovil's way, Phil Jevons fired in a shot on the volley that Davison could only parry and the game seemed to go into slow motion as neither side had players following up for the rebound but Colchester finally hacked the ball away.

As the game closed in, so it was Yeovil who were pushed onto the back foot again with the home side finishing the game strongly. Chris Weale was forced into a marvellous save, low down to his left as he pushed a rasping drive from Greg Halford out for a corner. But this was a game that could have gone either way and when Kevin Gall forced his way down the right flank his shot was deflected onto the crossbar, with many behind the goal believing that the shot had been deflected by a defender's arm onto the woodwork. If only Mr Messias had held the same view.

Kevin Amankwaah had barely got out of his own half all game, being kept on the defensive by on-loan Tottenham winger Mark Yeates. But as the game swung into injury time, Yeates couldn't control the twin run of Amankwaah and Gall, and got his name into the book for blocking off Amankwaah's weaving run. However, Yeates was to have the last laugh. As Yeovil pushed up for the winner that wouldn't come, Amankwaah was caught out of position, and with the left-winger powering down that flank behind him, Scott Guyett was forced to come out wide to thwart the Colchester attack. Yeates beat him at the by-line, and put the ball low across the Yeovil six-yard line, and as the ball evaded Chris Weale's dive, Jamie Cureton managed an air-swing missing the ball entirely, Adam Lockwood fared little better, slicing the ball barely a yard or two away from goal, and Chris IWELUMO provided the only emphatic touch in the penalty box by firing the ball home, to sink Yeovil hearts, and with 93 minutes already on the clock, there was no way back.

The cruellest of blows for the Glovers, in an entertaining match that they certainly played their part. Had Gally's effort gone in, or had the referee spotted a defenders arm deflecting the ball onto the bar, it could have been Yeovil stealing the game at the death. But fate in football rarely shows any compassion, and perhaps the fact that Yeovil consistently failed to deal with the target man threat of Chris Iwelumo, and the left-wing play of Mark Yeates will be the main two reasons why they will have returned from Essex pointless.

Badger

MOTM Vote Result:

Player MOTM Score Phil Jevons 6 471 Matt Harrold 3 343 Lee Johnson 3 229 Terry Skiverton - 143 Scott Guyett 1 86 Kevin Gall 1 71

Overall match rating: 6.5 / 10
Performance: 5.7
Entertainment: 7.3

14 votes received.

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