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Venue: Huish Park
Sat 29th November 2003, 3pm kick-off.

Conditions: Damp, cool
Ground: Good condition

Scorers: Simon Yeo (50, 0-1), Colin Pluck (54, 1-1), Adam Stansfield (85, 1-2), Jamie Gosling (90, 1-3)

Attendance: 4,867 - including approx 200 Lincoln supporters

Referee: Keith Hill (Hertfordshire)
Assistant Refs: Russell Green (Gloucestershire) and David Phillips (Sussex)

Bookings:
Yeovil: Lockwood (28, unsporting behaviour)
Lincoln: Morgan (20, persistent infringement), Gain (28, unsporting behaviour)

Yeovil Town : (4-4-2)
1. Chris Weale
2. Adam Lockwood 4. Terry Skiverton 12. Hugo Rodrigues 5. Colin Pluck
20. Gavin Williams 8. Lee Johnson 24. Paul Terry 22. Lee Elam
9. Kevin Gall 18. Kirk Jackson

Subs:
7. Adam Stansfield (47, for Gall) 10. Nick Crittenden (77, for Elam) 13. Steven Collis 17. Jake Edwards 23. Jamie Gosling (86, for Jackson)

Lincoln City:
1. Alan Marriott 14. Matthew Bloomer 5. Paul Morgan 15. Simon Weaver 3. Paul Mayo 25. Niall McNamara 4. Ben Futcher 8. Richard Butcher 11. Peter Gain 9. Simon Yeo 27. Gary Fletcher

Subs:
6. Ben Sedgemore 18. Allan Pearce 16. Rory May (87, for Weaver) 2. Mark Bailey 24. Lee Frecklington

Gary Johnson made two changes to the side that drew 0-0 at the KC Stadium last week, as Yeovil took on a rapidly rising Lincoln City side who entered the afternoon in the final playoff position, three points behind the Glovers. Lee Elam got a start in the final match of his month's loan, at the expense of Nick Crittenden. Meanwhile Jake Edwards had picked up a cold virus during the week, and despite having largely recovered was considered only good enough for the bench. Kirk Jackson got his first start for the club since the trip to Oxford in mid-October.

Lincoln got the first chance of the game, just seven minutes in when Niall McNamara fired across the face of the Yeovil goal from 10 yards out, although he appeared to have controlled the ball with his hand. But it was Yeovil that got the first cast iron chance when they won a spot kick with just 10 minutes gone.

Kirk Jackson was put through on goal and as he ran past visiting goalkeeper Alan Marriott, Jacko was taken out with the result being a spot kick. Whether Marriott should still have remained on the pitch is a questionable point. Jacko was turning towards the corner flag in order to round the keeper but the Lincoln keeper was undoubtedly the last man. Referee Mr Hill gave Marriott the benefit of the doubt, and after an age in which Mr Hill spent attempting to stop Lincoln players encroaching the penalty box, the kick was taken. Lee Johnson struck his kick well, but Marriott, diving to his right, got a hand up and managed to stall the ball close to the goal-line and Johnson's attempt to follow up on the loose ball was thwarted.

Lincoln's attempts to slow Yeovil's play down through deliberate encroachment were clearly part of their gameplan. A player would stand over the ball each time a foul was committed and this tactic saw Lincoln's Paul Morgan cautioned for stopping Lee Johnson from taking a quick free kick. Another Lincoln tactic was to attempt to upset the Yeovil players by little shirt-tugs and shoves at set-pieces, but referee Mr Hill committed a howler when he considered Peter Gain's repeated attempts to block Adam Lockwood's runs to the near post for a corner to be worthy of a booking for both players. The Westland Stand very quickly formed a strong opinion of the match referee.

In between all of this there wasn't an awful lot of football being played in a scrappy first half. It took 40 minutes for Chris Weale to be forced into his first save of the afternoon, after Lincoln's Richard Butcher received a through ball after a right-wing move and Wealey parried the shot away for a corner. Yeovil had marginally dominated the half, but had created little more than half chances and long-rangers that didn't really trouble the Lincoln goal.

Kevin Gall had been on the receiving end of a stamp by a Lincoln player towards the end of the first half, and lasted just two minutes of the second half before retiring to give Adam Stansfield a run.

But it was Lincoln who got their noses in front just five minutes into the half. Surprisingly given Lincoln's reputation for the long-ball game, it came through a passing manouvre that lasted around 60 seconds, with the ball barely leaving the deck. It ended with Gary Fletcher screwing the ball low across the face of the box, and Simon YEO nudged in front of Adam Lockwood to tap the ball home on the near post from close range.

Just four minutes later though, the Glovers were level. A Gavin Williams corner saw Hugo Rodrigues make a decoy run, pulling two Lincoln defenders away from the ball. That allowed Colin PLUCK a textbook free header from 10 yards out to put the scores back level again. Sixty seconds later, Yeovil could have grabbed the lead when Lee Johnson got in behind the Lincoln defence, chipping the keeper on his cross, but a defender cleared the ball close to his own goal-line.

Then came the expected aerial bombardment from the visitors, as to their credit, they continued to look for all three points. Peter Gain curled a 20 yard free kick over the Yeovil wall and over the crossbar, whilst Gary Fletcher put one wide after he managed to pick up a loose ball in the Yeovil penalty box.

At times Yeovil looked more like an away team; breaking smartly out of defence when they won Lincoln's aerial attempts and Adam Stansfield's pace saw Lincoln exposed, making a sharp left wing run followed by a cross that Gavin Williams laid back, but only for Kirk Jackson's shot to go a foot wide of the post.

But the Imps were looking slightly more likely to sneak the points at this stage. Peter Gain's shot from the edge of the area needed two attempts from Chris Weale to get his hands firmly on the fierce drive. Two minutes later Gary Fletcher wasted a great chance when he got underneath the ball on heading a Niall McNamara cross. Adam Lockwood was then Yeovil's saviour when Peter Gain's right wing cross found Richard Butcher unmarked in the penalty area, but a stunning tackle by Lockwood stopped the Lincoln striker's shot.

As Yeovil have found through matches against Bury and Northampton this season, chances have to be converted, and the visitors were punished five minutes before the end. Another Gavin Williams corner saw the ball flicked on in error by a Lincoln defender. Goalkeeper Alan Marriott's punch out of his own goal was a weak one and landed at the feet of Adam STANSFIELD. In a crowded goalmouth, the substitute stabbed the ball home from close range to put Yeovil into the lead for the first time in the match.

Lincoln then pushed up in search of the equaliser and forced an excellent save out of Chris Weale just a minute later, but then got further punishment for their pains. Jamie GOSLING, who nearly scored as a substitute at Hull, came on in the dying minutes as a striker for Kirk Jackson and an excellent break by Adam Stansfield put in Lee Johnson, whose defence splitting pass found Gosling with only the keeper to beat. Marriott over-committed himself by charging out of his area and Gosling side-stepped him and took one more touch before planting the ball into the net. Injury time, 3-1 and game over.

Lincoln could feel a little hard done by for their second half performance and the scoreline slightly flattered the home side in a game that had been on a knife-edge for much of the match. However, Yeovil will consider it just reward for having come out of a couple of matches this season with nothing to show when their own performances deserved more. This was not the best Yeovil performance by a long chalk. However, their resiliance, and their strength in depth through two goals from substitutes eventually won them through.

Badger

MOTM Vote Result:

Overall match rating: 6.1 / 10
Performance: 6.1
Entertainment: 6.1

59 votes received.

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