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:
Player |
MOTM |
Score |
Hugo Rodrigues |
27 |
627 |
Paul Terry |
11 |
308 |
Adam Lockwood |
6 |
271 |
Colin Pluck |
5 |
153 |
Chris Weale |
2 |
132 |
Adam Stansfield |
4 |
125 |
Terry Skiverton |
1 |
75 |
Gavin Williams |
2 |
44 |
Lee Elam |
1 |
20 |
|
Overall match rating: 6.1 / 10
Performance: 6.1
Entertainment: 6.1
59 votes received.
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