Well, isn’t football a game of two halves. After 45 minutes, fans are optimistically talking about playoffs after we have mighty Charlton Athletic firmly on the back foot, a man down, and the Glovers a goal to the good. On 90, we’re thoroughly relieved with a point, on another day could have been walloped for five or six, Wigan style, after a second half where the weather completely nullified their disadvantage.
We started, as against Carlisle three weeks ago, by bursting out of the traps, not letting the Addicks settle, creating chances with yet again Ryan Mason looking particularly dangerous. The conditions were against Charlton, their keeper Ikeme looking thoroughly unsettled all the way through the first half, with, even conditions withstanding, some pretty poor kicking that put Charlton under pressure more than once. That pressure was beginning to tell when Mason was put clean through by an excellent lobbed through ball by Scott Murray, and Sam Sodje brought the Tottenham youngster down for an inevitable red card. Much to Mason’s frustration, advantage was not played despite him haring back to his feet to take the chance anyway, however given the choice of a yellow and a goal and an extra man, Mason probably made the correct choice not playing on. Just before the break, an inch perfect through ball from Mason put the lively Jon Obika through and the striker made no mistake, putting the ball low into the left hand side of the goal from deep inside the area. Half time, so far so good.
How we underestimated the conditions. Battered from pillar to post the second 45, with Alex McCarthy pulling off at least three world-class stops particularly the one onto the post from goalscorer (and brother of the hapless Sam) Akpo Sodje. In particular, Caulker and Alcock were impeccable on the atrocious conditions, the latter with a goal-saving block ten minutes from the end. When their goal came, it was an absolute cracker. Sodje jnr again caused problems in the defence before hitting a screamer into the top corner for 1-1. Their fans, credit to them, danced and sang throughout, despite me reading on other forums that more than one person's clothes were ruined by the afternoon. We were caught between a rock and a hard place, with the pitch becoming so waterlogged it was impossible to play on the ground, and the wind so hard in our face it was impossible to clear over the top, with one notable McCarthy clearance going out of his box, only for a gust of wind to boomerang the ball out for a corner. Hutchins, who’d had an excellent game up until 65 minutes, was unable to stand up, leaving two clear goalscoring opportunities for the Addicks, which thankfully they didn’t take.
When the final whistle came, the relief was tangible around all of Huish Park. The Glovers got a rousing reception for their second half efforts, which Skivo rightly said afterwards had shown that the team is ready to fight when it needs to. A point richly deserved.
Final Score: Yeovil Town 1 Charlton Athletic 1.
Scorers: Jonathan Obika (44 mins, 1-0), Akpo Sodje (56 mins, 1-1)
Yeovil Town: (4-4-1-1/4-2-3-1)
1. Alex McCarthy 2. Craig Alcock 4. Stefan Stam 5. Steven Caulker 23. Danny Hutchins
16. Scott Murray 25. Shaun MacDonald 21. Jean-Paul Kalala 11. Andy Welsh
13. Ryan Mason
26. Jonathan Obika
Substitutes: 15. Richard Martin (GK) 6. Terrell Forbes (69 mins for Scott Murray) 7. George O'Callaghan 9. Sam Williams 10. Gavin Tomlin 14. Dean Bowditch (60 mins for Andy Welsh) 28. Nathan Smith (for Danny Hutchins)
Charlton Athletic:
24. Carl Ikeme 3. Kelly Youga 35. Christian Dailly 18. Sam Sodje
12. Grant Basey 11. Lloyd Sam 4. Nicky Bailey 6. Jose Vitor Semedo 8. Therry Racon
23. David Mooney 10. Deon Burton
Substitutes: 25. Darren Randolph (GK) 7. Jonjo Shelvey 5. Miguel Angel Llera 14. Matthew Spring 16. Scott Wagstaff 31. Elliot Omozusi 33. Akpo Sodje (46 mins for Therry Racon)
Yeovil Bookings: Stefan Stam (46 mins, foul), Danny Hutchins (72 mins, handball)
Charlton Bookings: Jose Vitor Semedo (33 mins, foul), Kelly Youga (79 mins, foul).
Red Card: Sam Sodje (29 mins, professional foul).
Referee: Simon Hooper (Wiltshire).
Assistants: Ashley Slaughter (Sussex) and Lee Swabey (Devon). Fourth Official: Neil Radford (Worcestershire).
Attendance: 5,632 (including approx 1,400 (terrace) and 365 (stand) Charlton fans)
(match statistics courtesy ciderspace.co.uk)
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