Tuesday, 20 April 2010
Wednesday, 25 November 2009
Away Day Blues... again
I won't be doing match reports of games I don't go to, however by all accounts last night's performance came close to being our worst of the season. Or at least on a par (with Oxford). We are absolutely toothless away from Huish Park, our goal tally of 5 scored in November is just not good enough for a side in mid-table and on reflection last night probably was a bit of a home banker, it was just the optimist in me that's been largely bought out in everyone around Huish Park recently that was predicting us to get a draw AND score a goal last night.
Our preferred formation of 4-4-1-1 presents problems away from HP in my opinion. Quite often that formation leaves your striker isolated if you're under pressure, and judging by the statistics from last night it certainly looks as if Obika, once again, wasn't terribly effective whilst leading the line on his own. Once Williams came on it looks as if we started to cause a few more problems, but playing two up front means shoving Mason out to the right or we surrender all width, and as we all know Mason is twice the attacking midfielder than winger. If we are going to play with one up front I believe that, certainly away from home, Williams needs to play up front until Bowditch is fit as he holds the ball up far better than Obika, wins fouls and generally upsets big central defenders. He's getting stronger and stronger as he learns what's needed in the league and gives us a threat from set pieces, both by winning them and being useful in the air. I don't think it's a coincidence that both goals in our sole away win (and our only away goals since August) came from set pieces won by Williams. He chases lost causes and puts himself about, and you need that away from home. Obika doesn't. That said, our chance creation last night was not very good at all judging from writeups and the radio broadcast, with Murray and Welsh again having poor games, so perhaps we need to look a little further back as to why we're not scoring away from home.
My other concern at the moment is the form of Kalala. He was immense straight after he joined, looked hungry for football, but I think in the last few weeks he's become prone to stupid bookings, has already had a suspension, and now has another one for what really was a stupid challenge that got him sent off last night. I personally thought he was weak against Charlton and Southend, diving into challenges he shouldn't, misplacing one too many short passes and basically huffing and puffing with little end product. I think he is essential to our team for breaking up play and he does this effectively 90% of the time, it's just the pettiness (shown perfectly by the gesture to Gills fans on the way off the pitch last night) and his lack of composure on the ball, as well as the fact that I've noticed he cannot play on his left peg at all, that's worrying me.
That's enough moaning for the moment though, we're still far better placed at this juncture than we could possibly have imagined at the beginning of August. We have an absolute monster of a goalkeeper and centreback, Alex and Steven are proving week after week that they're just absolute class, Alex saved it from being a cricket score last night. I still am completely confident of survival. Beat Walsall next week, and everything's rosy for the time being again.
I just worry this problem of scoring goals is going to rear it's head again before the season's out.
Our preferred formation of 4-4-1-1 presents problems away from HP in my opinion. Quite often that formation leaves your striker isolated if you're under pressure, and judging by the statistics from last night it certainly looks as if Obika, once again, wasn't terribly effective whilst leading the line on his own. Once Williams came on it looks as if we started to cause a few more problems, but playing two up front means shoving Mason out to the right or we surrender all width, and as we all know Mason is twice the attacking midfielder than winger. If we are going to play with one up front I believe that, certainly away from home, Williams needs to play up front until Bowditch is fit as he holds the ball up far better than Obika, wins fouls and generally upsets big central defenders. He's getting stronger and stronger as he learns what's needed in the league and gives us a threat from set pieces, both by winning them and being useful in the air. I don't think it's a coincidence that both goals in our sole away win (and our only away goals since August) came from set pieces won by Williams. He chases lost causes and puts himself about, and you need that away from home. Obika doesn't. That said, our chance creation last night was not very good at all judging from writeups and the radio broadcast, with Murray and Welsh again having poor games, so perhaps we need to look a little further back as to why we're not scoring away from home.
My other concern at the moment is the form of Kalala. He was immense straight after he joined, looked hungry for football, but I think in the last few weeks he's become prone to stupid bookings, has already had a suspension, and now has another one for what really was a stupid challenge that got him sent off last night. I personally thought he was weak against Charlton and Southend, diving into challenges he shouldn't, misplacing one too many short passes and basically huffing and puffing with little end product. I think he is essential to our team for breaking up play and he does this effectively 90% of the time, it's just the pettiness (shown perfectly by the gesture to Gills fans on the way off the pitch last night) and his lack of composure on the ball, as well as the fact that I've noticed he cannot play on his left peg at all, that's worrying me.
That's enough moaning for the moment though, we're still far better placed at this juncture than we could possibly have imagined at the beginning of August. We have an absolute monster of a goalkeeper and centreback, Alex and Steven are proving week after week that they're just absolute class, Alex saved it from being a cricket score last night. I still am completely confident of survival. Beat Walsall next week, and everything's rosy for the time being again.
I just worry this problem of scoring goals is going to rear it's head again before the season's out.
Tuesday, 24 November 2009
Match Preview - Yeovil Town vs. Gillingham Town (A)
Firstly, thank you to Taff for linking to my blog from ciderspace, it's nice to get a bit of publicity (albeit still no comments on any posts - any feedback on the quality of posts, opinions or whatnot is always welcome) and faced with the prospect of people actually reading this, it gives one the motivation to carry on posting as frequently as I have been.
So I miss my first League One match in nearly two months this evening (even though I did think about going - it's just the thought of the next three Mondays off work was a more appealing one than a wet overnighter to Priestfield) as the Glovers take on Gillingham Town (not the one near Sherborne). The Glovers could go 8th tonight with the right results, and whilst I think we'll perhaps not get the 3 points tonight due to Gillingham's exceptional home record (5 wins in 9, only one defeat), we should be going there full of confidence after two exceptional halves, in completely different styles, against Charlton on Saturday.
The Gills will be welcoming Simeon Jackson, their top scorer, back into their lineup tonight after being benched for the defeat against Brizzle Rovers on Saturday, and will think they have a good chance of the three points this evening against our Yeovil who struggle to score away from HP.
I think Skivo will resist the temptation to start Bowditch but will probably keep faith with the lineup that started against Charlton, with Deano again coming on for half an hour at the end, probably to replace the out-of-form Welshy if we're a goal down or Obika if we're a goal up. Forbesy could also be restored to the lineup tonight replacing Stefan Stam who I thought looked a touch off the pace on Saturday. My prediction for tonight, as with Saturday is going to be 1-1, I think Simeon Jackson will open the scoring and we'll hit back in the second half, I'll go for Bowditch to be the scorer in the final ten minutes. As for the lineup, this is how I see it:
McCarthy
Alcock Caulker Forbes Hutchins
Kalala MacDonald
Murray Welsh
Mason
Obika
I'd like to mention Obika's performance on Saturday - it's been talked about on the Green Room at great length, and to some extent I agree with his detractors. He frustrated the hell out me at the match, but on reflection I think the conditions did not favour a lone frontman and he was feeding off of scraps from a midfield that went far too narrow towards the end. My main problem is rather than be selective about the lost causes he chases, he doesn't chase any. I think when you're pegged back in your own area it is vital your frontman works hard, and from my view in the Blackthorn he missed every opportunity to put Ikeme under pressure, lost the ball too often when it was at his feet, and didn't challenge anywhere near effectively enough in the air either. As I've said the conditions weren't in his favour though and to his credit, he took his one real chance clinically. If he hadn't, I'd be wanting to see Bowditch in the lineup tonight. Jon, tonight's as good a chance as any to prove me wrong.
So I miss my first League One match in nearly two months this evening (even though I did think about going - it's just the thought of the next three Mondays off work was a more appealing one than a wet overnighter to Priestfield) as the Glovers take on Gillingham Town (not the one near Sherborne). The Glovers could go 8th tonight with the right results, and whilst I think we'll perhaps not get the 3 points tonight due to Gillingham's exceptional home record (5 wins in 9, only one defeat), we should be going there full of confidence after two exceptional halves, in completely different styles, against Charlton on Saturday.
The Gills will be welcoming Simeon Jackson, their top scorer, back into their lineup tonight after being benched for the defeat against Brizzle Rovers on Saturday, and will think they have a good chance of the three points this evening against our Yeovil who struggle to score away from HP.
I think Skivo will resist the temptation to start Bowditch but will probably keep faith with the lineup that started against Charlton, with Deano again coming on for half an hour at the end, probably to replace the out-of-form Welshy if we're a goal down or Obika if we're a goal up. Forbesy could also be restored to the lineup tonight replacing Stefan Stam who I thought looked a touch off the pace on Saturday. My prediction for tonight, as with Saturday is going to be 1-1, I think Simeon Jackson will open the scoring and we'll hit back in the second half, I'll go for Bowditch to be the scorer in the final ten minutes. As for the lineup, this is how I see it:
McCarthy
Alcock Caulker Forbes Hutchins
Kalala MacDonald
Murray Welsh
Mason
Obika
I'd like to mention Obika's performance on Saturday - it's been talked about on the Green Room at great length, and to some extent I agree with his detractors. He frustrated the hell out me at the match, but on reflection I think the conditions did not favour a lone frontman and he was feeding off of scraps from a midfield that went far too narrow towards the end. My main problem is rather than be selective about the lost causes he chases, he doesn't chase any. I think when you're pegged back in your own area it is vital your frontman works hard, and from my view in the Blackthorn he missed every opportunity to put Ikeme under pressure, lost the ball too often when it was at his feet, and didn't challenge anywhere near effectively enough in the air either. As I've said the conditions weren't in his favour though and to his credit, he took his one real chance clinically. If he hadn't, I'd be wanting to see Bowditch in the lineup tonight. Jon, tonight's as good a chance as any to prove me wrong.
Match Report - Yeovil Town vs. Charlton Athletic (H) - 21/11/2009
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)
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)
Friday, 20 November 2009
Match Preview - Yeovil Town vs. Charlton Athletic (H)
All things being good, Skivo should have somewhat of a selection headache tomorrow. Minor knocks to Sam Williams, Terrell Forbes, Shaun MacDonald and Nathan Jones should be recovered by now meaning that Aidan Downes aside Skivo should have the luxury of almost a full squad.
Charlton arrive on the back of their 5-1 mauling of MK Dons, but that result apart they've been patchy of late, with three defeats in a row (including their F.A. Cup 1st rd exit at the hands of Northwich Victoria) before that, and Addicks fans would be the first to accept their form on the road isn't the best. Izale Macleod serves the third of a three match ban on Saturday and ex-Leeds full-back Frazer Richardson looks set to miss the match through injury. Charlton are strong favourites for the match with the Glovers generally given odds of around 2/1 (slightly longer in most cases), meaning a home win would probably be a good speculative punt tomorrow.
Also adding to the spice of tomorrow's encounter with the Londoners is the news that as of Thursday, they'd sold 1,700 tickets, filled the away end and been allocated more seating in the Cowlin Stand. This should make for an exciting atmosphere for their first ever league trip to Huish Park, and one can only hope that Yeovil supporters turn out in numbers tomorrow to give them a great taste of how passionate League One support is. Skivo will no doubt have drummed into the team that if they can get a result tomorrow, they can get a result against any team in the league and that Yeovil Town away is fast becoming a fixture sides are not looking forward to.
On that subject, Skivo's lineups seem to be becoming increasingly hard to call (before I got to the stadium last week, I didn't even know about the injuries to Jonesy, Macca and Williams), but without any fresh injury concerns I reckon this will be close to Skivo's lineup tomorrow:
McCarthy
Alcock Caulker Forbes Jones
Macca Kalala
Murray Welsh
Mason
Obika
With subs: Martin, Hutchins, Stam, O'Callaghan, Murtagh, Williams, Bowditch
As for my prediction, I am seriously tempted to go with a Yeovil win, we're excellent at home and they're dodgy away, but I'm going to be conservative and go for a 1-1 draw, with Obika scoring our opener and youngster Jonjo Shelvey to get their equaliser deep into the second half. I really do think the home win is possible, and if we do, I believe then we can start dreaming about the playoffs...
Wednesday, 18 November 2009
Glovers on a Roll?
Having now had a few days to take in the performance at the weekend, I have drawn a few conclusions:
1. We still lack cutting edge up front. This was painfully obvious as it was happening on Saturday, but whilst (first half especially) we completely outplayed the Shrimpers, we only ended up outscoring them by a goal that hit one of our strikers on it's way wide of the goal. Matches like that, especially against ten men, are often decided that way, but let's not pretend, this isn't the first time this season our lack of cutting edge has come back to haunt us - cases in point are the 3-3 with Leyton Orient at Huish Park earlier this season, and the away defeat at Elland Road. The Leyton Orient match especially could have been dead and buried by the time Jarvis scored their third, and we wasted even more chances after they'd equalised. The fact that in late November Ryan Mason is still our top scorer with 4 goals (although we do admittedly have a decent spread of goalscorers) shows that we could really still do with someone who is going to finish teams off on a regular basis. Obika, generally playing well in my opinion, is not quite clinical enough (4 goals in the Spurs reserves notwithstanding), Williams doesn't score, Tomlin in my opinion isn't good enough to lead the line. So the buck seems to fall to Dean Bowditch, scorer of two goals in 70 minutes as a Glovers player. Will he be good enough? He undoubtedly possesses quality, but his injury record, especially before joining the Glovers, isn't encouraging. We need to find that ability to apply the finishing touch from somewhere.
2. We should be looking up rather than down. A third into the season, we lie 12th with 21 points, two wins from the playoffs. Now, it may seem like like I'm calling a cooker hot here, but the top teams gather points much quicker than the bottom. That we're more or less keeping pace with the teams above us chasing playoff places, for the moment at least, is a very good sign and you feel it'll take a while for a team like Stockport to pick up 7 points that we do not. George O'Callaghan seemed to state earlier this week that the playoffs are the aim, and whilst I feel they'll probably be out of our reach, the very fact that this team aren't just striving to survive in League 1 has bought the buzz back to Huish Park.
3. Well I say bought the buzz back, the one thing Skivo hasn't brought back to Huish Park yet are supporters. Charlton are expecting to bring 1700 supporters down at the weekend, almost half the total attendance last weekend. The gaffer must be wondering what on earth he has to do to get the supporters back - there have been 24 goals (15 scored, 9 conceded) so far in 8 games this season, 3 goals a match on average, what more can the supporters want than a winning team and lots of goals?
To be perfectly honest, there isn't a lot to complain about so far, and my third point must be the one of biggest concern to Skivo at this point in time - dwindling attendances mean a smaller playing budget at a time when the team has really had to reel in it's spending anyway. There isn't a lot to complain about at this point for a Yeovil fan and with the Charlton match merely a day away, let's hope we'll have even more to cheer about come Saturday at 5pm.
Tuesday, 17 November 2009
Match Report - Yeovil Town 1-0 Southend United - 14/11/2009
After the utter disappointment of Oxford in the F.A. Cup, it was imperative for Yeovil to get back to winning ways against Southend United on Saturday. Once again whispers of discontent at Skivo's perceived tactical naiveté were rearing their head, and it seems to have rattled his cage too if his comments after the match are anything to go by - however keep producing the goods like they did on Saturday and they'll have no problems surviving in the division.
Yeovil's lineup this weekend was much altered due to the withdrawal of Sam Williams, Nathan Jones, and Shaun MacDonald on Friday, and Terrell Forbes pulling out during the warm-up. This left the Glovers fielding a makeshift side (with only 5 subs) with George O'Callaghan, Danny Hutchins, Scott Murray and Stefan Stam returning to the starting 11.
The Glovers fair dominated the first half hour and could (and perhaps should) have been in the lead through a bullet Craig Alcock header that hit the post, a magnificent break down the right by Murray which was saved by Steve Mildenhall (the keeper back at Huish Park and in spectacular form) followed by an even better save moments later from Jonathan Obika at point blank range.
Worse still was to come for Southend, as debutant Sean Morrison was sent off for cynically pulling back Obika when clean through on goal (a sending off that Southend are STILL bitter about, yet tellingly aren't appealing the dismissal). Ryan Mason, who was in magnificent form, and eventually got the man of the match award for the Glovers, curled the free kick just past the post, with Mildenhall beaten.
After that, Southend, perhaps understandably, shut up shop and invited the Glovers to break them down. Lee Barnard, League One's top scorer, cut an isolated figure up front as Southend tried put 9 men between the Glovers and Mildenhall's goal. Breaking down a rare Southend attack, the Glovers countered just before half time, Andy Welsh running clean through on goal, unfortunately for Yeovil the tricky winger isn't much of a finisher and blasted his rushed shot over the bar. The two sides went in equal at the break.
The first 20 minutes of the second half were, from a Yeovil point of view, extremely frustrating. Southend, with Adam Barrett and Jean Christophe at the heart of their defence, were doing a very good job of nullifying the threat of Obika, with most of Yeovil's penetration coming from the impossible to pick up Mason and the eager to impress Scott Murray, the latter treading on the ball when clean through. The crowd were getting restless, and Skivo revealed after the match that supporters in the Augusta Westland Stand behind him were jeering at him for not having two strikers on against ten men.
On 70 minutes, Skivo made the change that the supporters were waiting for. Off came Andy Welsh, after another performance of graft but possibly not quite enough quality end product, and on came Dean Bowditch. Within 5 minutes of his arrival, it was 1-0.
An innocuous free-kick conceded on the right was swung over by Murray, it dropped at Obika's feet, and he swiveled and shot. The ball cannoned off Bowditch's shoulder, and it was 1-0. The atmosphere at Huish Park was one of tangible relief.
Bowditch in truth probably should have truly put Southend to the sword minutes later when he slid through on goal, but once again, Mildenhall, who was right up there with Mason as man of the match, was there to knock the ball away.
Yeovil served up the perfect response, and now must be strongly anticipating the game against Charlton next Saturday.
Final Score: Yeovil Town 1 Southend United 0.
Scorer: Dean Bowditch (1-0, 76 mins)
Yeovil Town: 4-4-1-1/4-2-3-1
1. Alex McCarthy
2. Craig Alcock 5. Steven Caulker 4. Stefan Stam 23. Danny Hutchins
16. Scott Murray 7. George O'Callaghan 21. JP Kalala 11. Andy Welsh
13. Ryan Mason
26. Jonathan Obika
Substitutes:
15. Richard Martin (GK) 8. Keiran Murtagh (89 mins for Ryan Mason) 10. Gavin Tomlin (80 mins for Scott Murray) 14. Dean Bowditch (71 mins for Andy Welsh) 3. Nathan Jones
Southend United:
1. Steve Mildenhall
2. Simon Francis 5. Sean Morrison 6. Adam Barrett 7. Anthony Grant
26. Francis Laurent 4. Jean Francois Christophe 8. Alan McCormack 14. Franck Moussa
9. Lee Barnard 16. Dougie Freedman
Substitutes:
10. James Walker (81 mins for Dougie Freedman) 12. Damian Scannell 22. Stuart O'Keefe 31. Kyle Asante
Yeovil Bookings: Jean-Paul Kalala (43 mins, foul), George O'Callaghan (54 mins, foul)
Southend Bookings: Alan McCormack (56 mins, timewasting), Anthony Grant (63 mins, dissent), Red Card: Sean Morrison (31 mins, professional foul)
Referee: David Phillips (West Sussex). Assistants: Stephen Phipps (Oxfordshire) and Tim Robinson (West Sussex). Fourth Official: Chris Powell (Dorset).
Attendance: 3,906
Scorer: Dean Bowditch (1-0, 76 mins)
Yeovil Town: 4-4-1-1/4-2-3-1
1. Alex McCarthy
2. Craig Alcock 5. Steven Caulker 4. Stefan Stam 23. Danny Hutchins
16. Scott Murray 7. George O'Callaghan 21. JP Kalala 11. Andy Welsh
13. Ryan Mason
26. Jonathan Obika
Substitutes:
15. Richard Martin (GK) 8. Keiran Murtagh (89 mins for Ryan Mason) 10. Gavin Tomlin (80 mins for Scott Murray) 14. Dean Bowditch (71 mins for Andy Welsh) 3. Nathan Jones
Southend United:
1. Steve Mildenhall
2. Simon Francis 5. Sean Morrison 6. Adam Barrett 7. Anthony Grant
26. Francis Laurent 4. Jean Francois Christophe 8. Alan McCormack 14. Franck Moussa
9. Lee Barnard 16. Dougie Freedman
Substitutes:
10. James Walker (81 mins for Dougie Freedman) 12. Damian Scannell 22. Stuart O'Keefe 31. Kyle Asante
Yeovil Bookings: Jean-Paul Kalala (43 mins, foul), George O'Callaghan (54 mins, foul)
Southend Bookings: Alan McCormack (56 mins, timewasting), Anthony Grant (63 mins, dissent), Red Card: Sean Morrison (31 mins, professional foul)
Referee: David Phillips (West Sussex). Assistants: Stephen Phipps (Oxfordshire) and Tim Robinson (West Sussex). Fourth Official: Chris Powell (Dorset).
Attendance: 3,906
(Match Details courtesy of www.ciderspace.co.uk)
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