Thursday, February 14, 2008

Yeovil Town 1-0 Northampton Town

The Cobblers were beaten for the first time in seven games this evening as a goal from Terry Skiverton earned Yeovil the points in stoppage time. It was the second time this season that the Glovers have beaten us in injury time and means that the Cobblers drop into the bottom half of the table.

It was a glorious day for a road trip and I’d managed to persuade two friends to make the journey from Southampton with me to Yeovil and take a couple of days off work to stand on a cold terrace in Somerset. The drive down was as picturesque as you’re likely to get and the rolling hills of the southwest provided a wonderful backdrop to the sunshine.

We arrived in Yeovil in good time and found out hotel, The Globetrotters, easily enough and parked up before enjoying our complementary free drink in the hotel bar. A quick bite to eat in a local Weatherspoons was followed by the walk to ground, something we were informed would take around half an hour by the hotel staff. It turned out to be a great deal longer.

Everyone we asked told us to keep going straight over roundabouts until we reached Huish Park but neither floodlights nor roundabouts came into view in half an hour of walking. Eventually a roundabout appeared but by this time it was 7:45 and kick off time! We were shattered from the walk and eventually got to the ground at around 8:05pm, some twenty minutes into the game! We were informed that the story of the game so far was two half chances for either side but the rest of the first half saw Yeovil on top and The Cobblers would have been the happier of the two sides going into the break.

As the second half began, we started to stamp our authority on the game and press forward a bit more than in the fifteen minutes we had seen of the first half!

Mark Little was replaced by Liam Dolman after the Wolves loan man was taken out in the first half, being “challenged” and ending up smashing into the advertising boards!

Our best effort so far (that we had seen anyway!) came when Poul Hubertz did well down the right hand side and sent in a deep cross that Danny Jackman did superbly well to get something on. He volleyed towards goal but just hit it over the bar from the angle.

We then had a couple of agonising moments in front of the Yeovil goal with crosses blazing across the penalty area but frustratingly not having anyone on the end of them. Hubertz then had a glorious chance to give us the lead with a free header from a free kick but he nodded the ball over.

But we were made to pay for missed chances and you could see what was coming deep into injury time when Yeovil won a corner. The ball wasn’t fully cleared and captain Terry Skiverton blasted the ball into the roof of the net past Bunn and a couple of Cobblers defenders.

We had no time to reply and that was that as the Glovers once again see us off in stoppage time. Next up is Gillingham at home and with the Cobblers slipping back into the bottom half, it’s a big game as we look to avoid slipping towards the bottom end of the table again in this topsey turvey season!

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