Match report posted by John_ (view the full thread on the forum
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A Lloyd Owusu header 13 minutes from time gave Yeovil victory and ended Swindon`s unbeaten start to the season.
Despite all the options available to him, Paul Sturrock decided to stick with the same XI that saw action against Crewe last Saturday.
This meant the likes of Simon Cox, Billy Paynter and JP McGovern had to settle for a place on the bench and bide their time.
The game started off slowly and pretty much remained in neutral for much of the half. Play of a give & take nature ensued early on and only when Swindon won a corner in the 13th minute did the lethargy cease.
Of course nothing came of it and the once noisy boisterous crowd soon began to wilt and endulge in anti-Tommy Mooney chants for the remainder of the half. Our former striker was working as a pundit for SKY TV and was an easy target.
On the half hour Peacock met a Zaaboub corner but couldn`t direct his header and whilst the half chances and restlessness continued we were all waiting in anticipation for something to happen. Still, if there was one plus point I had in the back of my mind it was the fact that the second half would see Swindon attacking the Town End.
Hurrah.
With 10 minutes of the first moiety still to play the ball found its way out to Roberts on the right. He shimmied twice before cutting inside and unleasing a left-footed shot that had Mildenhall sprawling across to palm away. Woo-Hoo - A half-decent chance. The ball was cleared but there was life and soul once more in the confines.
A gear was found and Swindon looked in the ascendancy. A blazing effort from Jamie Vincent just swerved wide by the merest fraction as Town began to get a grip. Blair Sturrock also had time to head wide before the break and when it did come the players were actually given a subdued round of applause as opposed to the boos I`d been anticipating.
There were no changes from either side at the break and so with batteries recharged I was, as ever, hopeful of a worthy performance as well as the three points.
Sadly Yeovil were having none of it. They looked organised and kept possession well. They could break us down at will and enjoyed decent spells on the ball which led to frustration.
Such was the initial disappointment in which we started off the second half, Paul Sturrock took only ten minutes before making a double substitution. Blair Sturrock and Roberts were replaced by Simon Cox and JP McGovern.
This is what we had been waiting for. Now you`re gonna get it, Yeovil.
Erm... well no, actually.
Cox looked lively and JP assured but at no stage did we, as a team, look to be on top. Individual errors crept into the play all over the pitch and it was beginning to really grate. We won a few corners but not even the Town End roar could suck the ball into the net. Peacock was launching himself about and Cox was looking wily but no joy was forthcoming.
With 20 minutes to go Billy Paynter replaced Pook. The ironic cheers thaty accompanied Pooky off the field were uncalled for but I guess that`s par for the course these days.
I, in my humble opinion, wasn`t at all endeavoured by his overall performace, but then I could say the same about Easton as well.
Paynter went straight up top, with Peacock dropping back to midfield.
Yeovil were dominating at this stage and were certainly enjoying their best spell of the game. To be honest, I`m not entirely sure whether they`d had any real clear-cut chances but Phil Smith was having to make occasional saves, albeit comfortable ones.
The defining moment of the game came about from a Swindon breakdown. Yeovil countered superbly and with pace. Jack Smith summed up his afternoon and own performance by being well and truly skinned and only an intervening header from one of our centre-backs, for a corner, prevented disaster.
The respite was short-lived. Ritchie Jones` well placed corner was met by the towering Lloyd Owusu who directed his header past Smith to give Yeovil the lead.
Bugger.
All hands went to