Yeovil just needed a point to go top, and Hayes are near the bottom of the table. Simple, eh? Well no, not really. Hayes are a bit of a bogey team for Yeovil, and their style still causes difficulties; so much so that they took an early two-goal lead. But the Glovers fought back well, and in a match with more excitement than quality, eventually got the win. Yeovil now lead the Conference table for the first time.
Hayes went on the attack from the start, and courtesy of a helping hand from their 'old boy' Chris Sparks, they took an early lead. The game was just three minutes old when Spark's pass back was too short; Pennock came out to block when the ball was intercepted, but it ran loose to Ansell who put it away. Yeovil's defence was not really stamping its authority on the game early on, and Hayes were getting the ball into the box quickly and effectively. This paid off after 13 minutes when a Trebble cross was knocked into his own net by Terry Skiverton.
About 20 minutes into the game Yeovil started to 
come back into it, gradually getting better organised at the back, and bringing the front men into play more. Adrian Foster had returned to the side at the expense of Jason Eaton, and was looking sharp again.
After Boyce missed a good chance to increase Hayes' lead further, and a Warren Patmore header bounced off the top of the bar at the other, Yeovil pulled one back. Foster ran the ball down the left, it bobbled off a defender to Jamie Pitman, who put the ball into the path of Matt Hayfield who finished from ten yards out.
Tony Pennock was at full-stretch to keep out one cross/shot, but was otherwise not greatly troubled again. Meanwhile, Yeovil were having their best period of the first half towards the break, and got the equaliser during stoppage time. Adrian Foster got down the left flank again, cut inside, and curled a shot around the stationary Wilkerson from the edge of the area.
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Wazza's penalty sends Wilkerson
the wrong way.
[Sorry about the poor picture quality, it's too dark at evening games for decent pics] |
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After the break, Yeovil controlled the game better than in the first half. Hayes were getting the ball up into the penalty area less, and were more frequently shooting from too far out to cause trouble to Tony Pennock. But the downside was that they weren't creating many clear-cut chances either. Adrian Foster went close with a 20-yard effort, but that was about all the visitors threatened with until Fozzie was tripped just inside the box by Nathan Bunce, and Warren Patmore sent Wilkerson the wrong way with the spot kick.
So, not totally convincing perhaps, but a spirited fightback against a team that looked a bit better than their league position suggests.
And hey: we're top!
