"We murdered 'em". Such was a favourite phrase of one ex-Yeovil manager. And judging some of the games he used it on, for the first half of today's game Yeovil more than "murdered 'em", they also cremated 'em and scattered their ashes at sea.
If Yeovil's 2-1 half-time lead seemed little reward for their superiority, it could have been worse. Stevenage's attacks were seen about as often as Lord Lucan had been spotted riding Shergar, yet they too the lead. The goal wasn't directly as a result of the way Yeovil defended the corner, though that must be a factor: As two Stevenage players teamed up for a short (grade 4, rather than full Beckham job) corner, only Piper picked one up, leaving the other alone. The resultant free cross was cleared OK by Yeovil, but Steve Forbes was on hand to volley home through the crowd from outside the area, his shot seemingly taking a deflection on the way through.
Yeovil had had the better of the possession by then, and continued to do so for the rest of the half. The only problem was that for all the pressure put on the Boro defence, little was out on keeper Taylor. His only panic in the first half-hour was of his own doing when he fumbled a weak shot from Patmore.
Barrington Belgrave was making his début this evening, and giving the attack a bit more pace. He got in behind the defence once, but stumbled just long enough to give Lee Howarth a chance to get in a block. Yeovil's main line of attack was a cross to taller players, notably Patmore of course. But the central defenders looked more sure of themselves without Mark Smith in there (he's an England semi-pro international. Why? He's not that good. The emporor has no clothes).
However, Yeovil were plugging away with the crosses, and with the wind helping the ball swing goalwards, started to cause more trouble, particularly when Skiverton and Steele joined the attack. And, funnily enough, it was a goal each from these two, within 60 seconds, that gave a fairer half-time score.
The equaliser came from the head of Skiverton, diving low enough to risk the bends to meet a near-post free-kick from Matt Hale. It was Hale and Lindegaard providing the quality crosses, and the second goal came from a corner taken by the latter. Swinging it into the near post, it was met by the head of Paul Steele, who gave it a delicate flick to send it into the net.
So Yeovil went into the break deservedly leading. They had had the advantage of the wind, but the lead was justified for many other reasons. Some really high quality football was played at times, this was the best 45 minutes for some time.
However, the second half didn't live up to the promise of the first. Stevenage didn't seem to interested in chasing the game, and Yeovil couldn't put together the moves that they'd managed in the first period.
Just as the game seemed to be petering out to a win for the home side, Danny Hockton (the most impressive Boro player on their previous visit) found himself with time in the area, and shot well, the ball going in off the far post.
So that's it, no win, but a first half that entertained and impressed. Something to build on. That'll do for now. Of course it would have been good to get maximum points, especially against a Stevenage side that it would be kind to call rubbish, but again, the promise is more important than the result at the moment. Good to see Steele get a start. There was some disappointment from the crowd about Rob Cousins being dropped. I hope that he won't be following others out of the club.
Disappointing turn-out though. The official figure was 1,455, the lowest of the season, and it seemed like less than that.
Results and updated table
