By Peegs
October 22 2003

The Robins road their luck to claim a 3-1 win over old Non League rivals Yeovil Town at Whaddon Road infront of nearly 5,000 supporters. The team had a few forced changes with Shane Duff and Odejayi suspended and Damaian Spencer injured, Kevin Amankwaah moved to centre back, Dave Bird in at right back (what most supporters have been asking for) and Richard Forsyth in central midfield, Bob Taylor played upfront on his own however wide players Devaney and Fyfe were able to support him from their wide positions.

The Ghoul out campaign didn't materialise as all who said they were going to bring banners bottled it and the Robins took the lead with 3 minutes on the clock with a very direct and simple goal, a long ball forward towards the C and G End by Shane Higgs went over everyone, Martin Devaney got goal side of the Glovers left back he cut in towards goal and placed an accurate shot across the 'keeper and into the net, he then sprinted over to the dug out to give Goudl a high five, Devaney must now certainly start on the right in future matches.

Yeovil infront of a large travelling support didn't let the early set back effect them and earnt numerous corners in the early stages, their secret weapon at set pieces was the giant 7ft Portuguese defender Hugo Rodrigues, however he seemed to lack any coordination with his jumping and missed all the centre's that came his way.

With a quarter of an hour on the clock the Robins extended their lead however the scorer of the goal was certainly not Yates as published on the official site and in the newspaper. An inswinging corner by Grant McCann was met by a combination of Yates and 2 Yeovil defenders, however from a perfect view I can safely say the last touch seemed to be by Lockwood as he headed the ball past his own 'keeper from 10 yards.

Yeovil having had a goal disallowed for off side should have got a goal back nearing the half hour mark. A quickly taken free kick found Gavin Williams in acres of space inside the area, from 8 yards out he should have wellied the ball past Higgs, however he went for the delicate chip, the ball span through the air for what seemed an eternity and it hit the woodwork, remarkably the ball fell to no following Yeovil player and Cheltenham managed to clear the danger.

Rodrigues summed up his afternoon and was booked for a foul on Grant McCann 20 yards out, Yates struck the free kick into the wall and shortly after Rodrigues was subbed by Yeovil manager Gary Johnson to be replaced by England and Chelsea defenders brother Paul Terry.

Higgs made the first of a few class saves on a good afternoon for the Ex Worcester goalee. A shot from Gavin Williams was drilled low, Higgs must have seen it late but managed to make a good save.

A goal had been coming for Yeovil and it duly arrived 5 minutes before half time. A cross by Darren Way was headed down by Paul Terry, it fell to the feet of Kirk Jackson, he layed the ball back to Kevin Gall who drilled a shot past Higgs and into the bottom corner of the net. It was nothing less than Yeovil had deserved having had a lot of possesion in the first half of the game.

H/T 2-1

Nearing the end of the first half Grant McCann had taken a heavy knock on his ankle and was replaced at the interval by Paul Brayson and what an inspirational change it would be as the ex Cardiff man scored with one of his first touches of the game.

Jamie Victory who had a very good game mad a good forward run, Brayson was in acres of space down the left and managed to hold his run to stay on side, Victory slipped a pass into his run and he cooly cotrolled the ball before placing it past Weale in the Yeovil goal.

A controversial incident in the game occured 5 minutes later, Mark Yates ran into the box and was felled by Adam Lockwood, however the ref saw things differently and showed Yatesie a yellow card for diving, I didn't have a good view of the incident myself (god I sound like Arsene Wenger) however people in the Paddock and Canteen stands say that it was a very bad decision by Mr Marriner the ref.

The striking partnership of Brayson and Taylor was working nicely in the 2nd half and both had half chances to extend Cheltenham's lead, Brayson had a shot blocked by a Yeovil body and soon after Bob Taylor - sponored by cheltenhamtown.tk - had a spectacular volley again blocked by a Yevoil back man.

Higgs made a world class save edging towards the final whistle as Yeovil came forward trying to get something out of the game, a lofted shot by Ray O'Brien needed Higgs to use all of his height to reach and palm the ball clear of goal as it headed to the top corner.

Ex Hereford striker Gavin Williams struck the C and G End crossbar with a stunning 25 yard shot that had Higgs beaten all ends up however the Robins managed to hold out and win their first game since the epic Northampton game back in September 5th.

To be fair to Yeovil you could not have moaned if they had gone back with a point to Somerset however the luck was with Cheltenham on the day. However Gould should not think he has turned the corner as we still did not play stunning football and as I have said were slightly lucky to claim all 3 points. Rumour has it that a new player will be arriving at the club in the near future so watch this space.

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F/T 3-1

CHELTENHAM TOWN : Higgs, Bird, Amankwaah, Jones, Vicotry, Devaney, Yates, Forsyth, Fyfe (Howells 79), McCann (Brayson 46), Taylor

YEOVIL TOWN: Weale, Lockwood, Rodrigues (Terry 28), O'Brien, Bull (Gosling 60), Williams, Johnson, Way, El Kholti, Gall, Jackson (Edwards 46)

Attendance 4,960