Yeovil Town had their three game unbeaten run broken by a resolute Sheffield Wednesday side, who grabbed a flattering 0-2 away win, thanks to two late goals scored after the Glovers had gained excessive possession, albeit without taking the few chances that came their way. Wednesday took the only on target chances they got - a Jermaine Johnson screamer, followed by a Tommy Miller penalty after Luke Ayling was judged to have fouled inside the box.
For the third match running, manager Terry Skiverton named an unchanged starting eleven, whilst his only change on the bench was midfielder Jean-Paul Kalala's recall from a knee injury - the first change to any of the seventeen players Skivo has needed to make in three matches. The game was preceded by a minute's applause for three of Yeovil Town's former managers and players, with former boss Malcolm Allison and former full-back Derek Warren's lives celebrated. However, there's little doubt that the more recent two year spell that Colin Lippiatt had at the club was the reason why many had lumps in their throat just before kick-off - the man who brought current manager Terry Skiverton to the club.
The Owls got off to a positive start, with Daniel Jones' left wing cross being headed wide of the target by Clinton Morrison when he should have done better. Then Morrison turned provider as he drew Stephen Henderson to his near post, putting the ball across the face of goal only to find Gary Teale spooning the ball over the bar from eight yards out with the goal gaping.
The Glovers took around 20 minutes to get seriously into the match, with Gavin Williams beginning to find space to pull the strings, often swapping positions between namesake Big Sam, presumably with the aim of shaking off any man-to-man marking Wednesday might have been attempting to cut out Yeovil's chief playmaker. The downside to that was that it often left Sam out in a wide position as he covered for Gavin's meanderings, giving the Glovers a somewhat lopsided attacking outlook at times.
That said, Yeovil's best chance of the half came when Sam Williams broke through with a clever pass, cut past a Wednesday defender onto his left foot, forcing Owls keeper Nicky Weaver to come off his line and smother his shot, and the Glovers couldn't grab the loose ball to poke it home. Overall though, Yeovil were beginning to dominate the midfield excessively, and gain strong possession, albeit with their other chances being largely attempts from distance, rather than getting in behind the visitors' back line.
The second half opened with the temperature of the game being raised when Wednesday centre-back Darren Purse appeared to land his studs on the leg of Gavin Williams after the Welshman had landed on the deck. Referee either gave Purse the benefit of the doubt regarding intent, or didn't see what had happened, but the crowd made it clear what they thought after Mr Scott let Purse off with just a ticking off.
Owain Tudur Jones drove an excellent strike at goal that Nicky Weaver smothered well, whilst Dean Bowditch snatched at a chance a little too quickly midway through the half when he received a loose ball - missing the target when he should have done better. The Glovers were looking fairly comfortable throughout the second period, with Wednesday doing little to threaten their goal.
All that changed though with the introduction of former Glovers loan player Jermaine Johnson, who failed to make a first team appearance for the club back in 2003 after picking up an injury during an introductory Reserve Team match for former boss Gary Johnson. He had played for Wednesday Reserves in midweek, making his comeback from injury and came on as a 62nd minute substitute. Ten minutes after his arrival, Johnson threatened to cut down the outside of his wing, but instead cut inside onto his right foot, and rifled a terrific shot into the top corner that gave Stephen Henderson utterly no chance. Their first on target shot of the game but an utterly clinical one.
The away side's second shot on target produced their second goal, after they won a penalty six minutes from time. Whilst Wednesday had been sitting on their 1-0 lead to an extreme, the Glovers went to sleep a little when right-back Jon Otsemobor advanced up the flank, no-one closed him down, and Luke Ayling's tackle was judged to be a foul and a spot kick. Up stepped Tommy Miller, and he sent Stephen Henderson the wrong way to double Wednesday's lead. Two shots on target, two goals, and with time running out, it was more or less game over.
Jon Otsemobor was Wednesday's hero for the penalty. Two minutes later he became their villain - a studs up tackle on Nathan Smith the next time the pair met down the flank saw referee Graham Scott immediately reach for his red card, and the away side had to complete the final four minutes of the game with 10 men. A glimmer of hope, although perhaps the man advantage had come too late.
In an injury time period, announced as five but extended to seven following the goal net getting broken, Yeovil Town hit the crossbar, as Owain Tudur Jones produced a looping header that saw Nicky Weaver wrap himself around his own goal net in his attempts to peddle backwards and stop it from going in. Then Gavin Williams produced a stinging shot that Weaver had to block out, but it was one of those days for the Glovers, and one where for the second week running Sheffield Wednesday could count themselves fortunate to have come away with three points. To their credit, the away side snuffed out the volume of possession that the Glovers had during the match, but to win by two goals when having only had one on target shot in open play across the whole 90 minutes is somewhat flattering on the visitors, and cruel on the Glovers.
Final Score: Yeovil Town 0 Sheffield Wednesday 2.
Scorers: Jermaine Johnson (72 mins, 0-1), Tommy Miller 84 mins, pen, 0-2)
Yeovil Town: (4-4-2)
13. Stephen Henderson
8. Luke Ayling 5. Paul Huntington 19. Adam Virgo 6. Nathan Smith
24. Gavin Williams 25. Shaun MacDonald 20. Owain Tudur Jones 11. Andy Welsh
9. Sam Williams 10. Dean Bowditch
Substitutes:
22. Ben Roberts (GK) 2. Craig Alcock (36 mins for Adam Virgo) 7. Andrew Williams (77 mins for Dean Bowditch) 16. Edward Upson 17. Craig Calver 18. Luke Freeman (65 mins for Andy Welsh) 21. Jean-Paul Kalala
Sheffield Wednesday:
1. Nicky Weaver
36. Jon Otsemobor 3. Lewis Buxton 4. Darren Purse 11. Daniel Jones
8. Tommy Miller 14. Darren Potter 17. James O'Connor 21. Gary Teale
7. Marcus Tudgay 30. Clinton Morrison
Substitutes:
25. Arron Jameson (GK) 2. Tommy Spurr 5. Richard Hinds 9. Paul Heffernan 23. Jermaine Johnson (62 mins for Gary Teale) 24. Chris Sedgwick (81 mins for Clinton Morrison) 33. Neil Mellor (70 mins for Marcus Tudgay)
Yeovil Bookings: Shaun MacDonald (75 mins, foul)
Sheffield Wednesday Bookings: Gary Teale (62 mins, foul). Red Card: Jon Otsemobor (86 mins, serious foul play)
Referee: Graham Scott
Attendance: 5,927 (including approx 1,800 Wednesday fans)
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