Yeovil 1 Doncaster 0 : Match Statistics

Yeovil Town gained a valuable three points this afternoon at Huish Park, after they beat relegation rivals Doncaster Rovers by a single goal. That goal came just shot of the hour mark, as James Hayter sunk the club that he had once helped to promotion into the Championship, having spent five successful years with Doncaster.

Hayter's spot kick came after James Husband had brought down Huddersfield Town loanee Duane Holmes inside the box in a match where both clubs had looked nervous at times on a heavy pitch. Hayter struck his penalty down the middle and that was good enough to win a match in which Kieffer Moore struck the post from close range, whilst Kevin Dawson missed an opportunity to double the lead as he headed off the underside of the crossbar from a Joe Edwards cross.

The only downside of the day was the early withdrawal of Ishmael Miller, who came off with a hamstring injury, with Duane Holmes' second half substitution put down to cramp. The points were made all the more valuable by the post-match news that Barnsley and Charlton Athletic had also won their games, ensuring the bottom three closed up rapidly on Millwall, who lost at Oakwell, and of course Donny themselves.

Final Score: Yeovil Town 1 Doncaster Rovers 0.

Scorers: James Hayter (1-0, 59 mins, pen)

Yeovil Town (4-4-2):
1. Marek Stech
2. Luke Ayling 5. Byron Webster 15. Shane Duffy 3. Jamie McAllister (Captain)
20. Duane Holmes 4. Joe Edwards 19. Joe Ralls 11. Tom Lawrence
9. James Hayter 27. Ishmael Miller

Substitutes:
24. Chris Dunn 7. Kevin Dawson (77 mins for Duane Holmes) 8. Ruben Palazuelos 10. Sam Foley 13. Kieffer Moore (12 mins for Ishmael Miller) 18. Matteo Lanzoni 29. Adam Morgan

Doncaster Rovers:
33. Sam Johnstone
2. Paul Quinn 14. Bongani Khumalo 20. Abdoulaye Meite 3. James Husband
26. James Coppinger 18. Paul Keegan 19. Richie Wellens 7. Mark Duffy
9. Chris Brown 34. Jordan Bowery

Substitutes: 4. Dean Furman 11. David Cotterill (65 mins for Mark Duffy) 12. Luke McCullough 13. Jonathan Maxted 21. Marc De Val Fernandez 30. Alex Peterson 31. Enda Stevens

Yeovil Bookings: None.

Doncaster Bookings: Mark Duffy (foul, 56 mins), Chris Brown (foul, 78 mins), David Cotterill (foul, 90 mins)

Yeovil Match Statistics: Possession: 41%; Shots: 12; Shots On Target: 5; Corners: 6; Fouls: 14.

Doncaster Match Statistics: Possession: 59%; Shots: 14; Shots On Target: 2; Corners: 6; Fouls: 12.

Referee: Darren Drysdale (Lincolnshire). Assistants: Adam Matthews (Gloucestershire) and Lee Swabey (Devon). Fourth Official: Richard Hulme (Somerset).

Attendance: 4,934 (including 659 Doncaster fans).

Yeovil 3 Oldham 1 : That's Better!

Yeovil Town managed their first win over the 2011-12 season, as they opened up their home account with a deserved 3-1 win over Oldham Athletic this afternoon. The Huish Park crowd had to wait until the second period to see all four goals, with Ed Upson, Andy Williams and a Paul Wotton penalty putting the game out of sight. A Reuben Reid penalty gave the visitors a goal back but that wasn't going to deny the Glovers three points and an 8th place in the fledgling League One table.

The Glovers went into the match making three changes to the side that lost against Exeter City during midweek. Max Ehmer returned from injury, having missed the midweek match, whilst Curtis Haynes-Brown dropped out of the squad due to illness. Meanwhile Kerrea Gilbert made his debut as a right wing-back, allowing Luke Ayling the chance to move into a more comfortable centre-back position for him. Thus Paul Wotton moved back into midfield, whilst Anthony Edgar dropped out of the starting line-up. The final change was for Rory Fallon to drop to the bench, with Jonathan Obika replacing him in the front line.

The use of Kerrea Gilbert in the right wing-back position appeared to give Yeovil a little bit more balance in their 3-4-1-2 formation, with Gilbert, Gavin Williams and Andy Williams providing plenty of pace and running to force the visitors onto the back foot for much of the half, albeit without Yeovil being too incisive in front of goal.

Their best effort of the half came from Andy Williams - his shot was tipped away by Oldham keeper Alex Cisak onto the outside of the post, and out for what appeared to be a corner, but referee Gavin Ward choose to give as a goal kick. Oldham had the odd isolated moment where they could have easily made Yeovil pay for not capitalising upon their advantage - particularly during the closing stages of the half, when Matthew Lund took advantage of a bit of empty space down the middle to charge in on goal - heading down the middle - but thankfully Jed Steer smothered his strike on goal. 0-0 at half time although the Glovers had edged it overall.

The second half opened with the Glovers getting off to the best possible start, after James Wesolowski had fouled Gavin Williams outside the box. Williams took the free kick himself, and that wasn't the best delivery ever seen at Huish Park, to say the least. However, the loose ball fell out to Ed Upson, who was 20 yards out from goal, and his strike of the ball was pure and as straight as an arrow, directly into the top left hand corner, giving Alex Cisak utterly no chance of picking the ball out before hit hit the back of the net.

Oldham reacted well, with Jed Steer being forced into a superb save from Matthew Lund within seconds of the restart. The visitors were lucky to keep all eleven players on the pitch though, with an awful tackle on Jonathan Obika being committed by centre-back Zander Diamond. The Scotsman rightfully got his yellow card, and should probably think himself lucky that was all referee Gavin Ward gave him - a more Kettlesque referee would have been seeing him getting his marching orders. Obika couldn't continue, and had to leave the field without his boot on, being replaced by Kieran Agard.

This was largely Yeovil's half, with a moment of the old 'Super Gav' magic giving them their second goal 74 minutes into the match. Gavin Williams out-weaved the Oldham Athletic back line, who had throughout disliked the idea of having players running at them with speed, and when Gavin slipped the ball through to his namesake Andy Williams, the Glovers were able to double their lead with a confident finish by the former Bristol Rovers player.

More was to come eight minutes later, when substitute Kieran Agard also had a run at the heart of the Latics defence. A wild tackle by Zander Diamond saw him lucky that referee Gavin Ward waved a good advantage, but when Agard reached the Oldham box, he was taken out a second time, by right-back Kieran Lee, and this time Mr Ward blew up and pointed to the spot. Agard wanted the ball himself, but captain Paul Wotton pulled rank, with assistant manager Nathan Jones leading the teenager away, and it was little surprise when Wotton used power to drive the ball home - Alex Cisak went the right way, but he couldn't keep it out of the net. 3-0 and game over.

During the final five minutes, plus injury time, the Glovers took off Kerrea Gilbert and brought on Rory Fallon, allowing them to play out time with a 4-4-2 as first Gavin Williams, then his replacement Steve MacLean took up the left wing slot and Luke Ayling moved out into the full-back position on the right.

Despite the comfortable win, the last word fell to Oldham Athletic, and in particular referee Gavin Ward, whose series of erratic decisions had infuriated the home crowd throughout. He judged that Luke Ayling had fouled Latics substitute Josh Parker inside the box. Ayling looked puzzled, although there were few protests from his Glovers team-mates. Up stepped Reuben Reid to hit home the consolation goal, and although there were five minutes worth of injury time played, there was little in the way of drama to threaten Yeovil's deserved three points that landed in the bag.

After the early pressure of two opening day defeats, a win for Yeovil Town will have given some relief, albeit against an Oldham Athletic side who are tipped to struggle this season. With Kerrea Gilbert in the side, the balance of the wing-back formation was somewhat better, and that allowed the likes of Gavin Williams more freedom to do what they do best. Tuesday night's opponents Milton Keynes Dons will doubtless provide tougher opposition, but at least the Glovers will go into the match with their tails up for the first time this season.

Final Score : Yeovil Town 3 Oldham Athletic 1.

Scorers: Ed Upson (49 mins, 1-0), Andy Williams (74 mins, 2-0), Paul Wotton (82 mins, pen, 3-0), Reuben Reid (90 mins, pen, 3-1)

Yeovil Town: (3-4-1-2)
1. Jed Steer
2. Luke Ayling 5. Paul Huntington 14. Max Ehmer
15. Kerrea Gilbert 20. Paul Wotton 8. Edward Upson 3. Nathan Jones
10. Gavin Williams
7. Andrew Williams 29. Jonathan Obika

Substitutes:
9. Steven MacLean (88 mins for Gavin Williams) 11. Anthony Edgar 17. Alan O'Brien 18. Kieran Agard (64 mins for Jonathan Obika) 37. Rory Fallon (86 mins for Kerrea Gilbert)

Oldham Athletic:
1. Alex Cisak
19. Kieran Lee 5. Zander Diamond 2. Jean Yves Mvoto 3. Paul Black
7. Filipe Morais 20. Matthew Lund 4. James Wesolowski 18. Chris Taylor
14. Matt Smith 9. Reuben Reid

Substitutes:
15. Ryan Brooke 17. Josh Parker (65 mins for Paul Black) 26. Carl Winchester 28. Paul Gerrard (GK) 29. David Mellor

Yeovil Bookings: Ed Upson (22 mins, foul), Nathan Jones (77 mins, dissent)

Oldham Bookings: Zander Diamond (62 mins, foul), Matthew Lund (73 mins, foul)

Referee: Gavin Ward (Surrey). Assistants: ..... Fourth Official: ......

Attendance: 3,237 (including 192 Oldham fans)

Ciderspace Site Problems

Apologies to those trying to read the news page, and a few other sections of the site (interviews and opposition pages are affected) at the moment. Our ISP (Eukhost) has, without notice, withdrawn technical functionality from our hosting package and did so without even contacting us. Back in January, we had a similar problem with the same functionality, and we were assured that by moving servers, that they would support this functionality on the new server package. We reluctantly agreed, as this is a number of days effort, but did so on the understanding that this would resolve our problem.

Six months later, and we have the same problem, and we have been advised once again to move to a new server to fix the issue. Normally this would take around 6-8 hours, but we are hampered by the fact that the domain registration company that Ciderspace is registered on does not provide weekend support. Had Eukhost provided us with notice of their withdrawal of functionality, we could have preplanned that bit, but they chose to do it on a Saturday evening.

What this means is that we will struggle to resolve this problem on a Sunday although we're looking at alternatives. For any significant news, we'll post them on our temporary blog whilst we recommend that you follow us on Twitter, via the @ytfcciderspace account. We'll keep people updated via both sources as much as possible. Apologies again, for the irritance and inconvenience caused.

Skivo: Re-Signing Super Gav Is Real Coup

Yeovil Town manager Terry Skiverton says that he regards the recapture of midfield playmaker Gavin Williams as a 'real coup'. The 30 year old has agreed to rejoin the Glovers for a fourth spell, subject to a medical, on July 1st, returning to a club where he has already made 130 appearances for, since making his debut back in August 2002.

Last year, he was a Bristol City player, when he arrived on a three month loan deal during the first half of the 2010-11 season. That spell saw him score just once in twelve appearances, and there were occasions when the Welshman's fitness was in doubt due to persistent ankle problems. Skiverton told BBC Somerset that he recognised that he didn't see the best out of Williams that time round, but said he still regarded him as one of the best players at League One level:

"I think it's a bit of unfinished business. He came here in the first half of last season and was trying to play through an injury, and it didn't really work out. We didn't really see the best of him. But for us to be able to get him back on a contract is a real coup. On his day, and the way that we're going to get him, and the way that we're going to work with him, he is definitely one of the most talented players in this division."

Yesterday, Skiverton spoke of being on the edge of agreeing several signings. Although he clearly won't be naming any names before those deals are concluded, he gave an idea of what sort of players he was going after:

"They all like to get it down. There's a couple there with good energy. There's a striker out there at the moment, who has got electric pace. For me, it's an exciting time. I put the jigsaw together, along with Martyn Starnes, who looks at the budget. We've got a list of targets as long as your arm, and we're going through them."

Skivo Left Frustrated By 'Cherry-Picking' Of Players

Yeovil Town manager Terry Skiverton has sounded his frustration at losing some of his key players over this summer, as he attempts to build on the strong finish that the Glovers managed to the 2010-11 season. Having voluntarily released four players at the end of last season, four more players have made the decision not to sign new contracts, with three already finding new clubs.

With League One sides Carlisle United and Chesterfield having snapped up Andy Welsh and Nathan Smith respectively, and Adam Virgo having signed for League Two side Bristol Rovers, the Glovers have lost some significant experience. Speaking to BBC Somerset, Skiverton felt that rivals clubs had been 'cherry picking' the best of his playing squad:

"A lot of players come to Yeovil, including myself as a footballer, on their knees. We work with them, we get them back onto their feet, so that at the end of the day they walk away because other clubs are interested. For me, I feel that other clubs have cherry-picked our players this year. I offered a few contracts out at Christmas and agents said no, we want to hang on until the summer and see what comes, and that's football."

Of the players Skiverton has lost this summer, the Glovers boss singled out left-back Nathan Smith's departure as the one that hurt him the most. However, he pointed out that he was already looking at replacements for the 24 year old:

"Out of everybody, he was the one that I really wanted to keep. We pushed the boat out and we went beyond the point of what we would normally offer. But I spoke to the lad this morning (Thursday) and he wanted a fresh start. He felt that he'd been at Yeovil for a little while now. He thanked everyone for the work that we'd done with him. Am I disappointed he's gone? Yes, I'm very disappointed. He was an excellent servant to the football club. I've played with him, managed him and you couldn't have got a better player. As for this football club, we move on and I've already got two or three left-backs that I'm talking to."

Former Ladies Boss Gets Pilgrims Call

Plymouth Ladies have appointed former Yeovil Town Ladies manager Steve Phelps as their new boss for the 2011-12 season. Phelps has been drafted in as a replacement for outgoing manager Rhys Sullivan, who left them after guiding them into the FA Women's Premier League at the end of last season.

The choice of new management has a bitter-sweet twist to it - Plymouth are replacing Yeovil Town Ladies in the Premier League Southern Division next season, with the Glovers having only survived a single season at that level, before dropping back into the South West Women's Combination League.

Phelps was the Glovers manager for the bulk of that season, before stepping down in March, with the Ladies replacing him last month with management duo Nigel Williams and Sarah Lawler.

Now Phelps will aim for 'second time lucky' as he aims to cement Argyle's position within the Premier League. Pilgrims Chairman Mike Picken told BBC Sport that Phelps' experience at that level should help them in that quest:

"We are delighted to have obtained the services of Steve Phelps to guide us into the Premier League. Steve had considerable success with Yeovil Ladies and is a highly qualified manager. We look forward to the new season with great anticipation."

Ciderspace Is Back

As far as we can tell, the Ciderspace website is now back for most people. Hence unless we get a lot of feedback to the contrary, this temporary blog will stop for the moment.

Can anyone who is still having problems accessing the Ciderspace site (including a working news page that displays the two MK Dons interviews and match report) let us know at ytfcciderspace@yahoo.com and we'll try to both offer advice and gauge the volumes who are affected.

For now, head to the Ciderspace website and let us know if articles from today are not appearing.