Yeovil Town U18s lost to Swindon Supermarine U18s in a tight and well contested league match at Somerton over the weekend. Three second half goals ensured an exciting finish, but the visitors from Wiltshire held on and went home with all three points.
The Young Glovers made two changes from the side that started last week, with Joe Crisp coming into centre midfield for the injured Nans Nanev and Jacob Brewer starting for the unavailable Krystian Woods at right wing back.
With only one place separating the sides in the middle of the league, it was always likely to be a tight and cagey matchup, and so it proved. The home side thought they had secured an early goal after an overhead bicycle kick went in from Blake Watts but it was flagged for offside. On 15 minutes a great run and shot from Korey Coerner was spilled by the keeper but striker Bobby Hilton hit the follow up narrowly wide.
The visitors then enjoyed a good spell of possession and had a flurry of chances. The first shot was well saved by Louis Parker in goal and others blocked or not taken.
Yeovil Town hit back when Joe Beckey had an excellent jinking run coming in from the right but saw his flicked shot palmed away for a corner.
As the half drew to a close, Swindon had a chance to go ahead but shot waywardly wide from a good position and it ended 0-0 at the break.
Swindon started the second half strongly, with two good chances in the opening minutes before Yeovil hit back with two chances of their own. Firstly, Hilton picked up a through ball down the middle, held off his man and saw his strong shot well saved. Then a break down the right led to a chance for Koerner who saw his shot saved on the line by the diving keeper.
Mark Challen, Head of Coaching and Standards at the club, was in charge of the team today and sent on Devon Proctor for Jacob Brewer at right wing-back and Reece Strawbridge for Sam Richards as the half wore on.
As the game entered the final quarter, Swindon took the lead through a thunderbolt from outside the box that dipped over the hapless Parker in goal, 1-0.
Morgan Alexander entered the game, coming on for Beckey in midfield and soon after the Young Glovers got a deserved equaliser when Strawbridge headed in from a corner, 1-1.
With both teams chasing a winner Swindon first saw a shot cannon off the crossbar before they grabbed their second, which was a carbon copy of the equaliser, with a header direct from a corner, 2-1. Yeovil couldn’t find a way back after that but battled gamely against a big and physically strong Swindon side.
The Young Glovers remain 6th in the table and face a difficult match away at unbeaten Torquay United next weekend.
