Ryan Dickson scored the only goal of the game as Yeovil secured a 1-0 win at Huish Park against playoff hopefuls Accrington Stanley.
After winning the relegation six-pointer against Dagenham and Redbridge, Darren Way’s men fought to victory over Accrington as Dickson’s tidy finish on the hour gave the Glovers all three points.
Artur Krysiak played his part with several good saves, but Yeovil scrapped their way as they looked to put more space between themselves and the bottom two.
Town manager Darren Way had the luxury of a full bench after an illness leading up to the Dagenham clash meant he could name only four substitutes, but Harry Cornick came in for Ryan Bird in the only change from the 1-0 win in the East End.
As Yeovil kicked off towards the home terrace in the first half, it took a while for both sides to find their groove. Tahvon Campbell had the best chance of the opening minutes, but his powerful volley flashed wide of Ross Etheridge’s goal.
Accrington had their first big chance in the 27th minute as Billy Kee’s header from Pietro Mingoia looked bound for the top corner, but Artur Krysiak pulled off a superb save to deny the Stanley top scorer.
As the game petered towards the half-time interval, Stanley’s big centre-back Tom Davies’ free header flew over the bar for a goal kick, before Kee came mightily close to opening the score at the back-post but his header from point-blank range went wide.
Way made a double substitution at half-time as Jakub Sokolik and Brandon Goodship were taken off for Nathan Smith and Francois Zoko, the latter having recovered from the illness that spread through the squad last weekend.
But with over an hour gone substitute Zoko played his part in the opening goal. The Ivorian played the marauding Dickson in behind the defence and the left-back looped the ball into Etheridge’s left-hand corner to give Yeovil the lead.
Substitute McCarten shot straight at Krysiak as the away side looked to get back on level terms, but Campbell went close at the other end with quarter of an hour to go, as his powerful drive tested the Stanley ‘keeper Etheridge who pushed it behind for a corner.
Cornick was given a rapturous applause as he came off for Kevin Dawson for the final ten minutes as Yeovil tried to hold onto the lead. Despite Accrington putting numbers forward, Way’s men held on for another important three points in the fight to stay up.
Yeovil: Krysiak- Roberts, Ward, Sokolik (Smith 45’), Dickson- Tozer, Laird, Dolan- Cornick (Dawson 77’), Goodship, Campbell (Zoko 45’).
Subs not used: Weale- Dawson, Bird, Gillett, Lacey.
Accrington- Etheridge- Halliday (Carver 71’), Hughes, Davies, Pearson- Conneeley, Crooks- Mingoia, Boco (McCarten 55’), McConville (Buxton 86’)- Kee
Subs not used- Procter, Wakefield, Brown, Carver, Buxton, Mooney
Booked- Crooks 69’, Pearson 88’.
Attendance- 3207, 45 away
