Match Report: Eastleigh v Yeovil Town

Yeovil Town claimed a 1-1 draw with Eastleigh at the Silverlake Stadium yesterday evening in a game that saw Yeovil put in a dire performance for most of the match. After a bright start which saw Sam Pearson give Yeovil the lead after 7 minutes Yeovil were then on the back foot for the remainder of the game and Eastleigh deservedly leveled the scores with just under 20 minutes to play. Yeovil were hanging on at the end of the game but somehow they were able to keep the scores level.

Chris Hargreaves made three changes to the side that was beaten 1-0 by York City 10 days earlier. Sam Perry was dropped from the side while Max Hunt and Alex Fisher took a place on the bench. Sam Pearson and Matt Worthington regained their starting places while new loan signing Owen Bevan made his debut.

Yeovil opted for a 4-3-3 formation with Morgan Williams, Owen Bevan, Ben Richards-Everton and Jamie Reckord in front of Grant Smith. Lawson D'Ath, Josh Staunton and Matt Worthington made up the midfield while Charlie Wakefield, Malachi Linton and Sam Pearson lead the attack.

On the bench was Max Hunt, Gime Toure, Chiori Johnson, Jake Scrimshaw and Alex Fisher.

Yeovil kicked off towards the home end.

Yeovil made a strong start to the game and got their reward after just seven minutes. Malachi Linton picked up a loose ball and fed in Sam Pearson who's shot beat Joe McDonnell and into the net.

From here though the game completely changed for Yeovil, as they were no longer able to keep up their bright start and Eastleigh were the side in control.

Yeovil couldn't create any further goal scoring opportunities at all and Eastleigh could move forward with no threat from Yeovil.

It didn't help that Yeovil were giving away free kicks in dangerous positions but thankfully Eastleigh weren't able to make the most of them.

Half Time: Eastleigh 0-1 Yeovil Town

Neither side made changes at half time which was perhaps surprising as Yeovil clearly needed to change things up to get themselves going.

On 54 minutes Grant Smith made a wonderful save as a Tristan Abrahams deflected shot was heading for the top corner but he was able to get to the ball in superb fashion and put the ball out for a corner.

Eastleigh made a double substitution on 61 minutes as Osseynou Cisse and Corey Panter were replaced by Charlie Carter and George Langston.

Then on 71 minutes the goal that we could all see coming finally arrived for Eastleigh when a low shot from JJ McKiernan found the bottom corner.

Eastleigh made their final substitution as John Dyenuga was replaced by Jake Hesketh.

Now it was a case of could Yeovil hold on and with such a long time left in the game it wasn't looking likely.

Yeovil made their first substitution on 76 minutes as Charlie Wakefield was replaced by Alex Fisher.

With 10 minutes left to go Yeovil were just about holding on and at times some desperate defending was needed to keep the score at 1-1.

Yeovil made their second and last substitution on 87 minutes as Malachi Linton was replaced by Gime Toure.

6 minutes of time was added on and Eastleigh were reduced to 10 min on 92 minutes when Brennan Camp was shown a straight red card for a challenge on Lawson D'Ath.

Full Time: Eastleigh 1-1 Yeovil Town

It was a very poor performance from Yeovil last night and the early season optimism is being quickly drained away. We look nothing like the side we did against Wrexham and Barnet and unless things improve we are going to be in for a hard season.

Man of the match voting for this draw is now open. You can cast your vote here.

Match Attendance: 1,977 (291 from Yeovil Town)

Eastleigh

1 - Joe McDonnell, 20 - John Dyenuga (replaced by 10 - Jake Hesketh on 71 minutes), 2 - Brennan Camp (dismissed on 92 minutes), 5 - Aaron Martin, 19 - Corey Panter (replaced by 12 - George Langston on 62 minutes), 17 - Vincent Harper, 8 - Ousseynou Cisse (replaced by 7 - Charlie Carter on 62 minutes), 16 - JJ McKiernan, 11 - Ryan Hill, 9 - Danny Whitehall, 14 - Tristan Abrahams

Substitutes

7 - Charlie Carter, 10 - Jake Hesketh, 12 - George Langston, 21 - Oscar Rutherford, 30 - Callum Ebanks

Kit

All Blue
Goalkeeper: Green

Yeovil Town

1 - Grant Smith, 2 - Morgan Williams, 26 - Owen Bevan, 6 - Ben Richards-Everton, 3 - Jamie Reckord, 32 - Josh Staunton, 7 - Matt Worthington, 8 - Lawson D'Ath, 19 - Charlie Wakefield (replaced by 9 - Alex Fisher on 77 minutes), 15 - Sam Pearson, 14 - Malachi Linton (replaced by 17 - Chiori Johnson on 88 minutes)

Substitutes

5 - Max Hunt, 10 - Gime Toure, 17 - Chiori Johnson, 11 - Jake Scrimshaw, 9 - Alex Fisher

Kit

Pink and Purple Striped Shirts, Purple Shorts, Pink Socks
Goalkeeper: Orange

Officials

Referee: - Paul Johnson