Match Report: Carlisle United 2, Yeovil Town 0

NATIONWIDE LEAGUE DIVISION THREE

CARLISLE UNITED 2, YEOVIL TOWN 0

STEVE SOWDEN REPORTS FROM BRUNTON PARK

THE much-loved Dylan Thomas play Under Milk Wood centred around the goings-on in Llareggub and for those of you with the literary knowledge will understand that the fictional location perfectly summed-up what Yeovil Town got on their longest journey of the season.

As Yeovil entered the 26th chapter of its epic Football League adventure, the facts were there to suggest that the promotion-chasing Glovers should have been more than capable of taking all three points from their hosts who propped up the Nationwide League Division Three table.

But Carlisle had not read the pre-match script and deservedly won the fixture with goals either side of half-time scored by player-manager Paul Simpson and substitute Craig Farrell.

Yeovil boss Gary Johnson, who has given scribes across the land so many wonderful words of joy and jubilation to write in recent times, was less than happy with his team's performance. But Johnson is a wise old owl and knows that there are still 20 more 'chapters' to be written between now and the end of the season and so there is no need to panic just yet.

Much has been made in recent weeks of Johnson strengthening his personnel options with a striker, or two, being top of his wanted list.

Kevin Gall wasted several chances on Saturday, while Jake Edwards never really threatened although he made a decent contribution on his return from suspension. Adam Stansfield was brought on as a second-half substitute and rarely troubled the Carlisle defence, while out-of-favour and out-of-confidence Kirk Jackson kept the bench warm throughout the cold afternoon.

And Johnson gave nothing to suggest that a search for a striker was not the case in his after-match press conference in which he spoke of his disappointment at Yeovil not looking more dangerous in front of goal.

"It was frustrating," he admitted. "We worked hard and we had some decent chances, but our quality was poor in and around the final third. The final ball also let us down.

"Kevin Gall gets into the right positions and put them away, but he didn't put them away today and that's why we lost 2-0.

"But we've not become a bad side overnight because we missed chances. We have got 46 points in the bag, so we must not let it effect us too much.

"There is a bit of work to do because we did not quite show our real quality and some players were not at their best, so I will be steaming in on Monday."

Yeovil were without the services of suspended duo Adam Lockwood and Gavin Williams, but were able to recall available again Edwards and Colin Pluck. But they were also without hamstring victim Nick Crittenden and so the young Stephen Reed was called in.

Gall should have put Yeovil up early on when his breathtaking pace saw him speed away from Carlisle defenders Kevin Gray and Lee Andrews, but with keeper Matty Glennon advancing to narrow the angle his shot went agonisingly the wrong side of the post.

Carlisle - one of the league's form teams despite their lowly position - were certainly looking 'up for it' with player-boss Simpson and the experienced striker Andy Preece causing problems for Yeovil's defence.

But Yeovil had another chance to have broken the deadlock when a slip by Chris Billy allowed Gall in again but he fired off target.

By now the 300-or-so Yeovil fans in the crowd, including 50 Glasgow Celtic fans who had come to watch their fellow green-and-white-hooped comrades, must have been wondering whether it was going to be one of those days.

And moments after Gall's second miss of the day, Carlisle took the lead with deadly aplomb in the 21st minute. Yeovil lost position in midfield and Kevin Henderson's cross eluded Paul Terry and the ball fell at the feet of the veteran Simpson who expertly drilled his shot past Yeovil keeper Chris Weale.

Simpson - who was in the Blackpool team knocked out of the FA Cup by Yeovil a few years ago - nearly doubled Carlisle's lead only for his long-range free-kick to be saved.

Skipper Skiverton should have found the net for Yeovil when he found himself in space inside the area following Hugo Rodrigues' knockdown but fired wide, and then it was Simpson again who nearly put Carlisle 2-0 up when another shot from well outside the box went over the bar.

And as the first-half drew to an end, Gall came close to pulling Yeovil level but once again saw his shot go narrowly wide of the target.

Johnson introduced Abdelhalim El Kholti to the fray during the interval in place of Reed, but the French-Moroccan's contribution lasted less than half-an-hour. El Kholti had a stinker and was hauled off and replaced by Stansfield.

The manager explained: "You give people chances to get straight in and effect the game, but unfortunately I didn't see an end product and, unfortunately, within ten seconds of replacing him, we lost a second goal."

Carlisle's match-clinching second which secured the points came at a time when Yeovil were beginning to take a hold on the proceedings.

Dangerman Preece headed the ball into Farrell's path and he ran on to round the advancing Weale and slotted home his shot from a tight angle despite the despairing lunge of Rodrigues on the goal-line. Game over and Yeovil supporters were, by now, not looking forward to the long, long, long journey home.

Gall's day of woe was completed when he received a yellow card for dissent after questioning an offside decision. The Welsh striker was caught offside far too often during the afternoon, but on this occasion he had every right to complain about the flag.

Stansfield had a header late-on cleared off the line by Paul Arniston, but it was always going to be a disappointing afternoon for the Glovers.

Yeovil's 26th chapter of Football League novel number one was certainly no comedy - it was a tragedy. Although it was an entertaining battle for any neutrals in the 5,455 crowd, it was arguably Yeovil's worst performance of the campaign and Johnson knows that he has to turn things around to make sure that this particular story has a happy ending.

PS: For those of you wondering what Dylan Thomas' Llareggub has got to do with Yeovil's defeat at Carlisle - just spell the name backwards and it will clearly show what the Glovers got on their long haul trip to Cumbria.