Tuesday 20 July 2004 - Twerton Park - kick off 7.45pm Friendly

With Gary Owers deciding to rest himself there was a starting berth for Iain Harvey alongside Bobby Ford in the centre of the park. Graeme Power and John Williams returned to the line-up after missing the goalless draw against Bristol Rovers. With Yeovil fielding a mixture of first team players and trialists the opening exchanges were fairly even as both sides tried to pass the ball on the well-grassed pitch. It was the Somerset side who created the first opening, Obudabe testing Paul Evans with a neat turn and shot. City’s response was a strong run by Steve Tweddle that required a last-gasp block to deflect his effort away for a corner. Midway through the half a great tackle by Steve Jones denied Ibe and then Sam Bailey produced a similar stop to prevent Obudabe getting a clear sight of goal. As the half progressed City produced their best spell of the game. Jimmy Benefield was seeing more of the ball and he combined with Russell Milton to force an excellent block out of Yeovil keeper Weale. Eight minutes before the interval it looked as if City would take advantage of this upper hand. Jones’ cross was clearly handled by Pluck and the referee, after his assistant had flagged, pointed to the spot. However, Tweddle attempted a clever little chipped spot-kick and Weale just managed to get a hand up and keep it out. Spurred on by this Yeovil went straight up the other end and won a penalty of their own. Ibe broke clear and, as he tried to round Evans, was clipped by the big keeper. He did take the ball in almost the same movement but the referee viewed the contact as a foul. Jones and Coupe were booked in the protests that followed but once this had died down Williams confidently sent Evans the wrong way. If this was somewhat harsh on City they only had themselves to blame four minutes later when they conceded a second goal. Williams should have easily cleared Johnson’s corner but only succeeded in deflecting it into the path of Pluck, who fired it past the exposed Evans.

With the visitors making nine changes at the interval and City making five of their own before the half was 15 minutes old the game lost what little shape it had contained. One of the City substitutes was latest Torquay United trialist Michael Small and he put in an impressive performance in the centre of midfield. Another player that stood out was former youth team striker Ricky Hulbert as his 100% effort worried the Yeovil backline on several occasions. One run took him clear only to lose his footing at the vital moment. As Yeovil, looking like a counterfeit Celtic team in their unpleasant green and white hooped kit, began to regain their composure Evans was called into action several times. The pick of his saves was pushing Weatherstone’s 20-yard free-kick to safety. He was beaten one further time though when Gall ran onto a neat pass to slot the ball home with 12 minutes remaining. City did nearly grab a goal in the closing minutes that would have ruined all their previous careful planning, however Dean Stevens’ 25-yard effort was well-struck but straight at Weale.