Yeovil 3 Bristol City 2

I enjoyed that. The Glovers played some cracking stuff at times. You could see that Skivo's preferred style of play - a fast open style, getting the ball forward quickly and keeping it on the ground - is beginning to gel with the team and become second nature. Anyway, without further ado, it's time to do a DNB and give my marks for last night's performance:

1. Alex McCarthy: 7/10. Let in 2 goals (one a pen) but neither could be blamed on him. Dominated his box, good in the air, one excellent one-on-one stop and a cracking last minute fingertip save. Only his distribution occasionally let the rest of his game down. Overall, very promising.

2. Craig Alcock: 6/10. Started badly but improved, especially defensively, as the game went on. Tends to give the ball away too easily for my liking, but never stops running.

4. Steven Caulker: 7/10. Partially at fault for City's opener but a great presence at the back after that. Don't delay Skivo, get this lad signed up for the season ASAP!

5. Terrell Forbes (Capt): 7/10. Also partially at fault for City's opener but much more the player we're used to seeing after that. A big improvement on last weeks cameo against Derby.

3. Nathan Jones: 6/10. Another good performance from Jonesy, notwithstanding the shockingly bad moment when he gave away a penalty out of nothing. Otherwise defended well and got forward to support Welsh on the left. Nathan Smith will have to be on top form to win his place back when fit.

6. Ryan Mason: 7/10. Competed extremely well in a crowded midfield. One of those players who always appears to have time to pick a pass out. Unlucky not to have scored. As with Caulker, get him signed up for the season please Skivo!

7. Danny Schofield: 7/10. A much more committed and whole-hearted performance than his last run-out against Derby. Started on the right and looked the pick of our two wingers until he ran out of steam. Scored as well to cap an encouraging display.

8. George O'Callaghan: 8/10. The pick of the midfielders for me. Took a lot of responsibility onto himself. Always available for a pass and kept the pace of our game at a high tempo. Very promising.

9. Andy Welsh: 6/10. Another who improved as the game went on. Tends to duck out of 50/50 balls, which lets the rest of his game down. Toughen up Andy!

10. Gavin Tomlin: 8/10. That's more like it. Held the ball up well, always looking to get into the box and scored a well-deserved winner. Huge improvement in both effort and his final product since the Derby game.

11. Dean Bowditch: 8/10. A revelation! Just as fellow striker Sam Williams took the game by the scruff of the neck against Derby, so did Bowditch last night. Always a threat both in the air and on the deck and scored a screamer. What's not to like?

Subs:
16. Paul Terry (71 mins for Danny Schofield): 5/10. The threat from the right posed by Schofield I'm afraid largely disappeared once Terry came on. Solid enough defensively at a time when we were under the cosh, but added little going forward.

17. Andre McCollin (50 mins for Dean Bowditch): 4/10. Last chance saloon time one suspects for Andre, but he did nothing to convince anyone he has a future at the club. His main asset was always his pace but if anything appears to have lost some of that. Reminds me of Keize Ibe, but not as effective.

I know, I know, it was only a friendly. Even so, it was very encouraging to see a somewhat experimental side pass the ball as well as they did and with a minimum of hoofing too. Indeed one might argue that a little more hoofing from some defensive positions might have been in order at times, but that could be construed as being churlish! What was particularly encouraging was seeing chances being created and then taken, though yet another penalty was wasted. That's 4 pens awarded since Skivo became manager and 4 pens missed. Where's Phil Jevons when you need him?

I've been accused of being overly negative in some of my posts on here and on the green room lately. I don't apologise for that as I believe a certain amount of pessimism over the coming season is justified. After all we will have one of the smallest squads in the division (though it appears already to be larger than last season's squad) working under the most inexperienced management team in the division, who'll be handling probably the smallest budget in the division. On the face of it everything seems stacked against us. And yet, and yet.... If we can play football of the standard we saw last night, take our chances and defend as strongly throughout the season, then you never know, we might just surprise a few people.... Oh hell, here I go again, waxing lyrical after one good performance in a pre-season friendly. Let's see what happens when the real stuff begins before going overboard. If nothing else it does appear that the football will be more entertaining this season and that at least is something to look forward to.