L1: Yeovil 1 Walsall 3

I couldn't resist it in the end. The forecast was for wet and cold weather, Spurs were on the box and I fully intended to stay home to watch that instead, but at 6.30 last night my better half told me in no uncertain terms to stop moping around, get my waterproofs on and get to the bloody football. So I did. There's some habits you just can't break.

The forecast was spot on for once. It was wet, it was cold and it was fairly windy, not as bad as against Charlton the other week, but still significant. Walsall won the toss and elected to play with the wind in the first half and this was fairly crucial inasmuch as it enabled them to put us on the back foot straightaway, and they took full advantage, going 2-0 up after 20 minutes with 2 identical goals. Both of them crosses from the left and both of them unchallenged headers giving Alex McCarthy no chance in the Yeovil goal. The Glovers pulled one back on 30 minutes, Jon Obika converting after a bursting run from Craig Alcock split the Saddlers defence, and that led to the home side's best spell of the game with some excellent passing football being played but, alas, with no end product.

The second half was a non-event. Yeovil completely failed to take advantage of the conditions now in their favour and failed even to show any urgency until the final 10 minutes when they belatedly seemed to realise they were losing the game and began to get more men forward. Not that this increased our goal threat in any way and only really assisted the visitors who scored their third on the break with 2 minutes left. The resulting exodus saw around half the 3,500 hardy souls who turned up on a filthy night leave the ground before the final whistle. In more ways than one, it was a miserable evening.

Line up (4-4-1-1) and merit marks:

1. Alex McCarthy: 6/10 - Did nothing wrong but left hopelessly exposed by probably the worst defensive display of the season.

2. Craig Alcock: 5/10 - I've marked him up 1 point for his crucial part in our goal but apart from that did nothing of note, other than give the ball away too often.

5. Steven Caulker: 5/10 - Comfortably his worst display of the season. It's asking a huge amount of someone of Caulker's age to be the rock on which the defence depends and for the first time this season (that I've seen) he wasn't able to live up to those expectations.

6. Terrell Forbes: 5/10 - What's happened to the Terrell Forbes who was playing so confidently a few short weeks ago? Looked a shadow of his former self last night.

23. Danny Hutchins: 4/10 - No lack of effort, but perhaps is now being caught out playing as a right-sided full-back on the left. Both first half goals came from crosses from his side of the pitch.

16. Scott Murray: 5/10 - One or two decent runs and shots in the first half which came close, but ultimately no cigar. His lack of pace nowadays was very evident after the break. Set piece delivery provided nothing. Disappointing.

7. George O'Callaghan: 4/10 - He's been banging on the gaffer's door to play more apparently, but this performance will have done nothing to persuade Skivo to pick him again. Most passes went backwards or sideways. No invention or energy. Very disappointing.

25. Shaun MacDonald: 7/10 - In contrast to his midfield partner full of energy and running. Did his best to take the game by the scruff of the neck but couldn't do it on his own. One of the few Glovers prepared to have a shot at goal and was unlucky in particular with one effort that looked to be going in until it deflected wide off Ryan Mason. If only all our players had the same energy and commitment.

11. Andy Welsh: 5/10 - Same comments apply as for Scott Murray. Too peripheral too often. Disappointing. I see a few on the green room are moaning because he was subbed yet again, but I had no problems with the decision. Scott Murray looked marginally more effective at the time, though effective is perhaps not the right word.

13. Ryan Mason: 6/10 - As with Steven Caulker in defence, it's expecting a lot to rely on an 18 year-old to spark your attack game after game. Walsall clearly knew Ryan was our main threat and marked him accordingly. The few times he got free on his own he looked as dangerous as ever and indeed should have been awarded a penalty after the break. No lack of effort but not quite his night.

26. Jonathan Obika: 6/10 - Took his goal well enough at the second attempt but not a huge amount of threat from him otherwise, though to be fair the supply to him was very lacking.

Substitutes:
9. Sam Williams (70 mins for Jonathan Obika): 5/10 - Was quite puzzled by this substitution at the time and am still puzzled now. Unless Obika was injured or otherwise running out of steam of course. Whatever, Williams on his own up front was even less effective than Obika had been, so it didn't work.

14. Dean Bowditch (61 mins for Andy Welsh): 4/10 - I've said it before and I'll say it again: Making your best striker play on the left wing is like trying to teach a pig how to sing - it wastes your time and it annoys the pig. Bowditch is a striker, a goalscorer. Play him as one, please.

28. Nathan Smith (77 mins for Danny Hutchins): 3/10 - Another strange sub, unless of course Danny Hutchins was injured/knackered and had to depart. Again however, it didn't come off with Smith looking like Bambi on ice for the 15-odd minutes he played and Walsall's final goal coming from a cross from his side of the pitch.

So much for optimism about the play-offs. If defeat at Gillingham last week was a reality check, then this was a reality check and a half. Walsall are a tidy enough side with some decent players, but they're hardly world-beaters and won't IMO be anywhere near the play-off mix at the end of the season. Yet they saw us off with relative ease, by working hard all over the pitch, closing us down fast when we were on the ball and by using the conditions intelligently - in other words they did all the things we didn't do.

Such is life. The good run we were on is now most definitely over and with 2 tough games coming up against Franchise FC and Norwich City then the bad run we've recently embarked upon may well continue for a little longer yet. I think perhaps that Skivo needs to think carefully now about how he uses the assets he has in future. The 4-4-1-1 formation that served us well up until the Leeds game may by now have been sussed by our rivals and it could well be that it's time to tweak it. I've already said my piece on an earlier blog as to how I would change things, and Skivo himself has admitted that he needs to think again in regard to away games in particular. Let's hope he gets it right. The result last night moves us down 1 place in the table to 14th, 9 points away from the play-offs but only 5 away from the relegation zone. There's no room for any complacency.