L1: Yeovil 4 Wycombe 0

And a merry Christmas to you too! The Glovers gave a decent Boxing Day crowd of just over 5,000 the best possible Christmas present with a 4-0 win over relegation threatened Wycombe, even if the scoreline did flatter us slightly. In the end the difference between the teams was that we took our chances at one end while at the other keeper Alex McCarthy made a couple of world-class saves to deny the opposition and to ensure the 3 points remained in Somerset.

We lined up as follows (4-4-2 diamond):

1. Alex McCarthy: 9/10 - Superb display of goalkeeping craft. Will take the plaudits in particular for the 2 second-half saves that kept us in a 1-0 lead at the time, but made several other crucial saves as well as dominating his penalty box throughout the 90 minutes. I watched Asimir Begovic look completely at home in the Portsmouth goal in the Premier League on tv the other day, but even though Begovic impressed me enormously in his time here last season I never saw him play as consistently well as McCarthy does. We've been perhaps understandably focussing on the likes of Ryan Mason and Steven Caulker when talking about possible stars of the future, but on this performance McCarthy will be the best of them all.

2. Craig Alcock: 8/10 - Solid defensively and a threat going forward, the quintessential modern fullback. One block he made in particular after McCarthy was (for once) left stranded saved a certain goal. Excellent.

4. Stefan Stam: 7/10 - Brought back into the team to presumably add more strength in the air - and it's paid off.

5. Steven Caulker: 7/10 - The usual solid display we've come to expect. Amazing to think he's only just 18 - he plays with the maturity of someone twice his age.

8. Keiron Murtagh: 8/10 - Shaun MacDonald's replacement and the best compliment I can pay him is that we didn't miss our Swansea loanee at all. Scored the opener, could and perhaps should have scored another and put in the kind of shift that someone with his physical attributes should be putting in. If he can keep up this standard of performance and get a run of games under his belt then maybe at last his considerable potential will start to be realised. It's up to him.

13. Ryan Mason: 6/10 - started on the right of the diamond but seemed to be interchanging with Gavin Tomlin as the furthest forward attacking midfielder throughout the game. Not a bad performance from Ryan by any means but maybe not quite up to the very high standards he's set himself lately.

21. JP Kalala: 8/10 - Usual position at the base of the diamond and his usual all-action, terrier-like performance with the added bonus of a well-deserved goal. Top-class.

28. Nathan Smith: 7/10 - Not quite back to his best yet, but he's getting there. Needs games, and Skivo seems keen now to give him his chance. Made several good breaks forward and looked more solid defensively, though still inclined to lose position at times. Still, promising.

9. Sam Williams: 8/10 - I said the other week that the only thing missing from his game was one thing - goals. Well, that's 2 scored in 2 games now and if he carries on leading the line like this for the rest of the season then we're going to have a big asset on our hands. We know about his strength and ability in the air, yesterday he began to show us a little more of his repertoire with some canny flicks and tricks. They didn't always come off, but it's good to see he's got the confidence to try.

10. Gavin Tomlin: 7/10 - Started at the tip of the diamond but tended to swap positions with Mason as the game went on. More effective in the more attacking position for my money, but well worth his place in the team anyway. He's really come back strong after his injury break and looks a more confident player now he's away from the front two and we're not relying on him or expecting him to score goals. More to come.

14. Dean Bowditch: 6/10 - Had one or two dangerous moments but a touch subdued otherwise, in comparison with his last couple of appearances anyway. Made one stunning break in the first half which was stopped by a last ditch tackle. Seemed to be limping a little when subbed, so I just wonder if he was playing with a bit of a knock? Always a threat nevertheless.

Subs:
11. Andy Welsh (81 mins for Ryan Mason): 7/10 - His first few minutes on the pitch for a while, and good to see him looking so up for it and indeed providing the cross that led to Sam Williams goal.

16. Scott Murray (75 mins for Gavin Tomlin): 6/10 - As with Welsh above, his first few minutes on the pitch since the Walsall debacle at the beginning of the month.

26. Jonathan Obika (67 mins for Dean Bowditch): 8/10 - The Wycombe defence simply couldn't live with his pace and he took full advantage to notch his 3rd goal this month. Unlucky not to start, but when you have 2 strikers in the form that Bowditch and Williams are in then someone has to miss out.

As said above, the 4-0 scoreline perhaps flattered us slightly. The first half was very even in terms of chances and we were a shade fortunate to be going into the break leading by Murtagh's strike. The first half of the second half (if you see what I mean!) was again fairly even but Wycombe could consider themselves unlucky not to have at least equalised, McCarthy producing 2 stunning saves to deny the visitors. Yeovil's second goal through Kalala on 71 minutes was the crucial moment in the game - after that Wycombe poured forward in search of taking something from the match and left huge gaps at the back which the Glovers counter-attacked against superbly. Another thoroughly entertaining afternoon at Huish Park anyway - let's hope the 1000-odd extra home fans who turned up were encouraged to return another time. This team deserves their support.

The result leaves the Glovers in 13th position in the table, on 28 points; 7 points away from the relegation zone and 7 away from the play-offs. Up next, tomorrow, are Swindon away. The bookies make the Robins favourites at 4/5, the draw is priced at 5/2 and a Yeovil win at 5/2. My fiver's going on the draw. Running total: +50p. Woo-hoo! Back in the black!