L1: Yeovil 0 Sheffield Wednesday 2

On the face of it a 0-2 home defeat doesn't sound anything much to write home about, but appearances can be deceptive. The Glovers matched and indeed bettered their illustrious visitors for most of Saturday's game in all areas except where it really matters - the penalty box. And yet again, a referee's decision - or should I say indecision - hurt us badly.

Wednesday began the game like a house on fire and could have gone ahead through Clinton Morrison and Gary Teale efforts, though neither player managed to get their shots on target. Gradually the Glovers began to get into the game and began to dominate possession, passing the ball nicely albeit without a great deal of attacking threat. The closest they came to a goal saw a Dean Bowditch pass finding Sam Williams in the box. The big striker turned his defender well but saw his shot smothered by Wednesday keeper Nicky Weaver. Gavin Williams shot over the bar and a Bowditch free-kick was deflected away for a corner. The Glovers cause wasn't helped when Adam Virgo was subbed just before the break with a groin strain. 0-0 at half-time, but Yeovil were on top.

The second half began in the same vein with the Glovers dominating possession. Wednesday defender Darren Purse fouled Super Gav and then stamped on the Welshman as both players tangled on the floor. Referee Graham Scott and his assistant evidently completely missed the stamp as Purse wasn't even booked for the assault, never mind given the red card he patently deserved - a game-changing decision, or lack of one. Owain Tudur-Jones forced Weaver to save again with a shot from outside the box and Bowditch should have at least hit the target a few minutes later when free in front of goal but screwed his effort wide. The game changed with the introduction of Owls substitute Jermaine Johnson. The former Glover loanee's pace immediately began to give the home side's defence some problems and on 72 minutes he put the visitors in front with a fine individual goal, cutting inside from the left and from the edge of the box firing past a helpless Stephen Henderson in the Yeovil goal. The Glovers continued to dominate possession without causing Wednesday too many alarms and the visitors made the game safe on 84 minutes. John Otsomober drove into the box only to be brought down by a mis-timed tackle by Luke Ayling. A clear penalty from where I was sitting, which was duly converted by Tommy Miller.

Otsomober blotted his copybook just before the end with a late tackle on Nathan Smith which saw Mr Scott show him the red card. To their credit the Glovers kept on pressing for a consolation or better but the nearest they came to scoring in the brief time remaining was a Tudur-Jones header which hit the bar. It just wasn't our day.

Yeovil lined up as follows (4-4-2):

13. Stephen Henderson - 6/10: Strange game for Stephen. Didn't have a great deal to do for most of the match and had no chance with either of the goals.

8. Luke Ayling - 7/10: Began at right-back and switched to centre-half just before half-time when Virgo went off. Looked equally accomplished in both positions and although he did give away a penalty it was a tackle he had to make and was unlucky to just slightly mistime it. A good, versatile young player who should have a good career in the game - hopefully mostly with us!

5. Paul Huntington - 8/10: Improving all the time. Stepped up to the plate when Virgo went off and led the backline by example. After something of a slow start to his Glovers career is now showing exactly why Skivo brought him to the club.

19. Adam Virgo - 7/10: A big player for us and we missed him after he went off just before half-time. Not that we missed him so much at the back - Luke Ayling deputised very effectively for him - rather we missed his goal threat up front from set-pieces.

6. Nathan Smith - 7/10: Another good performance from a player who is getting better and better the more he plays. Very solid in defence and exciting going forwards.

24. Gavin Williams - 6/10: For me, one of his least effective performances in his latest spell at the club. Mind, that still meant he posed a considerable threat at times, but faded out of the game rather more than we're used to seeing. Playing with an injury evidently - is it beginning to show?

25. Shaun MacDonald - 8/10: That's better! Getting back to the form he showed for us last season, and we all know how effective he can be at his best.

20. Owain Tudur-Jones - 8/10: Another very good box-to-box performance. Unlucky not to score. Is he starting to win the fans over at last? Not before time if so. We'll miss him when he goes back to Norwich.

11. Andy Welsh - 5/10: A bit of a nothing game to my eyes. Struggled to get involved and subbed on 65 minutes.

9. Sam Williams - 6/10: Typical Sam Williams performance. Tried hard, put himself about, never looked like scoring. Admittedly not helped by the change of formation in the first half which pushed him out wide.

10. Dean Bowditch - 6/10: And again, tried hard, put himself about, never really looked like scoring, especially after he was pushed wide after Freeman came on in the second half.

Subs:
2. Craig Alcock (36 mins for Adam Virgo) - 5/10: A tough game to make his comeback from injury in but he coped well enough until the arrival of Jermaine Johnson. Struggled thereafter.

7. Andrew Williams (77 mins for Dean Bowditch) - 5/10: You want your subs to make a positive impact, but it just didn't happen for Andy on Saturday. For me, he needs to be starting games.

18. Luke Freeman (65 mins for Andy Welsh) - 5/10: Skivo was obvously hoping Luke would have the same impact on the game as he did as a sub at Rochdale, but again, it didn't happen. Struggled to get involved.

A good overall performance from the Glovers then, only let down by the lack of a goal or two. The difference between the teams in the end came down to the impact made by one player, Jermaine Johnson. On the day, we had no-one to match him. It's a cliche, but that doesn't make it any less true: We will play worse than this in the future and win comfortably.

Good to see the away terrace full again on Saturday and credit to the Wednesday fans who observed the minute's applause for Colin Lippiatt, Malcolm Allison and Derek Warren impeccably. It seems that we're losing stalwarts from the past at an ever-increasing rate these days, but I was particularly saddened by the news of Colin Lippiatt's passing. A very under-rated manager in his own right but more importantly a good man. He always had time for supporters and will be badly missed by all who knew him. If you've not seen it yet, then Ciderspace's tribute is a must-read.

Talking of Wednesday fans it's worth checking out this blog on the Owls Alive website. It's an account of a Wednesday fan's first trip to Huish Park and makes interesting reading. It's worth quoting a paragaph from the end of the piece:

"A fantastic end to a wonderful day, at an excellent club. To my mind everything about Yeovil Town football club screams class. It is without doubt an absolute credit to the football league and the game. The people who follow the club are without doubt the friendliest people I have ever met and it was great to be amongst them."

Ain't that nice?

On a personal note a quick word for my brother, Paul, otherwise known on the green room 2 as Amazed. The daft sod tripped up walking out of his front door on the way to the football on Saturday and snapped the tendon in his knee and will be hors de combat for a while consequently. Get well soon, you clumsy bugger!

Just read: Galileo's Dream by Kim Stanley Robinson: I was really looking forward to this novel having very much enjoyed Robinson's works in the past (The Mars Trilogy in particular), but in the event I struggled to finish it. Half historical novel, half hard science fiction, it's a fictional account of the life and work of Galileo and his troubles with the Inquisition after he had the temerity to suggest that the Earth revolves around the Sun rather than vice-versa. That's half of it anyway, the other half is set on the moons of Jupiter 3000 years into the future with the Great Scientist time-travelling between both ages. It's clever, very clever and thought-provoking, but I found it hard going, difficult to read and ultimately, somewhat disappointing. Ah well, you can't win them all.