MacDonald (broken toe), Thomas (cup-tied) & Arter (5 yellows) were unavailable; what would the side be? At least another opportunity for Taylor & Stockley to spend pitch-time, & Zubar & Peters to bed in further.

Dry, windy evening; not too bad a crowd in the circumstances, with a decent helping of Glovers fans. Would I fall asleep, given supper was a chicken balti suet pudding & chips (Brunswick, Malmesbury Park Road)? Zubar began alongside Barrett, with Cooper & Gregory central midfield & Taylor hopefully learning upfront alongside Fletcher. Cherries k.o. towards the North Stand, and Taylor hit it behind from wide. Glovers were quick onto receiving forwards. Purches crossed; Pugh was just baulked with his header. Peters & Zubar looked competent at this level. The home side had too many heavy touches and misplaced passes for comfort, but Fletcher’s header from Pugh’s chip also touched his marker so over it went for a corner.

Jalal jumped to collect, & dropped it over Zubar but the Glovers forward nicked it wide. Taylor should’ve shot, from left of goal, but perhaps lacking confidence he pulled it back; in, back out, & Pugh with a high right leg hit it from Taylor’s former position with one bounce into the far corner. 1-0, 16. The Glovers’ 17 was decidedly nippy on the left, setting up then chasing back. Cooper was reading, anticipating, breaking up, prompting – adding something missing from previous Cherries displays. From a good cross, Peters was just wide with a header whereas Glovers had very little at the sharp end. Then a mix-up 10 yards out, Pugh came away with the ball & tapped it in for 2-0 on 25.

Cherries defended consistently & effectively on the home 18-yard line, with Gregory tidy & often further back than Cooper who seemed to be the home quarter-back. From a corner, Taylor seemed to make a near-post flick header; it went off N’Gala’s head into the far corner as he was challenged by Gregory. 3-0, 30. I said to the guy next to me, “I wish we didn’t keep using up our goal quota by scoring all these in the cups; we need to leave some for the league”.

Gregory produced the pass of the night, a long cross-field ball to Peters who crossed from the corner flag to let Fletcher hit it just wide. Some decent football was on display here, with the home crowd doing the “Ole’s” - as did the away fans when Glovers had a series of consecutive passes, followed by the ironic “just like watching Brazil”. Pugh, Fletcher & Taylor were clicking, but some home players began showboating. Then the Glovers’ 21 was through, but missed. Speed & scoring ability just like our old Steve Massey; hmmm, same surname (even if a different skin colour) & Massey snr. went to Truro which is the other side of Yeovil…

Taylor was crocked so Cherries played out the half in his absence; a Glover seemed to do a hamstring just after & neither appeared again. HT: 3-0.

Stockley replaced Taylor on the restart. Glovers seemed more composed; twice Barrett curled his left foot around a player to regain the ball. Then a surprise: Partington on for Purches on 56. This saw Zubar go to right-back, Cooper drop back & Partington go central midfield, where he looked classy, stroking the ball, directing, and dropping back to cover (not always successfully). He did link well with Stockley, after a long shot went at Jalal, but failed to stop the 21 who hit it in low. The recipient turned to his right & hit a sharp one across Jalal. 3-1, 63.

Gregory was looking good, standing up in tackles, retaining, laying off. Stockley had a knock so Symes came on for him on 69 & very soon cushioned a headed down to Peters on the right. This substitution meant Symes, Zubar, Partington & Fletcher at a corner – height! Kevin Bond must’ve been drooling. Pugh had been quiet this half, then put in 2 decent crosses. Fletcher had been all effort, but as usual too many headers going at random so no wonder Stockley had struggled. Pugh had a deflected shot palmed over by the keeper. However this disguised lapses in concentration by the home outfit so the back 4 had to do too much. This led to indecision in front of goal and an easy tuck-in, 3-2, 88. Both sides became desperate in different ways. Pugh conceded a free on the Glovers’ right near the area but the chip was pathetic, going too far over. Then both sides found their handbags, with scuffles going beyond the final whistle. The last action saw a Glovers header hit the angle, leading to a corner that Jalal caught. FT: 3-2.

At least a home win.

Jalal – apart from one drop, looked stronger than his squad rival but perhaps not match-sharp.
Purches – reasonably secure, but the no.17 had him & Peters for pace.
Cummings – decent display, seizing his chance if less forward threat these days; Malone would still be the better defensively.
Cooper – solid, in both positions, but less so back in central defence. Perhaps had he stayed in midfield less pressure might’ve come onto the back line.
Barrett – committed but outpaced more than once.
Gregory – improving all the time but still looks too languid.
Peters – looks useful but perhaps needs more time with a settled midfield & attack.
Pugh – took chances well but less involved later.
Taylor – worked hard but often poor first touch and passing.
Stockley – little better than Taylor, with mediocre first touch.
Fletcher – same old same old. Said a lot but ultimately not too effective.
Symes - again languid but needs to regain fitness and sharpness. Promising linking; could be useful with WT.
Partington – looked classy and intent on organising. Match sharpness obviously needed.
Zubar - commanding. Tackled well & cleanly, distributed well, faster than Barrett, better at centre-back than right-back.
Bradbury – needs to address the second-half shortcomings.

Honourable mentions to Gregory and obviously Pugh. For his first-half performance, & not necessarily being the problem for the 2 Glovers goals, let’s give it to Cooper.

AFCB: Jalal, Purches, Barrett, Zubar, Cummings, Peters, Cooper, Gregory, Pugh, Fletcher, Taylor
Subs: Flahavan, Carmichael, Stockley (for Taylor, HT), Partington (for Purches, 56 mins), Symes (for Stockley, 69 mins)
Peter Wicks, Bulford