Pre-Season Friendly

Yeovil Town 2 Barnsley 0

Date: 20/07/08 Venue: Huish Park

Attendance: 1501 Referee: S Tanner

Yeovil Town's home friendly against Championship side Barnsley was the first of 3 pre-season matches at Huish Park.

Yeovil's line-up was made up of first team players except Fisher Athletic trialist Gavin Tomlin and goalkeeper Corin Brown. For the Yorkshire side new signings Ian Hume and the "Chief" Darren Moore were on show.

Both teams found it hard to settle into the game as neither team managed to stamp their authority on the game. The ball was constantly exchanged between both sides.

After the first 10 minutes, both sides were trying to get a feel for the pace of the game. Gavin Tomlin showed good close ball control in tight situations.

Yeovil won their first corner of the game after the midfield dynamo Darren Way whipped in a dangerous free kick.

The first meaningful opportunity for Yeovil came when Danny Schofield and Gavin Tomlin exchanged passes on the left wing. Schofield then crossed it into Tomlin's feet but nothing came from the promising build-up.

A couple of minutes later Danny Schofield was put in past the defence but he blasted his shot harmlessly wide.

Yeovil were now confident enough on the ball to freely pass it between themselves without causing any real danger for the Barnsley back line.

On 39 minutes Yeovil showed some good intricate passing between Paul Warne and recent signing Aidan Downes down the left wing.

Paul Warne outwitted the Barnsley left-back to deliver an exquisite ball towards Danny Schofield.

Schofield's snapshot was easily saved by Kyle Letheren but luckily for Yeovil Gavin Tomlin netted the rebound.

Barnsley withdrew recent signings Ian Hume and Darren Moore for the experienced Jon Macken and club captain Brian Howard.

After just a minute, Yeovil had the opportunity to add to their lead when the Glovers earnt a corner after a poor save from keeper Letheren.

Despite Barnsley showing no signs of a comeback, Yeovil continued to press and the impressive Tomlin played through Schofield who pulled the ball back for Paul Warne was cleverly dispossessed by Stephen Foster.

As the 60th minute approached, Barnsley created their first notable chance of the game when a Campbell-Ryce cross was headed goal wards by Stephen Foster but the calm Corin Brown averted the danger.

Shortly after, Schofield saw a dangerous run by Paul Warne and improvised with a toe poke through to Warne who pulled back from the ever present Tomlin to blast wide from a short distance out.

As is tradition with pre-season friendlies, a series of substitutions occurred for both sides. The most notable introductions for the Glovers being strike duo Lloyd Owusu and Andy Kirk along with Trinidad & Tobago pair Conrad Smith and Hayden Tinto.

FA cup semi-finalists Barnsley failed to improve their game and the Glovers began to dominate the match without much resistance from the Yorkshire outfit.

Corin Brown was withdrawn with an unknown trialist keeper taking to the field.

The keeper was definitely not Pierre Martini as he has left the club after a trial.

With 15 minutes remaining, the Tykes began to improve earning a free kick 20 yards out which was curled onto the bar by captain Howard. Despite the excellent free kick, Barnsley far from deserved and equalising goal.

Despite a whole change in personnel in midfield and upfront, the Glovers defence made only one change with Aaron Brown entering the field of play for captain Skiverton.

With just 9 minutes remaining, Owusu raced clear of the lacklustre Tykes defence to poke home the winner from 10 yards with help from the post on its way goal wards.

With the game wrapped up, Glovers boss Russell Slade brought on young pair Jordan Street and Owen Irish into the defence with Forbes and Jones coming off.

The first home pre-season friendly of the season was sure to fill Yeovil fans full of expectation for the coming season as an impressive Yeovil swept aside a poor Barnsley side.

Yeovil played with an impressive array of passing from the start which helped them dominate the game from the start; the Glovers finished the game with confidence and a real swagger.

Speaking on the various trialists and new signings Russell Slade said: "Gavin (Tomlin) has impressed enough and we hope to sign him in the next day or two; he has impressed in both today and training."

"For me Schofield is a class act, and I think he is a championship player playing in league one. We believe Darren will go from strength to strength and today he was immaculate. He and Birch both played well together."

Match Report Written By Ryan Jones (1st Half) and Alex O'Loughlin (2nd half) on work experience from Preston School