Yeovil Town 1, Charlton Athletic 1: In the wind and in the rain - the Glovers get a point!

5:42pm Saturday 21st November 2009

By Steve Sowden

YEOVIL Town had to battle all the way to gain a share of the spoils against Charlton Athletic (and the weather!) this afternoon at Huish Park in the Coca-Cola League One.

Horrendous weather conditions made the playing surface extremely slippery and mistakes were common from both teams on a very wet and windy afternoon.

But it was Yeovil, with the wind in their favour in the first-half, who made the brighter of the starts on what was a very dull and miserable day and probably contributed to a disappointing crowd of just 5,632 at Huish Park.

Yeovil's cause was helped on the half-hour mark when Charlton's centre-half Sam Sodje was sent-off for a professional foul when he hauled down the Glovers' Ryan Mason.

And the Glovers finally broke the deadlock on the stroke of half-time when Jon Obika got clear and placed his shot past visiting keeper Carl Ikeme.

But the second-half proved extremely difficult for the Glovers with the conditions worsening and the wind now very much in the favour of ten-man Athletic.

The Addicks had one goal ruled out for offside, but it was not long before they were back on level terms.

Akpo Sodje, brother of the red-carded Sam, had been brought on as a sub at the start of the second-half and he unleashed a cracking 30-yard shot in the 56th minute which Yeovil keeper Alex McCarthy could do nothing about.

Sodje came close to scoring another, but he saw his vicious shot hit the woodwork as Yeovil struggled to cope with the blustery conditions.

At times the play became almost farcical as the pitch got wetter and the wind grew stronger.

The term ''sexy football'' was certainly not in evidence today and it was a real battle for the Glovers to keep out Athletic from grabbing a winner.

Yeovil's attacks in the second period were few and far between as the players grew tired and their passing and control was, understandably, wayward in the conditions.

But the Glovers came close to scoring a late winner when they gained a corner and Shaun MacDonald saw his header go wide of the target.

In the end both teams had to settle for a point and the players were probably relieved to finally get out of the rain and into the dressing rooms.

Yeovil remain in 13th spot in the League One table and boss Terry Skiverton will soon begin to turn his attentions to Tuesday night's match at Gillingham.