The Glovers suffered their second defeat at the hands of League One opposition, this time against Exeter City.
It took just four minutes before a familiar face had the ball in the back of the net, but they were not in a Yeovil shirt. Sonny Cox broke between the defence while remaining onside before tucking the ball past Ollie Wright to give the Grecians an early lead.
Aaron Jarvis tried his best to get the Glovers back on level terms immediately, and that’s meant in the most literal sense. Following the kick-off, the ball was rolled back to Jarvis, who struck his effort from inside the Yeovil half, but it was wide of the post.
The first half was mainly dominated by Exeter as the Glovers struggled to get the ball down and play as fluently as they did against Bristol Rovers just days earlier.
At 10 minutes, Josh Magennis rose highest following a cross from Reece Cole, but his headed effort went over the crossbar. Shortly after, there were two chances in very quick succession as Jack Fitzwater saw his effort blocked before the rebound fell to Ilmari Niskanen, who saw the same fate from his effort as the Glovers’ defence held firm.
Ollie Wright then had to make a couple of saves within minutes of each other. The first came from an acrobatic attempt courtesy of Josh Magennis as it fell nicely for him from the left. Then on 22 minutes, Sonny Cox strode forward again and struck the ball, but his effort lacked power as Wright comfortably collected the ball.
It was Ilmari Niskanen who really should have put the Grecians 2-0 up with 29 minutes on the clock. A delicious ball fell to the back post where Niskanen was waiting to surely put the ball into the back of the half-empty net, but instead, his effort flew over the crossbar.
With the scorching temperatures everyone at Huish Park was able to enjoy, the players had a chance 30 minutes in to take on some fluids. This gave both managers a chance to speak to their troops before sending them back out for the last 15 minutes of the half.