Cheltenham Town earned a much-needed victory in this first Football League meeting between ancient rivals at Whaddon Road.
Yeovil played with all the confidence one might expect of a newly promoted side but Cheltenham got their noses in front early in the game and survived a series of nervous moments before holding out for their first win since the 4-3 success against Northampton Town a month ago.
Robins manager Bobby Gould was denied the services of striker Damian Spencer through an ankle injury picked up in training. He therefore opted for five in midfield with Richard Forsyth selected to supplement the quartet that played against Scunthorpe United in midweek. Bob Taylor was selected on his own up front.
At the back, David Bird moved in at right-back in place of Shane Duff with Kevin Amankwaah switched to central defence.
The Robins made a dream start to the game with a goal after only three minutes. It was a simple enough build-up, Shane Higgs sending a gigantic clearance downfield and as Taylor challenged with a defender the ball sailed over both players and landed in space to the right of the penalty area. Martin Devaney latched onto it and cut inside before sending an inch perfect shot beyond goalkeeper Chris Weale and inside the far post.
Yeovil hit back straight away with some neat and tidy passing to earn themselves four corners in quick succession.
But it was a corner at the other end that provided the next highly significant moment with Cheltenham doubling their lead in the 15th minute.
Jamie Victory won the flag kick when his cross was headed behind by Adam Lockwood. Grant McCann took it to the near post where Mark Yates got a flick-on and the ball cannoned over the line off a Yeovil defender.
It was an all-action opening to the game and Yeovil's Lee Johnson had a goal disallowed for offside only moments later. The visitors should have scored in the 19th minute when a quickly taken free-kick found Gavin Williams inside the area as the Cheltenham defence stood completely still. Williams was only five yards out when he dinked the ball past Shane Higgs but it bounced back off the post and was scrambled clear.
Giant central defender Hugo Rodrigues was booked for bringing down McCann right on the edge of the area, the resulting free-kick resulting in a return to the old 'fake argument' routine much favoured by Steve Cotterill. This time McCann was the decoy with Mark Yates taking the kick, which hit the end of the defensive wall and bounced clear.
Higgs dived to make a sharp save from Williams - he must have seen the ball late as it travelled through a forest of legs - and Yeovil manager Gary Johnson elected to replace Rodrigues with Paul Terry just short of the half-hour mark.
Despite being two goals down the Glovers were enjoying plenty of possession as Cheltenham, with only Taylor in attack, found it difficult to keep hold of the ball in the opposition half.
With five minutes to go until half-time the goal Yeovil had been threatening arrived courtesy of Welsh under-21 international Kevin Gall.
It resulted from a good move with Darren Way and Abdel El Kholti combining down the left, Way's cross to the far post being headed down by Terry. Kirk Jackson laid it back for Gall, on the edge of the area, and he hit a first time shot past Higgs.
The visitors almost got an equaliser three minutes later when Williams found Way down the right, his shot was parried by Higgs and Gall fired wide of the gaping net.
Yeovil kept the squeeze on in the moments leading up to the half-time whistle but there was one good chance for the Robins when Jamie Victory headed just over the bar from a Graham Fyfe free-kick.
The young Scotsman took the kick because at that point McCann had limped off for treatment having received a heavy kick on an ankle for which El Kholti was booked.
McCann failed to emerge for the second half and was replaced by Paul Brayson with the team reverting to a more orthodox 4-4-2 formation. Yeovil also made a change with Jake Edwards replacing Kirk Jackson in a straight swap of strikers.
Brayson had started only one game and made only one substitute appearance so far this season but the tricky little front runner eased the Cheltenham nerves once more with his first touch of the game.
Jamie Victory made a break from midfield and slipped a through-ball between two defenders for Brayson, cutting in from the left, and he rolled a shot under Weale and in.
Six minutes into the second half this rip-roaring game took another turn when Mark Yates went to ground in the penalty area under a challenge from Adam Lockwood. Yates was so convinced he had been fouled that he gathered the ball into his hands rather than get up and take a shot.
However, referee Andre Marriner saw it differently and put Yates into his notebook, presumably for either diving or dissent.
Cheltenham looked a much more effective side with two strikers and Brayson saw another shot from a promising angle blocked and then Bob Taylor let fly with an spectacular volley that also hit a defender.
Yeovil used their third and final substitution on the hour mark when former Cheltenham trialist Jamie Gosling replaced Ronnie Bull but it was the Robins who had the next good chance, Devaney racing onto a long ball from Yates but seeing his shot well saved by Weale.
At the other end Cheltenham were having a better second half from a defensive point of view, although Higgs was called upon to make smart saves from first Roy O'Brien and then Lee Johnson.
The Robins needed to maintain their concentration against a dangerous side who were always threatening to score. In fact, Williams almost did so 10 minutes from time when his looping effort from 25 yards hit the crossbar and bounced out.
Yeovil applied heavy pressure during four minutes of added time but the Cheltenham defence held out well with Amankwaah in particular winning most things in the air.
CHELTENHAM TOWN: Higgs; Bird, Jones, Amankwaah, Victory; Devaney, Yates, Forsyth, McCann (Brayson 46), Fyfe (Howells 79); Taylor. Other subs: Book, Buttery, Cleverley
YEOVIL TOWN: Weale; Lockwood, Rodrigues (Terry 28), O'Brien, Bull (Gosling 60); Williams, Johnson, Way, El Kholti; Gall, Jackson (Edwards 46). Other subs: Stanfield, Collis
REFEREE: A.M. Marriner (West Midlands)
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