Yeovil Town slipped to a rather harsh 1-0 defeat at the Withdean Stadium this afternoon. A 43rd minute stunner from Brighton's Elliott Bennett, somewhat out of place in this low-key encounter, sealed all three points for the Seagulls.

The Glovers lined up with four changes from the eleven that started last weekend's safety-achieving victory over Oldham Athletic at Huish Park.

Steven Caulker returned to Tottenham in the week and Gavin Tomlin failed to recover from his groin injury in time. He was joined on the sidelines by Jean-Paul Kalala and talisman Gavin Williams who wasn't 100% fit but took his place on the bench.

Replacing the foursome were Stefan Stam, in for his first start in three months, along with Luke Ayling, Scott Murray and Aidan Downes.

The first half was almost a non-event between two sides who had little to play for in terms of league position. Brighton's home record and Yeovil's away form have pulled up few trees this season and this was reflected in the first 45 minutes of football at the Withdean Stadium.

The first attempt on goal didn't come till the halfway point of the first period and even then Elliott Bennett's shot barely troubled keeper Alex McCarthy.  Gavin Hoyte also had a crack on goal but his effort went well wide.

Dean Bowditch was playing as a lone striker with Scott Murray just behind him and the ex-Brighton loanee had two half-chances to score within three minutes but his header went wide closely followed by a shot that was blocked.

McCarthy had to pull out a top drawer save with eight minutes of the half left when he palmed an Adam Navarro shot around for a corner but six minutes later, he had no answer to Bennett's stunner from 25 yards out that flew into the top right hand corner.

The second half saw Yeovil force two free kicks within shooting range of home keeper Mitchell Walker's goal but Murray and then Bowditch couldn't really trouble the gloveman.

There was little more of any decent goalmouth action for the rest of the game as the 2009/10 season slipped quietly away. For the hosts, Andrew Croft came close on a couple of occasions and substitute Ashley Barnes saw his shot saved by McCarthy.

The visitors could only point to a Scott Murray half volley in the second half as real chances were at a premium. Boss Terry Skiverton brought on Gavin Williams, Arron Davies and Danny Hutchins for Aidan Downes, Andy Welsh and Luke Ayling as he tried to freshen things up.

In the end, the whistle blew on the season with the Glovers safely ensconced in fifteenth place with 53 points and the work to prepare for next seaosn's challenge starts now.