Yeovil At 'Lee'ast Deserved Extra-Time

Yeovil robbed by Palace
By Alex O'Loughlin
August 11 2010

Yeovil Town's recently hopeless cup record continues, as they have crashed out 1-0 losers to Crystal Palace. However, they deserved more!

Due to technical difficulties, the following match report is from Ciderspace: 

Yeovil Town got caught by a sucker-punch at Huish Park tonight, as a 90th minute Alan Lee goal saw them knocked out of the Carling Cup in the cruellest of circumstances against Championship side Crystal Palace. In an end-to-end encounter, it was remarkable that it took until the final minute for the deadlock to be broken, but frustrating that the Glovers hadn't taken one of their chances earlier in the game. 

Yeovil selected the same starting line-up that had beaten Leyton Orient on Saturday, but lost Cameron Stewart (tonsillitis) and Rob Kiernan (international duty), who were replaced by Craig Calver and Lloyd Matthews on the bench. 

The game started with Palace on the offensive, as two chances for pacey striker Nathaniel Pinney were blocked by John Sullivan, whilst a Calvin Andrew header also found Sullivan in the way of the Championship side. The Glovers took 15-20 minutes to get into their stride, but when they did, they proved they were a match for them, with Luke Freeman thumping a Nathan Jones cross against the bar, whilst Dean Bowditch shot over the bar from the same left-flank source. 

Around the 30 minute mark, things got a little fruity on the pitch, with Paddy McCarthy and Sam Williams squaring up after a robust challenge from the latter, leading to McCarthy pushing him in the chest. Minutes later Nathaniel Pinney and Paul Huntington got into a spot of handbags when Pinney appeared to lead with his elbow. Referee Phil Gibbs decided to leave both incidents well alone. 

As the half closed, the match switched from end-to-end to an extreme. Dean Bowditch shot across the face of goal and Paddy McCarthy cleared off Palace's goal-line. Then Alan Lee ran through on goal at the other end, only to have his shot smothered by John Sullivan. Straight down the other end and Bowditch got the same treatment from Julian Speroni. Somehow the match stayed goalless at the half time break. 

The second period opened in a somewhat more sedate manner than the first half had, with both sides showing plenty of endeavour, but without creating the glut of chances that had been seen earlier. Yeovil's best attempt came when Dean Bowditch thought he had earned the Glovers a penalty, around 15 minutes from time, when Paddy McCarthy appeared to remove his legs inside the box. Referee Phil Gibbs waved the claims away, presumably believing that McCarthy had made a clean tackle. Bowditch shows what he thought, by banging his fists into the turf in frustration. 

Just as the game looked as though it was going to go into extra time, the game's end-to-end nature was ultimately what saw the game decided. Yeovil had bombed players forward with a strong attacking move, and Dean Bowditch was inches away from converting a cross - the player landing in the back of the net as he slid in, but unfortunately without the ball going in with him. 

But straight down the other end, Palace caught the Glovers on the counterattack, with midfielder Kieron Cadogan part of a move that saw him break through on goal. John Sullivan looked to have denied his attempt, but following up the rebound was Alan Lee to kill the game by slotting the ball into the net. With just three minutes of injury time to play, there was no way back for the Glovers; undone by their own valiant attempts to win the game themselves inside normal time. Once again, the Glovers' recent cup misery continues, and it's back to League football on Saturday. But they can be proud of the way they matched their Championship opponents on the night - sometimes the end to football matches can be very cruel indeed.