, Yeovil Town happy to have Cup distraction

Yeovil Town happy to have Cup distraction

Rooted joint bottom of the football league – Yeovil Town would be forgiven for not prioritising cup competitions in favour of retaining their league status.

But Paul Sturrock’s side recorded two wins in just three days in games that they were ultimately tipped to lose.

After edging past in-form National League South side Maidstone United in the FA Cup ,with just nine men, last night the Glovers held high-flying Gillingham to a 1-1 draw.

The Gills, who lie a division higher and at the right end of the table, were lucky to take the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy area quarter-final to penalties after Yeovil Town produced their best performance of the season.

Their first half dominance was the most impressive and Harry Cornick opened the scoring after 13 minutes with some great work on the left hand side. His finish was just as terrific and the AFC Bournemouth loanee showed why the Glovers were keen to extend his loan spell.

But Gillingham showed their class when Bradley Garmston scored a stunner just before the break. It was all square after 90 minutes and penalties were to decide the tie.

Yeovil Town saw off Coventry City in the last round on penalties and made no mistake yet again.

With a 100% record of scoring spot kicks this season, Ryan Bird, Ben Tozer, Matt Dolan, Harry Cornick and Connor Roberts all stepped up to send the Glovers through to the area semi-finals – just three games away from Wembley.

Rory Donnelly was the unlucky Gills player to miss from the spot as he fired over the bar.

This is the time when fans can get excited about the prospect of a Wembley final in what has been an often highly criticised competition by both fans and some football clubs. But if you do well the benefits outweigh the prospective fixture congestion.

For lower league fans it is a chance to earn some prize money and win a trophy – something that should not be dismissed so readily.

With the Cup competitions being blamed for distracting players (especially at the top level), in Yeovil’s case it has given the side some welcome confidence ahead of a crunch match with fellow strugglers Stevenage on Saturday.

Magic of the Cup may not just refer to the non-league sides in the FA Cup – could it turn a season around for the Glovers who have had little to cheer of late?

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