Yeovil Town exited another cup competition at the first hurdle when local rivals Exeter City beat them by three goals to one in the Johnstone's Paint Trophy at Huish Park tonight.

Two good finishes by Jamie Cureton and a cracking free kick by Ryan Harley advanced the Grecians into round two after Andy Welsh had initially equalised with a quarter of an hour left.

The game will come at a cost to the Town though as Sam Williams received a straight red for violent conduct in the first half while Jean-Paul Kalala and Paul Huntington both looked to have suffered knocks in the second period.

There was only one change from Saturday's draw at Oldham Athletic with Andy Williams failing to recover from an ankle injury and being replaced by Cameron Stewart for his second start in the green and white.

The Glovers certainly looked the more impressive side for a large part of the first half either side of the early goal. Town created four good chances before the early Grecian goal but failed to make that early pressure count.

First up was Cameron Stewart who shot over with his left foot before Dean Bowditch curled a shot towards the far corner where Exeter keeper Paul Jones scrambled to save. A thumping volley from twenty yards from Owain Tudur Jones was hit straight at Jones as Yeovil pressurised before target man Sam Williams flicked a header just wide from a tight angle.

Against the run of play the visitors scored in the tenth minute when the impressive midfielder Ryan Harley sent Jamie Cureton away and the ex-Bristol Rovers striker lifted the ball over helpless keeper John Sullivan for the opener.

Despite the setback, Yeovil pressed and Bowditch hit a left foot shot over the bar but the defence still looked wobbly and Cureton almost netted a second from a tight angle but Sullivan saved well.

Bowditch saw his shot deflected wide for a corner and as half time approached, the Glovers almost grabbed the leveller when Paul Huntington cannoned a shot against the crossbar after Adam Virgo had miscued a cross.

It wasn't all one way traffic though as both Richard Logan and his strike partner Cureton both could, and should, have stretched the lead.

With ninety seconds of the first period remaining, the otherwise settled match exploded into life. A corner in from Andy Welsh was cleared by City and in the aftermath, a push-and-shove match began culminating with Williams lowering his head towards Exeter defender James Dunn who then went down. Referee Brendan Malone then showed Williams a straight red card which will rob manager Skiverton of his target man for three games.

The Glovers then began the second half in a positive fashion with Tudur Jones testing keeper Jones and Stewart lashing a shot wide and the manner of Yeovil's approach forced visiting boss Paul Tisdale into making a double change just seven minutes in.

Jake Thomson and Rob Edwards came on for Troy Archibald-Henville and Billy Jones as Tisdale's side reverted to a flat back four to cope with the ensuing attacks.

Skiverton made a change of his own as Jean-Paul Kalala departed for the arrival of Luke Ayling but the game remained at a high tempo as the half wore on.

Bowditch's non-stop running up front created another chance for himself but his shot curled just the wrong side of the post and into the side netting while at the other end, Logan twice had the chance to finish the match but couldn't.

With fifteen minutes, the deserved equaliser duly arrived and from an unlikely source. A cross in from the flank was headed out by a City defender just as his goalkeeper was about to claim it. The ball landed at the feet of Welsh who hit a crisp volley into the corner of the net.

The lead lasted only two minutes though as substitute Thomson raced down the right and crossed for Cureton to swivel and volley home.

Sullivan kept the Glovers in it with an excellent save from Logan's point blank header and the manager went for it bringing on Luke Freeman for Stewart and throwing centre-half Virgo up front in a 3-3-3 formation.

The game was wrapped up as it entered stoppage time. Paul Huntington brought down Liam Sercombe outside the area and Harley curled a free kick past Sullivan giving the keeper no chance.